My main purpose for being in Seoul this week (aside from enjoying all the awesome Korean foods, that is) is attending the 102nd World Esperanto Congress in the capital of South Korea.

Yep, you read it write: the enthusiasts of the international language Esperanto are doing this global gathering for the 102nd time already. And yes, they started more than a century ago.

But this is my first congress, so here I was on the Day 1 of this week-long event with over a thousand participants from all over the world:

And this is me too, because I’m not selling my crypto!!

Actually,

it's just a name of one of the lecture halls at the congress venue

The main streets leading to the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, HUFS, the main venue for the event, are decorated with Esperanto flags welcoming the congress participants to Seoul:

The opening ceremony of the congress was taking place in the Barack Obama Hall of the university where the 44th US President have a speech back in 2012 during his visit to South Korea:

The opening ceremony was attended by the Seoul Mayor, Vice-Speaker of the Korean Parliament, and a few other dignitaries, including a heir of the Korean royal family.

The Mayor of Seoul delivering his welcome address from the congress stage:

I made a 3-minutes short video of the opening ceremony and the performances presented during the evening of Korean culture that the guests were treated at the final event of Day 1: