Alive and well in Seoul

Finally, a post! Although I primed you all for posts clearly I have been behind the times in getting anything up. I knew that would probably be the case since I remembered struggling to put anything up during orientation in Japan. I just can’t focus very well when there is so much going on…and there was more going on for this orientation than for the Japan one.

While in Japan we mostly (except for the homestay) stayed in one place, but in Korea we have been bused all over! Everyday, we would load up on the bus and it would drive us somewhere else, usually at least an hour away. We visited a few museums and a Korean folk village (but for such short periods of time as to only see a small bit of what was there), and we visited research and industry sites (like Posco, Hyundai heavy industries, KIMM). Towards the end we got back to cultural trips like going to see world heritage sites Seokguram grotto and Bulguksa Temple (and a few other cultural places sprinkled in). Finally, we did a temple stay for the last two days. I had wanted to do a temple stay while I was here but did not want to do it by myself so this was perfect.

Speaking of the bus, everyday you would need to make a decision about where to sit/who to sit by. Of course it is best to be last for this for obvious reasons. But somehow I was always on time and was usually one of the first people on the bus. I feel like I am too old to feel all self-concious about whether people want to sit next to me or not…but I guess I am not. I got way too concerned about it and I need to learn to be less conscious of these stupid things.

In between all the touring there was norebang (the Korean word for Karaoke), a nice spa bath visit (like onsen but I don’t think it was hot spring water), some late night drinking, hanging out watching world cup games and just having fun. The best thing was watching S. Korea futbol! The Korea Nigeria game was on at 3:30 am and we were in Seoul at the time, so a group of us wore red shirts and went out to one of the public places they set up for watching the game. Soccer is huge here (since they hosted the world cup and did well in 2002) so they put out huge screens and close down roads for people to watch. And the red devils (the name of the Korean fans) come out in force. The Nigeria game would determine who would place second in the group so it was really an important game. Anyway, we went and had a great time cheering them on. The game ended in a draw which was good for Korea so everyone was happy. For the next game (in which Korea was sadly eliminated) we were at the temple so we were not sure if we would be able to watch the game or not. But no fears, the monks seem to be fans too (at least one of them was a big fan) so we all came to watch and cheer them on. Some older women were also staying at the temple and I think they were surprised by how vigorously we cheered the Korean team on. But they were good sports and we all had fun.

Then it was a long trip back to Seoul, dinner and good bye to everyone (temporararily at least) as we all dispersed to our host institutions. I believe we all arrived safely but it’s kind of sad that I won’t see some people of the group much during my time here. Though in Japan I barely saw anyone at all so I can’t really complain.

I think that’s enough as an initial primer on what is going on. I’m almost through my first week at Ehwa so I will have more to say soon. Take care!

PS I put photos up on facebook and I think you can see them by following this link.