A Day of Rest

Ahhh Saturday...the Sabbath. Actually before that, let me back up to Friday night real quick. I got into my dorm room Friday afternoon around 2pm after lunch with the K-PACE management. My roommate was not in yet so I decided to take a quick nap. Then I went down the hall to the other RA's room, and found all 3 other RA's there. My roommate introduced himself as 윤주식 (Yoon Joo Sik). For those of you that don't know, the Si sound in the Korean language is actually pronounced She. So his given name is Joo Sheek. The other RA's are 안효상 (An Hyo Sang) and Mr. G. I actually don't know Mr. G's name yet lol. The best part is I've spent entire days with him at this point. I thought I could secretly figure it out from his Kakao (Korean instant messaging) profile, but to no avail. I'll learn eventually. Mr. G refers to himself as Heavy G, or Anderson as is his chosen English name, and is quite the gregarious character. He loves to talk, and while his English is intelligible, sometimes it is difficult to follow. I love them all though. They were incredibly open and helpful from the get go.

So, Friday night. I got to the dorm and realized I had no blanket or pillow. OHS NOES! However will I sleep?! Fear not, we can go into the nearest city 하양 (Hayang) and get some. All 4 of us pile into Mr. G's car like a boy band that's been friends forever. My roommate Joo Sik has the best English besides me so he is the designated question asker. How old am I? Why am I here? Onto the more important things like what do I still need besides blankets and pillows. They also decided that as their newly adopted Korean, I needed to get some face lotion. Yeah, I'm not much of a lotion guy of any kind, but being a bonding moment I decided to indulge them. (After telling them I didn't need any about 4 times).

My Korean face lotion that's gonna make my skin so smooth I'll be in all the K-Drama's.

I am pretty in awe that they were so willing and ready to just go pick the things up that I needed. Also, that they were as helpful as they were. I posted a video above of what plugs look like here. I had no clue before I got here that outlets were not universal, but now I know. So that was another thing we had to go get. Anyways, this was the first meeting for me of my fellow RA's, and they have continued to be awesome people. I end up going to sleep about 6pm Friday night like the party animal I am. (Rawr *with kitty claw simulation*)

I wake up about 6am Saturday morning which is totally typical for those that know me. (It's totally not, that's usually when I go to bed). Maybe moving halfway across the world has been good for me, so far it's fixed my sleeping schedule lol. No one is awake yet, so I decide to go for a walk around campus and get my bearings. The previous day 윤종찬 (Yoon Jong Chan) took me for a tour around campus by car after picking me up from the airport so I had a general idea of where my classes were in relation to my dorm. Forgive the picture spam, but this campus is going to be GORGEOUS in summer.

A short video by the girls 여 (Yeo) dorm ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

Brilliantly engineered stairs in front of my dorm. Wheelchair accessible!

Random amphitheater I encountered on my walk Pt. 1

Random amphitheater I encountered on my walk Pt. 2

Main faculty building across a giant field.

This was really cool. This is the founders grave. What an incredible dude. His grandson is in charge of the K-PACE program, and the one I have been working with here.

Brand new state of the art recreation center. This is where I shall be finding dates for the next year. (jay kay el oh el)

So! My walk was definitely fruitful. A beautiful campus to enjoy with literally no one else around. I found where I would be taking classes starting Monday and a few other lovely tidbits to enjoy. (Like food spots!) Speaking of food, lets talk about what I ate!

Breakfast was 닭갈비 (Dak Kalbi) This dish is basically pulled chicken, with rice and oh is it so good. If you know the Korean alphabet at all, the word for Chicken (Dak) is tricky because it has a silent ㄹ(R/L sound) in it. Those tricky Koreans can getcha, but I guess when English has words like knight we can't complain too much can we :P.

For lunch I had 떡볶이 (Ddeokbokki) Which is rice cakes and fish cakes in hot/spicy soup. There's a little shop on the edge of campus right by the west gate that serves this and all I have to say is nom nom nom. I get room and board through my compensation so I don't pay for most meals, but this meal was $2! TWO...DOLLARS...I'll let that process for a minute while you salivate over this nommilicious meal.

My Ddeokbokki! Not yours!

 Since you all are not privy to my financial information I'll let you know that my typical monthly budget is spent around 75% on food, and 25% on other things. This stems partly from me being a big dude who likes to eat, and also the fact that I don't exactly watch what I spend on food. For this reason alone I might never leave this place. IMAGINE THE MONEY I COULD SAVE! (just kidding Dad)

Dinner was 불고기 비빔밥 (Bulgogi Bibimbap) and a great one it was. This dish is sliced beef over rice and veggies. In fact I've had this dish multiple times since I've been here. As advertised Saturday was mostly a day of rest. I went to bed at a whopping 6pm again. (I'm clearly living it up here). Food and rest was what I needed after a lot of traveling though and my body thanked me for it. Nothing super adventurous, but a few walks, and a lot of good food. Stay tuned for Sunday! It was a doozy!

TL:DR I'm in Korea.