Saturday (5/29) was an exciting and full day of festivities in the Hubo lab; we were lucky to spend our first day on campus the same day as a Hubo lab alumni reunion. That morning, I met Dr. Jun Ho Oh, the leader of the Hubo project, and two undergraduates from Drexel currently working in the Hubo lab: Mike Sehi and Danielle Castley. We all had the opportunity to meet some of the original Hubo engineers, see demonstrations of the latest projects of the lab, and participate in a friendly soccer tournament. At the end of the day, Professor Jun Ho Oh hosted everyone at the Bennigan's restaurant in Daejeon, where we had italian pasta, ribs, salad, and enchiladas. It was strange to eat American food on my first day in Korea, but to the Koreans it was unusual. This reversal reminded me of my outsider status more than anything else that day, because everyone had been so friendly and, for the most part, bilingual.
Today, Sunday (5/30), has been more relaxed. I slept until afternoon in order to catch up on the sleep lost during the 30 hours of more or less wakeful travel, then worked to get electricity and internet set up in the dorm room (I accidentally shorted out the electricity in the room by plugging an American power strip into the Korean outlet). After that, Sara and I wandered around campus to get food and a better idea of the campus layout. We spoke with several people along the way; we spoke unsuccessfully with a cafeteria worker who, no matter how much she simplified her Korean, could not make us understand without gestures. Luckily, we had more success with a KAIST student who wanted to make conversation in English in order to improve his own speaking. Before bed, we met a group of girls on our hall, many of them from Singapore.
I am excited for tomorrow- orientation and our first day of Korean language class!
Today, Sunday (5/30), has been more relaxed. I slept until afternoon in order to catch up on the sleep lost during the 30 hours of more or less wakeful travel, then worked to get electricity and internet set up in the dorm room (I accidentally shorted out the electricity in the room by plugging an American power strip into the Korean outlet). After that, Sara and I wandered around campus to get food and a better idea of the campus layout. We spoke with several people along the way; we spoke unsuccessfully with a cafeteria worker who, no matter how much she simplified her Korean, could not make us understand without gestures. Luckily, we had more success with a KAIST student who wanted to make conversation in English in order to improve his own speaking. Before bed, we met a group of girls on our hall, many of them from Singapore.
I am excited for tomorrow- orientation and our first day of Korean language class!
