28 February 2008

1 Week Marker!

So I've been here for just over 1 week! So far I still love it, except I have been missing home. But I've set some routines for going to the gym, which has helped to keep me busy until school starts.

The food is so good, I cannot stress this enough. Yesterday I went out, and for $5 flat (you do not tip here, and there is no sales tax on food) I got a hot bowl of bibimbap, with 7 side dishes. It was delicious, although I burnt myself a lot (I couldn't stop eating it!)

Tomorrow, I am going to go on a self-guided tour of the downtown touristy area and the palaces/gardens, etc. So hopefully I will get some good pictures to post.

For now, I leave you with a video of my favorite meal thus far, and what I dream of every night:

26 February 2008

NORAEBANG

Literally, noraebang means "song room," and is the Korean version of karaoke. This is me, a few of the RA's, fellow students, and resident adviser at a noraebang (not my song choice, by the way).



A few other images of the evening:
-Sarah (Canada/South Korea) grilling pork on the table (sam-gyeob-sal).



















-Me and Sarah ordered kimchi stew (kimchi-chigae) and Coca Corra.














-The resident adviser advised me to pretend to eat the money for a picture with him.














-Playing the tambourine with Jacky and Diana, both from the United States (U S A! U S A!).














-Brendan (Australia) and Alex (Canada).

25 February 2008

Nighttime Shots


I figured out how to use the nighttime setting on the camera! Thats all.

Snowing at Hogwarts

Obligatory snow photos!




















































Outside my window (that is my roommate, Joshua, speaking).

24 February 2008

Adventure on a Mountain Top

Yesterday, I decided to climb to the top of this hill/mountain that I live on the side of, to see what was there. Well there appears to be some type of prison or work camp there, but besides that, there are beautiful woods, a Buddhist monastery, and a great view of the Northeastern portion of the city. There were lots of paths, and lots of ajummas (old ladies) walking around with their winter gear on. Oh and if there is ever a scary cliff or drop off, somebody was kind enough to put up posts with razor wire and barbed wire to catch you before you fall.

Great View!



















Prison? School? (they were all wearing orange jumpsuits).














Paths!



















For your safety...

23 February 2008

Sunday Morning

It is Sunday morning here, so I braved the cold to go get some breakfast and mail a letter. Before I left I memorized the word for sweet potato, because I really wanted a bagel with sweet potato that I had seen in a shop near my house.

"Koguma... koguma... koguma..." All the way down the hill, I practiced because I didn't want to look like an idiot. Well the joke was on me because nothing is open at 9am on Sunday morning. And now I'm really cold and have accomplished nothing.

I did however get to see a ceremony at the temple, which included lots of banging on some kind of pot/pan/cowbell-type instrument, and some kind of harsh sounding flute, and old men singing. I didn't have my camera with me, but I'll try to get them on film next Sunday.

That picture is a painting from inside the temple. Although there is no snow here right now, it feels as cold as that picture looks. And no, I don't know why he cut his hand off.

EDIT: I went back out and they were playing songs again. There must be a noon ceremony as well. I didn't see the procession this time, but then again, I'm pretty sure I'm not supposed to be taking video, so I tried to be as inconspicuous as possible.

Ode to Won-kuk

So today I met my Korean Buddy that the school assigned to me. His name is Won-kuk, and I'm pretty sure that he's the best buddy I could have gotten.

Today he a. took me out to lunch (and paid), b. took me around campus to help me get some items of interest, c. showed me where to get my groceries for cheap, and d. showed me his apartment... which is literally a 1 minute walk down the hill.

His English is excellent, and we had a great time telling each other about our respective lives. He is 24, studies Korean History, and was a Korean soldier for two years. Service in the army is compulsory here, but Won-kuk got to work with American soldiers, so he already knows a lot of the slang I tried to teach him (actually he probably knows more dirty phrases than I do).

So then, I went home and got a call from him "Joe, would you like to come watch a soccer game with me and my friend?" OF COURSE! So we watched South Korea vs. Japan, and the game was a draw. Won-kuk was a little peeved, but I like soccer. He is the captain of the soccer team so I am going to go see him play on March 1st. I'm bringing my camera so you can see him in action.




















Ji Sung Park - Footballer for South Korea

22 February 2008

Lemon-mas, Gator-ami!




















I think this means UF will haunt me for the rest of my days. It's just as good as back home!

Contact Information

Mail:
Joseph Murphy
Room #326A
CJ International House
Anam Residence Life
Korea University
Anam-Dong, Seongbuk-ku
Seoul, 136-701, Korea

Phone:
I can only receive phone calls from this number, and it will not record messages.
82.2.3920.0121

Skype:
A much better way of talking to me is via skype. If you have a microphone for your computer, we can talk for free if you download skype. I've used it with a few people thus far, and there is only a tiny delay, but otherwise it works well. My username is: joseph.henry.murphy

First Post

15 Hours of Flight (in Summary)
-Flight Plan (and yes, we ended up avoiding North Korea, in spite of that green line).














-Leaving Atlanta














-Indiana














-Siberia














-Sea of Okhotsk














-Eastern Mountains of South Korea















Getting to Korea University
I arrived in Seoul yesterday. I was coming off a Unisom trip and had two very heavy bags, so as I searched for place to sit to get my bearings and then decide if I was taking a bus or a cab, a young man (who I later found out only had one hand) came up to me, took one of my bags and told me he would take me to where I needed to go. Long story short, I had to pay him $180 for cab fare when I probably should have only paid $50 max. Maybe it was worth it because I got to sit with him in the cab and listen to French/Spanish love songs and Korean commercials. I didn't want to offend him by taking video of him, but I did manage to get a few seconds of video inside the cab. Oh yeah, and he liked to speed and be totally rude to other people on the road.


On a good note, my first introduction to Seoul was speeding through it while a full red moon hung in the background. Very eerie and exciting!

I arrived at my dorm and met some very nice Korean American students, as well as many other foreigners. It's funny because anybody thats NOT-asian, ie. hispanic or black, smiles at me (and I at them) and we strike up conversations left and right. I guess since I am part of the minority now, its nice to see a friendly face that isn't trying to hold me down.

I asked one of the RA's what a good walking path would be, and went and looked about the immediate area of the campus for about 30 minutes. Koreans tend to flit about with no regard for other people, bikes, traffic, time, space, anything really. I imagine all the pedestrians of New York bursting out into the streets the moment that they have the right of way. Here, they stand at the street corner, and when the green "walk" sign pops up, they take their time to look around for 20 seconds before aimlessly traversing the cross walk. I think I'm just used to the American sense of NEEDING to be in a mad rush to be somewhere at all times of the day. Koreans are adorable.

Thanks to my mom who sent me money, I was able to sleep with blankets and a pillow for the night (when I told the girls at the desk I could not afford it at the moment, they gave me the "thats so sad!" face, and offered to pay for me if I'd pay them back). It's really cold here, so I'm glad the blanket situation worked out.















First Morning in Seoul
Walked campus alone this morning for an hour, with 30,000 won and needing a voltage adapter and ethernet cable. Without these things, I was nearly unable to contact anybody at home in any reasonable manner. Oh, and I needed food because I was getting hungry.

View From my Dorm










Street with restaurants/shops/bars/college kids




















I've always wanted to get my nails done while I was eating pizza (this is actually located ON the school campus).














Temple (called Gaeunsa) that is a 20 second walk from the entrance to my dorm. Lanterns are lit up at night!














"Paegel wita Creama Cheezu" and espresso for breakfast (don't mock me, there isn't really a traditional Korean breakfast food). They have LOTS of French-style bakeries.














Busy Intersection


All in all, I love it so far. I thought I was going to find it hard to adjust to and hate it for a few weeks, but really, I am enjoying myself in spite of overpaying a cab driver and realizing that off campus, about zero point zero zero percent of people speak English. I've busted out some phrases like "igo urlmayo" (how much does this cost?) to get the ethernet cable, only to realize in horror, that the young computer store clerk, after being amazed by my command of the Korean language, would respond with the cost quoted in Korean numbers, which I don't know.

Sweet Success!















The one thing I can count on is the friendliness of Koreans. So far, even if they can't understand a damn thing I'm trying to say (in my language or my attempt at theirs) everybody has been warm and kind. Love, Joe.