Arrived at Sungkyunkwan (SKKU)

A little background:
The University of Texas at Austin had a deadline of December 1 for getting airfare to Korea worked out. SKKU didn't have a set date for the dorms to open until well after that. The tentative date given to us to show up in Suwon was February 20. That was a week ago. That's the date on which my plane to Korea was set to land in Incheon International Airport. I bought that ticket only a couple days before December 1. Well whaddyaknow? SKKU changed the first move-in date to February 27. Thus, I had a week to fool around in Seoul. and I am grateful for that opportunity. But the other very sharp edge to that sword is having to figure everything out on your own. I have been in touch with my Hi-Club buddy, Clark, via KakaoTalk Messenger, a free app for smartphones that provides text messaging over data networks instead of cellular networks. But without Wi-Fi, I have no contact with Clark. Hi-Club buddies, to the best of my knowledge, are a support system for exchange students. One of the biggest services available from Hi-Club is a pick-up service from the airport and transportation to the campus. Then, you get exactly where you need to go, and you have someone that can at least halfway speak English to help get you through move-in. The problem: you need to show up during the move-in period to get this service. Well, I don't know who to point the finger at, but let's just say the lack of communication between UT and SKKU caused a problem.

So.....

Today, I had to leave my cozy hotel in Seoul for my schwanky new dorm room on the SKKU Suwon campus. The subway gets fairly close to the Suwon campus, but it is not a fun walk carrying a week or more worth of luggage. We eventually made it to the Student Center, but it was closed for lunch. After waiting around a bit, a helpful young lady by the name of Minjeong lead us to our dorm and got us relatively situated. She watched our bags while we ventures to a basement floor to get our room keys and meal tickets. Then, we headed to our dorm rooms.

My room is exactly like rooms at UT dorms (i.e. Jester, San Jac), beds, closets, and desks on either side, except that, surprisingly, each room has it's own complete bathroom. That's right, no communal showers. I'm not sure if all rooms are this good, but I am very happy with the accommodations.

from the entrance

The entrance with traditional area for shoe removal.

The toilet is separated from the shower and sink.

shower and sink

However... However, my room has not ben cleaned. 청소 안 했어! I originally abided by the Korean way of removing my shoes upon entering the room but quickly realized that this was a mistake and returned them to my feet. The floor felt very dirty, even through my socks, and upon closer inspection, was, in fact, covered in hair and dirt. Oh, hair! In case you didn't spot it in the shot of my shower and sink, there is a copious amount of hair on the floor along with some used latex gloves, as if someone was in the process of cleaning it up and finally said, "F this! I'm out!"

rly? ಠ_ಠ ......  rly? ಠ_ಠ

Don't get me wrong, I'm alright with picking up a mess, but give me a break. That's pretty gross.

I agreed with Tim and Johanna to meet downstairs in 30 minutes. We met. We needed to find a department store to buy living materials, towels, bedding, soap, etc. Problem: no free Wi-Fi on campus in most places. There are ethernet ports in the dorm rooms, but no Wi-Fi that I can connect to so far. With no ethernet cable at the time, we went back to the Student Center to check for food/a computer to find a department store. Fortunately, there is an E-Mart (basically a WalMart) within reasonable walking distance. After clarifying how to get there with a security guard, we make our way to E-Mart. We had a semi-satisfying meal in the food court. [I will make a post about Korean food in the future.] I ended up with the following: A mattress cover, comforter, pillow, pillow cover, bottle of shampoo, bottle of body wash, face wash, hand towel, normal towel, toothpaste, shaving cream, laundry detergent, laundry basket, clothes hangers, ethernet cable, and a box of cookies. Grand total = ₩188,550. The bedding was very expensive, but I wasn't going to find another place to shop. Thing to note: you are not given plastic bags to carry your purchased goods at department stores. You either carry it yourself or recycle a produce box and put your stuff in that. For this reason, Korean shoppers have large reusable bags to put their stuff in. Well enough, our new laundry baskets served as convenient containers. We made it back to the dorms with our new living supplies and relaxed for a couple hours. I unpacked my ethernet cable and got my laptop connected to the rest of the world.

BOOM!!!!

That's why I love Korea. Who in the US has ever heard of having faster upload than download?!?!

NO ONE..... that I know.

Anyway, enough bragging. I still don't have Wi-Fi in my room, so my iPhone is now a paperweight. 

At 18:00, I met Tim downstairs to go check out the cafeteria. I just did as those did before me. A serving of soup, basically a 김치지개 (kimchi stew) with hotdog slices, spam slices, and I think I remember bits of tofu. Regardless of the contents, it was awesome, and I hope to see more of it. Beyond the stew, there was a self-serve "salad bar" with with a giant pot of steamed rice, kimchi, coleslaw something-or-other, and lettuce. As is standard cafeteria dining, there is a tray conveyor at the back of the room. After dumping that there is a water station with cups and water dispensers with both hot and cold water available. There was even a 핫쵸코 (hot chocolate) jug. I will partake in some next time if available. As we headed back to our dorm in another wing of the same building, we passed through a convenience store next to a Domino's Pizza to buy toilet paper. Two rolls cost me ₩1,300. We eventually got up to our rooms, and now I sit here typing away. My computer says it is 8:11pm, so it is 5:11am in Austin, TX. 

Despite my dirty room, I'm in Korea. Who could complain?  ^_^

...... so I think I'll sit tight tonight and relax in my new bed. Maybe I'll try playing some League of Legends. I've heard the ping to the US servers isn't terrible from here. That's all I have for now. As always, thank you for following me. You can look for my rant about Korean food in the near future.

~Let's ge lost. 잘가

Gyeongbokgung (Palace)

I followed Tim to Gyeongbokgung today. When we walked through the entrance and into the main plaza,  it looked all too similar to the last palace, Changdeokgung. The architecture was very similar in structure and color palette. We each payed the ₩3,000 entrance fee (no tour) and went in search of something interesting. [Note: I know nothing specific about this palace so this post is purely to showcase some pictures I took while I was there.] Because everything so far looked exactly like Changdeokgung, I had my eyes peeled for randomness, anything that stood alone, and I made it a personal photographic goal/endeavor to avoid getting any of the hundreds of other visitors in frame... But I was surrounded by people so my lens took aim at the floor.

Being patient enough for people to leave the frame created some opportunities.

This is the ceiling inside one of the main buildings.

This door was unusually small. Almost cute.

Some cool patterns on the walls might make for a neat desktop background.

One more.

Going artsy on this one. Had to wait forever to get this shot with no one else in it.

I love me some building in the middle of a pond.

Small pavilion at the edge of the pond.

The second pond in the palace. Very beautiful scenery.

The head of a giant drum. Also a cool desktop background.

The National Folk Museum of Korea had free admittance. This is the outside. Photography was not allowed in most of the exhibits, so I just put my camera away while we were inside.

I tried some HDRs. Pretty good for handhelds IMHO.

Inside the main plaza. [had to wait a very long time for people to clear out of the way]

The museum again.

Side of the museum.

Finally a panorama of my favorite spot.

Though the buildings seemed all too familiar, the complex as a whole had some neat environments. I think I met the "no people" challenge head on and got some cool shots despite the crowds. We will be moving to our dormitory in Suwon in the morning. I'll let you know how the move-in goes. Until then, comment on my posts and let me know what you think of my adventure so far. I hope you enjoy the photographs. Thanks for following me.

~Let's get lost. 잘가

Seoul at night - First attempt

Yes, the title says "First attempt" because there will be more. I went back to "Photo Island" on the way to Seoul Tower to photograph Seoul at night. The cold air and freezing wind were murder on my hands, so I admit to being regrettably impatient. The results are not worthless, but they were really blurry due to the long exposure time and the wind at that altitude, so they needed a lot of help from Adobe Lightroom. Nevertheless, here's what I got out of the trip. It may take me a few more tries to get everything perfect.

I tried an HDR, but, again, because of the wind, the individual exposures were blurry, so the whole thing was blurry.

This is a single exposure.

The panorama looks the most crisp thanks to the sheer amount of pixels. It is the result of four exposures.

These are so post-processing heavy that they almost look like paintings when zoomed in. There is much room for improvement, but I figured I could share my progress. Maybe warmer weather will bring better fortune.

~I'll get lost tomorrow. 잘가

Hongik and Namdaemun Market

I had been interested in seeing Hongik. Hongik University is a pretty big school, and like UT Austin, has stimulated its surroundings into catering to the students. Walking from the subway station towards the school, we were surrounded by shops, mostly clothing and fashion, but media stores, restaurants, and bars were in the mix.

Walking towards Hongik University

Catering to those restless college students.

Don't forget the boys...

There are lots of things to do here.

Just like the rest of seoul that I've seen, every side street is just as loaded with stores and shops as any main road.

The fashion shopping here is very trendy. Many shops feature some kind of gimmick to grap the attention of passers-by. 

Some fun graffiti.

American fast food abound. Also available were Taco Bell, Subway, Dunkin Donuts, and TGI Friday.

More graffiti that caught my eye.

Finally made it to Hongik University. This large structure hovers over the main entrance.

Under the entrance tunnel.

There wasn't any real motivation to venture very far into the campus, so I snagged a shot of the building with the school name for formality's sake.

There was a neat sculpture though.

Noticed this guy on the roof of a shop on the way out of the campus and back into the shopping area.

The stairway to TGI Friday.

iPhone5? O RLY?!?! .... ಠ_ಠ

There may or may not have been actual cats in there.

Obviously a fun part of town.

More street art.

Again, this place reminds me of the area around UT. Great shopping and lots of cool, fun things to see and do, and there is always that little bit of grunge.

Our next target was Namdaemun Market, a hustle and bustle place full of vendors trying to convince you to buy their stuff. But first, we had to find it.

Ahhhh. There it is.

Lots of people. Lots of stuff.

Like any backstreet market, there were several shops all selling the same knock-off designer handbags.

Then, out of nowhere, we spotted a 반데기 cart.

These cute little things are the larvae of silk worms. Definitely worth trying, but I wouldn't eat them again. Not that they are bad. They're just not very good. They have the texture of maybe a bean with a little more crunch if the shell isn't cooked enough.

Namdaemun probably never ends. We found some deep dark areas that thankfully had places to eat before heading home.

My legs were still feeling the climb to Seoul Tower from the day before, so I was happy to get home and grab a little nap. The crew followed me on a quest to get some cool shots of the city at night, but unfortunately what I ended up with wasn't all that good. I still need more practice with low light environments. Anywho, I'll be here doing my thing. Thanks for following me.

~Let's get lost. 잘가