Picture Tour

I will have at least one big blog post coming sometime after the big campus event this Saturday. Until then, I thought I would give you guys a picture tour of some aspects of my daily life here. I know that I always like to be able to envision what my friends are doing when they are in a totally new place, so hopefully it will be somewhat interesting to you to see some of the things I see daily.

Welcome to Handong! This stone sits as the bottom of the hill that leads you up to Handong.

This is the familiar walk toward my resident hall, International House. It's the red/brown brick building on the right.

My beloved I House! A welcoming home

This is where I do most of my homework. Not the tidiest desk, but it works well for me

This is where I go to church and chapel every week

This is the lake where I go to find peace and quiet

This is a path I walk to and from class every week

This is a path I walk just for fun. Interesting buildings, nice scenery

This is the library where most students will spend a lot of time. Also a classroom building

One of the first and biggest buildings on campus and where the majority of my classes are held

This is the one big, open grassy field on campus. And you aren't really supposed to walk on it, so I just gaze at it longingly every day. That big building is the cafeteria/student union building

This is a high view of the cafeteria and the sports fields right in front of it. There is a running track, basketball court and soccer field all in one

Inside the cafeteria where I eat almost every day

 These are some of the things I eat at said cafeteria, though these are just a few options

Seaweed soup, kimchii curry rice

Egg, sauce, and fried shrimp on rice

Tteokbokki. Spicy stuff!

This is only served at night, after dinner. They give you a burner, noodles and then you cook it yourself. Delicious

So now maybe you have a clearer picture in your heads as to what the everyday things look like for me. If I did a really thorough job you would be overloaded with pictures, so I will be kind and leave it at this for now. I have to say, I really love this campus and think it is beautiful. I am managing just fine on the cafeteria food, though it can be a bit repetitive and sometimes I just want a home-cooked meal. But I am content and in no real hurry to leave. 

As always, thank you for reading!

Festival Week

Two weeks ago was festival week here at Handong, so we got a few days off school! After Tuesday the 5^th I had no more classes until the following Monday.  The school festival involves several events and activities held school-wide as well as booths selling various food and a few performances from campus clubs. But for the most part the students go home and get some rest. I stayed here on campus enjoying the relaxation as well as the beautiful Autumn weather.

Thursday of break I ended up going on a beautiful, though cold, bike ride with friends as the sun set. We ran into a dead snake in the middle of the path and were followed for a while by some friendly farm dogs. 

We finished off the day with a warm supper and a movie night. A simple day, but I really enjoyed it.

Friday of break was the day of the sports competition! Four different dormitories on campus got together that morning to compete. Our dorm, known as International House or Carmichael College, really stuck out amongst all the Korean dorm teams.

Anyone who knows me well will know how much I dislike playing sports as a general rule. Few things make me feel as uncomfortable or out of my depth as playing sports. But I decided to expand my horizons and try something new, going against all my insecurities and being adventurous.

The event started out with capture the flag. We lost, but we gave it our best! Then came the girls’ dodge ball game. I had not played that game since middle school, but those Koreans were well practiced and very intense. After two rounds of the game Carmichael College lost and conceded victory to the other team. I can’t say I will be playing dodge ball again anytime soon, but it was good to be made a little uncomfortable. That in itself was a personal victory for me.

Dodge ball players

After that we watched the men play soccer, which our team also lost. But it was a good time of cheering for our friends, eating lunch, chatting, and basking in the sunlight. The last event was a relay race which involved both running and doing simple missions. Our team had some good runners, even though we didn't place first.

Relay Runners with our dorm flag

The day wrapped up at around three in the afternoon, leaving my dorm second to last place for the entire competition. It was a really fun day of fellowship and friendly competition. Carmichael College was certainly the loudest and most spirited team which should count for something, right?

One thing the day reminded me of was just how much I love my fellow International House residents. We’re from all around the world, from a huge diversity of backgrounds, beliefs, cultures—but we’re still like a family. A very heterogeneous family, but a welcoming one. I was proud to cheer on my friends all day!

After sports day wrapped up I went on another bike ride with friends which ended in my borrowed bike breaking, and having to walk it back. Slightly embarrassing, but as usual an enjoyable adventure even though it made me very cold. We finished the day with another movie and a good night of sleep.

The rest of festival week was spent relaxing, catching up on homework, eating, spending time with friends, and practicing for an upcoming event called Culture Night. This is an event that the international community here puts on, and it involves each culture community making food for everyone to sample and then putting on a performance that represents their nation. It should be a big event, and I will be busy with preparation for it most of this week. I will be reporting more on Culture Night after Saturday when it is over. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone’s hard work pay off!

Anyway. Festival week was a good break from school and a great time with friends. My time here is going by all too swiftly, and I am learning to make the most of every moment. Not easy, but a worthwhile endeavor.

As a bonus, enjoy some pictures of what our lovely campus looks like bedecked in autumnal glory. Beautiful colours here!

Thanks for reading!

Rice Cake!

Time for another field trip report! On the 2^nd all of the Internationals and any Koreans who felt like joining were invited to take part in an all-expense paid trip to the Rice Cake Museum here in Pohang. Although I was unsure about what kind of experience awaited me, I decided to join. Thus, that Saturday morning our group of both Koreans and international students piled onto a bus and headed to the museum.

As per the usual our shoes had to come off before entering the museum. It is still a strange feeling for me to wander around a building in socks. Once inside we were given a tour of the small museum and then listened to a lecture all about the making of rice cakes and the various kinds. They had wax replicas of the many kinds that we could look at. There was also explanations given on how to make them, though there were so many different ways that one method cannot really apply to every variation of rice cake.

If you are wondering what exactly I mean by rice cake, here is at least a brief description:

Little cakes often made out of glutinous rice flour, or just plain rice flour, usually created by a steaming process. They are made with a huge variety of other ingredients and can look very different depending on the type. They are eaten at most of the Korean holidays and can be either pretty sweet or more savory.

After listening to the explanations and looking at the models, it was time to experience making rice cakes for ourselves. By that point we were all pretty hungry because of looking at all the wax versions! Everyone got to put on some cute aprons (even the guys) and then we divided into two groups. My groups’ first activity was getting to pound the sticky rice dough.

It was fun getting to use such a big wooden hammer to pound away at the dough-like substance. It reminded me a bit of wood chopping. Next we took the freshly pulverized mass of dough and rolled it in small portions, mixing it into a yellow powder that tasted a little like cornmeal. We exercised as much creativity as we could as we formed different shapes out of it.

We completed this first version of rice cakes and moved onto the next one. We were able to get even more creative with these ones. Everyone was given a small mound of thicker rice dough. 

To start with we took a small portion of the dough out and rolled it into a ball, then flattened it. 

Once flat we put bean paste inside and then closed it up so that it formed a ball again. Taking different colours of paste with different flavors, we decorated the tops of the balls.

Then we flattened them with a stamp that had a pattern on it. It reminded me a bit of playing with Play Dough.

After finishing our lovely creations we all ate a boxed lunch. After that we went onto the roof to play some traditional Korean games and just hung out. After that we moved onto the next activities. It was time to try on Hanbok, the traditional Korean outfit.

I could definitely tell that the clothes were made for Asians, not Westerners, but it was fun to try it out and pretend for a few minutes that I am not a Westerner to my last drop of blood. Almost everyone got a chance to take a picture in the Hanbok and to demonstrate the traditional bow.

After this we got to do another craft which was decorating our own mugs with some permanent markers. Although I cannot wash my mug for fear of removing the designs, it was a fun activity. I love doodling on any surface.

We ran out of time during the mug decorating and had to make sure we made it onto the bus that took us back to school. We were sent away with two boxes of our own rice cakes that we made. Yum! Very tasty. I spent the rest of the day shopping with two friends then I returned in the evening to eat some of the rice cakes I had made.

It may sound boring, and the idea of a “Rice Cake Museum” may not excite a lot of people, but I actually had a great time. It was fun to learn more about Korean culture and experience a bit more firsthand. But the best part was experiencing it with the wonderful group who came.

Also, as a note, if you make rice cakes make sure to put them in the refrigerator. I was very dismayed to discover mine growing white beards. Tragic. Ah well, next time I will know better!

Out of the Cave, into the Sunlight

For the entire week of midterms I felt almost like I was trapped inside a cave where all that existed was late nights, study, caffeine, and the looming shadows of tests. Little sleep was to be had even though I started studying at least a week in advance. I had five tests that week, so at least I was able to get through them all at once instead of having to wait two weeks for them to be over.

Although it was very stressful at times because I did not know what to expect from the tests, I actually enjoyed the challenge. It really reminded me how good it is to passionately pursue excellence in all areas of life. I think a healthy balance between busyness and idleness is needed of course--a balance which few of the Koreans here seem to have, but it was not so bad to be a bit too busy for a week. It also was encouraging to see how much I had learned from the start of the semester.

And as I mentioned earlier, there were so many small blessings throughout the week which made a huge difference. For instance, our Korean friends from orientation week made all of us new international students candy necklaces. They put our names in Korean on them then strung them up in a tree for us to find. It was really great!

I finished my tests Friday at about noon. Freedom! Although I still have no idea how well I did, I was very glad to be done. I gave it my best shot and leave the results up to God.

After finishing I decided it was time for rest so I took a nap. Friday afternoon I ended up baby-sitting for a conference. It was really refreshing to spend some time with energetic, cheerful children. We had a blast.

To further celebrate completing our first big tests here in Asia, a group of us got together on Sunday to go to a park for a picnic. The weather was chilly, the sky clear and bright--too perfect for words! There was a small zoo as part of the park, and a lot of steel sculptures and walking paths. We took a path up and down a few hills and through the woods and came to a beautiful park with a stunning view of the ocean. It was just the right time of day for pictures, a game of Frisbee and just enjoying a break from school. It really was like coming out of a cave and into the sunlight. 

Pictures can describe it better than my words, so here are some of the wonderful shots we all took that beautiful afternoon:

It was with reluctance that we left the park as the sun disappeared, though it was getting pretty cold. The bus back to school ended up being completely full, so we had to wait an extra hour or so. As we waited for a bus with available seats, we sat on the curb, ate some bread, and chatted together. It was a good day--a very good day. The perfect blessing after a crazy week. I am very blessed to get to spend these months in such a beautiful place with such fun people! I know I keep saying that, but I keep being reminded of it again and again. 

Thanks for reading!