A day in Korea

So it has been about a month since I left Canada, and I feel like I have yet to synthesize my thoughts of what has been happening in a meaningful way that can be understood by others.  Perhaps this will be a task for a later post, as I'm not sure where to start -  I thought I would do a post today though that shows what a day looks like for me in Korea.  It has been a week since school started, so this is the second Monday of the year:

6:20 - Good morning Seoul!  Time to brush teeth, get changed, and roll up my bed into a ball by the wall.  Though I tried to be quiet, Eunsu and Jihwan are likely awakened by my movements.

6:50 - The reason why I'm waking up a little earlier than usual is because today I'm getting to our DPM (Daily Prayer Meeting) ahead of time so I can make pancakes (with maple syrup) for the other people who come.  This is my way of expressing my thanks to the IVF community (korean equivalent of IVCF under IFES) considering my limited korean.  It turns out the language of food is universal and they really appreciated it, even if I'm using the buttermilk pancake mix from costco.  Some pictures on the way up to our IVF base, which we rented close to campus.  Money for this place comes from MS (mission support- it's like tithing) as well as past IVF students and the 3 students who live there.

8:00 - Today is Monday, so members from both the ohnyu (calm) and hwapyeong (peace) villages in the Anam campus of Korea University met together.  Daily prayer meetings are a common practice in many korean churches, with meetings usually at 5 am (Our meetings are on weekdays starting at 8, and we even have a later start on Fridays).  We worship God through music and Korean style prayer - a leader (today was our staff worker, Jeong Tae Hyeong) will frame our prayer time with a few sentences (which one of my housemates translates for me) and then we all pray together in a circle.  I am almost at the point where I can hear myself think without being distracted during the prayer time.  Picture below of students from last weeks DPM.

9:00 - After the DPM, I do some cleaning and then walk across the street to the KU campus.  I learned the name of another student, Jung Yun, who is my senior (it is important to know where you stand based on your age in korea).  She was also was going to the bookstore, so we went together.  We got talking about Korea and Canada and because she didn't have class until 10:30, we went for coffee at an on campus cafe.  After I told her that I wasn't taking korean because it conflicted with my schedule, she took my back to the bookstore and bought me a korean textbook which I think we are going to go through together this semester (?? what? how is someone this nice lol)

10:30 - I head up to LG-Posco, the new business building [above].  The feel inside is a bit like walking into Sauder, except more ridiculous (there's like a revolving door and everything is really spiffy- the reputation of this faculty is also like sauder, except even more proud sortof).  I use the computers to do some work and check emails before walking back across campus for lunch.

12:00 - All you can eat korean bbq with my KUBA group (buddy program for exchange students that matches us up with locals).  A bit more expensive than what I would usually pay for lunch, but it was not so bad at 9900 won- less than $10 (including tax and there's no tipping in korea).

2:00 - My one class for the day (I promise I do some school here) - Comparative studies of asian management systems.   It's a fascinating course where we basically learn about all of the things I would otherwise research in my free time anyways.  There are maybe ten other exchange students in the English speaking class of about 40, which is typical for a business course (not so for my physics classes, one of which I am the only one)

3:30 - I go to the international office of the business school to pay for the temple stay on Saturday (sleepover party yay!) which is organized by the business school buddy program (separate from KUBA).  This will be an interesting chance to learn about korean culture and buddhism, and I will likely participate in all the activities except the 108 prostrations.  Please pray for me this weekend haha.  I also sort out some course registration stuff at the international one stop service centre.

4:00  -  Hanging out in the IVF clubroom.

5:00 -  I got to meet up with three korean friends who I met in Canada with the international student ministry of IVCF at UBC (christine, you jin, and yoo jin).  Shabu-shabu (the korean version is spicier than what I am used to.. but then again so is everything here) and icecream for dessert!

9:00 -  Now back at the brothers house and writing this post!  Hope you enjoyed reading it!