The first full day was good. The Koreans really do have kimchi and rice with every meal, but I'm surviving. I went to play soccer with my roommate, Ray, in the morning, but we couldn't find anyone to play with. He said that there are usually Korean students playing in the early morning to avoid the heat, but we figured no one was out because of the summer session.
They kept us busy schedule wise, so I didn't get to go to Church, although Ray is apparently a pretty devoted Christian, so we're looking into going to a church next weekend when we'll have some free time. I did a devotion this weekend instead and translated some Romans.
We had our language placement exam yesterday. I placed into the beginning level (obviously). We also got our textbooks, which are almost completely in Hanguel (which doubles to mean both the Korean alphabet and Korean itself). It will certainly be an intense immersion course. During the exam we also signed up for extracurricular activities. I signed up for Taekwondo, which will apparently be taught by one of the best masters in Korea (he really likes Fulbright, so he's buying all of our outfits for us), and cooking class.
We also went out to lunch instead of eating in the cafeteria (which serves rather bland food). Ray took us to a place that is fairly common in Korea and safe and cheap, so if we were ever starving in a different city, we would have a familiar place to go. I ordered the bibimbop, which is a rice dish served with meat and vegetables and spicey paste. It all comes out separate, so the customer has to mix it him or herself to their own particular taste. It also comes out on a very hot dish, so if you don't mix fast, your rice burns. It was a fantastic meal (including a side of soup and kimchi) for only 3,500 won (about $3.80).
After lunch, we had a presentation from two current Fulbrighters about what it means to be an "other" in Korean society. The first presentation was focused on what Koreans think about us, which was funny, but mostly because he said some fairly uncomfortable things about race, so he got nervous laughter out of most of us. Some people found it inappropriate, but given what I know about extremely homogenous nations, it fit the bill. Mostly he talked about how Koreans aren't really racist the way we're racist. They don't see distinctions amongst foreigners, just that there are Koreans and there are foreigners. The other presentation was on how to live in Korea as an "other". This presenter was Pakistani-American and gay, so he came at it from an interesting perspective.
We also had a scavenger hunt yesterday to introduce us to some of the area of Chuncheon we live in. Luckily, we had a girl who speaks some Korean in our group, so she was very helpful with ordering a taxi and the like. One of the objectives on the list was to go to EMart, which is the Korean version of a place like Walmart or Target, but it is MUCH bigger. I wanted to get some hangers, but we couldn't find any except for these small Barbie hangers, so I just picked those up and showed them to one of the women working at the store, saying, "I want this, but bigger," making appropriate hand gestures. After a split second of confusion, "Oh!" she said and indicated that we should follow her to the appropriate section. So, I know that I can get by on hand gestures apparently if I really need to.
Finally, we met the KEY club (I forget what it stands for, but that's the English club at the university), and shared snacks with them and soju, a Korean drink that has about the consistency and taste of Vodka, which just a little more alcohol content than wine. Of course, the way we shared involved drinking games (don't worry, there wasn't enough there for anyone to get drunk), but there was some good conversation as well and we have made some Korean friends here on campus.
So, that was "the first full day", although the day before was probably even more full. Today we start language classes, and I have my first cooking class in the evening. Should be a good time!
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