Language Barriers All Around

If my posts seem disorganized and feel like a bunch of random thoughts and events, not only is that how I tend think, that’s kinda how my days feel to me at this point. Furthermore, if you find these posts to be long, try not talking English all day but experiencing a bunch of things you want to talk about. Come along for the ride!

Professor Lee came back from the United States today so I got to talk to him for a little while about how I liked Korea and small talk like that. Then he asked me what was one of the major differences between Korea and America so far and I said there is an incredibly strict hierarchy in Korea that just isn’t present what so ever in America. Elders are your superiors and that’s pretty much the end of the discussion, whether graduate students or people on the street. He laughed and joked “In America, you hold the door open for girl, but in Korea, you hold door open for elder!”

Should have said I was 25 instead of 20, ‘cause I’m pretty sure I’m getting demoted to the undergraduate lab tomorrow…

He also said something interesting about the dynamics of the lab, which felt more “family” like to me. He gets the utmost respect from all of the students, which is kinda similar to the US in respecting your PI, but this is a whole new level. That being said, he is responsible for finding jobs/doctorate positions for all of his students who are graduating! How nuts is that? So there is definitely a closer tie between professor and lab members here in Korea then there is in America. He said that he has graduated about 50 students so far. He also said something I thought was funny in that even though he gets all the respect, he has to pay for everyone when they go out for dinner ‘cause that is the senior person’s responsibility, but every project that gets funded in Korea actually has a budget for this particular purpose. I thought that was pretty cool.

He also came in with a brand new iPad from his trip to America and when I asked if he bought it, he said that he got it fo’ free. Apparently some people from Apple took him out to dinner and gave him one because he freakin’ developed the LCD screen for the iPad and the iPod touch. He discovered/invented (can never tell with science) the way that you can look at a screen from any angle. Try looking at you laptop from different angles and if it’s an older model, you’ll see the picture go blurry. But if you look at an iPad or most phones now, you can look at it from any angle and still see the screen. Pretty sweet, eh eh eh?

I think the best part of the day was when he busted into lab later in the day and exclaimed “Andy, you don’t drink?!?!?!?” If you didn’t know, drinking and eating are a GINOURMOUS part of Korean culture, so of course this type of news is a BFD (big “furry” deal). I knew that this false accusation my professor asked me came from something lost in translation. When I had been previously asked “Do you drink?” by other lab members and I answered “Yes, but the drinking age in the US is 21 and I’m only 20, so I can’t drink publically.” Made me chuckle inside, and now everyone in lab is telling me that drinking is fun, just not too much, which I politely nod and say “yes” since it’s too much of a hassle to explain what got lost in translation. Apparently we’re playing soccer with everyone in the lab (professor included, how sweet is that?) tomorrow and then getting drinks and food later for my welcoming party and “first” time drinking.

Out of context thing said to me today: “I want to play with you.”

Context: He asked me before the above statement if I was bored, which I said “Just reading up on LCD things” aka “Yes.” Then he said the out of context statement, then completed the statement with: “But we are all too busy with work.” Which I replied “I wish I was too…”

I’m sure all of you are asking: What are you doing in your research? Honestly, pretty sure it’s going to be a whole lot of nothing (just like real undergraduate research. JK! But not really). He gave me a choice of “working” on monitors which can be seen in the sun or developing blue phase liquid crystals; I’m probably going to choose the latter. The problem with these experiences is I know from previous research that it takes months to just be trained in equipment and lab procedures, let alone be doing something meaningful for the lab. So I think that I’m basically going to be shadowing others, and that’s the best case scenario right now. I spent the day trying to figure out LCD stuff, and finally did about an hour ago. I’m going to be figuring out electro-wetting tomorrow for shits and giggles.

Korean’s don’t say anything after someone sneezes, or people in this lab don’t. Not sure if that’s the norm yet.

Things I’m now used to in Korea: Being stared at walking down the street (saw another American guy yesterday!). Conversations about me that I’m not engaged in, but am witnessing first hand. Jokes that are completely lost in translation, but laughing anyways. Not having generally coherent conversation, but rather exchanging a few sentences. LANGUAGE BARRIERS ARE HUGE!!!!!!!

Things I am not used to, nor will ever be: Being treated like a baby, and necessarily so. I can’t speak or read Korean well enough to get around. I have to be escorted everywhere outside of lab. If you know me, I’m kinda fiercely independent when it comes to taking care of myself or setting my schedule. The thing is that I can get from lab to my apartment and back comfortably, which I explained to everyone so that I don’t have to tell someone I am ready to leave and feel like a dick cutting into their work day (9AM to 10PM in lab by the way. A shorter day by last semester’s standards, yet it is technically summer for me). The response to me saying this was, “It is our culture to take care/protect guests.” Shut down….

AM I RANTING?!?!?! FUCK YEAH!!!!

Until my next catharsis, you stay classy San Diego.

Officially the Minority

Hey everyone who cares to read this, I have made it to Jeonju, South Korea in one piece. It was a little sketchy since I basically got off a plane and then was put on a bus 3 and half hours south with a phone number and hopes that there was someone there to meet me. Luckily there was, and everyone in my lab so far has been incredibly nice to me. Lots of different and cultural things have been happening to me in just to days, so I'm just going to ramble for awhile until I get tired and go to bed (I'm 13 hours in the future). I have to say though, I am definitely not used to be completely dependent on others, even for the basics like food and whatnot. I guess I just have to get used to it or start learning a whole lot of Korean really really quickly. It's like being in a continual state of confusion since everywhere I look, there's more things that I don't know about.

Here's a quick tour of my apartment, which I share with two other people, though I have my own room. The entrance and kitchen:

Yeah, that's a refrigerator crammed into the corner there, with a clothes drying rack in front of it since there's no dryer. Now, for the part which I am struggling with the most; the bathroom/toilet/everything combo:

Notice the lack of separation between anything. So whenever I have taken a shower, everything gets wet and I'm not really sure if that is normal or not yet. Sometimes I just want to go to the bathroom, and I have to put on slippers to protect against the wet floor. And now a close up on the sink part:

You may notice that the shower head is directly attached to the sink. There's a little button there to switch between the sink and the shower head, which I tend to forget about when I just want to wash my hands... And I'm fully clothed. Guess I just have to start remembering to check for that.

Another thing I have to get used to is that during meals, it seems that drinking liquid is just not the status quo. They give you a shot glass size thing of water, and everyone seems to save it for the end of the meal. I've experienced this before in Japan, but it's different here since the food is pretty damn spicy and I need some water to wash it down and cool my tongue. Not sure how to handle this yet. I guess I'll just hope my body gets used to the lack of liquid during meal times. Also, Korean use steel chopsticks that are thinner than normal chopsticks, so it's kinda like eating with 2 coffee stirrers that are metal.

Also something that I thought was really interesting is that in the lab where all the computers are and everyone is just typing, the "dry lab" if I may, there's a sink there with bowls and a whole lot of tooth brushes. After every meal we eat, most people, if not everyone, brushes their teeth in the lab. I just thought that was interesting and pretty different from the labs in America. Definitely more of a "family" feel to lab rather than a place of work, though we do still work late.

My professor isn't in until Monday, so I still have no idea what I am actually doing for these 9 weeks until then. I think my plan this weekend is to walk all around the campus and try to get better bearings as to where I am instead of wandering around and hoping that something looks familiar.

Reasons

Started this blog for a few reasons: follow my brother's, have something to tell anyone who cares to listen about my international research experience in South Korea, and maybe eventually write something on my mind if/when I find the time. But right now, all I'm worried about is the MCAT, so check back in a few months and there may be something relevant here.

And I still believe that blogs are 95% for the writer, but there's nothing wrong with seeing your own thoughts physically in front of you sometimes rather then continually clunking around in your own mind, even if you're talking to an empty room.