Food

I forgot about a request once upon a time, long long ago, like a week, to write about Korean food.

It’s good.

(Source)

Medical Schoolio

For those of you who don’t know, I did really really shitty on my MCAT, below average overall score and one section FAR below the average. Needless to say, I was incredibly disappointed in myself and felt that I had let everyone down who said that I would be a good doctor. The low score has not stopped my from applying for this cycle, since I realized 2 things: 1) I can’t even tell you how much I don’t want to take the MCAT again, so anything that’ll prevent that from happening is worth trying and 2) I want to be a doctor, WTF do I care if I learn it from Stanford or the lowest ranked college there is? This is, however, the first time I have ever applied to anything as a below average canidate. The very thought of being below average just strikes a nasty cord in my stomach, even as I am writing this. I dunno where I got this behavioral tick, but it’s definitely there. (Before any of you jump to “because your Asian” bullshit, my parents are the most supportive people in the world and never pushed me into becoming a doctor or studying more. Hell, my parents tell me to get out of the library every time they called me last semester!) Anyways, I’m looking at an uphill struggle to get to medical school, even more than I anticipated, and I am expecting a lot of rejection letters. I just need to get past the “number barrier” i.e. schools that filter based on your MCAT and GPA scores and begin to look at other aspects of your application, because I think I have done well outside of the MCAT. I just hoping for an interview so I can show them who I am, not just a shitty MCAT score. Here’s a list of schools I’m applying to for those of you curious:

George Washington University

Georgetown University

Loyola University Chicago Stritch

Mayo Medical School

Medical College of Wisconsin

Oregon Health and Science University

Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science

Saint Loius University

University of Colorado- Denver

University of Maryland

University of Minnesota- Minneapolis

University of Vermont

University of Wisconsin

Viriginia Commonwealth University

Wake Forest University

That post left a sour taste in my mouth, so here’s a love poem to lighten it up, because I want a love that’s as unexplainable as she is

DMZ

I haven’t written for awhile, mostly because I’m lazy and the trip is almost over, but at the request of 3 feminine entities, I decided to write some shit about stuff and things, starting with the DMZ.

So two weeks ago, our professor came to Korea to take us to the DMZ, the demilitarized zone which is the border between North Korea and South Korea. Yes, it is open to tourists, but it is much easier to go as a foreigner since apparently we aren’t a threat or something, I dunno. Woke up at 7 after the heaviest night of drinking I’ve had here. Got on the bus and my professor said I smelled like soju (whoops), and said that they don’t let people in if they smell like alcohol. I proceeded to buy some gum and chew vigorously, since it was my breathe that smelled apparently, and we continued on our guided tour. It took us to various monuments about the Korean War and thinga like that before we finally reached the actually DMZ, where we had to show our passport and be all official and stuff. They were adamant that there are only certain areas that we can take pictures due to security, blah blah blah. Anyways, we drive past a bunch of barriers and whatnot while the guide is rambling about history and important people. We get out, get oriented about what to do and what not to do in the DMZ area and then (FINALLY) go to the DMZ. We drive around and see the village which is located in the DMZ whose members get special benefits from the government so they stay there and make South Korea look good. Then we saw two flag poles, including the largest flagpole in the world, infront of their respective propaganda villages, one being actually inhabited in the South and just empty shells of building in the North. Then we finally went to the border, were North Korean and South Korean guards stare at each other:

South Korean soldier leaning forward as much as he can while staring at the North. For our protection

North Korean Soldiers protecting their country by reporting on the dangerous tourists (Source)

During this portion, we were told to only take pictures in a certain direction, no pointing or hand gestures, etc. We were then allowed in a South Korean controlled building which spanned into North Korea, so we could technically be in North Korea. There were 2 guards in there “for our protection”. After that, we drove around for awhile and looked at different sites and the “Bridge of No Return,” where once upon a time, people decided to go North or South, some never returning. Afterwards, we were driven back to Seoul then we partied with our Professor, who drank more soju than I thought possible.

So what did I think of the DMZ? Honestly, it’s like two children debating about who is better, Batman or Superman. I think that there is no way those guards above stand like that all day, leaning towards and staring diligently at North Korea. I don’t think that the guards in the building stand there all day and stare at a goddamn wall for security purposes. There’s cameras EVERYWHERE! WTF do they need to pay people to stand and stare at each other all day??? The only firearms are shitty handguns in this particular area, so if anything does happen, they would have to have hissy fits at each other first before the actual soldiers arrived. So I thought it was mostly for show, for tourists and for trying to pretend to be better than the other half. It was intense, but mostly since the tour guides and “guards” were all stringent with their rules and pretending like there were dire consequences if we pointed at the North Korean side. Afterwards though, I just thought it was all bullshit. Good to experience propaganda at its finest though.

Seoul Land

This weekend I went to Seoul to see the National Museum of Korea with Alex since everyone else didn’t feel like going or something, I dunno. The museum was HUGE, and we spent 3 hours just in the interior and didn’t explore the exterior at all since we were pretty tired anyways and started to walk through the exhibits pretty quickly. Neither of us was interested in pottery or calligraphy, which there were a shit load in the museum. After that, we decided to head to Seoul Grand Park, not knowing anything about it except that it sounded sweet.

So we got out of the subway station and started to wander around, generally following the flow of people since we didn’t know what it was or where to go. As we approached a larger building, it appeared to be a zoo of some sort, but there was a large walking path around a lake so we decided to just start walking around the lake rather than paying for anything because we didn’t know what we were getting into. As we walked around and saw some monkey in an enclosed area and other zoo like features, we came across something called Seoul Land, an amusement park area. It was about $22 bucks to get in and we were debating if we wanted to go in or just keep walking and start on our gift shopping, which honestly feels like a damn chore to us men, but we have to do it eventually for all the ladies back home. We went in since it didn’t look crowded. We also noticed that there wasn’t a whole lot of teenage/younger people there, which was worrisome.

Regardless, the best part of the night was our first roller coaster ride, when there was a “Wet” line and a “Dry” line for the same roller coaster. Being the ignorant Americans that we were and since NO ONE was in the “Dry” line, we just jumped into the “Wet” line and figured they changed the track or something for the wet runs. It was a double loop roller coaster and that was about the only highlight since the rest of the track was a series of bank turns and some tunnels. The real scary part was that most rides in Korea have a height LIMIT, so that really tall people don’t kill themselves in the tunnels and stuff. While on the ride, we thought a couple of trees and the tunnel ceiling were going to chop off our heads, so that was probably the scariest part of the ride.

That’s not the best part though. After the double loop, Alex and I were just waiting for the “wet” part of the ride. We went through a series of banked curve, ducked the trees of death, and then went through another tunnel. Right before the last tunnel, they turned on some water streams that sprayed everyone in the face! WTF?!?!?! The ENTIRE ride, we were anticipating something sweet with water, and it was just getting blasted by some automated hoses in the face! My immediate response was “Well, that was completely un-fucking-necessary!” (sorry mom) I think we were laughing about how absurd it was more than being angry about it.

Rest of the night was fun with other rides and having some screaming contests with kids while we were riding the coasters. Sunday was spent at Hwaseong Fortress, being tourists and climbing a “mountain” aka steep hill in Colorado.

Still doing nothing in lab, so I’m really really bored during the day…

Jjimjilbang

A quick shout out to my parents who now have access to reading my blog through my brother. In all honesty, I’m slightly regretting the decision to give my brother the go ahead since I’ve been a lot more apprehensive about what I write in here, so expect a cleaner mouthed version of the Andy most of you know (see previous posts) since I can’t disappoint my mom with my bad language.

We went to a jjimjilbang this Sunday, kinda like a super spa. It was pretty awesome and really relaxing. The one we went to was 2 floors. The first floor contained the shower area and a whole bunch of baths. Everyone is naked, segregated by sex of course, and there are different pools that are at different temperatures, ranging from 22 degrees Celsius (71F) to 41 degrees C (106F). Each had lay down areas or massage jets. There was also a sauna that was 71 degrees C (160F). That was really brutal, so much so that it hurt to move after sitting for about 2 minutes. Like when you waved your hand in the sauna, it felt like a burning sensation. Walking out of the room was pretty painful as well. The other floor was much more interesting. There are a series of rooms situated around the out perimeter of an area, each at a different temperature, ranging from 8 degress C (46F) all the way to 100 degrees C (212F). The 100 degree C one was out of control! It looked like entering the mouth of hell due to all the heaters. It was ridiculously hot in there and everything bad from my body got sweated out. On top of that, the men in the group Rock-Paper-Scissored and the loser had to do ten pushups in the hottest room. Another room which was about 37 degrees C (99F) had a bunch of little rocks on the ground that you lay down on then pile some on your chest for some extra heat exposure. The rocks were hot enough where putting your feet down too long was a little painful. After each foray into a hot room, we’d cool off in the coldest room. In the middle of this area, there are a bunch of little beds, massage machines, and some food places on the outside. The jjimjilbangs are open 24 hours a day, so it’s a popular place to go and just stay all night in one of the sleeping areas of sleeping room. It was a really relaxing day full of some good cultural experience.

I broke my shin, but it's cool, I can still run after you give him a penalty

I’ve been trying to watch as much World Cup action as I can, but the game times here are 8:30PM, 11:00PM, and 3:30 AM. I basically watch the first two games, then go to sleep and watch the replay of the 3:30AM game if I actually care about who is playing. Currently, I feel completely sleep deprived, but is it worth it? It seems like most of the games consist of shanks, shooting the ball way over the nets, bitching to the ref or falling down in the most dramatic fashion possible. Don’t get me wrong here, I love soccer, but soccer players are the biggest pussies and complainers (Cristiano Ronaldo is their king in this respect. Gah, I hate that guy!) in sports. If they didn’t try so hard to get a foul, wave their hands for offsides, and act like their shin was broken every time they get touched in the shoulder or thigh, I feel like they could make an actual play on the ball or stop the forward from getting a chance. In the Mexico-France game, instead of trying to catch Hernandez after he sprung the trap and help the goalie out, they defenders look at the touch judge with their hands up. Fuck the call, play the game! The problem is that is it so hard for the ref to determine if they are diving because of a weak foul or if they are diving because they can get a free kick. The rewards are too great and the punishment non-existent for diving (I think I have seen one yellow for diving), so it’ll always be part of the sport until instant replay is implemented for every call (aka never).

On a less bitchy note, Japan won for the first time on foreign soil and both USA and Korea have the chance to advance. Only blemish was Spain losing since I have them winning the WC in my bracket, but gotta love it when the underdog wins. Argentina looks like an unstoppable force, though their competition hasn’t been the best so far (sorry Korea). I think Africa’s last hope is Ghana or more likely Côte d'Ivoire, which hopefully at least advance out of the group stages and leaves Portugal in the dust.

GO USA!!!! FUCK FRANCE!!!!

KIEEME Conference and Muju

I went to the KIEEME (Korean Institute of Electrical, Electronic, and Materials Engineers) Conference and Muju, South Korea. The conference took place at a ski resort and I know you are all dying to know how Korean conferences are like compared to American conferences. I am happy to report that they are just as boring and long, with the added non-excitement of not being able to read any posters or understand any presentations since most everything was in Korean. The only minor difference was that at the beginning of the conference, they had every person who was presenting a poster give a short presentation about what their poster was about, 1 minute long and usually less than that. While that may seems short, if you ever attended a conference there are a lot of posters during each day. It was interesting I guess and it gives a little more incentive/responsibility to poster people rather than just standing by their poster and hoping that someone cares. The only part I enjoyed was reading some posters with English on them:

Past that, we chilled and played some poker while watching Spain lose to the Swedes. Then we went to a national park and rode some bikes around. Their bikes are really small, kinda like trying to ride a kid’s bike with dual shocks. Not only is the crank arm damn small so you feel like you’re riding a trike, the dual shocks absorb some energy you put into peddling. Needless to say, the hills did not treat me well. We also wading in a crik for a little and splashed each other, though I wasn’t expecting the splashing part so I didn’t take off my shirt.

It was tittly nipply, then ridiculously humid for the rest of the day. Good times, good times.