Hello, here I am blogging once again.
It's been a couple of days since I was here and it's bright and sunny today! It's about 7degC now, according to
Korea Meteorological Administration although it's cloudy, with some possible rain between 6 to 9pm. But still, I'm thankful for the sun's rays! I think I should step out to buy some things as well as withdraw some money from Citibank. It's not too far away (just about an hour's walk, and I have no idea what bus goes there) so we'll see how later.
So, a lot of things have happened and I'm slowly slowly getting accustomed to the things and weather around here.
About the room:
It's still rather barren, although now I've purchased a mattress (69,900W, 79SGD), a pillow (5,990W, 6.80SGD) and a blanket (19,900W, 22.50SGD). The other day when I went to the Housing Office, the rental for mattress was 10,000W for a few days, and right now it's like 10,000W until you move out! Yikes! Which means I paid an utterly much higher price for my mattress, even though the quality is better.. but heck, I only need it for this semester! *Shall make a note to sell the mattress later on.
The blanket's pretty nice and warm though. Together with the ondol heating, it's actually not as freezing anymore. I don't know what they stuff inside the pillow, but it's really quite comfortable and springy. And not too expensive either.
When you're a student (again) living on limited cash, you just gotta scrimp and save!
Supermarkets in Pohang:
This was where I got all my bedding items & toilet paper from, and I think it's pretty awesome, if I had more time to shop that day. It's an all-in-one mall, selling skin care (Face Shop, Skin Food, etc), clothes, furniture, food, etcetc. Everything has the description on the supermarket shelves (albeit in Korean) but it's rather easy getting what you want, I know some people like it for Tesco, but whether it's imported food or not doesn't really matter to me, but if you miss your comfort foods, it's a good place to head to!
I haven't been there before and it's about a 20minute (uphill) walk from the apartment. It's also apparently another all-in-one mall, but you could get local food at a cheaper price I heard. However, it's not like I'm intending to cook yet, at least not till I move to the dorms, so I probably only need to get fruits and breakfast. Might go there more often next semester I guess.
I heard that the aisles and smaller and it might be pricier so I'll probably skip this one. Still, it's another all-in-one store
4. Hyoja Market
This is an open-air market which I suppose locals will go to more often, since the ajumas may not be able to communicate in anything else but Korean. I wonder if the prices are cheaper though. It's about 5-10minutes walk from Postech, although I don't know from which direction and which gate, but I think I will go and take a look sometime.
Bus rides cost 1200W (1.35SGD) regardless of the distance if you pay by cash, and cheaper if you pay by T money. So I might get a T money card soon, maybe from Family Mart or something.
P.S. The supermarkets all have their items online, so I can see what are the good deals and compare prices :)
Places I frequent in campus:
1. Lab
Okay, not permanently yet, but more to come. The work culture is about 9am to 10pm in just about every other lab, and I wonder if that's a good or bad thing. Bad because (if you stay with a family) you get less time with your family and roommates, less time to exercise and relax. But it's good in a sense you get more things done, try to graduate faster, and well, save on electricity bill since you only go back to the room to sleep (at least for the apartment you have to pay electricity bills.) Still, the work looks rather interesting and I can foresee that if I do well, what kind of industries I can go into, so I'm going to work super duper hard! This will just be my few days of recuperation before I go full steam ahead!
Culture difference #1: They wear sandals in the lab (with socks, since it's winter). Haha, I thought we always had to wear covered shoes! So just by that, everyone knows that I'm not local once they see my footwear in the lab. lol
Culture difference #2: I'm not supposed to use "Don't you...." or "Aren't you..." because Koreans can take it in a negative way. So I have to use sentences with "Do you..." or "Are you..."
Culture difference #3: You have to call "Oppa" to someone senior, although I still need some getting used to that. When you arrive/leave the lab you have to great everyone, but that's what I do in Singapore anyway, so I wouldn't really add that as a culture difference.
2. Jigok Community Centre
This is where I get my lunches and dinners from. If you choose Set A or B, it costs 2,200W (2.50SGD) which includes a soup, rice (you can add as much as you want without extra cost), kimchi, veggie, and 2 other side dishes. I don't have a photo yet but I should take one soon. It's very filing, though I think the walk back to lab will digest half of the food I eat. Oh, and you can just take the water to drink/rinse your mouth after that too.
Culture difference #1: The locals will wash the cup first before getting more water to drink, because they think that the cup isn't washed properly! I think I never quite bothered about this back in Singapore.
Culture difference #2: They all tend to brush their teeth after meals. And like they would put the toothpaste onto the toothbrush IN the lab, and while talking/walking they would just brush their teeth. Haha, I was told that it's because the smell of kimchi, garlic, etc is very strong in their food, that's why they do so. Looks like I need to get some toothpaste and toothbrush and place it in the lab too.
Culture difference #3: You have to say 맛있게 드세요 before you eat. I think in Singapore, well, you just kind of tuck in. :p
3. Graduate Student Apartment (대학원아파트)
Yes, this is where my barren room is, but yes, I do spend time here to sleep as well.
So that's about it for now! Will blog more again another time!
