Jonathan Jamieson

Last week (on Thursday and Friday) I went to a conference organised by KIER. I did a short presentation on Scottish wind energy and what I will be researching. The conference was held at Gyeongju Hilton Hotel. It’s the first time I’ve stayed at a Hilton hotel and I can’t say I was very impressed — very overpriced and it didn’t even include breakfast! Give me a basic hotel with a continental breakfast any day!

The meal on Thursday evening was something special. The food just kept coming… I think we had about 3 big starters. The older people at the other table didn’t even have a main course!

It was at a sit-on-the-floor Korean Restaurant which I like because the atmosphere is more informal. Despite the fact Korean’s eat very quickly (I’ve been told the military service men a required to do trains them to eat as if they’re always in a rush) meals can take a long time. This is because more and more dishes are brought out. You could be forgiven for thinking you had eater your main course when really you’ve only finished the 2nd starter!

One of the courses was a BBQ. You are given uncooked meat and cook it yourself.

Hui and I skipped the £14 breakfast and caught the Gyeongju City Tour bus at 9:30 outside the hotel. Our host, Dr Kim, recommended this tour as good way to see Gyeongju. He was absolutely right and it was a good day. The  prices were very reasonable; £9 for the a whole day on the bus and £6.50 for entrance into all the places we stopped at. Lunch wasn’t included in the price but we stopped at a well priced restaurant we good portions so no complaints there either!

When we got on the bus it was almost full and we were at the penultimate pick-up point.There was young girl with her parents on the seats in front of us. I think she was quite shy but her English was pretty good. She explained Gyeongju Cakes to us and she seemed to enjoy my juggling.

The places the bus stopped at were:

Bulguksa Temple → Folk Craft Village (Silla Arts and Science Museum) → Bunhwangsa Temple → Tomb of General Kim Yusin → Daereungwon (Cheonmachong) → Gyeongju National Museum → Cheomseongdae

I decided to get a photo of me juggling at every stop. I usually chose the more discreet locations but sometimes it’s unavoidable to not attract attention!

I did take some non-juggling photos too! I did not focus on trying to take amazing photos. While I love my compact Casio it is no SLR camera so the quality is sometimes not-so-good. However, the main reason is because I wanted to relax and enjoy the journey. When all you are thinking about is what would make a good shot then you don’t experience the place you are trying to capture.

I’ve been in Korea for over 3 weeks now. The last couple of weeks have been good. I’ve moved to new accommodation, Daedeok Innopolis Guest House, which is very nice. Unfortunately it is not as convenient as the on-campus dormitories at KIER.

The view at night from my room

The cycle ride to and from work takes about 20 minutes. Because the monsoon season started at the beginning of this week it can be quite wet! Korean’s seem to prefer umbrellas over jackets but it’s not very easy to ride and hold one at the same time.

Yesterday I went with some graduates from America who are staying in Daejeon doing research at different institutes. Mr Kim from KIER took us to a Korean restaurant, bowling, food shopping, culture room, Santa Claus Bar and a Korean bar.

Unfortunately I didn’t take many pictures but I’ll try and get some from someone else.

The Korean restaurant was very “quaint”. We had a little room to ourselves and the food was good. The most amusing incident was the discovery of how Korean’s deal with overcrowded car parks. The etiquette is to leave the hand brake off when you leave your car. If your car is blocking someone then they simply get out of their car and push your car out of the way. The system seems to work surprisingly well!

I had an unusually good bowling game with a score of 159. Fortunately we only played one game so I didn’t need to push my luck and be exposed as a fraud. Korean’s take bowling a little more seriously than anyone I’ve met in the UK. Some of them wore “spinning gloves”…

Shops in the city

I’ve been in Korea for just over a week now. I have settled into my work and I am slightly less sensitive to the ridiculously hot food that is served every meal.  On Friday, my supervisor, Dr Kim, took me and a few others for a meal at a restaurant that crosses Korean and Italian food. There were lots of starters with the more unusual things (at least to me!) were octopus ink bread and fried squid. My main meal was a combination I wouldn’t have thought would go well together, steak and noodles but it did. In fact it was very good!

Hi-tech toilet seats

For me to experience Korean culture is just as important as the work I do. I have been researching places I want to visit and things I want to see. This weekend I kept it fairly local. I went to Daejeon centre again on Saturday to get some food and other essentials. I went into “Home Plus” which is partly run by Tesco. There were a few similarities but not many! I also went to what I think was Guseongdong Sanseong (mountain fortress) but it was a bit of an let down because all I could find was a bench. I’ll go again sometime and see if just missed it. It’s nice to know I still have lots of time to visit places. It’s also good to go back to places for a second time because I often miss something the first time.

Me and the bike

Today (Sunday) I borrowed a bike and cycled to Yuseong (foot) Spa. It was a very pleasant ride along the river and the cycle path was just about deserted. I think I expected Daejeon to busier than it actually is. Glasgow on Saturday afternoon seems to be more crowded! I had read about the foot spa in a travel guide so I knew the etiquette in advance. You need to wash your feet before you put them in! The water was very hot. I think it would be more pleasant in winter but it was still relaxing even when the temperature outside was about 30°C. I met a friendly man there but unfortunately I cannot remember his name and the name on his business is in Korean. I really need to get myself some business cards! He also sent of one of his kids to get everyone a cold drink. The generosity and kindness of Korean’s has been wonderful.  His children were very cute and despite all of them being less than 10 they spoke English better than I speak Korean!

My new friends

I am going to try and learn some Korean while I am here. However it seems really difficult because I don’t think I pronounce anything correctly. I had the bright idea of loading a map onto my phone which a dot in Scotland so people know where I come from. I’ve been suspected as English, Irish, French  and American so far!

Long time, no update? It has been a little busy.

The week at Loch Eil Outward Bound Centre was good fun. Not a relaxing holiday — but fun nonetheless!

The parts for our third year group project became available the day before the Easter holidays. After we came back there was a frantic rush to get the solar still built and tested. A website was also prepared for it. I will probably cover this project another time in a different post because there is plenty to say about it!

Early May my summer placement at KIER was confirmed. There was quite a lot to get organised and I won’t go into all the details but I travelled to London with Kim the day before I was due to fly to pick up my VISA from the Korean Embassy. Time schedules like that leave me a little stressed!

But here I am in Korea. I’ve had a few days to settle in having arrived Friday evening. I had extra sleep time on Saturday and Sunday afternoon to make up for my 24+ hour stay awake marathon when I travelled from Glasgow to Daejeon. I walked to Daejeon city on Saturday to buy food and bedding. Unfortunately the cheapest bedding I could find is flowery and pink.

I think the cook in the cafeteria is trying to kill me because every meal involves me having my head blown off by the spicy hotness. Everyone else eats their food and then has a drink but I just can’t do that. I go through a bottle of water per meal. Maybe at the end of three months I might be able to manage?!

Someone asked me what Korea was like — my answer was/is that it’s “very Korean”. South Korea is very homogeneous and I haven’t seen any white people since I left the airport. This is no bad thing though! The people I’ve met have been helpful and tried there best to sort out any difficulties. The language barrier means it can be quite difficult at times for both sides. It’s fortunate I don’t a Glaswegian accent!

However, everyone’s English is far superior to my Korean so I would like to learn a little of the language. Currently I can say “hello, thank you, yes and no”. It’s a little bit limited!

I had a bit of a water fight with a toilet today. Needless to say it came off better. To be honest I see it as a little bit of karma. I was so distracted by the control panel I didn’t even notice the handle to flush it was just in the normal place. I don’t think I’ll ever forget what “that” button does though. The cartoon diagrams did act as clues and acted as fair warning at the risks I faced using that toilet.

But I could never stay mad at it — the thing has a heated seat!!