Getting used to the way of things

Here's what I've been up to the past couple of days.

Breakfast of rice and seaweed, soup, fried spam, and dried fishies

When I tried to obtain a membership for the fitness center in the dorm, I was informed that you couldn't pay cash. So I waited in line at the ATM twice for close to an hour each time to no avail. The machines don't take cash or foreign debit cards for anything but withdrawals. Gah! So the next day, I went to the Woori Bank branch in the shops and services center and got it taken care of. I gave them my money and the SKKU account number, and five minutes later I was done!

All that trouble for a little purple sticker.

I also tried to go to a store to obtain Ibuprofen. First of all, none of the convenience stores carry any sort of medication, so I went through six or seven before I saw what looked like a pharmacy. Evidently on March 1st, Indepence Movement Day, all the major businesses are closed. Came back the next day, asked for ee-bu-peu-ro-pen, and got what I came for. Let's just say that even simple tasks are much harder when you don't know the customs or the language.

The pharmacy, 약, or yahk

It was even written on the package in English!

And now for some random pictures!

The west gate to the University

The Samsung apartments in which I might be living during the summer

Work those obliques!

Most of the gateways, whether old or new, have a traditional roof

They're everywhere! I see at least four every time I go out.

Orange wall in the dorm

Sunset

Neat air hose system for shoe cleaning after walking around the lake

I've been eating in the cafeteria most days since they gave us little meal tickets that let us eat for free, but I have had a few food adventures since I got here. The food choices around the University are a bit limited as well, however I did find a nice restaurant specializing in dumplings, steamed on the spot.

Freshly steamed kimchi mandu

 I also took a bus toward central Suwon to see if I could get a prepaid SIM chip for my phone. All the smaller phone shops couldn't help, and the larger shop I had planned on going to was closed. Tough luck. Instead, I wandered around looking for food. I walked into a random restaurant shortly before I realized that nothing on the menu looked familiar. So I took off my shoes, sat down at one of the low tables, and sort of mimed confusion. The ajumma that ran the place took pity on me, and pointed to one of the first choices on the menu. I nodded, ne(yes), and she went off to go cook my food while the ajeossi I presume was her husband brought me my banchan.

Kettle on the traditionally low table(sitting on the floors
 made sense because they were heated(ondol)) 

Main dish and banchan.

Fried octopus with veggies? Nakjibokkeumjeongshik

A sort of egg souffle soup

All done. It was sooo good.

After the delicious meal, I walked to the Hwaseong Fortress, a wall surrounding central Suwon. It reminded me a bit of the Great Wall of China.

Cannon, set to inflict self damage.
A few feet to either side would make all the difference.

The wall...

The inside. Once you get over the wall, you have it easy.

Yin-yang on one of the watchtower doors

All along the watchtower... blue and white flags flew proudly

The stairs to the top of the hill

Interesting lock on one of the doors.

Tree with Suwon in the background. Not as massive as Seoul
 but still incredibly densely populated.

Happy orange and blue roofs!

Oh noes! Falling!!!

The bus stops actually tell you when the next bus is coming!
I had to wait 6 "boon" for the 62-1. You can also use a Tmoney card for the fare.

On a side note: tomorrow is my first class day!!!