Settling in

The first few days at the Suwon campus of Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU) have been rather uneventful. I got some of my paperwork done and got to know the area around campus a little better. My roommate's name is Tamires, and she's from Brazil. She's here with four other students from her university, and they all seem very nice so far. Other than that, I met  Petra from Finland, Samantha from  Mexico, and the other three guys from UT, one of whom is originally from Austria.

The library, the "pride and joy" of the campus

 There is a fairly large lake just south of the campus. The track that runs around it is just over a mile in length, perfect for a morning jog. There are also several areas with exercise equipment.

Bridge next to the lake.

Muddy rice paddy, possibly fertilized with manure judging by the smell.

Grape vines? This might be the agricultural students' project

Multicolored roofs

Human city Suwon. Thank goodness! I was starting to worry that all
these Koreans were Gumihos (fox demons).

View of the dorms. I'm staying in the one on the left, on the third floor

Entrance to the university

 On Wednesday, all the exchange students in Suwon had to travel to Seoul for the orientation there. They talked at us about paperwork and acclimatization to Korea. The Help and Informational Club, HI-Club, members introduced themselves and talked a bit about both campuses and planned events. The HI-Club's sole purpose is to help out the foreign exchange students and make them feel welcome. I later met my HI-Club buddy who goes by the English name of Clark. After the HI-Club info, they had a quiz session with prizes for correct answers. Then we all took a group photo and went to a reception with delicious food that lasted way too long. I met a lot of interesting people from all over. Most of them are studying in Suwon though.

Gandalf statue on the way to the Seoul campus

The neat bookmark and magnetic case that I won for answering correctly

The reception. About a hundred students, only 13 of whom are studying in Suwon

Yummy food.

After the reception, the Suwon group went to dinner for more food. I forgot to take pictures. :( It was some sort of stew with lots of bean sprouts, cut up sausages, various other pieces of meat, and lots of spicy sauce, simmered in a shallow bowl on the table and eaten over rice. To finish the meal off, more rice was added to the bowl and was cooked until crispy, after which it was scraped off of the sides and eaten. We then went to the International House on campus to relax and chat for a while before heading to the afterparty. We headed back to the Suwon campus just in time to catch the last subway train at midnight, and made it back before the dorms closed at 1 o'clock curfew.

The bar where the afterparty took place, right next to the restaurant where we had eaten

Mama and kiddy toilets in the subway station

And for your viewing pleasure, dinner at the cafeteria in the dorm. Kimchi and rice are served for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

It wasn't too bad the first time around,
but I get the feeling it's going to get boring pretty fast