Week 16 -- Shabu shabu and Gubongsan

1. (What I learned about Korea)

Clayton, Derrick and I went out for shabu shabu this week. Shabu shabu is popular in both Japan and Korea, and we had a very good meal of it here in Daejeon. So I learned what shabu shabu is, and thus I learned a little more about food in Daejeon and Korea.


This week I also went and hiked on Gubongsan mountain. Gubongsan is another of the Eight Scenic Sights of Daejeon. It was unlike the other mountains I've hiked in that it was more of a chain of peaks connected by a series of ridges, as opposed to there being either one peak or multiple peaks separated by valleys. Hiking along the ridges enabled me to see some breathtaking views, and I learned more about the scenery of Daejeon while doing so.


After hiking on Gubongsan, I headed over to the Standing Buddha Statue at Bongsosa temple. This is a famous cultural artifact. Examining it taught me a little more about Buddhist sculpture, especially as this particular statue is supposed to be very representative of Buddha statues.


Finally, after my tourism adventures, I found a restaurant where I could try boar. I again learned more about Korean food, and also that I like the taste of boar.


2. (Project status)


I determined that the HUBO computer should be able to run a version of the beat tracker, and that putting it onboard the HUBO is probably possible. I also wrote most of a serial port addition to the HUBO code that would let it receive information from the beat tracker. I continued working on the documentation of the motor controllers. Finally, I received confirmation that the ICHIT paper was accepted.


3. (Photos)


The first photo is from the top of Gubongsan, and the second is of the Buddha statue.

4. (What I learned about myself)


Despite some setbacks involving the serial port code this week (the original serial port functions I wanted to use were depreciated on my system, necessitating a switch to other ones that were more complex), I was able to push through it, demonstrating that I have perseverance.


5. (New people I met this week)


I was rather busy this week and so was not able to meet anyone new. I did find out when the English village meets, though, and so I should be able to go there one day this next week and strike up conversations.


6. (Politics)


No new news from North Korea that we've heard. Looks like it's quieting down again. The threats are becoming almost commonplace.

Week 15 -- Shrines and Daecheonghosu

1. (What I learned about Korea)

I took the time to go to a couple historic shrines. One was the Jinjam Confucian school. Another was the Suwoongyo Cheondan, a famous shrine for the Suwoongyo religion (a fusion of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Zen). By going through them, I learned how some of the shrines in the area are laid out. I also read the notices about what was taught or focused on at each shrine, and learned some more about the respective religions by doing so.

This weekend I visited Yuseong Market. This market is only open in days of the month ending in 4 or 9, so the 4th this Saturday was an ideal time to go through it. I got some delicious food there (including some duck), and I learned more about how the markets are laid out and what is sold in them. I regrettably did not get to see the livestock, but maybe another trip I will be able to do that.

After the market, I went to Sutonggol, a popular resort area. Sutonggol is known for its waterfall, but it seemed to be pretty dry when I went. Still, the scenery was nice and I got to hike a new mountain, Geumsabong. This was the first 'resort' type area I'd been to, so I learned about how those are laid out and what's in them.

Today I went to Lake Daecheonghosu. It's one of the 8 Scenic Sights of Daejeon (so I only have 2 more to go). The lake itself was spectacular, as were the mountains and parks in the area. I visited the Public Information Center near the dam, and there I learned a little more about how important water conservation is in Korea. The information there said that a water shortfall of over 100 million tons is predicted, and that the country is aggressively researching ways to ameliorate this problem. I hadn't known that water in Korea was so precious, but I do now.

While I was up there, I took the chance to try another of the 6 food specialties of the city, namely maeuntang (spicy catfish soup). I found a restaurant known for the dish in my restaurant guide. The restaurant was a place in the middle of a quiet residential neighborhood bordering the lake. The food was excellent, and the view was great too. I learned more about how fish is cooked and served in Korea. Also, as I took the bus back, I increased my familiarity with the local bus system.

Also while I was by the Lake, I saw a sign indicating the release of the 50,000 Won banknote. This was the first news of it being released that I'd heard, even though it debuted a couple weeks ago. I guess the local ATMs haven't been upgraded to provide it yet. Still, this will make life easier when carrying large sums of money (for paying rent, for instance). The previous largest bill was 10,000 Won, less than $10. Now we will be able to carry money much more compactly.

2. (Project status)

I continued working on documentation this week. Also, Dr. Paul Oh had a conference with Clayton and I over Skype, and he is having me start implementing the dancing robot algorithm on the HUBO over here. So next week I'll be focusing on starting that.

3. (Pictures of the week)

The first two photos are of Suwoongyo Shrine, and the third is of Lake Daecheonghosu.

4. (What I learned about myself)

The restaurant I ate the maeuntang at was probably the most remote place I've been to so far, and I was unfamiliar with the area and the local bus schedule. As a result, getting back seemed challenging. But I was able to communicate with the people at the restaurant well enough to learn when the next bus was coming, and was able to use that information to get on the bus and get to a populated area where I could grab a cab. So I learned that I can navigate even to the furthest, most remote reaches of Daejeon.

5. (New people I met this week)

I didn't meet anyone new this week. Dr. Oh advised that we try to form language partnerships with the locals (teaching them English while learning Korean from there), and I saw a sign for an 'English village' program on campus, so I might try checking that out to see if anyone there wants to partner with me.

6. (Politics)

North Korea has continued to shoot off missiles. To be honest, it's still pretty calm over here -- North Korea has been threatening and posturing for our entire stay here, and nothing's come of it yet. Besides, it's common knowledge that they'd get utterly destroyed if they actually attacked, so it doesn't seem like people are very worried about them bombing us.

Week 3 -- CAN completion and Mt. Sikjangsan

Another good -- and productive -- week.

1. (What I learned about Korea)

I went up to Mt. Sikjangsan this week, and I saw some very nice trails and did some hiking. I ended up going about 3 km into the woods. It was a lot of fun. I found out later that this was known as one of the 8 most famous attractions in the city. I also found the temple section of the mountains, and I explored Gosansa and Sikjangsan temples. It was a good place to get photographs.

I also went and applied for my alien card (as well as to upgrade my visa to multiple entry, in case I later want to visit another country in East Asia during my stay here). So I learned how to do that and how to get to the Immigration Center.

Finally, as it was my birthday on Wednesday, Sean helped us get a cake, and I learned where to go to get cakes in Daejeon.

2. (Project status)

I extracted the CAN from the rest of the HUBO code early this week, and used the documentation to write a program that would test the CAN bus. Clayton wrote drivers for the CAN code, and when this was done, we sat down and debugged the system. It now works -- we can send and receive from the CAN bus.

3. (Picture of the week)

Sikjangsan temple on Mt. Sikjangsan.

4. (What I learned about myself)

I learned that I can hike through the woods pretty well. I also learned that I really like these '8 Daejeon attractions,' and so I'll try to go visit more of them in the coming weeks (next up, I think, is Lake Daecheonghosu. Expo Park, literally next door to Nuri Hall, is on the list as well, but that one's so close that I want to see some of the further ones first).

5. (New people I met)

I didn't meet any new people this week.

6. (Current events)

North Korea claims to have launched a missile a few days ago. America is denying this claim. It's a little bit strange to think that we're relatively close to a hostile country, but at the same time it doesn't feel like we're in imminent danger or anything. Even setting aside whether the missile got into orbit or not, it just seems hard to imagine an actual attack on the city. Some of it may be due to language disconnect, though -- it's hard for me to tell if average people in the street are nervous about it, since I have trouble understanding them.