Week 6 -- Yeojin and Hanmin Market

1. (What I learned about Korea)

On Thursday some of the guys in the lab, Clayton, and I went to one of the KAIST string quartets as they performed some Mozart and Haydn. It was good music. After the concert, we went to Mercury to grab dinner, and I learned some more about the HUBO lab students and what they do (they go to a couple concerts a year, for instance).

On Friday, I went to the observatory in the evening. The Daejeon Observatory is conveniently very near KAIST, about twenty minutes on foot to the north of the school. So I looked through the telescopes and explored the facility. I enjoyed it.

On Saturday, I went to Yeojin, the Buddhist gallery. I walked around the sculpture garden and admired the various works of art. The figures were extremely well detailed, and I had a lot of fun walking through the museum. After that, I walked to the Asia Museum, and I learned about Asian art.

And today, I went to Hanmin Market, and so I learned what a traditional market in Korea looks like and what sorts of things they sell there. I got some good fruit, candy, and grilled fish.

2. (Project status)

I finished the flowcharts and documentation for the part of the code labeled 'HUBO,' so next week I'll probably start documenting the other part, labeled 'khr3win' (the GUI for the Hubo).

I also began working on a paper for the ICHIT conference, and want to have the rough draft complete by Friday (the 8th).

3. (Picture of the week).

A statue at Yeojin:

4. (Things I learned about myself)

While traveling around Yeojin and heading to the Asia Museum, I had to walk a fairly long distance. But I made it there alright, and so I learned that I can navigate unfamiliar areas of the city.

5. (New people I met)

I encountered two students from Uzbeckistan whom RJ and Bryan had been friends with. They were very friendly and offered me some advice and tips. We got along well. Its nice to know a couple more people in Nuri Hall.

Week 5 -- Flowcharts and museums

1. (What I learned about Korea)

On Monday I went back to the Immigration Office and picked up my updated Visa and my alien card. So now I know how to do that, and I know what the alien card looks like. It's nice having an ID that's small enough to fit in my wallet again.

This past Saturday I went to the Ungno Lee Museum and the Daejeon Municipal Museum of Art. Both were art museums. The Ungno Lee Museum had more traditional paintings and drawings, while the DMMA had mostly modern art. I enjoyed both of them and learned some things about Korean artwork.

I also saw the Hanbat Arboretum, basically a small garden area. It was relaxing to walk around and explore. I wasn't aware that there were natural areas like that right in the middle of the city (it's right behind the two art museums I went to, themselves only twenty or so minutes from Nuri Hall on foot), so now I know and I can seek out more of them in the future.

Finally, on the same journey, I stumbled upon the Natural Heritage Museum. It's a very small museum that chronicles the animals of Korea. A guide showed me around and I learned about the various rare or endangered species native to Korea. 

I went to see the KAIST orchestra on Friday night. It sounded great. For the first half they did classical music, and for the second they played more popular movie music (like a collection of excerpts from Disney pieces, and a collection of John Williams excerpts, including several Star Wars pieces and the Jaws theme). They had a guy wearing a shark costume come out and run around the front of the audience during the Jaws bit, which was fun to see. The music sounded great as well. And then there was the fun bit at the end, where the conductor let the audience keep time (by clapping) during the last piece, the 1812 Overture. So overall, I learned that the KAIST orchestra is very entertaining.

During the week, the school fair happened, and several of the international student groups put together a food fair, where they set up booths and served traditional foods from their various countries. I had some very good curry from the Indian booth, and something very much like a cheesesteak from the Chile booth. It was great, and I learned that KAIST does events like this, and that it's a good idea to go to them.

2. (Project status)

I completed most of the HUBO project documentation this week, including making the flowcharts and describing all the shared memory variables. All that remains is to tidy up the flowcharts and finish describing the variables whose scope is just the HUBO project. After this, I'll be doing the same thing for the khr3win project. The two work together in order to run the robot.

Also, the ICAHRR paper was accepted! So I'll be working on revising that in the coming weeks, as well as working on a new paper for another conference that will take place in Daejeon this August.

3. (Photo of the week)

One of the exhibits at the Natural Heritage Museum. According to the guide, these tigers are found in North Korea.

4. (What I learned about myself)

I learned that I enjoy the art in the Ungno Lee Museum and the DMMA, and that I like garden areas such as the Hanbat Arboretum.

5. (New people I met)

I didn't meet anyone new this week.