Week 8 -- Teacher Day and Uam

1. (What I learned about Korea)

This weekend I visited a few different tourist attractions. The first was Dongsan Pottery Museum, a very small museum in the north-east quarter of the city. It took me a few cabs to find it (it's rather obscure and the first couple drivers couldn't locate it), but it was worth it -- I learned some things about Korean pottery, and I got a couple of free books about the subject as a gift. So that was nice.

After Dongsan I went to Uam Historical Park. It has a lot of old-style buildings, as well as a museum about the founder (Song Si-Yeol, pen name of Uam). It was an extremely peaceful place. It was lightly drizzling and some mist hung over the mountain peaks behind the park (Uam is on a lower slope of Gyejoksan), and it was very relaxing to wander around and look at the structures and the paths. I learned about some traditional Korean structures while I was there.

My third destination was Dongchundang. This is a nature park on a city block that also includes a few historical houses. The houses in front of the wooded area were originally built for Korean scholar, Song Jun-Gil (pen name of Dongchundang), in the Joseon dynasty. They were recreated and kept as a monument to him. 

 On Sunday, I completed the hike that Clayton and I got lost attempting last week, and I made it all the way through the Hwanbon mountain trial. The path terminated in Munji-Dong, Yuseong-Gu, and it was a great walk. I then got to explore Munji-Dong a little. It seemed similar to the Yuseong Market area, at least the part I saw of it.

Lastly, on Friday, it was Teacher Day. This meant that the whole lab went out to dinner with Dr. Jun Oh. It was a very nice meal; we had all-you-can-eat barbecue at a restaurant north of KAIST. The barbecue was followed with a rice or noodle course. It was very good, and reminded me of when I came to Daejeon for URAI and we had a similar meal. All in all, I both learned about the Teacher Day custom, and about Korean barbecue during the meal.

2. (Project status)

Clayton and I are starting to make a new GUI. We're doing it in C# instead of MFC, so Clayton and I wrote a program to get and set the shared memory variables between the C++ and C# systems. I also studied a C# tutorial to learn the language. Also, I sent the first draft of the camera-ready ICAHRR paper to Dr. Kim, and finished the ICHIT paper. 

3. (Pictures of the week)

Two this week. The first is of Uam, the second of Dongchundang.

4. (What I learned about myself)

By completing the hike, I learned that I can indeed get through the Hwanbon mountain trail (and, more generally, on complex mountain paths in general) without getting lost.

Also, I'm beginning to put together lists of where else I want to go during weekends in Korea (on the list so far -- Seoul a few times, Jeju, the DMZ, and Busan). So I'm doing some thinking and prioritizing about what I want to see the most.

5. (New people I met)

Clayton and I went to a CostCo this Sunday, and while we were there we ran into a couple people Clayton had met while seeing the Star Trek movie. Kevin and Caroline were English teachers, and they'd both been in the area for at least 18 months. They gave us some advice on where to go (Caroline in particular recommended Busan as a great place to visit during the summer, for the beaches and the aquarium). We might meet up with them later this week when we see Terminator.

Week 7 -- Homecoming and Ppuri

1. (What I learned about Korea)

Saturday was Homecoming for the lab, so I got to see how Koreans celebrate homecoming. It was different from its American equivalent -- there weren't any sports, first of all. It was a big barbecue, and alumni from the HUBO labs came by to say hello and catch up with the current students. The barbecuing was different from American ones too -- rather than grilling the food and then serving it at a table, or even splitting it up onto plates at the grill, the meat was just placed onto a single tray as soon as it was done cooking and we all took pieces from the tray with chopsticks and ate while standing by the grill. 

Also on Saturday, before homecoming, I saw the Dunsan Prehistoric Site. There were a few recreated twig huts there, and some information on the prehistoric inhabitants of Korea. So I learned a little about that subject.

Finally, today I went to Ppuri park. There were may sculptures there, and walking around them was very relaxing. I learned a bit more about what sort of sculptures can be found in Korea.

2. (Project status)

This week I was documenting the khr3 code. Unlike the HUBO project, there is no main loop; this code runs the GUI and so functions are called depending on what buttons the user presses. So I documented the tutorials we have that are used to turn on the HUBO and make it gesture, and then documented the various buttons on the GUI and explained what everything did.

I also finished the rough draft of my ICHIT submission. 

3. (Picture of the week)

Some sculptures at Ppuri park:

4. (What I learned about myself)

I ran into a setback this week when the ATM at Citi bank (the only one I know of that accepts foreign cards) was broken when I needed money, but I simply reprioritized and shifted my plans to make do until the machine was fixed. I thus learned a little bit about making flexible pans.

Also, Clayton and I went hiking in the hills behind Nuri Hall and became somewhat lost. However, we were able to find our way down the mountain and back onto a road despite losing the trail. And even before that we went a large distance on the trail, and got about 65% of the way to Daedeok. So I learned that my hiking abilities are still pretty good.

5. (New people I met)

One of the alumni I met at the Homecoming barbecue was John, a native of Sweden. He was very friendly and we discussed the HUBO lab and a thing or two to do in Seoul.

I also met JungHo Lee, who wrote a paper that I read and cited for ICHIT. That was neat.

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.

Week 4 -- Gyejoksan and code

Week four ended today. It went pretty well.

1. (What I learned about Korea)

On Sunday I went to the Currency Museum, which is right by KAIST. It had exhibits with the various types of currency Korea had used since before recorded history up to the present. It was very interesting.  There was also a section on medals and other special awards, so I got to see some military medals up close.

I also visited the Biosphere, which is near Expo Park. So I learned a little bit about the local trees, which was interesting.

On Wednesday a student group at KAIST performed some traditional Korean music. It was very good. I found out what sorts of instruments are used for Korean classical music, and I got to listen to some of it in a relaxing setting. The music was very good.

Rather than exploring Lake Daecheonghosu as I'd planned last week, I went to Gyejoksan mountain instead. I hiked high enough to see some beautiful vistas. I managed to get to where they had one of the old fortress walls, where a bunch of people were having fun and talking. It was a rewarding walk. I stumbled on an exercise/play area that I think was Jangdong forest as well. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get to several of the more notable sights (such as Dongchundang), so a return trip just may be in order. 

2. (Project status)

My next goal is to document the HUBO code. This week I went through the HUBO project function-by-function to analyze them all and determine what they did, and now I'm mapping out the relations between functions.

3. (Picture of the week)

View from the top of Gyejoksan:

4. (What I learned about myself)

I learned that I enjoy traditional Korean music. Also, when I had some cab trouble getting back from the mountain, I learned that I can recover from unexpected difficulties like that.

5. (New people I met)

While at a restaurant before going to Gyejoksan, I found myself sitting next to a Mr. Kim. We talked a little, and I mentioned that I was a student from America who was studying at KAIST for the moment. He seemed interested and we talked about that for a little bit. He helped me fill in a couple gaps in the guidebooks KAIST gave us (the exact dates of a couple festivals that were just mentioned as being 'sometime in April.') A very nice guy.

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.

Week 2 -- Settled in

Week 2 in Daejeon ends tonight. It was a pretty good week. Things went very well.

1. (What I learned about Korea)

The KAIST auditorium has biweekly concerts, it seems. I went to one this Friday. There was a cellist and a pianist, and they went through some classical pieces. It was really good music and quite enjoyable; they even played an encore at the end, a Chopin prelude, that I know well, and that was a fun surprise.

I also went out for my first Korean barbecue meal since arriving, and was reacquainted with all of the delicious side dishes that come with it. Some of the sides were actually new to me; I hadn't had them when I had barbecue in Korea in November.  One was a hard-boiled egg in soy sauce, another was squid, and a third was a sort of sweet-potato kind of food. It was very fun.

Apparently I was holding my chopsticks incorrectly. I was holding them so that they crossed; the guys in the KAIST lab showed me how to hold them so that they don't cross. This is the more acceptable way to do it. So I guess I'll practice using the new way.

Finally, the KAIST guys and I went to lunch on Friday at a Chinese place. Like the first night we came, we got a big sweet & sour pork platter before the main course of noodles or rice. I suppose it's traditional that Korean Chinese restaurant do this. As I generally enjoy these pork dishes, I think I like this custom.

2. (Project status)

I went through the CAN bus code and made extensive notes on what all the functions do, what variables they manipulate, where information is actually written to the bus, etc. Clayton also asked me to make some flow charts showing the operation of the more important functions.

I also read up some more on RTX.

It looks like in the coming week I'll begin studying how to surgically extract the CAN bus from the rest of the HUBO system. I may also (if things work out) begin working on programming my own version of a CAN bus.

3. (Picture of the week)

At KAIST, a part of the path I take to go from the lab to the piano that I practice on:

4. (What I'm learning about myself)

I spent a lot of time this week traveling without Clayton, and so learned that I'm able to get around Korea fine on my own. Among other things, I ate at several restaurants, hiked some more, and went through Daejeon's downtown area. 

5. (New people I met)

In the dorm I met two students named Baat and Lan. The former was from Pakistan, the latter from Vietnam. I talked to Baat for a while, we discussed the city environment (he was from an urban city near the India/Pakistan border, while I was originally from the Chicago suburbs but moved to Philly) and what we thought of the city. It was a fun time.