So Far So Good

Hello, my darlings! Or should I say "Annyong Haseyo?" It's the greeting here in Korea:) Everything did go well, no delay, alhamdulillah. My plane was Korean Air, we took off at 10.05 p.m. I was impressed with the service: the food is good (I had fish with rice), the seat is quite spacious (at least for me), and there is TV for every person! I knew I should be sleeping, but I couldn't help to watch Shrek Forever After and The Back Up Plan, both are so funny.

After the nine-hour flight, I reached Incheon airport at 07.05 a.m. in local time, it's still 05.05 a.m. in Jakarta. Seoul-Jakarta only has two-hour difference, it's beginning to feel as if I was just going to Kei Islands, instead of South Korea. The more I travel, the more I realize how big Indonesia is.

If you'd like to know, the fellowship is from Seoul National University (heretofore will be called as SNU) and LG (engg, anyone knows LG, right? If you don't, well, it's one of the best Korean brands for electronics). I am staying at Hoam Faculty House at the SNU. It's located in the southern part of Seoul, just like University of Indonesia's Depok campus.

I've met the other fellows, from India, China, Spain, Brazil, Mexico and Poland. So there are seven of us. This reminds me of the early days of TJaP, when I had six colleagues and the mentors called us the Seven Samurai, hehehe.

I was picked up by an SNU student, and then shared a cab with the fellow from Brazil, Wharryson. It was a one-hour ride, so we spent the time talking about our national dish, hahahaha. Food really bonds people. Since it was raining very hard, I spent the first day sleeping. And going online (the wi-fi is very fast here, I'm impressed). And trying to figure out what the people are saying in TV. There are several channels here and most of them in Korean. I wish there is HBO here.

You are a good-looking soldier, my dear actor. But I don't understand you. Gosh, I miss the subtitles.

This is my room for now. Sorry for the blur, I'm still learning on how to operate the camera.

You know what? The Brazilian fellow went out twice, to buy a microphone (he had to complete his work during his stay here) and to buy dinner. And he underwent 23-hour flight! OMG, he should have been very hungry.

Today we had opening ceremony, then lunch (I had my period, I was not fasting, so I had lunch, and the food is good, I took the seafood), then some orientation about the program here. We had a few free hours, I went for a walk with the Indian colleague. But it was so hot, we decided to get back to our rooms and found happiness with the air conditioner.

The observatorium at the SNU.

Then we went to Mt. Namsan. If you're a Korean drama fan, you should be aware that there are so many Korean drama's scenes taking place here, such as My Name Is Kim Sam Soon. Without further ado, here are several photos I took.

On the way to the cable car, I saw this stairs had floor information on every step. I find this very interesting.

After climbing all those steps, we found a new god that ruled our happiness: the air conditioner:P

Seoul is a very dense city, it has 10 million people in population. But they manage to keep the greeneries. Ohh, how I wish Jakarta could take example from other cities.

With the fellows, people from LG Sangnam Press Foundation and the volunteers

 I miss you, Jakarta! Is it only 5,000-something kilometers away from Seoul? It feels so far away.