Giving up on linear storytelling

Up until now, I've been trying so hard to post in the order of my experience, but clearly that is a ridiculous task because I haven't shared what happened weeks ago and already have lost all sense of time. So I thought it would be better to share where I am now and then look back. I'm a visiting researcher at the Center for Intangible Heritage & Information at Jeonbuk National University, thanks to Professor Emeritus Ham Han-hee, who has been a giant help to me since 2009. Without people like Professor Ham and Beau Kim, my job here would be impossible. This is a tree already dropping blooms that I found today when discovering yet another shortcut on campus.

In the middle of a giant rotary is this big reflecting pond that occasionally bursts into many water fountains. I haven't yet walked into the middle structure to take in the scenery but at least now know which direction to go as I've tried most of the roads off the rotary except the one that leads to the agricultural school.

The college of humanities is next to a big construction site and not far from the law school, so again I've been sorting out shortcuts (like walking to the building from the back rather than the front, and cutting through the parking lot of the law school.

Here's the shared lab entrance where I have been working. Thanks to the assistant, Han Seo-in, I've overcome many, many obstacles (from transportation to housing to locking myself and everyone else out of the lab. Yes, I did that on Saturday, and they had to call the locksmith because they only use key cards and not physical keys that go into doorknobs that I manually locked because I wanted to keep the place secure while working on the weekend). We have a view of trees and nice architecture so it's easier for me to stop and try to do my 20 seconds of looking away from my computer and blinking.

I lied about food pics, here are more! Cafeteria food, lunchtime! I am staying in a dormitory at the top of a steep hill, so that works up my appetite every day after I hike back home from the office. It is a real trip to be around so many young college students and noting the vast difference in energy levels.

Notice the sign at the water station on the way out of the cafeteria (going in requires a temperature check, hand sanitizer, and donning plastic gloves before we can grab tray/plates (it's a combination of a tray and plate) and serve ourselves.

Cafeteria food, dinner! I didn't think I was going to do this a lot but now I see it's the most convenient option because it's right across the road from my room, where I have one burner and am limited to basic cooking (mostly because of my energy levels and because I don't want to buy an entire kitchen setup for just a few months).

Today, the signs changed!! They went from refraining from conversation to NO conversation allowed. I'm not sure who is conversing, because all of the tables are set up with plastic dividers so that space is sectioned into 6. There are only 4 chairs, placed at the ends of the tables, and the middle sections must stay empty. If you look ahead, there's a plastic shield, so it's not easy to converse even if you wanted to. I've learned to move my tray to the very left to avoid banging my right hand on the shield all the time as the space is tight.

Another dinner...if anything, the shields are kind of sad but at least it takes away any stress about who to sit with and so on.

I took a little walk tonight after dinner to see what other dorms are in the area. I saw the guest house where I was supposed to stay but because of really bad communication with my granting program, I wasn't able to get lodging there. I also found another nearby convenience store and checked if there are any roads to get out of the area, since a cab driver gave me a hard time about it one day when I told him the only option was to turn around and come back the way he came (I was right). Everything is flowering now and it's kind of amazing to see.

I only wish I knew what everything was! The forsythia I know, but my pic was out of focus so I can't share here. I was walking around campus earlier today thinking about how I would do so much better as a papermaker if I had a better grasp of the plant world, and envy those who do. Then again, there are different plants here than back home, and the Korean names are all different. Maybe I'll get into my brain in hyperdrive as I operate in another language, but that's for another day.

The view of the dormitory area (there are tons of buildings, not just one. I'm in a smaller one) from the top steps of my building.

And if I turn around, another flowering tree. After some rain this weekend, it has cooled down, which I love because it means less sweating as I hike to and fro. There's so much more to share but I need to rest my eyes now. For those of you able to still look at screens, this is a helpful post about the Atlanta trauma. The distance right now from US news/reality has been a great luxury, along with the ability to blend in and not be targeted for violence as I normally would be back home. I still have to be careful as a woman here, but this respite is a huge gift right now. I wish I could bring all of my Korean American friends here to get a breather.