#koreanlife

Seoul, Hongdae

In the middle of a walk.

It was on June 10th when I first met people in my department, clean fuel laboratory. Being a newcomer, I was introduced by my senior to professors and senior researchers there and what I did just saying “안녕하세요! Nice to meet you” while bowing my upper body, like typical Korean you see in K-drama. 

And ya, back then in February this year, Alhamdulillah I was accepted as research intern at Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER). Do not think that this is short process because my trying to study abroad is almost uncountable. It was like trial and error processes until I get here. I haven’t been a master student though, but this is like an opportunity to reach what I want. 

Hoping to be expert in sustainable food process does not make me limit the possibility coming in the near future. Fortunately, the field I’m going to learn are biomass upgrading and exhaust gas system, which is a bit related to my bachelor thesis. 

KIER is a government research institution like LIPI in Indonesia, it covers energy field in various aspects (you can search more about KIER at https://www.kier.re.kr/eng/). Here, in my department, I have five labmates, They are half Indonesian including me, and half korean (senior researchers). 

Thanks to Allah I meet kind people that welcome and help me here specifically and in SK generally. 

I spent my first week like almost did nothing related to the lab, just wandered around on various research publication website, learned Korean, tried to advance in English, and have been completing my administration to immigration office. Facing computer all day along was like a torture also because I need to force my eyes to still open and my mind to focus. And finally, starting yesterday my colleague invited me to join his experiment, Yeay Alhamdulillah!! 

And when it comes to nice people I meet, I will remember this:

Allah’s mercy in not always about money or wealth but the most important thing you are surrounded by kind people and not the toxic ones. For me, Allah’s blessing through helpful people makes me want to spread kindness as much as I can. Do not wish something from the one you help because it might go back to you through people you hardly know beforehand. That’s what I learn. 

Our first baseball game! The local SK Wyverns took on KT Wiz - just two of the many corporate-sponsored pro-baseball teams in Korea. 

As at any sporting event, the fans were in full voice. Unlike other sports, they have personalized songs or chants for each player on their team! There are separate sections for the two teams’ fans to sit, and each team has a cheerleader squad with a HIGHLY motivated MC. We couldn’t get a great picture as we were kind seated in between the two squads but they were great!

Before the game, there were performances just outside the stadium, and on the big screen there was wacky TV entertainment. There was even a tug-of-war between opposing fans! During breaks in play, there were beer drinking competitions between opposing teams’ fans - couple style, of course. First the lady from each couple chugged an entire beer, and then she tagged in her partner to chug one. Exceptionally Korean! 

If you feel like a different view, there is an underground coffee shop with a field-level view of the game, as you can see from the unexpectedly excellent camerawork 😂 

The set-up is a little similar to cricket in SA in that there is a section where you can sit on the grass (Koreans even set up little tents which we might do next time so Natasha can have a nap, haha!), and there is another section with picnic tables that have built-in barbecues so that you can braai while you watch the game! Such a great idea.

It’s been a week since I arrived in this country. I can say I love the city, Daejeon, What a sight for sore eyes! It has nice decoration and various public area. Lovely!

Seminggu ini  dihabiskan mikirin gimana caranya ini kamar jadi layak huni? euh. Belajar untuk komunikasi tanpa harus mengeluarkan taring, caranya? ngajak dan nyontohin! bukan nyuruh dan ngeluh protes. Gampang gitu? Gak! susah banget, rasanya setan udah ngeledek aja gitu “marah kaak, yuk enak marah-marah, lega looh kalo udah marah” rrrr. Hush Setan kau! 

Alhamdulillah setelah semaleman ampe subuh kaya kisah candi prambanan, dan membuang barang2 tidak terpakai satu trashbag gede ha ha ha, Bayangkan sodara!, akhirnya kamar asrama pertamaku bisa layak huni dan gak perlu lagi jinjit pas nginjek lantainya, saking gak sanggup lengket-lengket wkwkwk. 

Selain itu yang bikin concern adalah masalah bahasa, hiks. Native labmate disini gak biasa komunikasi pake english, dan salahnya adalah persiapan bahasaku limit mendekati nol alias gak serius belajarnya pas masih di Indo. Akhirnya, kalo komunikasi patah-patah lah, inggris korea campur aduk didominasi dengan bahasa isyarat (senyum dan anggukan) gimana mau sustain coba obrolannya. haha hiks. 

Bersyukur, sekamer sama foreigner juga dan bisa terus mengasah bahasa inggris, watir aja kalo sampe patah-patah semuanya pas ngomong karena separo separo bisanya. wkwkwk

Belajar banget mengkomunikasikan apa yang kita mau terutama saat di kamar, apa yang menjadi hak kita, awalnya susah sih, karena biasa cengangas cengenges gak jelas dan toleransi yang super tinggi sampe itu gak baik buat berbagai belah pihak. Disini, ya kudu belajar sampaikan dengan jelas apa yang kita mau, jangan cuma kode-kode apalagi nyindir-nyindir.

I tell my self all the time: You are a grown up lady, so behave like you are, nab!

PR selanjutnya adalah mulai masak untuk makan malam, gimana mau sehat, makannya sama abon + siwang +  bon cabe aja, heuheu. 

“Sesungguhnya bersama kesulitan ada kemudahan” (QS 94:6)