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Table of Contents
Week 2
What I learned in Korea
I learned that even as a foreigner there are certain mannerisms I can use to convey respect if I can't use the proper language. Also I learned that there are certain situations where you need to make it very apperent that you do not know the language. This happened when a taxi driver thought I was Korean and asked me directions, I was unable to give it and we missed out destination. I also learned a lot about pop-culture by going to language exchanges near KAIST. Santiago found some meetups and there we found a lot of koreans who can speak or are interested in learning English. These meetups were amazing since I was able to ask quesitons about the Korean culture in English and get an answer in English. They were also amazing place to learn Korean as most of the attendees were Korean so I was able to ask a lot of questions about the language as well. After these meetups we would join some of the participants and go out for dinner, clubs, karaoke, etc. helping us experience the culture more. Also since there seem to be a lot of STEM students who don't go to KAIST I was able to get their experience and thoughts on Korean engineering students, professors and the field.
Project status
We were able to finish the first version of the manual revision. We are to talk with Youngbum on Monday about where to go next with it. In the mean time I have been learning about the Gazebo simulator. Since there are other students at the KAIST HUBO lab who have used this program before it is a great place to ask questions.
Photo of the week
This was a photo of one of the times we went out together with some local Koreans and foreigners after a language exchange. It was really fun and I had learned a lot about Korea this night.
What I learned about myself
I learned that I am not as introverted as I had previously believed. I had always believed that talking to new people had terrified me. But having done it so many times over the past week I believe that I feel more comfortable doing it now.
New People I met this week
I met Oscar, Younhi, Jin, Clara, Anna, Ethan, Tom, Jenny, Sophie, Chusin, and some others from the language exchange. Anna is the only non-Korean, they all gave me their 'American name'. This is a photo of Oscar center and Younhi right, with myself on the left.
