Korea University Ritual and Counting in Hangeul

So today marks the day when Cathianne has learned way more than she expected. She thought this day will just be another typical lab day...


Cathianne was all smiles when she went out of the dorm. Excited to face a new fun-filled day. Any adventure? She doesn't know yet. She already has her student card with her and hopes to be able to use it in getting inside the laboratory in case no one else is in since it was still too early for her lab-mates to be there. It was almost 9:30 in the morning when she reached door 115. As she swiped her card, it didn't work! Again, she tried but it failed over and over again. Since the lab-mates usually arrive at 10, she decided to go back to her dorm instead to get her cam and maybe go for a photowalk.


She braves the cold breeze back to the dormitory. Upon walking back to the lab with her camera, she sees the door already opened. She sees Kyeongjin oppa already working on his desk. She then asks for his help on how to use the student card 'cos earlier she couldn't get in. They find out that the card was still non-functional so he assisted her to the Department Secretary, Nayoung unni, to have her card activated. After a while, unni tells her that she can use her card to access the lab office starting tomorrow.


*Unni is how older sisters are called by the younger female.

After getting  her card fixed, Cathianne goes to the Department Head for his signature on one of the required documents that she has to submit at the Academic Affairs Office. Prof. JY also calls her and informs her of the good news. She no longer needs to go to Seoul Immigration Office because the school will take care of the application for her, so all she needs to do is to complete all required documents and submit them to Nayoung unni. She also receives an email that she can obtain the Certificate of Enrollment from the One-Stop at the Library of Sejong Campus. So again, she need not go to Anam Campus just for the certificate! She's been getting so much luck and blessings and is praying that it will just keep coming so that despite the barriers (language and place), she can go on surviving and enjoy every minute of her stay. =)

She goes to the One-Stop and pays 1,000 krw for her Certificate of Studentship (or Enrollment) and submits her passport, 1 colored 3cmx4cm photograph to Naomi unni. She was then asked to come back after lunch for the other requirements. Just as she got in the lab, Gwang, Kyeongjin oppa, and Doochael oppa her to join them for lunch. It was just the right timing as she's been waiting for lunch already. For 4,700 krw, she's eating something that tastes like tempura in the Philippines, some fried vegies, macaroni salad, a clear soup with some green leaves and noodles and rice. And for the first time, she was very satisfied with her lunch for it was the first time she has ever finished everything and didn't want to convert the currencies anymore 'cos she knows it's expensive for a typical Filipino meal. "Simot Sarap" in Filipino. =))

Back in the lab, GJ oppa arrives and asks how to help her with the Alien Registration Card. She beams back with the good news she got this morning. Instead, she asks him to help her with the application form because she doesn't know her dormitory's exact address. *laughs*

Cathianne goes for a 15 minute walk to the newest building of the campus before dropping by the Academic Affairs Office. Her eyes widened at the sight of the magnificent view and is imagining how crazy awesome it would be to shoot in that area. *wide smile all spread out on her face*. She then goes to the Academic Affairs, located in the Science Bldg. across the Library to submit the Application For Advisor form. Back in their building, she also submits the application form to Naomi unni and pays the 10,000 krw revenue stamp fee for the Alien Registration Card.

The rest of the afternoon, she reads the Fluid Mechanics textbook for her TA class to freshen up her memory of the course she has taken several years ago in college. Dinner came and she ate with MJ oppa, Doochael oppa, and Junsik at the upper ground cafeteria where most gyo-su-nim (professors) eat. Each meal costs 4,500 krw and it's up for the person to get as much as he wants and even go for another round. For dinner, it was almost all vegies. There's kimchi (radish), broccoli, more leaves, seaweeds, soup with green leaves + tofu and pork, and the best among them that matched well with the rice was the dish (she's glad to have taken a lot of it) that seemed similar to the Pinoy's caldereta ~~ it had diced chicken, potato, onions, and more vegies but it definitely tasted "massieta" (hoping to have spelled it right, it's just supposed to mean DELICIOUS). =))

After dinner, she decides to go out and take some stroll for several minutes to burn down the carbs. But when she goes out of the lab, there were people outside the door doing some ritual that had some sticks lit up on a table with some statue and what seemed like offerings. John sees her and invites her to see the annual tradition. It's a tradition in Korea to pray to the gods for a good year ahead. She's enjoying her conversation with Gwang and was even introduced to some of the Sophomore students who represented the Environmental Engineering  Department. By the end of the traditional ritual, they followed it with the Korea University ritual. A guy was forced into a big pale and some guys poured makgeolli (Korean rice wine, which sounded like "bakoli" when pronounced by the Koreans) all over him. Poor guy but everyone and even the poor guy were having fun. She takes out her phone and takes some pictures of the small event. After that, she made more friends and have gotten to know Yusop, Gwang's bestfriend who is a Junior of the same major as they are, and Grampa (another nickname which he liked a lot) who was in his senior year in another Engineering major. Grampa is a very talkative and funny guy and Cathianne enjoyed her conversations with all three of them because they were not shy to speak to her in English anymore especially Gwang. He's become more outspoken and more friendly. =)

What a funny discovery for the evening, Gwang tells Cathianne that Hyunjoo is also his friend and they both attend the same classes. What a small world it is! He also tells her that tomorrow, there will be another school ritual that she must witness. Good thing she still has no need to attend any class in Seoul. So she will definitely see what ever they will have in the field tomorrow. It's getting more exciting for her! =))

As she went home to her dorm, she finally breaks more conversations with Boyoung. She finds out that Boyoung is actually one year younger than her, so she calls Boyoung "dong saeng" (younger  sister or brother) and Boyoung calls her "unni". Throughout the night, dong saeng taught her a lot of Hangeul while she corrects and teaches how dong saeng speaks in English. Both enjoyed their conversation so much like there was no tomorrow for more vocabulary. She shows Boyoung the beautiful beaches in the Philippines and invites Boyoung to visit when she can. She also discovers that Koreans count the age differently. They'd ask for the year born and a person is already a year old once he/she comes out of the mother's womb. So in Korean age, Cathianne is a year older. And because of this, she knows now how to count in Hangeul --- il...i...sam...sa...u...yu...chil...pal...ku...ship!!! =)


They were both glad to know also that they were both Catholics. Penny though never knew of the Catholic Church in Jochiwon. So next time Cathianne will hear mass in Jochiwon, she's going to bring her dong saeng along with her. c",)