Prof. Chang's group

Recently we had a very nice lunch together with our working group and we took this picture afterwards! They are all very nice and I wouldn't be having such a good time if I didn't have them around!
Also, I was pleased to have a visitor from home today!!! Even though it was my boss!!! We picked him up from the railway station this morning and then he supervised some work done here at KAIST. This is the institute that I work at, it means Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. Unfortunately, professors don't have much time in general, but we had time to take this picture in the lab. An honour for me to be on a picture with two outstanding chemists!!
I have to go home now, it is late. And I have to get a plane in the morning because I'm flying to Jeju-Island! This Hawaii of Korea is meant to be very beautiful! I hope to rent a bike and be able to take many pictures to show you in my next post!

Life in Korea

Almost two weeks have passed and so it is time to report a little on the daily life in Korea! The first picture shows typical street atmosphere at night in Daejeon. But this was not near KAIST (Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology), where I live, but near Hannam University in the city centre.
Unfortunately there is little time to visit places like this, because our group works in the lab from around 9 a.m. untill 11 p.m. On top of that I presented my work from Aachen last Thursday, so the days were very long! But the reward was a group dinner as you can see on the picture below! Note the grill on the table, this is great! Long legs are more of a disadvantage, because one sits on the floor.This last picture was taken in the street that I live in. I am not wondering why so many chillies have to be dried, the food is usually quite spicy!

Gapsa Tempel

Today was my first day off and I spent it with some friends in a national park near Daejeon. The Gapsa Tempel is located in this park called Gyeryongsan. Everyday it is pretty hot and humid but still nice to walk around!
After our little walk we were hungry and went for some typical Korean food! You sit on the floor (on a flat pillow) and eat with chopsticks and a spoon. There is a grill on the table and you get around twenty side dishes as you can see on the picture! Put the meat on a leaf of salad and sesame leaf (kkae nnip in Korean), add some garlic and some other side dish and stick it in your mouth as a whole. Tastes delicious!!

First days in South Korea

You would think that a 24h trip a room of 2x2m with solely a bed and a window, a sink in the bathroom which hangs as high as my knees and working from 9-23 h, would make me feel uncomfortable. But this is surely NOT the case. Life here is great!

The people are very open and helpful and even though I don't understand anything they say, it is easy to get things I want.