Pre lab meeting lunch.Once a month the students have a meeting to discuss...well, I don't know what, because it was in Korean. In any case we all went out to have shabu shabu for lunch. It's like hotpot but served individually. It's a Japanese food, but we had it Korean style. The meat and dipping sauce was quite tasty, and by the end of the meal I was quite satisfied. The meat is cut very thin so it cooks within seconds of being added to the broth.
All for me.
Wrap it in a veggie, immerse for about 5 seconds,
And it's done. The sauce is the soy/green onion mix there.I'm liking this constant togetherness the lab maintains. Of course the professors paid for the meal for everyone, and then we all walked around campus trying to find a large enough sitting area for about a dozen people. The original plan was to sit at a coffee shop for the meeting, but it was the peak of the lunch hour so we settled in to the lobby of the business and management institute next door.
In the evening, Professor Lee took the ceramics team out for dinner. We walked to a bulgogi restaurant in Sinchon and he ordered a few bottles of soju. They called this Stage 1. Which was about 5 or 6 bottles of soju. We took a taxi to Stage 2, which was a bar near the Professor's house. Some steamed egg soup and spiced eel dish was served along with beer bombs (pouring a shot of soju into a glass of beer). The Professor retired early and left the lab credit card with us. We cabbed it back to school, made a pitstop at McDonald's for ice cream and burgers (they're all open 24 hours here, and deliver), then Minho destroyed Sungmin and I again in FIFA.
Bulgogi and one of the oldest restaurants in the Sinchon area.
Ceramic team, go!
As you can see, I am already quite red.A very different culture. Professor Lee bragged about the students in front of them, but also made fun of them. Sungmin, my roommate, in particular. His English got better as he drank, and they joked that he should do his next presentation after a few shots. Minho confided that he disliked the hierarchical nature of the language. It affects him in a unique way because he is the eldest in the lab. The other students are obligated to speak more politely to him, but he would prefer the more intimate speech. I think it alienates him a little, and I can understand what it's like to have people you think of as your friends not feel as comfortable about that idea. The split between male and female standards was also obvious, though in this case not blatantly rude. The one girl that came out for Stage 2 was "given the option" to join us--the men were not. However the others pestered her about finding a boyfriend soon, asking what kind of men she liked and genuinely thinking of people they knew that she could meet. She took it in stride, as I imagine most Koreans must learn to do if they are single and over 26. The pressure on single people ramps up past that age, as I remember Joonghyun often lamenting. Towards the end of the night, the professor was pouring drinks for us, a bit unusual as I understand it. Usually the younger ones are expected to pour for their elders.
The food from Stage 2. Omelette soup good, seafood dish not so much.On our way back to school, the Professor sent a text message to Sungmin telling him "not to go to Stage 3" and that we should be careful to all make it home safely. From that and many other things that I saw, I think he is fatherly concerned about his students. But, maybe only when he's drinking.
A great way to end any evening of debauchery.
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