Good morning Korea... after yet another try at a full night's sleep and yet another (partial) failure. There are several reasons for that: being a light sleeper myself (a mosquito can wake me up), not having the window properly covered to block sunlight (although my flatmate Danny tried hard with a couple of homemade solutions that have improved things nonetheless) and being still under the influence of jet-lag and hour changes. I went to bed just after midnight, woke up at 4:30AM, then fell asleep again, woke up like 3 or 4 more times and finally decided to get out of bed just before 9. Quite decent for my recent standards!
I have spent the night alone here, quite a change from the first few days, in which Danny's parents helped him with the move and even stayed for a couple of nights. However, everyone was gone when I arrived yesterday evening: mother back home, Danny to a friend's in Busan to enjoy today's national holiday.
Yes, I had a very busy day yesterday, highlighted by the opening of a Korean bank account -- if someone wants to make a donation/contribution to my wellbeing here, please do not hesitate to contact me for the details! --, the activation of my Korean mobile phone -- also thanks to Danny; the number is +82 10 8685 2376 -- and my first lectures in Korea, which were easier and shorter than expected: I attended a course on Africa-East Asia relations, taught by a very good Iranian professor, and a Proseminar on International Relations that, despite its name, had nothing professional to offer (just an introductory course including a lot of Korean students with very limited English skills).
In fact, this week we are on a tryout mode: we'll have to attend all lectures we'd be interested in and then make a decision by the beginning of next week (or, in case one or more courses are really appealing from the onset, make it now). I also need my professors at the UAB to confirm they agree with my preliminary choices and, so far, they've kept mum...
As far as today's National Holiday is concerned, I have the impression that Korean people are approximately as masochist as us Catalans. According to LifeInKorea.com, "March 1, 1919, marked the beginning of the Korean Independence Movement On this day, independence fighters announced Korea's declaration of independence from Japanese colonialism. In response, Japanese police and military forces killed and injured thousands of unarmed protestors."
In any case, I plan to enjoy this bloody day strolling around what is known as Seoul's Little Manhattan, a small island in the middle of the Han river. I must leave now: my multinational friends (mostly French, but also Italian and American today) will be there in 30 minutes... I guess I'll be a tad late, just the usual 10 minutes that every Spaniard is allowed under international standards!
I'll post some more stuff later!
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