Upon getting our laptop computers set up for ether net cable access in the dorms, Gustavo and I walked off campus into Daejeon in search of food. The other five of our group went looking for a Burger King on the KAIST campus after arriving in Daejeon early this morning and were currently sleeping in the middle of the afternoon. Being mid-afternoon, most the restaurants seemed to be closed as I thought they might open in time for the evening meal. Only finding a sandwich shop open, we decided to continue walking. Around the next block, a woman of North American appearance was walking toward us. As she came near, I asked "where is there a place open for us to eat?" After short conversation, she ultimately lead us to one of her favorite restaurants on a side street we had not walked.
She happened to be in Daejeon for two years researching at KAIST from Elizabethtown, NC. Her husband, she said, was also at KAIST and was from Asheville, NC.
The entryway of the restaurant contained three pair of shoes owned by the three patrons sitting nearby. Gustavo removed his shoes as I removed my sandals as we were seated on the floor on thin cushions. The dinner table consisted of two large gas burners where the food would be cooked in front of us. A menu on the wall, completely in Korean was pointed at by the waitress as we were supposed to choose what we wanted for dinner. After trying to explain we did not understand the menu, five minutes later she handed us a menu containing photos.
She began to bring small dishes including rice and kimchi to accompany the main dish to be cooked in the center of the table. The main course was a mixture of thin slices of beef, cabbage, mushrooms, been sprouts, carrots and onion sauteed and simmered in a thin tasty sauce.
The entire meal if had been eaten at an Asian Steak House restaurant in NC would have cost about $15 per person. Here the both of us were fully satisfied for just under $9. Here it is also not required or customary to tip the waitstaff for your meal.
Gustavo age 32, pictured here is the doctoral student from Columbia, South America. He is studying on a Civil Engineering scholarship from South America at the University of South Carolina, Columbia. He and I have been conversing in Spanish and English. After eating, we walked a couple miles for a tour of the city center across the river adjacent to the KAIST campus.
I lost my dorm room key, so we set out on a venture to find a place to make a copy while walking around downtown. A taxi ride earlier in the day for incidental shopping with a local Korean doctoral student, Nac (his name) led us to an equivalent to a Walmart Supercenter. Along the short ride, Nac pointed out a distant large green building across the river and said E-Mart was similar to a Sams Club/Department store. Returning back to campus, we stopped in E-Mart to try and duplicate the dorm room key.
The first floor contained escalators and restrooms. At the top of the second floor was a small information booth. The lady behind the counter pointed downstairs as she shook her head no after being asked if she spoke English.
We walked to the next proprietor on the same floor which was a pet shop with a few dogs behind the waist high glass enclosed small storefront and a cash register on the side. Asking the young guy if he spoke English, he held his thumb and forefinger tightly together as he timidly said "little Engwish" with a smilling, eyes slanted face.
Using charades and a few key (pun not intended) English words, Gustavo and I tried to ask where we could get a key duplicated. Five minutes later and accomplishing nothing in the conversation. The young man accesses Google Translate on his registry`s computer and hands the keyboard to Gustavo. As Gustavo types "where can we have a key made and how do we get there?", I see the slanted eyes brighten and a wide smile as the Korean translation appears (우리가 어디에 미친 키와 어떻게 거기 도착합니까받을 수 있죠?) next to the English script. He shakes his head no, not here in E-Mart but goes to a map locator to find a store where one can be made. He shows us the map on the computer which has our present location and map directions 4.27 kilometers (approx. 2.4 miles) further from where we are. He then prints us out a copy of the map. Being late in the afternoon, he also calls the key shop to see if the shop is open, it is not. He begins to write down the business hours on the printed map for the next few days for when we can get a key made.
Similar to the JAL (Japan Airlines) experience, the Asian culture or more specifically here in Korea, the hospitality to foreigners seems to go above and far beyond that which I have found or experienced in the US. Gustavo and I greatly appreciated the results of our attempts of finding information in a country where we do not speak the language. A gracious thank you was said many times as we departed the pet shop counter with labradors and poodles behind the counter. As is custom here in Korea, a short forward bend at the waist and a head nod of respect and welcome was presented by the three of us.
She began to bring small dishes including rice and kimchi to accompany the main dish to be cooked in the center of the table. The main course was a mixture of thin slices of beef, cabbage, mushrooms, been sprouts, carrots and onion sauteed and simmered in a thin tasty sauce.
The entire meal if had been eaten at an Asian Steak House restaurant in NC would have cost about $15 per person. Here the both of us were fully satisfied for just under $9. Here it is also not required or customary to tip the waitstaff for your meal.
Gustavo age 32, pictured here is the doctoral student from Columbia, South America. He is studying on a Civil Engineering scholarship from South America at the University of South Carolina, Columbia. He and I have been conversing in Spanish and English. After eating, we walked a couple miles for a tour of the city center across the river adjacent to the KAIST campus.
I lost my dorm room key, so we set out on a venture to find a place to make a copy while walking around downtown. A taxi ride earlier in the day for incidental shopping with a local Korean doctoral student, Nac (his name) led us to an equivalent to a Walmart Supercenter. Along the short ride, Nac pointed out a distant large green building across the river and said E-Mart was similar to a Sams Club/Department store. Returning back to campus, we stopped in E-Mart to try and duplicate the dorm room key.
The first floor contained escalators and restrooms. At the top of the second floor was a small information booth. The lady behind the counter pointed downstairs as she shook her head no after being asked if she spoke English.
We walked to the next proprietor on the same floor which was a pet shop with a few dogs behind the waist high glass enclosed small storefront and a cash register on the side. Asking the young guy if he spoke English, he held his thumb and forefinger tightly together as he timidly said "little Engwish" with a smilling, eyes slanted face.
Using charades and a few key (pun not intended) English words, Gustavo and I tried to ask where we could get a key duplicated. Five minutes later and accomplishing nothing in the conversation. The young man accesses Google Translate on his registry`s computer and hands the keyboard to Gustavo. As Gustavo types "where can we have a key made and how do we get there?", I see the slanted eyes brighten and a wide smile as the Korean translation appears (우리가 어디에 미친 키와 어떻게 거기 도착합니까받을 수 있죠?) next to the English script. He shakes his head no, not here in E-Mart but goes to a map locator to find a store where one can be made. He shows us the map on the computer which has our present location and map directions 4.27 kilometers (approx. 2.4 miles) further from where we are. He then prints us out a copy of the map. Being late in the afternoon, he also calls the key shop to see if the shop is open, it is not. He begins to write down the business hours on the printed map for the next few days for when we can get a key made.
Similar to the JAL (Japan Airlines) experience, the Asian culture or more specifically here in Korea, the hospitality to foreigners seems to go above and far beyond that which I have found or experienced in the US. Gustavo and I greatly appreciated the results of our attempts of finding information in a country where we do not speak the language. A gracious thank you was said many times as we departed the pet shop counter with labradors and poodles behind the counter. As is custom here in Korea, a short forward bend at the waist and a head nod of respect and welcome was presented by the three of us.
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