more pics from Yeosu

[NB: previous Yeosu pics here.]

I've finally figured out how to get at those pictures that I'd allowed Apple iPhoto to download from my camera. At first, I was unsure how to access them until I discovered the "export" function, which spits converted copies of the photos out into a neat little file folder.

The following pics are from the first half of my trip to Yeosu. Sorry if that's confusing; just pretend that my life is a nonlinear Tarantino narrative and you'll be fine.

I took this first shot right after I stepped off the KTX at Yeosu Expo Station. Stepping off the KTX made me feel as if I were in France (except for all the Korean people):

I followed the "exit" signs out of the station, then followed the crowd around to the right, where a giant taxi stand, with dozens of taxis, was waiting. I asked the driver to leave me at a yeogwan that was close to Chonnam National University; that's how I made the acquaintance of Motel Roboo, a love hotel. Love hotels aren't as skanky as you might think: they're generally clean and quiet and well-furnished. Here's the bed:


And here's a closeup of the Roboo logo:


After a zesty session of lovemaking, a proper lady wants to freshen up, so most love hotels are equipped with furnished vanities. I was placed in a room with a computer because I had asked about Internet service. My intent was simply to use my laptop, but I think the front-desk guy understood me to need an actual computer. Here's the vanity-cum-computer desk setup:


And here's a shot of the awesome, sleekly tiled bathroom, with a toilet that I instantly fell in love with. It's one of those elongated toilets—the kind that leaves a few inches of space so that you're not porcelain-slapping the rim with your man-junk. The toilet was also somewhat low-set, which felt bizarrely comfortable. It wasn't quite like a child's toilet, but the low height did make me mentally regress a couple decades, to a time when I was significantly shorter. Behold:


Did you notice, in the above photo, that there are two types of shower head? There's that large, plate-shaped shower head, which reminds me of the shower you can find inside a high-school science classroom, for use when a student douses himself in chemicals and needs an emergency rinse. The second shower head is a standard "metal snake." I used the shower to good effect as a way to steam my clothes smooth for the next day's interview. The yeogwan didn't have an iron, so that was my MacGyver solution to the wrinkle problem.

Here's another shot of the desk, with my laptop now set up upon it. I had to pull out the CPU, detach the CAT-5 cable, hook it into my adapter, and plug the adapter into my laptop:


Obligatory selfie:


And yes, Lee—the yeogwan provided towels. Three, in fact:


It's too bad I never thought to take pictures of my interviewers. Then again, by not taking pics of them, I've made them less tempted to ego-Google themselves, and thus to find my blog! (Not that I have anything bad to say about my interviewers; although I didn't like the package that Chonnam U. was offering, I liked my interviewers just fine. They seemed like good folks; they were frank about the working conditions, and I believed J when he said that the foreign staffers were a tight-knit group that got along well.)


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