The beginning to something amazing.

It's been 5 years since I've last been in Korea. I've been longing to eat some legitimate Korean food and to see my parents and relatives. I've also been waiting for a chance to get out of Ann Arbor. Don't get me wrong, Ann Arbor is a great place (when the weather isn't just rain rain rain...) but I've been stuck here for the past two summers and there's not a whole lot to do. But anyways, I'm rambling on about things that aren't informational to this particular trip.

I should probably start off with an introduction of myself. My name is GaRam Jun and I am a junior studying Aerospace Engineering at the University of Michigan. I am a Korean American born and raised in America. That's about it for my introduction. I don't want to spill all my secrets...

Now, more about this trip to Korea. First off it's South Korea, not North. Obviously that makes sense, right? I mean... very few people can even get into North Korea much less go research there... Okay, I don't think that this joke is that funny so I'm going to stop now and move onto serious stuff...

Anyways, I was gratefully accepted in the U-SURF Research and Korean Culture program. U-SURF stands for Ulsan Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship. With this program we'll be learning the Korean language and Korean culture for 2 weeks and then we'll be participating in top notch research at the Ulsan Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST). I'm not exactly sure what kind of research I'll be doing (something to do with semi-conducting materials and optics.. yeah. I'm confused too) but what's the fun in knowing everything in the world?? As for the class, I think I'll be pretty prepared seeming as I am a Korean who can (somewhat) speak and read Korean. I lived in Korea for 2 years from when I was 12 to when I was 14 and attended middle school. Needless to say, I was sort of forced to learn the language to survive (well not really survive... but you get the point). This part of the blog will become more and more detailed as the adventure progresses. Hopefully this was enough background information for y'all!

So, since this summer has started I have been researching in the Material Science Department at the University of Michigan. Saturday June 4th will be the last time I step foot in my lab for more than two months which makes me sad but not sad enough to make me cry... I'll be back on August 10th. Other than that, I've been hanging out with friends, watching movies, practicing some cello, and most importantly.. SLEEPING! Yes, I've missed sleeping a lot throughout the semesters and it's much needed. Anyways, I think that's enough for now. I shall be keeping all of you up to date on things to come. Thanks for reading! Hopefully you'll feel the excitement from this blog as much as I will from experience the trip!

PS: Saturday, June 4th 2011 marks the 102nd day (and counting!) that I have not consumed a Big Mac.