KNU Life

Kyungpook National University - Sangju Campus
August 31 and September 1, 2013

The fall term is about start. So before the campus is crawling with students, I went around to take pictures of my 'home' for the next two to three years.  


The main gate and a view of the tennis courts from the gate



A mini forest park from the dormitory going to the athletic field

The athletic field

Building 1 and 4

Another mini park (left) and Building 6, where my laboratory is situated (right)

Ginkgo biloba trees line the main road (left); remaining marks of SNU (right)

KNU Sangju Campus was once Sangju National University which opened in April 25, 1924 and became a university in 1999; before it was integrated to Kyungpook National University in 2008.


The Library

The dormitory complex


Foreign Students' Field Trip - Sangju and Mungyeong
September 27, 2013

The University sponsored a field trip for foreign students at various places in Sangju and then at Mungyeong.

First we went to the 상주박물관 (Sangju Museum) where we learned more about the history of Sangju and then at 상주 자전거박물관 (Sangju Bicycle Museum) which featured a lot of bicycles from all over the world and the history of bicycle use in Korea.

The Sangju Museum surroundings 


Some of the displays inside the museum


The Sangju Bicycle Museum


Inside the Bicycle Museum

Next we went to the 도남 서원 (Donam Seowon). A 서원 (seowon) is a private Confucian Academy in Korea which were established during the Joseon Dynasty. There are 637 academies which remain in Korea but there are nine which are nominated to be added in the world heritage sites and 도남 서원 is one of them. There we were taught about Korean greeting etiquette: it's importance in the Korean culture, how to perform proper greetings and the different types of greeting - bowing. We also got to wear a hanbok.


At the Donam Seowon

Our teacher on Greetings Etiquette (left) picture with the other 아저씨 at the seowon

Wore the hanbok for the first time

The last place we went to was the Mungyeongsaejae KBS Drama Studio.  This is where a number of historical dramas produced by KBS was shot.  It was build in 2000 covering about 65,755 sq.m. which is the world's largest historical drama film set. It was expanded  in 2005 and the total area is currently 70,000 sq.m. It has about 130 buildings which includes 2 palaces, tile-roofed housed and thatched houses. Some of the dramas filmed here are 태주왕건Emperor Wang Gun, 제국의 아침 Dawn of the Empire, 대주영 Dae Ju Yeong, 근초고왕 The King of Legend, and 성굔관 스캔들 Sungkyunkwan Scandal.  I watched Sungkyunkwan Scandal back in the Philippines so while going around the drama set, I can't help but smile because I tend to remember the scenes.

At the entrance of the palace (left) the guys are trying out the torture chair used in the past (right)

Another hanbok on the same day!

Just had to take a picture on this field of cosmos

It was a fun and educational trip. I got to appreciate the Korean culture more.

Mogindong, Sejong City
September 28, 2013

Professor Lim of the Ecotourism department invited us to one site of their department's extension projects at Sejong City, the newest city in Korea. The city was named after King Sejong who is considered to be the greatest ruler of Korea.

Before we went to the project site, we had lunch along the way







Mogindong which means Mountain and Man as One is a natural/organic farm. 
We enjoyed the view, picked Chrysanthemums...










and after which we relaxed while sipping Chrysanthemum tea



















Colors Everywhere
October 20, 2013

It's autumn! The leaves of the trees and shrubs around the campus are turning into different shades of yellow and red.  The leaves of the Ginkgo biloba trees that are lined up near the main gate have turned yellow and that of the Acer spp. trees into red. It was truly an amazing sight!












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