It’s 8:45 in the morning, sweat is already dripping down my back as the heat from the past few weeks still hasn’t cleared. Suddenly a familiar but unplaceable tune starts playing over the subway station speakers signaling that the train is almost here. As I, and everyone else, are jostled into place by the crowed moving onto the train I realize I haven’t had breakfast yet. Where do I finally end up you might ask? Well… Dunkin Doughnuts of course! Now I know what you are all probably thinking… Dunkin Doughnuts isn’t that great and in fact, may earn the title of pretty stinking bad. So, why would you go to the trouble?. Well, here is a little secret, it has basically nothing in common with the US version of the same store (other than both selling coffee and some semblance of treats). The doughnuts are actually delicious unlike their US counterparts, and the coffee is something comparable to Starbucks (that is to say not fantastic, but certainly not bad). How the US ended up with the subpar version is beyond me and to be honest rather outside of the scope of this blog, however, it does make you wonder.

While I did have a blast meandering around coffee shops and visiting a few popular places in Seoul, most of my time was spent on much less interesting topics like paperwork… That being said, as of about six hours ago from publishing time of this post, I have finally been approved for my Alien Registration Card! It won’t come for another 2-3 weeks, but it is a huge burden off my back knowing that it is finished.

I’m now a little under one week out from my arrival on campus at KAIST. I am very grateful for the time I got to spend in Seoul before I start my time as a student again. I know I touched on this topic during my very first post, but it is pretty crazy to think about how I ended up here. Everything has happened in what has felt like the blink of an eye, and while some of it has been stressful the majority of moments leading up to this point have been overwhelmingly positive. Never in my wildest dreams would I have expected to end up where I am now only three short years ago. Over the past few days, the strange (or rather illogical) feeling of wanted to go back to school has started kicking in. Without work or something to keep me busy, I think I get a bit lost… So, while this break before school has been good, I am definitely ready to get back up and running again (both figuratively as well as actually physically running). I have a solid idea for my thesis, work lined up during my breaks (most likely), and a whole lot of energy to push through the first 5 months of school with.

Till next time folks!