My lab is moving!

August 10, Wednesday – Today my lab is moving! It was one of the few times I could see so many of my labmates – Young Kyu, Aa, Poon, Jae Hoon, Jang Chun, Young Sil and Ji Hyun. I arrived at the lab at around 10.10am that day and they were already there, packing and moving stuffs. They greeted me as I walked in and we did the packing together. Moving PCs, monitors and furniture were too heavy for a timid person like me, so I will let my oppas to handle them :p At around 10.45am, Jang Chun oppa, our lab chief, ordered Young Kyu oppa and I to buy some strings and soft drinks from the minimart. Jang Chun oppa is a quiet person. But, he looked great as he was giving out instructions as a leader. He got the style!

It was a nice shopping with Young Kyu oppa, he treated to me to some coffee and it was nice. He said that this brand was famous in US. He sure likes to share with me his stories when he was in New York for a few months. We bought 3 rolls of strings to tie the books and 4 bottles of soft drinks. It was difficult for him to carry the drinks and boxes together, but he insisted that he could handle them. Luckily, we met Jeong Geun oppa as we were waiting for the shuttle bus. He helped us out with the boxes.

At around 12pm, we reached the lab. Daniel oppa was there as well. The guys sure were strong. They can carry the furniture down to 1st floor and up again for a few hours, of course with some rest. All of them sure have muscles. We were having tough time packing the professor’s stuff as he had too many things, especially books, research papers and journals. He sure likes to keep things, which reminded me of my father.

Around 2+pm, we had moved all of our goods to the new building, with the help of a lorry. It was rather amazing as we managed to pack all the things in the lab and moved all of them to the new building within 5 hours. I wanted to go for lunch but my labmates were busy moving. Ah… how could I leave them and have lunch while they were working hard like this…I sat at the lobby of the 5th of the new building DUI as it was not possible for me to move the stuff. I saw Yushu and Chang Jing moving their lab as well. But, he was too tired to notice the little me sitting behind all the furniture. I also saw Wei Shi and his labmates.

At around 3.10pm, we had lunch at the lobby with our lab’s table and chairs. It was rather funny as we were like having a picnic there. Coincidently, no one passed by that area at that time. Min Ho oppa came shortly before we started eating. He also helped out with the moving after that. It had been really a while since I last saw him.

Our “new lab”, which is not confirmed yet, is rather small as we were only having half of the lab. It was rather impossible for all of our furniture to fit in this new space. The professor will be using the next room to us, together with another professor.

At around 4.30pm, we finished moving all the stuff, without unpacking and arranging them. Then, together we went to “cincuiban” for bathing and relaxing. It was something like “sauna” but not exactly the same. At first, we paid at the counter and they gave us 2 small towers and 1 set of clothes, which are uniforms. Then, we went upstairs, put our shoes in the locker and the receptionist will give us the keys to our lockers for the bags. 1 tower is use during bathing and another one is for us to dry our body after showering.

There were a few pools in the shower room, normally around 38-40 degrees. Some got massage facilities, some got herbs. We must take the shower first before entering the pools. There were 2 steam rooms, one more than 40 degrees and another one at higher temperature. There was a pool with ice cold water. I like the shower with the cold water from the ceiling, it is really refreshing. It was a really nice experience, though at first I was having culture shock. Everyone was walking around naked. My onnis kept on assuring me that it is something normal in Korea. Don’t worry, the guys’ shower room is separated.

After showering, we went upstairs. The guys had already finished their shower and was lying down, relaxing on the floor. Jae Hoon oppa looked really funny with the way he tie his tower on his head. We were really hungry and thinking of having dinner. But, Daniel oppa did not have enough cash and they did not receive credit cards. Ah… the disadvantages of relying too much on credit cards. We ended up with only Sikhye and Green Tea for the beverages and eggs for dinner. Sikhye is a kind of traditional Korean drinks. It was white in color, with some rice-look-alike thing. I was kind of unfull with only an egg for dinner. Daniel oppa bought me a bottle of Fresh Tomato and Onions favour Pringles as extras. But, we shared it out since everyone was not full as well.

At around 9pm, Min Ho oppa departed back earlier as he will be going to Seoul. Ah… what a busy person. We also departed home shortly after that. Luckily Daniel oppa offered to drive me back, else I might be taking the taxi.

That’s all for a series of events on that day. I need not go to the lab for the next 2 days as our lab is not confirm yet, and we will not be arranging our stuff.