Working with My New Schedule

Today was another day back in the office. I started early in the lounge, updating my blog. I figured that if it’s the first thing I do in the morning, I’ll always get it done—and won’t have to spend hours on it during the weekend.

I worked until 12:00, when it was time to go out and get some lunch. There’s still so much food I want to try, so for lunch I forcing myself to go out and try something special everyday. When stocking up on food at the convenience store, I walked past a small food cart selling 붕어빵 (Bungeoppang — fish-shaped pastries with filling). So I got three—and ate them all in one go!

The rest of the day I spent doing code reviews and setting up a Docker image to test the SCIM client I wrote—a mixed success.

I had to leave a little earlier than usual because my dinner date hadn’t eaten all day and was getting hungry. So I put on some nice clothes, styled my hair, and hopped on the metro.

Culture Exchange

I met Sooyeon through Bumble. I used my usual tactic: “I don’t like eating alone in restaurant, want to join me?” It worked! We’d chatted a bit beforehand, although not much, so I wasn’t sure what kind of date it would be. I was mostly just looking forward to meeting a local and asking loads of questions about the culture.

It started off a bit awkward, but we soon bonded over our shared neurodivergence, and the conversation began to flow naturally. During the meal, we covered so many different topics: how to maintain so many side dishes in a Korean kitchen, the popularity of eSports, and the ongoing tension with North Korea.

When the restaurant got too busy, we moved to a café for a quieter atmosphere—another thing I wanted to try while I’m here. The conversation continued: Dutch politics, the prominence of religion, Korea’s many cults, the strict work culture, the convenience of Coupang, Korean naming conventions and why so many elderly people still work.

The dinner turned out to be a great exchange of cultures and stories. I gained so much insight into how things work here and got answers to so many of the questions I had. I had an absolute blast—and I think I made a new friend! I even got invited to join a group going to a theme park next Monday!

Today was a really interesting day. My new schedule kept my energy levels up throughout the day, and the dinner was a perfect way to end it.