I could think of this conversation as nothing less than the epitome of what most KAIST community members face these days – what to do when they have, albeit rarely, some free time? As busy as it can get as a KAISTian, most people around me seem to have forgotten what to do when they are luckily left with free time; it is as if the free time came to existence by accident or by coincidence that they had no particular design or plans for it. Of course, I have heard people say going out for a drink is the single best way to spend time after a week-long assignment, a hectic group project presentation, or a dreaded series of exams. And of course, crowding the Eoeun-dong streets is neither an uncommon sight nor a wrong college cultural practice, but these days, I cannot help but feel that home can be more of a rich cultural exposition than any single bar, restaurant, museum, exhibition, gallery, concert, or theater out there.

And the conditions could not be more right for KAISTians. With most students residing at dormitories, the nuggets of culture that you have just been introduced to may come as more than just interesting facts. All the more so if you have ever been called a gong-do-ri, which roughly translates to various meanings ranging from science nerd to engineering geek. With the true quality of KAISTians put aside, the general public image of a KAISTian is closer to a gond-do-ri than a person with thorough knowledge of, genuine interest in, and/or high inclination toward music, literature, or films. This is not surprising even with the recent course registration “phenomenon” – students express their intellectual thirst for humanities and social sciences subjects such as Understanding Music & Music History, World of Musicals, Understanding American Culture, British and American Novel, Animations in East Asia, and many more. Having been writing and editing articles in the Culture section of The KAIST Herald for the past semester, I must admit that this is a rather sad happening – both in failing to register myself in one of the courses above and in watching others herald their “victory” in successfully securing a spot, with their major courses far down their priority list. This perfectly illustrates the fact that everyone is more or less finding the need to spend time with some liberal arts.

With that said, the ten-dollar question of the day must be the when and the where. Well, one thing that sets apart KAIST students from other college students is that KAIST students live in dormitories; the very reason that they gain easier access to Eoeun-dong streets can, in fact, positively contribute to their cultural lifestyle right at their dorm.

Frankly, my first two semester at KAIST have not really been embedded with any bit of culture in them, and now that I look back, the more I think about it, the more I must conclude that taking the first step toward enriching one’s lifestyle with things other than texts of major courses is really what matters and counts most. For instance, going on Naxos Music Library to listen to a piece or two has firmly gotten hold of its place on my laptop as a routine these days, and movie suggestion systems appear to grow more interesting as I watch more movies (or maybe not these days with the final examinations coming up). Either way, there is plenty of resources to exploit if one just takes that one imaginary step instead of taking a physical step outside the door in search for a hard-to-find cultural experience that readily suits one’s taste.

So, for those that live in dormitories, which are more like home away from home, the keyword is “online”. There simply is no need to roam around a town where you were not born or raised in; instead stay indoors, and feed your arts-hungry id right at your dorm.