Korean School Lunch Update

Thursday, December 27, 2012 (clockwise from top left dish):
stir fried beef and vegetables (쇠고기채소볶음),
steamed and seasoned sesame seed leaves (깻잎찜),
cabbage kimchi (배추김치),
pineapples,
spinach soy-bean paste soup (시금치된장국), 
and rice (차수수밥).

Our school makes the best seasoned sesame seed leaves. I would actually buy some if I could.

Korean School Lunch Update

Wednesday, December 26, 2012 (clockwise from top left dish):
chicken salad (치킨샐러드),
cabbage kimchi (배추김치),
kiwi juice (키위쥬스),
dessert bread (증편),
and spaghetti

Have I already told you that Wednesdays are the best? We have special lunches. The chicken salad had mustard dressing. Yummy.

Korean School Lunch Update

Monday, December 24, 2012 (clockwise from top left dish):
stir-fried ham and potatoes (감자햄볶음),
dried slices of fish (뱅어포양념구이),
radish kimchi (총각김치),
sweet potato cake (고구마케이크),
spicy sausage kimchi soup (부대찌개),
and barley rice (보리밥)

I'm working on Christmas Eve. :( At least we have sweet potato cake for lunch.

Korean School Lunch Update

Friday, December 21, 2012 (clockwise from top left dish):
skewered rice cakes (떡꼬치),
seasoned bean sprouts (콩나물무침),
radish kimchi (깍두기),
gold kiwi (골드키위),
spicy meat and vegetable soup (육개장),
and rice (흑미밥)

Most of the fruits in Korea are very good. The watermelons, strawberries, and kiwis in Korea taste better than their American versions. 

Korean School Lunch Update

Thursday, December 20, 2012 (clockwise from top left dish):
spicy baby octopus and rice cake (쭈꾸미구이),
steamed eggs (계란찜),
cabbage kimchi (배추김치),
apples (사과),
mushroom sesame seed soup (버섯들깨탕),
and rice (율무밥)

My favorite banchan from today's lunch was the steamed eggs. 

Shopping in Korea

I'm from California, so a Korean winter is definitely something I'm not used to. I know I've been here 2 years now, so you think I'd be used to it, right? But no siree! I'm surprised every winter by the cutting winter wind, by the abundance of icy patches that daunt me to fall again and again, by the negative Celsius temperatures, by the ice cold touch of my hands and feet, by the numbness of my body that won't thaw... Yep, a white winter is tough for a California girl who is used to sunshine 365 days a year. That's why I decided I needed a down jacket/coat.

I had been looking for a few weeks and whenever I found one I liked, I would take a picture to get a second opinion. There are 2 people in my life whose opinions I value a lot in this area: Elis and Simon. They're both trendy and honest (bluntness is a good thing when shopping). At one point, Simon pointed out to me that I need to be careful when choosing a down jacket because I don't want to look like a little kid. I told Elis what Simon had said and she agreed; she suggested I ask Simon to go shopping with me. So I did and we went to Metapolis in Dongtan (which is the closest thing you'll get to an American-style mall in Korea. I think COEX and Times Square are very mall-like too.) Like I said, Simon is trendy and honest, so he gave me straight nos and yeses during the shopping trip (very useful). One tip about shopping in Korea: get used to being followed around from the moment you step into the store. They will follow you around, recommend clothes for you to buy, then when you actually pick something up, they'll pounce on it and you. They'll ask you what size you need. They'll say that you picked a good item and that it will flatter you very well. Bluntly put, I feel suffocated in a Korean store. This is something that I'm still getting used to because I don't like having a sales rep. watching my every move, especially in case I don't want to pay the ridiculous department store prices. But, since Simon was with me, he kept pushing me to "Let her do it for you. It's her job." I have to admit, it was nice. I would tell her I liked a certain coat and she would find my size, put it on me, and even hang it back up for me after I tried it on she tried it on me. Anyway, the shopping trip was successful because I bought a down coat that has 20% duck feathers in it! It's quite warm and the sales rep. told me that the 20% duck feathers is the normal ratio for down coats, so I'll be as warm as the Koreans are. Hooray!

the famous Metapolis towers

inside Metapolis

Yeongdeungpo Times Square

COEX mall

Korean School Lunch Update

Tuesday, December 18, 2012 (clockwise from top left dish):
pork and rice cake stew (돈육사태떡찜),
seasoned green-lentil jelly (청포묵무침),
radish kimchi (총각김치),
red bean bread in a fish shape (붕어빵),
blue crab soup, (꽃게탕),
and rice (흑미밥).

If you've never tried the seasoned green-lentil jelly, you should. It has a very light and refreshing taste.

Korean School Lunch Update

The pork cutlet was a little dry, but the juiciness of the pickled cucumbers balanced it well.

Monday, December 17, 2012 (clockwise from top left dish):
pork cutlet (돈까스),
spicy pickled cucumbers (오이지무침),
kimchi (김치),
pineapples,
potato soup (감자국),
and rice (기장밥).

Korean Schol Lunch Update

Most of the lunch ladies know now that I don't eat the regular teacher-sized portions, but the lady who was serving the rice today gave me wayyyy too much rice. Look at that mountain! Needless to say, I didn't finish the rice because the potato pancakes and soup were just too good!
Friday, December 14, 2012 (from bottom to top, left to right):
rice (차조밥),
jjamppong (짬뽕국),
quail eggs boiled in soy sauce (메추리알조림),
radish kimchi (깍두기),
German potato pancakes (독일식감자부침),
and pineapples for dessert

Korean School Lunch Update

Thursday, December 13, 2012 (from bottom to top, left to right):  rice (혼합잡곡밥), kimchi and pork stew (김치돼지고기찌개), eel (장어강정), marinated bean sprouts (숙주게맛살무침), kimchi (김치), and an apple (사과) for dessert!

Korean School Lunch Update

Like I said, Wednesday lunches are always special! Wednesday, December 12, 2012 (from bottom to top, left to right): shrimp friend rice with tomato sauce (새우볶음밥과 토마토소스), soy bean paste soup (근대된장구), radish kimchi (총각김치), chicken wings, yogurt drink (요구르트)! Bon appetit! 잘 먹겠습니다!

close up of the fried rice after i mixed it up

A Typical Tuesday

I'm really really going to try to keep up with this. After all, it's not like I have tons of money saved up to show for my 3 years in Korea. Yes, I have pictures, but those are getting fewer and fewer too. I just read my friends' blogs and got motivated! So...here I am, sitting alone in the office...blasting my Jango Christmas Pop channel...and writing in my blog. It's rare for me to be the only one in the office and I'm not complaining! I enjoy this "me time." L is at the teacher's yoga club meeting. J is ... probably in a meeting with the 5th grade teachers. C is always popular: she's like superwoman and other teachers know it. S is teaching his after-school classes. On a typical Tuesday, I am happy. Why? I see my 2 most difficult classes on Monday and Tuesday, then I don't have to see them again until next week. Typical Tuesdays can also be Tiring Tuesdays, but they're nothing compared to Monster Mondays; Seriously, these kids can bring out the monster in me. The Monday blues probably don't help either. ;)

Last Saturday, I visited my uncle's new apartment and stayed the night. I went out to a pizza and pasta dinner with him and his family on Saturday. They took me to a hipster restaurant somewhere close to Hongdae. It was called Ci Vediamo and I tried my first ever samgyeopsal pasta. The sauce tasted like a mixture of olive oil sauce and dwenjang (even the pasta sauce was a fusion of the West and Asia). It was delicious and not greasy like samgyeopsal normally is! I'll have to remember that dish when I'm craving samgyeopsal and pasta, but am too realistic to eat both. >.< Here are some pictures stolen from someone's Naver blog.

We also ate a salad pizza and a gorgonzola pizza. Am I the only one who didn't know honey is sprinkled on gorgonzola pizza?! The salad pizza was my favorite of the 2 pizzas though. It was a good mixture of deliciously greasy pizza and fresh salad. Here's a picture, but ours included radicchio. Yum!

 It's 4:37. As a foreign teacher, I should have been out of here 7 minutes ago! S is going to help me shop for a padded winter coat. Happy shopping and happy Tuesday!

Korean School Lunch Update

Today's lunch was excellent. I really enjoyed the chicken tenders with mustard sauce. The mustard sauce was spicy! Yum.

Friday, December 7, 2012 (clockwise from top left corner):
chicken tenders with mustard sauce (치킨텐더),
stir-fried zucchini (호박볶음),
radish kimchi (총각김치),
apple slices (사과),
clam and radish soup (바지락무국),
and brown rice (현미밥)

Korean School Lunch Update

We had Vienna sausages today. Just a tidbit: My students get a kick out of calling me "vienna teacher" because my name is so similar to "vienna." I don't think it's that similar, but I'm a good sport.

Thursday, December 6, 2012 (clockwise from top left dish):
Vienna sausages (비엔나양송이볶음),
kimchi (김치),
fried fish with spicy sauce (코북어강정),
sweet pumpkin rice cake (호박찰시루떡),
seaweed soup (미역국),
and rice (보리밥).

Korean School Lunch Update

It's Wednesday!! And the lunch ladies didn't disappoint.

Wednesday, December 5, 2012 (clockwise from top left dish):
radish kimchi (깍두기),
waffle with whipped cream,
tangerine,
egg and green onion soup (계란실파국),
kimchi fried rice (김치볶음밥)

Korean School Lunch Update

Yay! Today, they served japchae. I love it when they serve things I've been craving.

Tuesday, December 4, 2012 (clockwise from top left dish):
japchae (잡채),
radish kimchi (총각김치),
sweet and sour shrimp (새우탕수),
banana,
soybean paste soup (아욱된장국),
and rice (흑미밥)

Korean School Lunch Update

It's been a while since I updated about my school lunches. Today's lunch was okay. My favorite was the kimchi stew because my friend and I was craving it two days ago and BAM, we had it for lunch within the week. :)
Monday, December 3rd, 2012 (from bottom to top, left to right): rice (차수수밥), tuna kimchi stew (참치김치찌개), meatballs (떡갈비강정), radish kimchi (깍두기), fried and marinated squid (오징어귀채볶음), and a gold kiwi for dessert!