Loved.

"Loved! then the way will not be drear;
For One we know is ever near,
Proving it to our hearts so clear
That we are loved.
Loved when our sky is clouded o’er,
And days of sorrow press us sore;
Still we will trust Him evermore,
For we are loved.
Time, that affects all things below,
Can never change the love He’ll show;
The heart of Christ with love will flow,
And we are loved."

Grace Penell

For those days we forget He loves;
and for those who yearn for it.

Open Class

Whew. Open classes are done. But not like I was stressing. hehe I've been dealing with a cold since last week. It was interesting trying to teach in front of the parents when my voice is so hoarse. To sum it up: "Ms. Joanna teacher, are you sick? Your sound is different. I thought you were a man."

School Lunch

Tuesday, 4/16/2013 (clockwise from top left dish):
deep fried fish (가지마고추장강정),
mushroom and broccoli stir fry (새송이브로콜리볶음),
cubed radish kimchi (깍두기),
oranges,
beef leg bone soup with vegetables (사골우거지국),
and barley rice (보리밥)

School Lunch in Korea

Today's menu had the main dishes for a birthday meal in Korea. In the States, we eat birthday cake and the birthday girl or boy's dish of choice. But in Korea, there are traditional foods that Koreans eat on their birthdays. The ones we had for lunch today are: seaweed soup, japchae, and sticky rice.
Seaweed soup symbolizes a mother's labor pains. After giving birth, moms eat lots of seaweed soup for a speedy recovery because seaweed has high amounts of iron that help to clean the blood. Koreans eat seaweed soup on their birthdays to remember their mothers with a thankful heart.
Japchae is another birthday dish because it's served at any party or festival. Japchae noodles also symbolize long life.
Sticky rice symbolizes parents' desire for their children to be strong- like the sticky rice.

Monday, 4/15/2013 (clockwise from top left dish):
homemade meatballs (수제미트볼조림),
japchae (오색잡채),
kimchi,
pineapples,
seaweed soup with a beef base (쇠고기미역국),
and sticky rice (찹쌀밥)

Cafeteria Food at a Korean School

It's a long post today! I'm posting pictures of my school lunch from the past week and a half.

I don't need Sam Ryan's Thursday Rib Night since I got my ribs at school today!

 

Thursday, April 4th, 2013 (clockwise from top left dish):
barbecue ribs,
cucumber kimchi (오이부추무침),
Asian pear (친환경배),
mussel seaweed soup (홍합미역국),
and brown rice (발아현미밥)


My favorites were the okonomiyaki and the bean sprout japchae. It was a deliciously spicy version of the japchae I'm normally used to. And it was nice to see a Japanese dish on the menu.

Friday, April 5th, 2013 (clockwise from top left dish):
tofu okonomiyaki (두부오코노미야끼),
bean sprout japchae (콩나물잡채),
kimchi,
melon,
dried prawn and curled mallow soybean paste soup (건새우아욱된장국),
and sweet potato rice (고구마밥)

Monday, April 8th, 2013 (clockwise from top left dish:
stir fried udon with seafood (해물볶음우동),
baby potatoes boiled in soy sauce (알감자조림),
kimchi,
grapes,
beef and radish soup (쇠고기탕국),
and corn rice (찰옥수수밥)

 

Tuesday, April 9th, 2013 (clockwise from top left dish):
chicken steak (닭다리스테이크),
jellied food kimchi (묵김치무침),
cucumber kimchi (오이김치),
oriental melon (친환경참외),
dumpling and rice cake soup (물만두국),
and rice (기장밥)

Thursday, April 11th, 2013 (clockwise from top left dish):
bibim mini mandoo (꼬마비빔만두),
dried fish fried in sweet sauce with nuts (명엽채견과류볶음),
melon,
potato and pork rib soup (감자탕),
and rice (찹쌀밥)

Friday, April 12th, 2013 (clockwise from top left dish):
lettuce, cucumbers, chili pepper,
ssamjang, samgyeopsal, fried onions and potatoes (삼겹살구이양파감자),
kimchi,
soybean paste soup (근대된장국),
rice (찰흑미밥),
bean sprouts marinated in spicy sauce (매운콩나물파무침),
and cherry tomatoes

We had 4 different kinds of greens to wrap the samgyeopsal.

Cafeteria Food: Korean Elementary School

The kids always go for seconds lately. The whole school is seriously going to gain weight this year if the lunches continue to be this awesome. I was craving bibimbap this week. Plus, look at that beautiful corn dog. I'm glad they didnt coat it in sugar because that's what one lady at a corn dog stand did one time! Korea puts its own twist on Western food.

Wednesday, April 3rd, 2013 (clockwise from top left dish):
watery kimchi (물김치),
corn dog (콘후레이크핫도그),
sweet rice drink (식혜),
tofu and winter-grown cabbage soybean paste soup (두부얼갈이된장국),
bibimbap (비빔밥)

Cute Things My Kids Say

1. Yeong-seok: "Hello, vienna teacher." (because my name kind of rhymes with Vienna) He made the connection one day when we ate Vienna sausages for lunch. Now whenever he sees me, he says, "Oh Vienna teacher~ so delicious~"

2. Sang-jun: "Can you Joanna-us?"
Our lesson title was "Can you join us?" and ever since he made the connection, he always says "Can you Joanna-us?"

3. Sae-byul: "cardiovascular disease"
We're learning about symptoms like toothache, headache, etc. I asked the kids if they knew any other words and this boy says "cardiovascular disease." My Korean co-teacher is like: ... What kind of 6th grader knows these kinds of words?

4. The same boy who said "cardiovascular disease" says "Teacher, do you go to church? Why do you believe? I don't understand." Umm... you want me to talk about faith and theology with you right now? Lol.

Cafeteria Food in Korea

It's another happy day in the cafeteria because the menu is so new, fresh, and delicious.
And yes, those are star-shaped and heart-shaped rice cakes in the soup.

Tuesday, April 2nd, 2013 (clockwise from top left dish):
beef, pork, and eggs boiled in soy sauce (모듬장조림),
boiled cabbage seasoned with soybean paste (봄동된장무침),
radish kimchi (총각김치),
cherry tomatoes (방울토마토),
kimchi rice cake soup (김치떡국),
and corn rice (찰옥수수밥)

Cafeteria Food in Korea

Starting from this month, the cafeteria menu was arranged by the new nutrition teacher so look out for any changes. I already noticed a few: the food is cut into bigger pieces (a little more difficult to eat, especially for the Kindergarteners~3rd graders). We've never had rice cake galbi  before! We're dining well the first day of April.

Monday, April 1st, 2013 (clockwise from top left dish):
rounded rice cake galbi (가래떡갈비),
potatoes boiled in soy sauce based seasoning (꽈리고추감자조림),
kimchi,
orange slices,
Daegu city style fish stew (대구매운탕),
and brown rice (현미밥)

Lunch at a Korean Cafeteria

Wow. I had no idea the top left dish was eel...The army stew was loaded with a variety of sausages and ham, so lots of the students got seconds!

Friday, March 29th, 2013 (clockwise from top left dish):
fried eel (장어강정),
boiled bean sprouts and fresh imitation crab seasoned in vinegar (숙주맛살무침),
cubed radish kimchi (깍두기),
spicy sausage army stew (부대찌개),
and brown rice (현미밥)

Lunch at a Korean Cafeteria

I love potato pancakes.
The fried seaweed is fried in sugar, sesame oil, and salt. It makes a quick and easy meal if you mix it with rice (like bibimbap).

Thursday, March 28th, 2013 (clockwise from top left dish):
sweetly fried seaweed (건파래볶음),
German potato pancake (독일씩 감자팬케익),
kimchi,
pollack stew (동태찌개),
and rice (기장밥)

Cafeteria Food in Korea

Wednesday, March 27th, 2013 (clockwise from top left dish):
kimchi,
chicken roasted in spicy sauce (닭봉구이),
clam and radish soup (바지락무국),
pork black bean sauce (돼지고기자장볶음소스),
and spinach bacon fried rice (시금치베이컨볶음밥)

Cafeteria Food in Korea

My mom usually flavors spinach with sesame oil and soy sauce, so I tried spinach with a soybean based sauce for the first time in Korea. And I really like this flavor.

Tuesday, March 26th, 2013 (clockwise from top left dish):
squid and samgyeopsal dish (오삼불고기),
spinach (시금치무침),
cubed radish kimchi (깍두기),
potato soup (감자국),
and rice (차수수밥)

My Kids

I had the Monday blues so I really didn't want to come into work today. But my kids made me happy. Reasons why I like my kids:
- They're cute.
- They love to play.
- They smile to themselves when I compliment them in front of the whole class.
- They laugh at my jokes.
- They're creative.
- They're smart.
- They love attention.
- They get happy when I remember their individual names.
- They greet me excitedly every time I see them.
- They're happy.
- They don't hold grudges.
- They smile a lot.
- They're innocent.
- They forget to call me "Ms. Joanna" and call me "teacher" instead because old habits die hard.
- The boys get super excited if I talk about PC rooms.
- The girls get super excited if I talk about Kpop singers.
- They all get super excited if I talk about food.
- They all get super excited at the word "game."

My kids remind me why I'm still in Korea. I'm thankful for this experience. 

Korea Cafeteria Food

I absolutely love steamed cabbage. 

Koreans eat duck meat by wrapping it in the steamed cabbage and dipping it in the ssamjang.

Monday, March 25th, 2013 (clockwise from top left dish):
kimchi,
steamed cabbage with ssamjang (양배추쌈),
smoked duck meat (훈제오리),
napa cabbage soup (배추국),
and barley rice (보리밥)

Korea School Lunch

Since I teach 5th and 6th grade, I have lunch when my kids do, and we are all starving by lunchtime. Since 5-5 was my last class before lunch today, I asked them what we were having for lunch today. I know the kids look at the menu (food is a very big deal for the kids at my school). They were telling me: sundae! tteokbokki! jjambbong! These are all food that kids LOVE. My co-teacher and I laughed and repeated the question: "What are we eating today? Not what do you want to eat?" We laughed at these poor dreamers. 
And so of course we were surprised when we went down to the cafeteria and found all of these dishes! They had been telling us the truth. Lol. Oops.
The tteokbokki also surprised me. Tteokbokki is usually red and spicy, but today's rice cakes were fried in a soy sauce based sauce. This is how the Korean kings ate tteokbokki, hence the name "court rice cakes." 

Friday, March 22nd, 2013 (clockwise from top left dish):
sundae fried in peanut sauce (순대땅콩강정),
court rice cakes (궁중떡볶음),
kimchi,
Chinese-style vegetable and seafood soup (짬뽕국),
and black rice (흑미밥)

Korea School Lunch

My favorite dish was the green vegetables. I'm not sure what it's called in English because there is no direct translation. Korea seems to have a bigger vegetable group than America because there are so many unique vegetables. Same with the fish. :/ The Korean-English dictionary says today's fish is similar to trout.

Thursday, March 21st, 2013 (clockwise from top left dish):
radish kimchii (총각김치),
seasoned and baked im yeon soo (임연수구이),
stir-fried green vegetables (취나물볶음),
oranges,
mushroom and perilla seed soup (버섯들깨탕),
and rice (현미밥)

Korea School Lunch

Happy Hump Day. I finished the whole ton of rice the lunch mother gave me and had an extra serving of strawberry yogurt, so I'm super full. Full, but happy. One of my co-teachers is a total health nut, so she's been very happy with the new lunches, especially today's homemade strawberry yogurt. The nutrition teacher actually made the strawberry yogurt herself. Apparently you can make yogurt in the microwave!!! Here's an easy recipe I found online. The nutrition teacher added fresh strawberries to flavor it.

Wednesday, March 20th, 2013 (clockwise from top left dish):
sauce for the burdock rice (양념간장),
kimchi,
strawberry yogurt,
egg and green onion soup (계란실파국),
and burdock mixed rice (우엉밥)

School Lunch in Korea

TGIF! My favorite dish was definitely the jjol myeon (쫄면). I even asked the lunch mothers to give me extra while I was in line. ^__^
Jjol myeon is chewy noodles mixed with fresh vegetables in spicy sauce. The noodles are literally chewy; I think that's why I like this dish so much. It has a totally different texture from ramen noodles, kalguksu noodles, pasta, etc. It's a must-try! It's usually a summer food since it's served chilled.
And I should have taken a better picture of the steamed egg! It's called rainbow steamed egg, but rainbow is not a special ingredient. The nutrition teacher made it multicolored with spinach tofu and carrot tofu. It was yummier than it sounds. Trust me.

Friday, March 15th, 2013 (clockwise from top left dish):
jjol myeon (야채쫄면무침),
kimchi,
steamed rainbow egg(무지개계란찜),
bean sprouts soup (콩나물국),
rice (차조밥),
and apples

School Lunch in Korea Update

My co-teacher kind of scolded me for not finishing my food. She asked me if I was picky. I told her I wasn't and before I knew it, she asked me why I always have so much left over. Oops. I admitted the pork was pretty dry. She suggested I ask for smaller portions. ^^
Happy White Day!

Thursday, March 14th, 2013 (clockwise from top left dish):
pork and rice cake boiled in spicy sauce (돈육사대떡찜),
cubed radish kimchi (깍두기),
stir-fried anchovies and nuts (멸치견과류볶음),
gold kiwi,
soy bean paste stew (된장찌개),
and rice (차수수밥)

School Lunch in Korea Update

Having ju muck bahb aka rice balls for school lunch was a first for me. It was awesome and I'm sure the kids liked them.
What is ju muck bahb? "Ju muck" means "fist" in English, so we can actually call them fist rice. They are made by clumping the fried rice and seaweed into balls using your fist. Easy, right? Fist rice balls is a very literal name.

close up of the inside of the rice ball

Wednesday, March 13th, 2013 (clockwise from top left dish):
napa cabbage kimchi (배추김치),
jumbo dumpling (왕만두),
pineapples,
rice cake soup (조랭이떡국),
and seaweed fist rice balls (김주먹밥)

School Lunch in Korea Update

I had a faculty dinner on Friday and a Russian feast on Saturday. I feel like I gained weight over the weekend, so I'm trying to be more conscious of what I eat. It's hard to practice self-control in front of all this delicious food though!
The fried spicy chicken (or dalk gang jung) is one of my favorite Korean foods. It's the perfect snack and even makes a good meal. First, the chicken is fried. Then it's marinated in sauce that is magically spicy and sweet at the same time. And then, only the best dalk gang jung is sprinkled with peppers and crushed peanuts.

Tuesday, March 12th 2013 (clockwise from top left dish):
fried spicy chicken (닭강정),
leek and cucumber kimchi salad (오이부추무침),
cubed radish kimchi (총각김치),
rice cake (떡),
squid stew (오징어찌개),
and barley rice (보리밥)

Russian Dinner

I've lived in California for 22 years and in Korea for 3 years, but I can definitely say that I've gotten a more worldly food experience while living in Korea. In California, I ate a lot of Korean, American, Mexican, Chinese, Japanese, and Thai food (this is only authentic food). But in Korea, I've eaten Indian, Turkish/Nepalese, Spanish, Brazilian, Chinese, Mexican, Greek, and now Russian food. Korea is such a global country- more global than people realize.

On Saturday, my good friend Jay organized a Russian dinner at a Russian restaurant. Actually, Jay is the one who introduced me to authentic Turkish/ Nepalese food (and I'm not referring to the kebab stands all over Hongdae). We went around 8:10 and it was packed. There were a few foreigners but most of the customers were Russians. Apparently, the area we were in is Little Russia and out of the restaurants in Little Russia, Jay chose a restaurant called Fortune. It's a medium-sized place (seats maybe 40 people). We went family style and had Jay order for all of us since none of us knew anything about Russian food. He did a perfect job of ordering a good variety of meats, meat pastries, and vegetarian dishes for the 2 vegetarians in our group. This is what we ate!

Russian meat pastry: flaky croissant on the outside, meaty goodness on the inside

lamb ribs, pickled carrots, beet salad, chicken skewers, lamb skewers

We had another appetizer, along with the pickled carrots and the pastry, but I didn't get a picture of it. We called it a Russian burrito or crepe. It was seasoned ground beef wrapped in a crepe. Everything was and is delicious! I'd definitely go back again.

There was, of course, drinking involved, too. We drank Russian beer called Baltika, but I didn't like it. It was watery and tasted like Cass. The Russian vodka was strong (60% alcohol), so the girls mixed it with mango juice. The restaurant had concentrated juice, so the vodka and juice cocktails were delicious.

Restaurant: Fortune
Location: Dongdaemun History and Culture Park Station, exit 5
Speaks: Russian, Korean, English

Lunch at My Korean Elementary School

Happy Monday. I'm so glad I eat lunch at 1 o'clock. It's the last lunch period and it's pretty late, but I like eating at this time because I finish teaching at 1 o'clock. So once my last class is done, I can relax and eat lunch, relax, plan lessons, and relax. And today, the 6th grade classes were disruptive and it's only the second week of school! The students are already getting comfortable with each other and becoming friends. NOOooooo.

Moving on. Notice the rice? I went into the other lunch line and the lunch mother who serves the rice on that side gave me more than enough rice. And I should have taken a better picture of my food or at least of the soup. The soup looks unappealing, but it was actually really good and loaded with meat and vegetables.

Monday, March 11th, 2013 (clockwise from top left dish):
oranges,
seasoned green-lentil jelly (청포묵무침),
kimchi,
pollack and radish stewed in soy sauce (북어무조림),
hot spicy meat stew (육개장),
and rice (흑미밥)

Korean Cafeteria Lunch

TGIF!!!!!! This week went by so slowly. I'm not sure if it was because I've had to present my orientation lesson 12 times or because I still need to get used to the normal teaching schedule. Whatever the reason, I'm just glad this week is over!

Friday, March 8th, 2013 (clockwise from top left dish):
tofu fried in soy sauce (두부조림),
oyster mushrooms seasoned with vinegar dressing (애느타리무침),
strawberries,
fried tofu and fish cake soup (유부어묵국),
and brown rice (현미밥)

Korean Cafeteria Food Update

Lunch is served in different ways at different elementary schools in Korea. Some of my friends tell me that their students eat lunch in their classrooms. The trays, utensils, and food are brought up to each classroom on carts. The students serve themselves and eat in the classroom. My school is different: We have a huge cafeteria, so the students come and eat in the cafeteria. They pick up trays and utensils. Then, they walk down a "buffet line" where the lunch mothers serve them nutritious portions of food. Teachers also follow this same procedure, except we always cut to the front of the line. Hehe. I usually get the normal teachers' portions, but this whole week, I've been getting the perfect amount of rice! One of the lunch mothers knows me! She'll see my face and give me half of the teacher's rice portion, which is the perfect amount. This whole week, I finished all of my rice. :)
Today, the new lunch teacher gets another thumbs up because the seaweed soup was very flavorful. I want to say it was creamy, but the soup is clear... She was able to get a good broth out of the seaweed.

Thursday, March 7th, 2013 (clockwise from top left dish):
quail eggs boiled in soy sauce (메추리알조림),
spicy snail salad (골뱅이무침),
kimchi,
red bean bread (미니 붕어빵),
seaweed soup (미역국),
and rice (혼합잡곡밥)

Korean Cafeteria Food Update

Today's lunch was THE BOMB. I saw my tray and immediately thought, "Today's Wednesday." I scanned my tray and noticed that I liked everything on it. That rarely happens because there's usually at least 1 dish that I don't care for. Even the kimchi made me happy because it wasn't just normal kimchi- it was radish kimchi!
And kudos to the new lunch teacher because the spicy rice cakes were delicious! The previous lunch teacher has served this dish before, but it was always hard and tough to chew. Today, however, it was chewy- just like rice cake should be.
Apparently, I'm not the only one who has been noticing these changes in the lunch menus because one of my co-teacher mentioned that the cafeteria food has been more delicious this week. All of the other teachers jumped on this comment and agreed (including me)! The new 5th grade science teacher called the lunch teacher over and told her what we said. She was flattered and said she would work on making it more delicious. b^__^b

Wednesday, March 6th, 2013 (clockwise from top left dish):
cubed radish kimchi (깍두기),
marinated rice cakes (떡꼬치),
Asian pear (배),
enoki mushroom miso soup (팽이버섯국),
and curry rice (카레밥)

Cafeteria Food in Korea

My favorite banchan was the japchae. It's a dish of mixed noodles, stir-fried vegetables, and shredded meat. If you've never tried these famous Korean noodles, you should! The texture is so chewy and smooth. The dish itself is very healthy because of the overwhelming variety of vegetables. This dish is very popular at dinner parties and holiday gatherings.
I was keeping my eyes open for some kind of change in my school cafeteria food because sadly, the lunch teacher who I secretly adored (and whose food I adored) transferred to a different school. :( We have a new lunch teacher and the menu hasn't changed much, except for today's soup. We've had soybean paste soup before, but the new lunch teacher added her own twist by adding a Korean root. I couldn't figure out which root it was, but it had a very strong taste. Roots are very healthy, but I wasn't very fond of it.

Tuesday, March 5th, 2013 (clockwise from top left dish):
japchae,
cubed radish kimchi (총각김치),
kiwi juice,
marinated and fried Japanese Spanish mackerel (삼치강정),
soybean paste soup with wild chives (냉이달래된장국),
and rice (율무밥)

Cafeteria Food from Korea Update

Today is the first day of the new school year! My co-teacher also informed me that ALL schools in Korea start on the same day, so it's a nation-wide Back-to-School Day! This means that I will be doing cafeteria food updates again. Yay for nutritious lunches.

Maybe I was so excited for cafeteria food that my expectations were too high because I was a little disappointed. I expected a big bang to start off the school year, but I got this:

Monday, March 4th, 2013 (clockwise from top left dish):
folded egg (계란말이),
dried and sauteed prawns (건새우채소볶음),
kimchi,
apples,
beef and radish soup (쇠고기무국),
and rice (기장밥)

Thankful

Lately, random people around me have been taking extra measure to take care of me and I'm thankful.

My vice-principal considers himself my Korea dad or uncle because he always screens my Facebook. Once any picture that looks remotely like I'm participating in debauchery is uploaded, I hear about it the next work day. It all started when he saw pictures of me at Ingyedong Bulldog's Opening Party. He INSISTS that the atmosphere looks "sexual" and that my friends seem strange. I INSIST that they're all good people and that he can trust them because most of them are English teachers. My co-teachers even took my side, saying that he might not be used to how foreigners party. (He drinks WAY more than I do so :p) Ever since those pictures, whenever I have new Facebook pictures, he drills me on me where I went and what I did. The most recent idea he had was to give me a curfew and make me take a video of my apartment to ensure that I was home. Honestly, it's not annoying. He is half-joking (I think), so it's actually kind of sweet. I think he has fun teasing me about my adventures in Korea.

My new co-teachers are also going to be wonderful. I can already feel it. My school has one more week of spring break left, but the teachers are required to come to work every day during this week. And the cafeteria is closed, so the teachers have lunch with their grade departments (1st grade, 2nd grade, 5th grade, 6th grade, etc.) The nutrition teacher, nurse, etc. are assigned to various grade departments. Here's a secret: my previous co-teachers are amazing, but they would leave me hanging in situations like this. On Monday though, my new co-teachers were both quick to pre-order my lunch. Their first day as my co-teachers and they're already so thoughtful!

It's good to be thankful; it makes people happy. We are usually grateful for things or ideas: family, friends, chocolate, new job, good weather, French fries, phone, college acceptance letter, etc. But let's not forget the people in our lives and to express how thankful we are. Always be thankful for each other, and spread the love.

Ghana Heaven

This chocolate is really good. I'm not much of a chocolate person so if I can say that it's good, it must be good.

I had my first Ghana chocolate last December. One of the English teachers passed some out to everyone in the office. It sat on my desk for a while because I'm not a big fan of chocolate. I ate it later because I was bored and OMG MILK CHOCOLATE WITH EXTRA CACAO, YES. It's so smooth and creamy that it literally melts in your mouth. (Lotte also makes a mild cacao version.)
It gets even better. Last week, I was in the snack aisle at Homeplus (one of the big supermarkets in Korea) when I saw this:

I got so excited and bought the box with 6 servings. hehehe
I couldn't taste the creaminess of Ghana chocolates, so not as amazing. But I could taste the cacao and it was still delicious. I think it tastes better than Chocopie and possibly Mongshuell if Mongshuell stopped putting marshmallows in their pies.

Snowboarding at Yongpyeong

On Saturday, I went snowboarding with some friends and co-workers. My co-teacher Jiwon and I were talking about snowboarding and we decided it's a rigorous and expensive sport, but so much fun! Rigorous because you will get hurt. Expensive because even though we got discounts on our bus tickets, lift tickets, and rentals by using 3rd party rental shops, we easily spent 100,000 Korean won each. But fun because the feeling of riding down the slopes is exhilirating. Especially if you don't fall. ;)

It was only my 3rd time snowboarding, so I fell a lot. I fell on my butt several times, but it's not my butt that's sore right now. It's my neck, arms, and chest. I fell forward a few times and when I fell, I fell hard. So hard that I got the wind knocked out of me all 3 times. I couldn't breathe and my chest hurt. It felt like an anxiety attack. It passed and I was able to get back up again. The 3rd time really scared me, so I was more cautious after that. You can't be too careful when you're learning how to snowboard though. You have to be gutsy and be okay with getting hurt. I was trying to learn how to make turns, but I was too scared to snowboard backwards. It scared me to think that I would probably fall, so I would get up but panic and fall backwards. I'll master it another time. In the meantime, it makes me want to improve my yoga skills. I was never good at balancing forward or backward, so I know what area to work on.

Yongpyeong resort has shuttle buses that depart from different cities (i.e. Seoul, Suwon, Bundang, etc.). The Suwon bus left at 6:20am and got to Yongpyeong in 2 hours. Then we called the rental store to pick us up. They took us to their store where we tried on our boots, rental clothes, and picked up miscellaneous items like gloves and socks. Their accessories were all overpriced, so I'd recommend buying them at Homeplus or Emart before the trip. They also rent goggles if you don't want your own pair. It was convenient because the rental store picked us up, dropped us off, and came back to pick up the rentals at no extra charge! We even got a bigger discount for making a reservation on the phone. We left Yongpyeong on the 7pm bus, but we really could have made the 5pm bus. Note to self: Rental stores allow customers to leave the rental equipment in a pile without meeting the person. Customer service in Korea is so awesome sometimes. ^^b

EDIT with pictures

sooyun uhnnie, sunmi, jiwon, and me (where was Danielle??)

yongpyeong cream cheese stuffed pretzel

Valentine's Day in Korea

Happy Valentine's Day! Korea has 3 kinds of Valentine's Days. 2/14 is Valentine's Day, but in Korea, it's a day for girls to make and give chocolate to their boyfriends. 3/14 is called "White Day." This is another couples holiday, and boyfriends must give their girlfriends jewelry. (Give chocolate and receive bling...Girls have it better, huh?) Then there's another couples holiday on 11/11 called Pepero Day (or Pocky Day in Japan). Grls and guys give each other Pepero because the 1s look like Pepero sticks.
After living here for over 2 years, I would say that Pepero Day is the most important couples holiday. The marts are not as crowded as they are on Pepero Day.

Korean even has a single's day called Black Day (4/14). Anyone who didn't get chocolate on Valentine's Day or jewelry on White Day will go and eat jajangmyeon.

jajangmyeon

So Happy Valentine's Day!  I went to Suwon Sam Ryan's and ran into a lot of foreigners there. We ate, drank wine, and were merry. The wine gave me such a bad headache the next morning. I always forget that sweet wine will do that.

Lunch at a Korean School

Here's my school lunch! They gave me a TON of rice today. Even my co-teacher noticed and mentioned it. We had seasoned snails... I know, right? My school cafeteria was where I ate snails and eel for the first time ever. And I didn't know it. Snails don't taste bad with the spicy sauce. They're just really chewy.

Thursday, February 14, 2013 (clockwise from top left dish):
steamed chicken with carrots and mushrooms (닭찜),
seasoned snails (골뱅이무침),  
radish kimchi (깍두기),
pineapples,
kelp and radish soup (다시마무국),
and rice (차수수밥)

Funny Things My Students Say

1. I was letting the 6th grade girls who clean our classroom choose a candy.
Girl 1: 이건 뭐에요?
Her friend (scoldingly): 영어로 말해야지 (You have to speak in Korean.) This what is?
Me: You mean WHAT IS THIS?
All of us burst out laughing.

2. Yedam Bang's cover of "Baby" on Kpop Star: One of my classes wanted to listen to this song. I think it's popular among the kids because the whole class loved it.

This brother-sister duet is popular too.

Korean Cafeteria Food

Today's the first day back after the Lunar New Year holiday. School lunch isn't as exciting to me today because all I've been doing is eating Korean food. I want some American food.

close up of the fried rice

Wednesday, February 13, 2012 (clockwise from top left dish):
kimchi,
chocolate cake,
apple slices,
cabbage soup (배추국),
and spinach and bacon fried rice with pork black bean sauce (시금치베이컨볶음밥, 돼지고기자장볶음소스)

Jansori

Jansori: it basically means 'nagging' in English. Moms are especially good at jansori. They always tell you what you should or shouldn't do. "Don't go out too late at night. Don't come home too late. Be careful. Don't waste your money..." You get the picture. They worry a lot. I usually don't like jansori, but hearing it once in a while is kinda nice. The freedom that comes from living abroad and living alone is nice, but it's also nice to know mom wants to keep you safe.

Korean cafeteria food

What a wonderful Friday. Starting tomorrow, we have a 4 day weekend because Sunday is Lunar New Year. :) :) :) 

Friday, February 8, 2013 (clockwise from top left dish):
mackerel boiled in soy sauce (삼치엿장조림),
stir-fried sausage,
radish kimchi, 
pineapple,
soy bean paste stew (된장찌개),
rice (차수수밥)

Korean school cafeteria food

Whenever I see stir-fried small octopus on the menu, I always just know that lunch will be mediocre. I don't really like this dish because it takes too long to chew. In case you didn't know: I don't like having to work too hard for my food, so I don't like food that requires too much work. Lobster? Crab? Walnuts that still have the shell on them? No, thanks. Shrimp used to be on the list, but it became bearable after going to The Boiling Crab a couple times. So I didn't enjoy the octopus even though I really like the spicy sauce it's marinated in. I really liked the acorn jelly and the soup though.

Thursday, February 7, 2013 (clockwise from top left dish):
stir-fried small octopus (낙지볶음),
seasoned acorn jelly (도토리묵무침),
kimchi,
apples,
bean sprout soup (콩나물국),
and rice (율무밥).

Korea 1960 to 2013

http://www.flickr.com/photos/smothers/sets/72157594443648942/

Look at these pictures. They're getting so much attention on the internet lately because it's so apparent how much Korea has changed, grown, blossomed. Korea has managed to go from a third world country to a first world country, from a country that received aid to one that is now aiding other countries. It's amazing because this country was rebuilt in such a short time AFTER the Korean War that left the country in a state of destruction. After yet another person posted this on Facebook, I got curious and asked my co-teacher Lauren how she thought Korea grew so quickly and left the world in awe. She immediately gave 2 reasons: diligence and esteeming education. I wonder how other Koreans (young and old) would answer this question. Fear of North Korea? Good leadership? Prayer? Farming techniques?

On a less serious note, maybe assertive ahjummas and drunken ahjussis have a right to do so. They rebuilt the country! They can do whatever they please? I now have a little more respect for that generation of Koreans.

Korean School Cafeteria Food

 I loved everything on my tray today. The tangerine was really really good and the Korean teachers told me that tangerines and strawberries are in season. If you have never tried a Korean strawberry, you're missing out because they're are 100x better than the tart strawberries we have back in Southern California. I will definitely miss strawberries when I'm back home.

Wednesday, February 6, 2013 (clockwise from top left dish):
radish kimchi (깍두기),
tangerine (귤),
corndog,
egg soup with green onions (계란실파국),
and bibimbap

Korea Cafeteria Food

Koreans wrap the slices of meat in the boiled cabbage with some bean paste sauce. This is called ssam (쌈). I liked the cabbage more than the meat because I never feel like I get enough veggies living away from home.

 

Tuesday, February 5, 2013 (clockwise from top left dish):
kimchi,
slices of boiled pork (편육) with bean paste sauce,
boiled cabbage (양배추쌈),
soybean paste soup (근대된장국),
brown rice (현미밥),
and yogurt juice

Korean Cafeteria Food

Second day back at school and they've finally reopened the school cafeteria. I've missed my nutritious school lunches. But where's the dessert? :(

 

Monday, February 4, 2013 (clockwise from top left dish):
fried seewead (건파래볶음), 
green onion pancakes (부추전),
kimchi,
beef-rib soup (갈비탕),
and millet rice (차조밥)

Back to School

My school is finally back in session- after 5 long weeks of winter vacation. Since winter is so long and cold in Korea, winter vacation is longer than summer vacation. If it was summer, there would be fun things to do every day, but it's too cold to always go out. So I've been drinking a lot and watching a lot of Modern Family. ^_^ I'm a little glad I'll be teaching on a normal schedule again (my liver is too).

I went to Bulldog, JK made hot chocolate, and someone came up with the brilliant idea of adding a shot of Bailey's to it! it was perfect

First time trying this but I loved it