Thursday, February 28, 2013

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.

Monday, February 25, 2013

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.

Monday, February 18, 2013

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

Friday, February 15, 2013

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.

Thursday, February 14, 2013

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.

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

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)

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

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.

Friday, February 8, 2013

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)

Thursday, February 7, 2013

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.

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

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

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

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

Monday, February 4, 2013

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)

Friday, February 1, 2013

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