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)