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)

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

Girl Pamper Day

I've been browsing through a lot of people's blogs lately and I've realized that I write in a very fobby way. This is going on not only in my blog, but when I tweet or write anywhere in cyberspace. I'm okay with the ^^s, the ~s, the ㅋㅋs, etc. when I'm chatting, but I'm going to refrain from this fobby madness in my blog. Can I still accurately express myself? I hope so!
This past weekend, Jessica and I finally had the Girl Pamper Day that we had been planning for weeks. Our group of two turned to four once we found out that our friends wanted to get their hair done too.  The morning started off with brunch, coffee, tea, and something special at 나무그늘 (Na Moo Geu Neul). I'm definitely going back to this cafe. The decoration is very cute and the atmosphere is homey; seems like a good hangout or study cafe. There's also a library for people who go there to read and two computers for people to surf the web. Plus, if you order a drink, you have unlimited access to their breakfast bar. It has coffee, tea, jam, butter, and a variety of bread. My friends and I totally filled up on the bread there. After we ate and chatted for a little, we were ready to do Dr. Fish! My friends and I went to that cafe specifically to try it out, and we were not disappointed! (For those of you who don't know what it is: it's a spa treatment by fish that eat dead skin cells.) The worker had us rinse our feet before we started. There were two pools: one had tiny fish and the second pool had bigger fish. Caroline and I bravely started off at the pool with the bigger fish. We stared at their excited eyes and gaping mouths eagerly waiting for our hovering feet and we chickened out. We joined Dee and Jessica at the pool with the smaller fish. It was still hard to get our feet in the pool. (Maybe we were scared of being eaten alive?) We were screaming and giggling loudly, but I think the other customers are used to it because nobody seemed disturbed by our ruckus.Once we got our feet in, we started to enjoy it and take pictures of the fish nibbling on our feet. It's the sensation of vibrating feet.. Before we left, we tried out the pool with the bigger fish. They kind of hurt. The only reason we could do it was because the fish were distributed among four feet. If they were all nibbling on my feet, that would scare me. You can feel their fat bodies, so it's a little more nerve-wrecking!
After we put our shoes and winter gear back on, we set off to Myeongdong to get our hair done! I made reservations for us at the JUNO hair that I went to back in September. We spent about two hours there because we were getting hair treatments. Ooh la la. (This was definitely a girl's pamper day.) Both times I was there, I got male stylists. I actually wanted my first stylist to help me, but I lost his business card when my purse got stolen, so I couldn't request for him. I got another one from him on Saturday though! Anyways, I feel like the male stylists are always a little flirty. I think it's because they want their female customers to come back again. It's a pretty good business idea.
After hair time, our group of four turned to seven! Our group ate dinner in Itaewon, so I finally got to see Itaewon. it is definitely "foreigner district." Foreigners are everywhere in that area: walking on the streets...eating in the restaurants! There's a Taco Bell and lots of sports bars that you can't get anywhere else in Korea. These sports bars are run by Koreans, but about 98% of the people in them are foreigners. We ate at a Thai restaurant called Buddha's Belly, and it was not good. I've never been to a restaurant where they messed up with Thai food until last Saturday. It was too bland and not greasy enough, seriously. I don't think I'll be going back there again because my friends tell me there are lots of other Thai restaurants in Korea.
One thing I love about my experience here is that I get to meet so many new people. Most of the foreigners and English-speaking Koreans are super friendly. (Even at 나무그늘, we met two girls from New York. We had a good conversation with them as we all squirmed in the Dr. Fish area.) After our group said our good-byes for the night, I went with Dee to her friend's place so she could stop by to say hello to a friend she hadn't seen in a while. We ended up hanging out for a couple of hours. Foreigners in Korea are that cool.
Sunday morning, Dee and I randomly went out for breakfast, so I have another new Find  in Korea (i guess i'm starting my "Finds" list with this entry): Butterfingers, and it's too good to be true! They serve American breakfast foods: buttermilk pancakes, sausages, hash browns, eggs, omlettes, bacon, salad, orange juice, and more. The items are pricey, but the portions are big enough for two girls to share. It's at Gangnam Station (near exit 6).
On a side note,  I'm getting sick. I have a runny nose and a sore throat, and I get so tired. I've been sitting in my apartment a lot, hence the frequent blogging. It's too cold. I thought I was going to die from the cold early November. I was wrong then, but now I know I am going to die from the December cold.

Update!

Wow, where do I start? It's been so long since I've updated, and even the last time I updated, there was so much I didn't blog about. I'm so behind! I'll give brief updates and fast-forward to the present.

창덕궁 (Chang Duk Goong) 
I went here with my distant aunt, distant uncle, his wife and 3-year-old son during Chuseok weekend. My uncle wanted to take me somewhere "touristy." (They're so thoughtful!) This is the 4th Korean palace I have seen, and I was still in awe. The grounds are so so gorgeous. There are peaceful streams, luxuriously wide pathways, and lots of trees constantly shadowing you from the sun. The building architecture is similar, but there are also some landmarks that are more unique: You can find gazebos, stone walls, a tree in the middle of a lake, etc.I think it is more well-kept because they have more money available from the admission fees they collect. My aunt told me that parts of the palace are consistently closed for its upkeep. If a traveler had to choose one palace to visit, I would definitely tell him/her to go to this one. You can only get in by reservation, and tour reservations can only be made on the Korean website.

  

GEPIK orientation 

I went to an orientation that was arranged for all new elementary school teachers teaching for Gyeonggido English Program in Korea at the end of September... I loved it! Everyone there was so friendly and eager to meet everyone. Think first year of college. The usual questions: where are you from? (America? NZ? Candada?) Where do you teach? (in Korea) How long have you been here? (Seriously, foreigners are so friendly here. When Jessica and I first got here and went through the drama with our school, everyone we met, empathized with us and always wanted to help.) 

Everyone I met was so unique: from different parts of the world, with different backgrounds, with different interests. But, our differences don't keep us from mingling! Most people here are so well-traveled or are eager to travel. Traveling buddies! Jessica and I purposely didn't stick to each other like glue. We could have stayed in our comfort zone, but we wanted to get to know people too! I'm so glad we didn't because I think it would have been hard for people to approach us if we were constantly with each other (like we are at school..haha). Even now, the people I hang out with regularly are friends from orientation. 

We didn't just play; we worked hard too! We had seminars, lectures, group meetings, etc. I actually learned a lot too. I had already learned a lot of the stuff they taught through experience, but the lectures on powerpoint and class management were helpful. 

Everland Halloween

On the Saturday before Halloween, I went to Everland! My friend invited me to go with her and her relatives because they had gotten free tickets. We tried to get other friends to go, but people were too busy prepping for Halloween parties. They were free tickets, so we took it easy. We went on 3 rides. It was really crowded, so the waits for each ride were at least 1 hour long. We rode T Express last and this ride made the whole day worth it! Its speed is 200km and it's perfect because it doesn't put you upside down (that kind of ride really scares me). My friend's relatives were really sweet too. She's actually a native Korean who speaks good English. I met here through an orientation friend and we've hung out quite often. Her relatives are native Koreans too and they were so sweet. They picked me up, dropped me off, treated me to lunch, etc. I bought my first-ever pair of character ears. It's really too cute. One of my neighbors wore it for Halloween that night. That night, my neighbors and I went to Suwon station to hang out. Most foreigners went to Hongdae, but we went to Suwon station and still had fun! I really love my neighbors. I feel so blessed to know them here in Korea. They make me feel more at home here. :-) Jessica prepped a bee costume and she let me be a bee with her, since I couldn't find materials for my costume. 

Adventures with the cousin

My cousin Sam was in Korea for about a month because he attended a family wedding. We went to the tea museum in Insadong (which I would not recommend) and COEX aquarium (which I would recommend). The tea museum wasn't really a museum; it was more like a cafe with expensive tea. We were expecting to learn the history of tea or something, but there was nothing like that. I can see a lot of couples or a group of girlfriends going there because the atmosphere is actually really nice.

Tickets for the COEX aquarium are a little pricey, but it's worth it. The aquarium is HUGE. They have so much for you to see- almost to the point where you're like, "There's more?" It's very kid friendly too. They have a section dedicated to unique aquariums. I don't want to spoil it for others, so I won't post up too many pictures.

Lantern Festival at 청계천 (Cheonggye Stream)

This is a man-made river that's built in the busy city of Seoul. It's peaceful near the stream because it's below street level. To commemorate the G20 Summit, there was a lantern festival during the time the summit took place. There were lots of traditional Korean lanterns and there were also lanterns that represented other countries. It was a Sunday night, so there were tons of people- not only foreigners, but lots of native Koreans too. Luckily, my friends and I accidentally started off at the wrong end of the stream and had to walk for about 20 minutes to get to the festival location. We were lucky because there was a really long line of people waiting to walk down the stairs leading to the stream. It looked like it would have been an hour wait.

Haechi the Seoul mascot. I don't know who his red friend is?

Pepero Day is like Valentine's Day in Korea. It's on 11/11 because 11/11 look like pepero sticks! I thought it was bigger than Valentine's Day because of all the fuss that was made about it at the markets, but my co-teacher told me that Valentine's Day is bigger. Some of the schools ban the kids from celebrating Pepero Day because it's a commercial holiday. Literally, chocolate companies came up with this holiday because they needed a way to get people to spend money. I thought it would be lonely pepero day, but a couple of my students, some teachers, and my uncle gave me pepero. heheh Jessica was so touched when the after-school English teacher gave us pepero; She's a romanticist. ^_^

JYJ

Soooo I dragged Jessica to the Kim Junsu Musical concert. ^^ She fell in love with Xiah Junsu's voice and his Mozart dredlocks. I knew I could make her into a fan! hehe The fans were so crazy, especially during his performance of "Intoxication" (the floor moves were what killed them. haha). I really love how they made a orchestra version of the song. It was fitting with the Mozart and Elizabeth musical songs and still hot. We knew the concert would end pretty late, so we had packed our stuff to spend the night at a sauna. Before we went to the sauna, we found a Japanese restaurant to eat at and discovered that their plum wine is delicious! We ate and sang and walked to the sauna. Good times ^^  

I was jealous of her lustful pose with the poster, so we went back the next day and I made her take another picture for me. Better? 

A week and a half after the concert, JYJ held an album showcase in Seoul. I went alone this time; It wasn't as fun being at a concert alone, but it was still fun because it's JYJ! I fell in love with Ayyy Girl there. I loved everything, except that it was too short. 1 hour and 30 minutes? It's okay because they're having a concert in Seoul this weekend!! I've been promoting JYJ's English album to all the other foreign teachers here and I got 6 of them to go to the concert with me. I'm so excited for the concert and to introduce JYJ to my friends. I can't believe tomorrow is the first night. :-)

Update

Hello, friends in America (and maybe a couple of readers in Korea). I haven’t been able to update my blog as much as I’d like because I have no internet at my apartment yet. I’m secretly updating my blog from work because I’m exploding with stories to tell! There were so many “firsts” this past week: I met my Korean co-teacher for the first time. I met the teachers whom I will be sharing an office with for the next year. I met my students. I got my first haircut of the year in Myeong dong. I had my first drink in Korea with Jessica last night (she liked the Korean rice wine!). I went to my first kpop concert. I went to my first 회식 (staff dinner). I signed up for a cell phone. I made my first lesson plan. I checked out Young Nak Church in Seoul this past Sunday. I got lost for the first time. Etc~ But before I can blog about any of these things, I should update my blog about my housing status. Korvia recruiters came down to see Jessica’s and my apartments, but they couldn’t do much. They pretty much came down to show they cared, which was really nice of them because their office is about an hour away. We talked about the situation and decided that Korvia would pay for a cleaning service to work on my apartment. Afterward, they took us to eat Korean BBQ in nearby Yeong Tong. They wanted to show us around Yeong Tong because there’s so much to see and do there. It’s located next to a college, so the area is catered toward college students. During dinner, they were patient enough to listen to us vent. Haha Jessica and I were so dissatisfied with the whole situation then. Now, we can laugh about it (kind of). We’re trying to make the best of the situation. :--)


To make a long story short:
I asked the school to move us to cleaner apartments. The Korean teacher said no because the school had already signed the lease.
I asked the school to have my apartment cleaned for me because it was too difficult on my own. The Korean teacher said the school doesn’t have money, so Korvia paid for the service.
I asked the school to buy me a bed. The Korean teacher said this might be possible later, but that he would have to look at the budget books.
I asked the school for an AC remote because it can’t be turned on manually. The Korean teacher said the school doesn’t have money. It is missing because the Korean teacher didn’t inspect the place carefully after the previous teacher moved out.

At this point, I was really fed up, so I told the Korean teacher that the whole situation made me think that the school isn’t ready to have two native English teachers. I told him it made me question whether I should stay or not. He listened pretty calmly and he told me the school’s postition. I think honesty was the best policy at that point. He understands me better and I feel like I can empathize with the school. I decided to stick it out at the school for this year. I haven’t given up on the AC remote or a bed though because I know I deserve those two things at the least!

I think my first day at the school played a big part in my decision to stay here. The teachers whom I share the office with are all friendly and welcoming. One female teacher, in particular, is a really warm person. She told us to let her know if we need anything from Costco because she can pick it up for us when she goes. And when she gave me her phone number, she told me to call her if anything happens. <3 I was deeply touched. Hehe

Well, cheers to a more positive outlook! I received a lot of encouragement through the Word and from people’s messages throughout the messy situation. I’m feeling a lot better now and my appetite came back. I can say, with confidence, “God, I surrender.” I don’t know what I’m doing here, but rather than spending the year in bitterness, I’m going to discover His plan.