Famous Foreigners...

Of course as always this weekend was fun and amazing and interesting. First we started out Saturday morning at a Pink Glove Breast Cancer Dance. I will give more details when the actual video is done. Then when we left the place we decided to take the subway. But since we had to wait like 10 minutes for the next train we decided to the Korean game of Hwatu. Now for those of you unaware this game is like gambling for Koreans. They play for money and usually only the older generations know how to play. (It's illegal to bet for money in Korea, but they do it anyway. This adds to the fascination.) But I learned awhile ago and with the help of my Korean friends, the twins, a couple other foreigners I know, also know how to play. So we decided to play. Not even seconds after we got the cards out did we have a gathering of Koreans watching us play. I would have to say that they were pretty impressed that a bunch of young foreigners were playing Hwatu (their game) in the subway... It was awesome!

Chuseok

So Chuseok 추석 Holiday was this past weekend which is why I had enough time to take a little vacation!!! Anyway, this blog post is only to show off the rockin' presents that I got!!! (and tell you a little about the holiday)
Chuseok is a major harvest festival and a three-day holiday in Korea celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar. Like many other harvest festivals, it is held around the Autumn Equinox. As a celebration of the good harvest, Koreans visit their ancestral hometowns and share a feast of Korean traditional food.

In modern South Korea, on Chuseok there is a mass exodus of Koreans returning to their hometowns to pay respects to the spirits of one's ancestors. People perform ancestral worship rituals early in the morning. They often visit the tombs of their immediate ancestors to trim plants and clean the area around the tomb, and offer food, drink, and crops to their ancestors. Harvest crops are attributed to the blessing of ancestors.

One of the major foods prepared and eaten during the Chuseok holiday is songpyeon (송편), a crescent-shaped rice cake which is steamed upon pine needles. We made songpyeon together at school and then we went outside to play. Pictures below:

There's Corn in My ICE CREAM!!!

So yesterday, Saturday, was the first day in a long time that I felt like I was in a different country. On any given day I can get by with not speaking Korean. I usually don't see anything so out of the ordinary that I am like "wow, that doesn't happen in America". But well on this particular day this wasn't the case.

First I started the day with a birthday party at my Taekwondo Gym. It was like 7 of the students birthday this month so they all came with some friends that they invited. The GrandMaster asked me to come help by taking pictures and other stuff like that. I agreed alothough I didn't really want to go... But while I was there like no one talked to me. Of course, I live in Korean so I don't expect people to go out of their way to talk to me in English but it was weird not talking...You know me, I love to talk and I wanted to talk I just well couldn't. Plus I didn't really fit in with the crowd there, it was a bunch of kids and their mothers. Anyway, must study Korean more...

Then on the way home I decided I wanted some ice cream I picked up one of those ice cream bars on a stick jobs. I don't usually take the time to read them, I like all ice cream and pretty much know all the varieties...or so I thought. But this ice cream had CORN in it...no joke so weird and a little delicious.

Then I wandered around with Dambi. While we wandering around my Korean friend called and said he was bored and he wanted to hang out. So I wandered around looking for him. Then we came to my house and played PS2 and we played a bunch of Korean games so I wasn't fully sure of what to do.

Then I was going to meet my friend, who is leaving, for her going-away-party but because I didn't really know where to go or how to ask where I should be I got lost and then I missed the boat. (We were going on a cruise on the river...) I literally figured out which boat I was supposed to be on when I saw it leave.

So then I was in the middle of Seoul by myself and bored. I knew Graeme, a coworker, was in Seoul so I called him to find out where he was. By the time I got to his area and started looking for him I totally mixed up all the directions and had to tell him to come find me when he was done eating. But we did eventually meet up. Then we got on the subway and rode too long and missed our transfer.

After all that I decided that the day would be better if I just tried to forget about everything. So I drank and ironically things got better. I met some new people and had a great time. But basically I spent the day lost, wandering, confused with the language and (because of the weather) hot and sticky. Anyway, I spent my 4th of July as far away from America as I can possibly get.

Tiring Tuesdays

Today I only had to work half the day so Erica and I went back to Insadong to souviner shop and take in the Korean culture. After that we went to a Starcraft Tournament. Starcraft is a computer game that is really popular in Korea. There were a lot of Korean girls at this tournament because the players are good looking boys. During the games there is cheering similar to that of other sporting events. It was really interesting.

After that we went shopping in Dongdaemun. One of Erica's goals on this trip was to buy lots of clothes and I believe we accomplished it!!

Rundown of Last Week

Ok, lets have a quick rundown of the weeks event:
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday:
School, Taekwondo and Study Korean. That's it, really. I can't believe it either. Most of you know that I hate school and I hate studying but these days thats all I do. I even get excited when I hear about new schools... Well we will see how long it lasts...Let's talk about Yellow Dust or Asian Dust. Right now we have this going on and it is wrecking my throat...Asian Dust (also yellow dust, yellow sand, yellow wind, or China dust storms) is a seasonal meteorological phenomenon which affects much of East Asia sporadically during the springtime months. The dust originates in the deserts of Mongolia and northern China and Kazakhstan where high-speed surface winds and intense dust storms kick up dense clouds of fine, dry soil particles. These clouds are then carried eastward by prevailing winds and pass over China, North and South Korea, and Japan, as well as parts of the Russian Far East. Areas affected by the dust experience decreased visibility and the dust is known to cause a variety of health problems, not limited to sore throat and asthma in otherwise healthy people. Often, people are advised to avoid or minimize outdoor activities, depending on severity of storms. For those already with asthma or respiratory infections, it can be fatal. The dust has been shown to increase the daily mortality rate in one affected region by 1.7%. Anyway is it pretty bad and I sound crazy sick even though I'm not...
Friday:
Drinking Makeolli and eating Kimchi. I figure one of the best ways to become fluent in a language is to also eat the food and drink the booze. Its a whole body experience...
Saturday:
Today is the Korean holiday "White Day". It is the opposite of Valentines Days. On Valentines Day in Korea it is a day that girls give their boyfriends chocolate. White Day the bays should buy girls everything. Its pretty good...if your dating someone... But if you are a single foreigner in Korea this weekend is all about the preparty for St.Patty's Day. Now I thought I would also insert here a little trivia for those who don't know what St.Patricks Day is all about (I met an Irish girl in a bar bathroom and she thought it was imperative that I know the truth!). There was this guy and he was like a missionary (or something) then he was taken (I forgot by who) to Whales and then somehow he came back (again, no idea) then he went around to people homes and such spreading the "Spirit o' the Irish" everywhere and when he died he was dubbed like the "Patron Saint of Ireland" or something like that. There is absolutely nothing in this story about snakes, she made perfectly clear that this was true.
Anyway so a bunch of us went to (I'm actually still not sure where we were) to drink beer and party all day long. It was so weird. All the foreigners that I've met in Korea were all in one place wearing green and drinking beer.

Also they were giving out free Guinness all day. I don't really like beer that much, but I actually really hate Guinness. I couldn't drink it.

After this party we went to Itaewon. First, Itaewon is a place in Korean that is filled with foreigners. Everything you have in another country is cram packed into this part of Seoul. There are no Koreans or Korean food, everyone speaks English,and tipping is included in your bill...We first had dinner at Outback Steakhouse and I gotta say, I just was not all that interested in it. I really wanted my Korean food. Then we went to an Irish bar called Wolfhounds. I met guy number 1 from last week here. I warned him that the place would be filled with crazy drunken foreigners and he was like, thats ok, but it wasn't. He wasn't prepared. When Koreans get drunk they drink a lot and really get wasted, but it is a much more graceful drunkeness than foreigners. For instance, Koreans will sing a lot when they get drunk, foreigners dance on tables. Koreans then pretty much just fall asleep at the table they are at and foreigners take of their clothes. Anyway he wasn't ready for it and I thought it was hilarious. He doesn't want to go to the St. Patty's after party next weekend...Yeah that is pretty much it.

Hmmm

So I have been pretty busy lately and I am now getting to the things that I have been meaning to write about. First I wanna talk about parking in Korea. It is a little different than back home. Take a look at this photo.
Notice anything strange? Like how the cars are double parked? In Korea it is not really frowned upon to park like this because a lot of people park thier cars like this. The nice thing is that most people "park" their car in neutral and then it can easily be pushed out of the way...cool huh?

The next thing is that I had dong dong ju for the first time last night. I thought I had had all the different kinds of Korean booze but now I have to add another to the list. Dong dong ju is a wine that is made from rice. It has a kind of sweet taste and is milky in color. It is usually served in a bowl like below.


I made chili. It was pretty hard to find all the things I needed to make it. I made it with two cans of kidney beans, can of corn, hot sauce, chicken broth, canned tomatoes and ketchup. I mixed it all together in my crockpot and it was yummy! I think it would've been better with sauted onions and celery and some chili seasoning.

Lastly is a new website I have been spending a lot of time at. It is mysoju.com. This website has a ton of Korean movies and TV shows on it with English subtitles! It is so amazing for me so I can study Kroean more.

Well that's it. How are you doing these days?

Movies and More

Today I went to the Cinema!!! We watched a movie called "Inkheart". It was pretty good. We actually went to try and see a Korean movie with English subtitles but all we got was a movie in English...Something I didn't mention about Korean Movie theaters is how they are different from back home. #1 there just isn't a big enough selection of snacks with that comes the less than perfect popcorn, man do I miss the mounds of butter they put on it at home.#2 The theater itself is pretty nice, see

#3 You pick your seats prior to entering the theater. When you are buying your ticket you have to pick a row and seat (that isn't already taken) and sit there for the movie, much like when you go to a sporting event. This is nice because you know where you are sitting before you get in there.

After that we did some shopping and met this lovely couple. I was telling (let's call him)Brad that I think I am hotter than his girl freind and he should date me instead. He agreed of course...

Coulda, Shoulda But Didn't...

SO in Seoul there are a ton of events for people who feel like experiencing Lunar New Year's in a traditional Korean way.

First you can go to the Korean Folk Village where you can learn about and participate in Korean practices said to ensure a good new year. These include Keungut, an exorcism ceremony designed to placate ancestral spirits, getting readings from the Tojeongbigyeol, a type of fortune-telling book, and making Bujeok charm against bad luck. If you start to get hungry after these activities, you can snack on roasted sweet potatoes, yummy!

After that you can go to the KTO Tourist Information Center (TIC) you can learn to play a variety of different games; such as yut (a board game played by tossing four sticks into the air), jegi (kicking a shuttlecock, my students did this...), and tuho (arrow throwing). Then you can make hanji (Korean traditional paper).

When you finish doing that you should head over to The Namsangol Hanok Village. Visitors can take part in traditional Seollal customs, like handing-out Bokjori (bamboo kitchen utensils believed to bring good luck,like small woven rice scoops that scoop up good luck ), exchanging traditional Korean new year’s wishes, learn how to prepare the charye-sang (table setting for ancestor worship ceremony).

Here you can also see performances, including nong-ak (Korea's rural percussion music)
and Bongsan talchum (mask dance)


Then you can learn about and try popular New Year food by participating in a garaetteok (long cylindrical rice cake) cutting game and trying traditional rice cakes or makgeolli (traditional rice wine).

Ok so these are all the things you CAN do. I didn't do any of them...I stayed home for the last four days and watched multiple episodes of "How I Met Your Mother" and "Friends". I left the house 4 times in 4 days for a total of maybe 4 hours...I literally stayed in bed for the whole time. I really did think about going to do all this stuff but I didn't.

Oh, and the whole tooth pulling thing went fine. I had like no pain what so ever...I have to go back to the dentist on Thursday for a checkup and then again like a week later for the stiches to come out. That's all!

Saturday Night Fever

So a couple of days ago I found out that there is a Hooters in Korea and its not too far from where I live so I got a couple of my girlfriends together and we went. It was very similar to Hooters at home, chicken wings and all. I personally could've used a touch more heat on my chicken...Yes that is me drinking a beer, out of a Hooters mug...Dancing Korean style to Beyonce...

While we were eating one of the girls got a message from her friend telling us we should go to Itaewon and drink, so we did. We first went to an Irish style pub and had a drink. Then another one of the girls I was with got a message from her friend saying there was free drinks for girls at another club in Itaewon. She and I went...I must tell more about this particular club though. So here goes.

First I want to mention that this friend of mine is Korean and it is NOT Erika or Judy. Second, she thinks that I am just too pretty to be single and thought that if given the right opportunity I could meet my new boyfriend...So all the way to this club she kept telling meet that I was gonna talk to some guys and drink free alcohol and I was like "OK". When we got to the club I was amazed, it was really nice, I was expecting not really nice...When we walked through the doors the "doorman" asked us how old we were and I was shocked because for the first time since I have been to Korea someone actually thought I was too young to be in a club. Then we get inside and the place was really, really nice. There were nice booths with food and drinks already on the table and a huge dance floor. So we sat down and I met the other girls that we were meeting there. It is at this point that I should mention that I was observing the girls we were with and not observing our surroundings, I will pay more attention later. Because upon further inspection I would have noticed that the whole club was filled with girls. Girls in the booths and girls on the dance floor. I would have also noticed that "waiters" were also pulling girls out of the club left and right. These are things I didn't notice until later...

After I sat down and started talking to the other girls two "waiters" came over and (in perfect English) asked me where I was from and how much Korean I knew and how old I was and if I liked guys from other countries. Then suddenly they were pulling me out of my booth and dragging me across the club. My friend was saying "Its ok" and "You'll be fine" and "Go with them." So I did. Then all of a sudden I am in this room filled with other Korean guys and girls who I didn't know at all. SO weird and they sit me down right next to this European guy(who apperantly I am going to hit it of with because we have the same color skin and hair). This is where the light bulb goes off. I was just put in a room to meet a guy. Crazy...As the night goes on I find out quite a lot. A group of guys will reserve these rooms and waiters will go around the club and take girls and put them in the room with these guys. You aren't obligated to stay in the room, but naturally the more you like the guy the longer you will stay to talk with him and what not. I noticed that a lot of the girls get put in the room and then quickly go back to thier friends, I think they just came for the free booze and dancing.

Anyway, my friend just kept saying it was Korean culture and what not. I know this sounds like the most horrible and terrifing experience but actually it wasn't that bad. I talked to the first guy for like 15 minutes and then went back to my friends and for the rest of the night we went everywhere together and so I got to talk to my friends and we met new friends(that happened to be guys) as well. We also got to drink for free all night and all the rooms are equipped with karoke. Ideally you would exchange numbers with one of the guys or make a date for another time or something but all the guys I met understood that my friends were just showing me something I've never seen before and left me alone. I would also like to point out that the guys were perfect gentlemen (except for being really wasted) they were really nice and funny. I actually think this would be a great way to meet someone.

I know it was weird... but also fun.

Kimchi!!!

Today my kids made kimchi. This process consists of 3 basic (by basic I mean for Koreans, the shopping for ingreiants is enough for me to give up...) steps.

1st you must salt some cabbage and let is set for about 5 hours and then rinse it. The mothers did this before the students came to school today.

2nd you mix water, garlic, ginger and fish sauce in a blender and blend. Then add strips of radish and green onions and red pepper powder. This step was done by the lunch teachers.

3rd you spread the mixture onto the salted and rinsed cabbage. This step was mostly done by the luch teachers.

Finished and basically my kids did nothing. They had fun though and all day long I was craving the stuff which is good because it is served with like every meal in Korea!!!

Pictures:

Making Korean Food and Playing Korean Games

Today I went over to my partner teacher's (Judy) house. She taught me how to make some Korean food. First we made one of my favorite Korean dishes Tteokbokki. It is pieces of tteok and fish cake and veggies in a spicy red pepper sauce. It's actually really easy and I can't wait to make my own.Then we also made takbokum. Similar to tteokbokki because the sauce is similar. There are also many veggies in it. This one has chicken and potatoes in it as well though. It was amazing, of course.

While I was at her house she taught me how to play the traditional Korean game Hwatu. In South Korea, (Korean: 화투, Hanja: 花鬪) the most common game is "Go Stop" (Korean: 고스톱) [2] or "Sutda" (Korean: 섯다). In South Korea, Hwatu is very common to be played during special holidays such as the Lunar New Years, and also during the Korean holiday of 추석(Chuseok). Playing Go Stop during the family gatherings of the holidays have become a culture to Koreans for many years. It is fun but a very difficult and complicated game. I did win a couple of times but I don't even know how I did it. Oh well she promised that I would get a chance to play more and I can get better.

We also went to the Hospital today because Judy's friend had a baby yesterday. She is so cute.

Around Town

I decided that I am going to do a complete "what I did today" run down everyday, because things have gotten boring...But maybe it isn't boring to read? Doesn't matter because I will write what I want.

I woke up and went for a walk/jog. I discovered another part of the town...

Then I went to work. Nothing too crazy there except I was having computer problems. There is something extra frustrating when having trouble with computers at work. Because I know it isn't doing what I want but all the error messages are in Korean! That is frustrating because it could say "add paper to the printer" and I would have no idea...For lunch we had pork and squid stir fry, bean sprouts, rice, kimchi and cabbage soup. Then after work I went for a walk and took some pictures of the lovely area I live in. After that I packed and ate dinner (spam sandwich and ramien) then left for Busan. The subway ride was like 1 hour long and I drank soju and yogurt on the ride. It was awesome! Stay tuned for the adventures in Busan.

This is my town!

This is a picture of the "golf course" map.The guys playing, I tried to get a picture of the ball and club...This is the driving range in town, Dad can you tell I want you to come visit?