Food!

Recently, I've had a few new experiences with food.

There's a place by my work called "2900" and they boast that everything on their menu is less than 3,000 won. (Which it isn't.) But it's not bad for how cheap it actually is! Jin and I went because they advertised Korean curry... but apparently they had run out of it for the day. So... I got "omu rice" (오무라이스)--which is basically a rice omelet with some chicken on the side. And Jin got "deop-bob" (덮밥) which was a bit like fried rice, with veggies and meat.

Then yesterday, Jin took me to this Korean flea market! It was pretty amazing and so funny because all I could think of was my mom and how she would've loved it. haha.

But there was this guy at the entrance by the food tents, and he was making this "snack." It looked like a feathery cookie! It's called "kkool-tae-rae" and means "bunch of honey." Jin said it used to be a favorite snack of the king. I was curious, so I went over and the guy (with Jin translating) explained to me how he made it. I had forgotten my camera so I couldn't film it and I was so upset with myself because this was so cool! BUT being the resourceful person I am, I found it on youtube!

Step 1: takes a small ball of dough and throws it into this big bucket of cornstarch
Step 2: molds the dough into a small donut shape
Step 3: heats up the dough with his body heat so it's malliable (otherwise it's as hard as a rock!)
Step 4: then--almost like magic--twists the dough and doubles it so many times over!
Step 5: breaks the thousands of little feathery strings into smaller chunks
Step 6: fills it with a honey/nut mix that tastes almost like a sweet peanut butter!

Yum! ^^

Ups and Downs

Work has been a little bit of a rollercoaster lately.

Teaching has been great--the usual good points and not-so-good points. However, making the textbooks for the school as been a pain in the neck. Or something else. Ugh.

First, we edit the Reading and Listening sections for the month. Then we record them at the studio (which is a tedious 3 to 4 hours). Then we edit the Speaking and Writing sections for the month. We rewrite the sample reading for the Speaking and Writing parts, and create a whole new grammar section. Yikes! The deadlines are pretty close together... we only have about one week for the R/L and two weeks for the S/W.

What's especially hard is going from writing the books on our "breaks" from teaching, to teaching classes and dealing with the kids. On one hand, it's good to write the material we're teaching... on the other hand, we don't have much say on what goes into the material! So we see the flaws while teaching, but can't edit it much... Frustrating to say the least. What is also very frustrating is that some of the students in the level can't do the what their level books say they should be able to do. *sigh*

So when I did the books pretty slowly last month, my boss called me in and "nicely" asked me why. I expressed my frustrations but I don't think I quite made myself clear. Or it didn't quite translate. I don't know. After giving it another month to try the books out, next month I have the option of only teaching if I want. Hmm... it's tempting. But the conversation ended on a testy note... working slowly makes it seem like I don't care about my work. Bah.

I care about teaching the kids, not about freakin English grammar.

Festival Frenzy

So that's the story folks. All that practice for the festival down the drain. As Jin says... "Welcome to Korea." Ha.

Good news: They were stressing us out, so if we had gone anyway... it would've not been very good.

More good news: I'll do the performance for a party in 2 weeks, so I'll eventually get to do it!

Bad news: All dressed up and no where to dance.

2nd Frustration

Ok... one more thing I do NOT like about the Korean "private education" system:

If you belong in a level 3 class, but you're in Middle School... they will stick you with the rest of the other Middle School kids who are in level 8 JUST because it would be "shameful" or "embarrassing" for you to be in the level with the kids who are 7 years younger than you. Where you belong.

UGH.

On the one hand, I feel bad for them... it's their parents who are doing this to them, and they don't have much say. On the other hand, the freakin hogwon should grow some balls and politely say "Sir, your child is not English-savvy." Humph. I wish.

Teaching is like...

Even though I really do enjoy teaching... teaching English has it's own set of difficulties. Which, once I get past how cute the kids can be, are quickly made apparent. Sometimes teaching is like playing charades. Except more frustrating. Mostly because it's even more important that you understand what they kids are trying to say because you're trying to help them. Class the other day went something like this:

Kid 1: Teacher, what is [hand gesture relating to fighting]?
Me: Fighting?
Kid 1: No, teacher. [Another hand gesture--not as clear this time]
Me: Um... bully?
**Kid 2 now jumps in**
Kid 2: No, teacher! Like at baseball... [dances around crazy] when music plays!
Me: Dancing?
Kid 1: [Frustrated sigh] NO, teacher! This! [Runs down the middle of the classroom]
Me: Running? Playing? Soccer?
Kids 1 and 2: No...
Me: [Absolutely confused and not sure what the heck they are talking about.]

Yeah, I definitely need to learn Korean. Which, on that note, I'm getting "private lessons!" haha. Jin is helping me learn the alphabet, and Brendan downloaded Rossetta Stone Korean onto my computer. So... hopefully I'll catch on quick...

Favorite class

I know you're not supposed to have favorites, but it's really hard not to with these kids. They're just so good and cute! They're my Level 3-ers. They're just learning how to make paragraph stories and complete sentences, and use words like "happy" and "baseball" and "school" a lot. haha.

Here's a little example of how good they are...

I pulled out my camera and they started yelling for "jumping pictures." haha. Well, how can you say no to faces like these?

Rachel in the front, Sally next to her, Dean spreading his arms wide (their english names, of course)

Danny is my rambunctious student... he's the one on the table. (But he's a really good kid)

Teacher and students!

Tomorrow is a Korean holiday called "Children's Day" and kids get gifts from their parents! Well, my gift to my students was a game day! (Mostly because they were so good and finished their work early!) So here's a little snippit of me teaching them "Go Fish."

The 14th

So Jin told me that the 14th of every month is "special" and marked by some couples holiday... that merchants made up, of course! (And I thought America was bad...)

Well, I was definitely intrigued by this... especially since Jin couldn't remember what the days were marked by. Needless to say, I decided to do a little research on my own and this is what I've found:

	May 14th	"Rose Day" ★ On this day, couples exchange roses.
	June 14th	"Kiss Day" ★ Kiss everyone you meet on this day.
	July 14th	"Silver Day" ★ On this day, people exchange silver accessories.
	August 14th	"Green Day" ★ On this day, couples seek nature and relax while singles drink Soju to drown their loneliness.
	September 14th	"Photo Day" ★ On this day, take a picture together with your significant other in a romantic place and put it in a special place to look at.
	October 14th	"Wine Day" ★ On this day, enjoy wine with someone special.
	November 14th	"Movie Day" ★ On this day, couples go to watch a movie at the cinema.
	December 14th	"Hug Day" ★ On this day, couples hug each other in the winter to chase away the cold.

These are in addition to the more popular ones, being: Valentines Day (Feb 14th), White Day (March 14th) and Black Day (April 14th).

V-day differs a little here. The girls get the guys things--like chocolate. And then White Day is when the guys get the girls things--like candles and candy. Then Black Day is for all the single people! They get together and eat black noodles, called Jjajangmyeon, and drink soju to down their sorrows and comfort each other for having been single a whole 2 months. Apparently that's rare here?

Bulgogi!

Yesterday, I finally had bulgogi! It's the most "famous" dish that Koreans have... it's their Korean BBQ. Marinated grilled beef. Yum!

I begged Jin to take me to get some real Korean food so he could explain things to me, so on Saturday we searched for an hour to find a place that had what we were looking for! We had to wander all around downtown (and almost gave up completely!) before we found a hole-in-the-wall place tucked into a back corner down an alley. It was definitely an experience.

This is almost the complete spread of what we had for lunch. It was pretty amazing too! You order one main dish and you get 15 side dishes "for free!" Which is how they do it here. In the middle you can see the bulgogi on the grill plate. Then in the little tins is the rice. Directly left of the rice is one kind of kimchi--we were served two different kinds. Neither of which I'd had before! But Jin couldn't tell me what plants they were made from. Apparently it wasn't the typical cabbage though.

Then there's the spicy tofu soup that is commonly served and which I never eat. haha. Jin tried it and even his mouth was on fire! --Which tells me that if I want to live, I will never eat that.

Next to the soup by the bulgogi is the dipping sauce, which is mainly onions and soy sauce. Other things in the picture that you can't really see are: diced mushrooms, spicy pickled radishes and spicy cucumbers (both of which Jin "gave a bath" for me so I could eat them! haha), and deep fried peppers...which are not spicy except if you eat the puffy end.

In the back of this picture is the cooked ham smothered in ketchup, then there's a better shot of the spicy cucumbers. There's also the different kind of kimchi along with some acorn noodles... which were slippery and slightly strange. Then on the bottom right is chopped up dried squid in red bean sauce, and that was actually good! Kinda difficult with the texture... but all in all not bad. But the red sauce with the jalepenoes floating around in it I definitely did not touch!

The meal was definitely an adventure in and of itself. And, again, it was perfect to have a friend there to help me out! I'm finding that I enjoy this culture so much more when I can learn what is going on!

First Bible Study!

On Friday night I got together with the women from my church for the first time so we could introduce each other and get to know one another better... and it was so great!

Right before I met up with the girls, I was feeling pretty nervous. A whole bunch of new people that I had to get to know--some of which already know each other--and then figure out a way to lead/teach them... yikes! Definitely made me feel slightly pressured.

But I am still very excited about it all! Still feel pressured a bit... but, not necessarily in a bad way. And I am so excited to get to know these women better! They are all so beautiful and different! I know they're going to challenge me through all of this, and I'm looking forward to it.

Please pray for us!

(Btw, we are calling ourselves DOEs. "Daughters of Eve." hehe. Cool name, eh?)

Update: Seomun Market

So I went back to Seomun with my very own tour guide! My Korean friend Jin offered to take me and I conveniently left out the fact that I had already been just so I could have someone that actually knows what they're talking about. And it was so worth it!

I'm sure I wore Jin out with my million questions... but I learned so much!

For example:

There this small fish that they cook pretty inhumanely. They have two ways of doing it too. Either they put it into a blender while it's still alive and squirming, and blend it into a sticky jelly pulp. Or they boil it alive in water (but wait, it gets better!) and then throw tofu in there. Which, in case you didn't know, gets hotter than the water... but the fish don't know that. So, when the fish feel the water getting hotter, they burrow into the tofu--only to be burned alive. Then when the soup is done, they take out the tofu and chop it up... and you can see burrowed bits of fish inside the tofu. Nice, huh?

Also (I think it's the same small fish)-- this fish is "commonly" used as a male enhancement drug. hehe.

There was also this root that looks similar to a yam on the outside and is roughly the same size as well, but inside it has holes! Apparently it's a lotus root. I was definitely surprised since the lotus flower doesn't seem big enough to have such a large root! But tis true.

While at the market I tried a dried jujube! The taste was familiar, but I couldn't place it... and then Jin pointed out that it tasted like ketchup! Which hit the nail right on the head.

I also tried a dried and "candied" persimmon. Which, apparently we do have in America even though I've never heard of the fruit in my life! At first, it was a strange texture... chewy and mushy at the same time... but then as I ate it, I realized I was really enjoying it! Yum dried fruit! The actually fruit itself when not dried kinda looks like a tomato to me...

The last thing I tried was some black bean tofu. It looked like normal tofu, except with some black specks. However, I think it tasted better than normal tofu! (But that doesn't mean I'm going to eat more of it...)

We also explored more of the seafood section and the animal section. This culture defintely has an affinity towards seafood! Squid, octupus and fish are everywhere in all shapes, sizes and textures!

Dried sting ray.... I can't believe they actually eat these!

Fish on a stick... yum.

Dried octopus, anyone?

The animal section... with the live hares for eating, the dead quails for eating, the live chickens for eating, and the live... puppies for eating? Hmm... (I will say that Jin swares they're not for eating, but I dunno.)

All in all it was a fantastically productive trip! I learned much more than this... but it's all I can remember off the top of my head. Other things I kinda remember include: chinese herbal medicine, bottom-of-the-pan rice cakes, grilled seaweed, and pickled shrimp.

Let's just say that having a Korean friend to explain things is definitely a blessing.

Seomun Market

Last weekend I went to Seomun Market for the first time with Christine and Brendan. It's definitely an experience! They sell everything and anything you could ever want. I was definitely on the hunt for a pan... maybe sheets... and a plant or two!

We definitely saw some interesting things in our wanderings...

Picking out veggies for our cookout!

Eek! Fresh squid! They were everywhere...

Even worse... gigantic fresh octopus soaking in a broth of some sort... yuck.

It was such a beautiful day for a market run!

It was a very productive trip! I got a beautiful purple orchid and some veggies. However, the saddest part of the trip was the animal section... I should've taken a picture of it... They had the cutest puppies for sale... to eat. I wanted to take one home. Unfortunately, not only do I not have any money... but pets are not allowed in my building. *sigh*

Samduk sol!

For dinner one night, my friend and coworker Nicole took me to have my first Korean dinner done right! It's called samduck sol (pronounced sam-duck-sol). It's pork, and you cook it over a grill in the middle of your table! It comes with sides you're supposed to eat it with/on.

First, you cook the pork. It comes in strips and you have to cut it with scissors when it's been cooked enough. Then you put the pork in the lettuce leaf, with rice, a red bean paste, bean sprouts, kimchi, garlic (roasted if you want), and onions soaked in soy sauce with a lil wasabi on the side. You roll it into the lettuce leaf and shove it all in your mouth! It's actually pretty delicious.

However... one thing was not so delicious. Apparently a much-loved side dish here is bundaegi. Basically, it's cooked silk worm larve. And you just pop them into your mouth. Yep, you eat them. When the lady first brought them out... I was so naieve and was like "oh, what's this? Do we put this in the leaf too?" haha. Thankfully, I took a closer second look. And noticed they had legs. Ew.

Also, I realized that I took a video of the Buddhist prayers and forgot to post it! So here it is:

Church Update:

I went to church this past Sunday with my friend and coworker Brendan. On our way there, I saw another foreigner come out of the building next to mine. We commented on it cause we didn't know there were any other English speakers living close to us! When we got to the church... the guy was there! It was such a funny "coincidence" that we introduced ourselves. Later, the church was doing a scavenger hunt of sorts and we were on the same team! It was fun, and he reminds me so much of an old friend from home. So yeah, pretty awesome to have a cool Christian neighbor right next door!

But this time around at chuch was funny because even though it's only my second time there... people that I had met the week before were excited to see me, and were glad I was there. It was interesting that I could start feeling comfortable there so quickly. It's definitely because the people are opening up to me first!

The pastor's wife, "Jenna" --her english name, approached me again about the Women's Bible study. She talked to me about getting it together and leading it. She had already talked to the girls about their interest, and apparently everyone is highly interested and we already have 11 girls willing to do this! Wow. God is really putting this together. Now, if only I could catch up. I have about a month and a half to get to know the girls, and hang out with them... then they want to start having the actual bible studies the first week of June. I'm excited to get to know these girls... and I can only pray that God shows me how to challenge them and bring them closer to Him.

Easter Sunday

I know this is a little late, but I wanted to relate my first church experience since so many have asked about it.

My church experience was interesting. I prayed that God would make it perfectly clear which church I should go to, so I can get involved right away. I didn't want to be left hanging too long in a foreign country, especially only knowing people who aren't Christians and who go out drinking every weekend. And it's not like in Chicago where I could spend time looking around for a good church to be involved in. There are very few English services around these parts!

Through websites and Korean coworkers I found a few churches that had English serivces. Of those few, less were close to me. After calling around and getting no luck in checking out their English service information... I called the number for Dongshin Presbyterian Church's English service contact. The guy who answered the phone was a Kiwi named Karl, and told me a bit about the church and then asked about my church background, etc. When I brought up that I had gone to Moody, Karl excitedly stated that the pastor for the English church had too! I finished the conversation feeling like God was leading me to where I should be.

On Easter Sunday, I got lost on my way to the church. That was to be expected a bit... but I got more lost than I thought I would. The directions weren't that clear to begin with, and then my sense of direction was a bit thrown off. After a few failed attempts, I was finally frustrated enough to pray. Soon after, a Korean that spoke perfect English came up to me and asked "Are you lost?" I was astonished and relieved! I asked him if he knew where the church was, and come to find out he had gone there as a child! Him and his friend kindly directed me to the church, and we talked along the way.

I finally arrived just as the sermon was starting, said "hi" to Karl and took a seat. The service took place on the 5th floor of the Activity center for a very large Korean Presbyterian church. There was a good mix of foriegners and Koreans, but everyone spoke English. Come to find out later, there was also many other new people going to church for Easter Sunday! Another thing that was a pretty awesome surprise was that halfway into the sermon, the guy that helped me and his friend came into the service and sat down in front of me!

After church, I met a whole bunch of people... more than I remember now. I talked to the guys that helped me and the pastor for awhile. The talk with the pastor was at first overwhelming, because I told him I would like to know more about the church and being involved; and since he knew I was from Moody... he really laid it on me!

Even though it was overwhelming, and much different than I expected... I still feel like that's where I should be. I mostly feel this way because of conviction and the fact that their needs match my abilities/what I want to do! They have need of a Theology bible study, starting a Women's group, and help with Children's church. haha. However, I need to actually get to know the church members... and that means opening up. Which I'm not the best at in the beginning.

I need to step outside of my fears and insecurities to open myself up to this church to love and grow with them! Eek! And even though I'm excited to get involved, I still feel so inadequate to help at all. What keeps playing over in my head is when Paul says that God's strength is made perfect in our weakness... I pray this comes true!

Gatbawi Buddha

The hike this past Saturday was amazing! Brutal... but amazing. haha. My coworker was right when he said it was the "stair master from hell."

The trip started off around 10am Saturday morning with an hour long bus ride. Their buses are really nice compared to Chicago's! The cherry blossoms have been coming out for the past month as well... so there were some very beautiful parts of the hike.

The entrance of the hike with some beautiful cherry blossom trees!

Right before you start up the trail (and on through the trail at certain points, as I came to find out later), there are piles of rocks. The rocks are wishes or prayers and you have to balance them on top of the other rocks... and you want to balance them on the highest point so your prayers are closer to Heaven. Or Buddha. Not really sure which one.

My prayer balancing on the highest point I could get.

A ways up the hike we came to a temple area. Before you go up to the temple, there's an alter to Buddha. Incense was burning and water was flowing by the statue. People were there lighting candles for prayers, kneeling on the mats to pray, and worshiping Buddha's statue. It actually reminded me of a strange mix of Catholicism and Islam.

They take off their shoes before they step on the mats to pray

Statue of Buddha and alter area

There were a few different temples. One was to the mountain god - usually depicted as a tiger or an old man, and the other is the main temple where the monks pray. This beautiful bridge connected the two temples.

Temple of the mountain god

Pagoda and bell "tower" for the temple

Bell which they ring once a day for the main prayer

Beautiful hand painted artwork was everywhere; this is from the bell "tower"

Everyone tries to get a sip (or fill their water bottles) of temple mountain spring water that's been blessed by Buddha. It flows out of the mouth of the turtle.

Vats of kimchi soaking on the roof of the temple kitchen

These are the hardcore uneven steps that kicked our butts

As we neared the top we started seeing people selling candles, and gifts for Buddha

The view from one of the resting areas maybe halfway up

When we neared the top, we started seeing these beautiful temple lanters!

The lanterns had Buddhas holding lotus' and standing in Buddha positions

The prayer area at the top of the mountain.

The lanters that covered the ceiling had the prayers of people tied to the ends

Me and the huge Buddha with a stone on its head: it's one of the oldest in all Asia!

Once we had finally reach our goal with making it to the Buddha and the temple at the top of the mountain, we had to make our way back down again. That was definitely the most trecherous part of the trip! (At least for the first half of the way down.) We hadn't realized how steep it had been getting... so we were definitely off balance for the way down. Gravity works, let me tell you. What was the most confusing though was that we kept seeing people with dress clothes/shoes and very old people making their way up the mountain! How they did it I will never know...

Making our way slowly back down the mountain

Me with a monk!

We finally reached the end of our hike with much relief. Our legs were definitely shaking! On our way down we passed by the monk that I have a picture with, and he was so friendly! It was funny cause the only two things he knew how to say were "hi" and "I love you..." haha. Our bus ride home felt long, but we felt both tired and accomplish from the day. I can't wait to do more!