20,000

Are you the 20,000th visitor of my blog?!  (Look above at the counter)  If you are, you're getting a prize!  Just leave me a comment to let me know you were the 20,000 visitor, and there will be a little something special for you in the mail! :)

Happy Tuesday!

RED neon crosses

(person A)  

Excuse me.  Where is the closest church?

(person B) 

It's easy.  Just look for the neon crosses.  Every church in Korea has one!  

It's true!  Every church in Korea adornes it's building with a bright RED neon cross! My guess is that someone, somewhere on this peninsula, decided that his church would look pretty darn fancy with a nice red neon cross on the top.  Soon after that, red neon crosses (blue, green or purple just isn’t done) popped up all over the country!  

Really? No water for 39 hours!

I was told, on Friday, that from Saturday at 8am to Sunday at 8am, I may not have running water at my apartment because the city was working on reconstructing the water mains around Busan.  You can image my excitement when I woke up Saturday morning to a full flowing faucet! 

Not sooo fast though... I should learn by now that Busan is, in fact, as Dynamic as it's city slogan says it is!  Because, at 3:00am, Sunday morning, I realized that I couldn't flush my toilet!  Lovely! ... and let's just say that I STILL, at 9:05pm (Monday night), have no running water at my apartment!  

With that said, I ventured over to the neighborhood jim jil bang! (public bath house)

You might remember this place from a blog I wrote back in April 2009.  It's the jim jil bang that almost killed me!  Although, they've done a tiny bit of renovation since that dreadful night in April, so I had faith that this would be a better experience!  As you can see, they've added an outdoor coffee shop now - with comfy chairs to relax on!  ***  

   

Seriously, I had no other option! 

So, I walked into the lobby and was immediately given "the X" from the man behind the glass.  "The X" is when a Korean crosses their arms in front of their chests.  It basically means "No."   hmmm, that's strange.  I wondered, if he was denying me access because I was a foreigner...  So I began speaking Korean to him, and sure enough, he said "Asoseyo, saw chun, o beg won."  (Welcome, It's 4,500 won), handed me some soap, and pointed towards the woman's bath house door.  Whew!

When I got inside, I was met by about 10 old Korean women who were sitting around naked, just chatting up a storm.  When they saw me, they immediately said, "Ahh, Meegook, asoseyo!"  (ahh, American, welcome!)  We chatted for a minute or two, and one of the ladies said, "I meet you 2 year ago here, in bathtub."   Sure enough, she was right!  I did meet her last time I was there!

I stripped down and headed to the bathing area.  As I was showering, I looked over and smiled at a korean women in her 50's.  Then, I kid you not, 3 minutes later, she came over, grabbed a brillo pad type scrubber, and started scrubbing the crap out of my back!  I'm pretty sure there is NO dead skin left!   This is actually something that korean friends do for each other, so I'd like to think she was trying to be my friend!  I showed my appreciation with a smile and she continued to scrub away!   I'm pretty sure she scrubbed off all of the tan I had left from the Phillippines!  

While it was a much better experience at the neighborhood jim jil bang this time, I do hope my water turns back on soon so I can not only shower, brush my teeth in the sink, and wash my dishes, but have my pottie time in a regular fashion again!  The whole pottying into a bag thing was getting a little old.  (Aaron made me admit it!)  ***

I am thankful....

I am so thankful this year; for so many things: my new friends in Korea, my old friends in the states, my friends who I've met while traveling Asia, my cozy apartment, my new camera, Korean coffee sticks, outdoor markets with fresh fruit and veggies, yummy Korean food, my loving mom and dad, my really fun sister, "my other half"---Aaron, etc!!  

This Thanksgiving, I invited Aaron, Emily, Truchen and Gill over for dinner.  (Unfortunately, Gill wasn't able to make it.)  It was an intimate affair, which is much more my style!  Emily is from Kenya and Truchen is from South Africa, so Aaron and I were excited to show them what Thanksgiving is all about in America, and they were excited to experience it!  Truchen has said she loved it so much that she'll bring the tradition back home with her, which I think is wonderful!

This was my attempt at a Thanksgiving dinner.  Garlic mashed potatoes, steamed brocoli and carrots, salad, dinner rolls, fruit salad, and a chicken (disguised as a Turkey)!

 The food was delicious, the company was wonderful, and the leftovers are still in my fridge!  In fact, it's lunchtime right now, so I'm gonna have myself a little "chicken" sandwich and some mashed potatoes!  mmmm, mmmm!

Life is good, and I am thankful

North Korea attack...

As you know, this blog is a way for me to keep all my friends and family back home in the loop, as well as a way for me to historically document my life here in Korea.  So, with that said, I'm cutting and pasting this article into my blog to remind me of this moment in time:

 "North Korea attacked South Korea's Yeonpyeong island in the Yellow Sea yesterday  (with 100 individual bombs).  It was the first time they had attacked their southern neighbor on land since the Korean War.  The attack came on the first day of the South Korean military exercises that North Korea had pledged to retaliate against.

At least 100 rounds fell on Yeonpyeong, which houses a military complex and is home to some 1,600 residents, according to the Yonhap

"North Korea's indiscriminate artillery attack on Yeonpyeong Island is a clear military provocation on the Republic of Korea," Hong Sang-pyo, senior secretary for public affairs at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae, said in a statement. "Furthermore, recklessly shelling against civilians can never be tolerated."

The US options are limited, and the Obama administration most likely needs to proceed carefully. Restraint could be interpreted as weakness by the North Korean regime. Too harsh a response after the North Korean attack could lead to further crisis.  President Barack Obama was awakened before 4 a.m. by a call from National Security Advisor Tom Donilon to brief him on the Korean artillery exchange.

The United States condemned North Korea's artillery attack on a South Korean island on Tuesday but said it was too soon to discuss ways the U.S. military might deter the reclusive state from another strike.   

In response to the attack, the South Korean military fired more than 80 rounds into North Korea and launched fighter jets. The exchange of artillery lasted about an hour."

My co-workers do seem a tad bit worried today, but most of them feel that it was a political show by general (Kim Jong Un - Kim Jong Il's son) to show his new power to the world.  As you may or may not know, he was recently promoted to militrary general. 

 
Let's just hope the show is over!

***

Stuffing Search - gone bad!

Aaron had a great idea!  He thought I should check out Gukje Market for Stove Top Stuffing for our Thanksgiving dinner this Thursday!  So, I went last night after work.

Now, mind you, there are absolutely no foreigners in this area, yet they sell things like RITZ, popcorn, M&M's, and other random processed import yummies!

Here's how it went down:

I walked through the market for about an hour.  Finally, one of the shop owners asked what I was looking for (in Korean of course - because no one speaks English here!) 

"S-t-o-v-e  T-o-p  S-t-u-f--f-i-n-g," I replied, as slowly as I could, taking special note of my intonation for better undertsanding!  (I'm a language teacher!)

"Oh, yes!"  He replied and motioned for me to follow him.  I couldn't believe it!  Gukje Market was the JACKPOT!  Thank you Aaron!  He quickly ducked and dodged through the crowds of people and crowded stores, taking me through back doors, dark alleys, and dirty, overcrowded storage areas until we landed in.... a razor shop.  Yes, that's right, a shop that sells razors.  hmmmmm....  Next thing I knew, I was being handed two electronic razors to chose from.  Lovely! 

"No, no.  Meanheyo (sorry) ego aneeyo (not this)." I said. I then proceeded to write it down for him, hoping that maybe then he would understand what I was looking for.  

After reading it, and discussing it with the razor shop owner, he turned to me and said "Yes," and motioned for me to follow him once again.  YAY!!! This time though, we landed in a pharmacists.  Ugggh, I'm pretty sure there's no stuffing here, and now I'm absolutely sure he doesn't understand what stuffing is!  I was right!  He handed me a small bottle of listerine!  "No, no.  Meanheyo (sorry)  ego aneeyo (not this),"  I said.  Confused, he grabbed a COSTCO size bottle of Listerine!   

Moral of the story is... Gukje Market doesn't sell stuffing, and no one in Korea has ever even heard of it... so I'll be attempting to make it tomorrow!   

It's the little things...

that make me feel special...

Like when Aaron wrote this on my chalkboard at my apartment, when I wasn't looking. :)

 There's no other way to put it:

He is good for my soul! 

***

Talent Show - Korean style!

Today was my school's big talent show and the principal told me all my classes were cancelled so I could enjoy the show with the parents!  Um, yes please!  Sweet irony how I got paid to watch a performance, huh?!   Life is great over here in good ole' Korea!  

In Korea, decorations and professionally made signs are key when hosting an event!  So, like clockwork, a welcome sign was designed, printed, and set near the front door to the auditorium...

Huge, korean-style, flower displays were placed near the front of the stage to go along with the hand made balloon and angel decorations!

Amber and Lauren, two of my 6th grade students, were the MC's of the show, so they arrived nice and early to rehearse, wearing rented hanbok and tons of makeup!!  Their moms asked me to take a picture with them, which I thought was very sweet!

The 3rd graders were sooo cute today in their little felt vests and red "yamaka's" as Aaron calls them.  I snapped these pictures during their early morning rehearsal!

Their teacher hand made each of their little costumes!

This is Brittney!  She's one of my favorite students in the whole school! :)

The show began at exactly 9:30am with these two adorable 2nd graders welcoming the parents!!  (Mark and Blaire)

3rd grade was up first!  They performed a bell routine that you could tell they had practiced for months!  There were absolutely NO mistakes!

Next up was the kindergarden class who sang a super cute song about dads!

This is the Chinese club for 1st - 4th graders!  Yes, these students not only learn Korean and English, but Chinese too!

No Korean talent show is complete without a recorder group!  These are all 5th grade girls who compete in recorder competitions throughout the school year.   Sweet costumes huh?! ***

This is the other 3rd grade class who sang the Beatles song, "Let it Be."  They are also wearing the vests and yamakas!  Apparently that was a popular costume choice for this years show!

This is a video of their performance! Notice the little boy in the front/ middle! When he sang "Let it be" he would shout it! As the song went on, his shouting got louder and louder! CLASSIC!

Next up was 6th grade with their rendition of GREASE!

Here's a video, just for kicks!

Absolutely no Korean talent show can exist without a Taekwondo performance... and of course breaking wood in the routine is a must!  It's always a big crowd pleaser!!

The 4th grade did a recorder song too!  Eeehhhh recorders... not exactly my favorite instrument on earth!

This is 1st grade!  Their school actually ordered all of these costumes for the performance!  They did a dance about a boy and girl who like each other at different times.  When the boy tries to catch the girl, she's not interested and vice versa.  It's a very popular Korean traditional dance...

The 4th grade did a skit about going to the doctor to get plastic surgery... hahaha

Here they are, about to get cut open for their new bodies and faces!  Can you believe this is an elementary school talent show act?!

The 5th grade class did a traditional Korean dance!  I'm posting this video for korean cultural/educational pruposes! :) 

This was the hagwon English group singing "The Hills Are Alive" from the Sound of Music.  Complete disaster!  None of them knew the words!  Good news was, it made my English club kids look like they were fluent! :)

2nd grade was unreal!  They had the most awesome costumes and did the funniest dance! 

Enjoy!

And of course, the grand finale were my English club kids!  They did such a great job! :)

They introduced what animal they were before the song and dance...

"I am a crocodile and I wiggle my hips!"

"I can do it!"   TAH DAH!!!

I hope you enjoyed their show from the comforts of your own office or home, in wherever you may be in the world! :)

Dress Rehearsal!

I was informed about 2 weeks ago that we would be having a school wide talent show on November 17th (tomorrow) and that my "once a week" after school english class would be performing!  LOVELY!  (insert sarcasm here!) Talk about finding out last minute!  So, I quickly got to work and enlisted the help of Ella (my co-teacher) and came up with 3 songs to sing and dance to!  

All of the homeroom classes have had months to choreograph and plan their performance, but my poor little English kiddos only had about 3 hours worth of learning the song and dance, and practicing it!  Luckily they're fast learners!  I think they did really well at today's dress rehearsal!  

My 4th graders singing: DEEP AND WIDE and CAN YOU OUT DO ME?!

My 3rd graders singing: HEAD TO TOE

Today was the dress rehearsal and tomorrow is the big show!  They're so excited... I'm just nervous!
***

1st beanie of the season!

1st knitting project of the season!

COMPLETE  FAIL! 

That's what I get for being cocky and not looking up a pattern!  I've learned my lesson!

Put 'em to work!

Ella and I ordered individual student desks for our classroom, so we could finally get rid of these heavy wood tables!  They may look nice, but they're every chatty little girl and boys dream!  What kid wouldn't love to sit at a table with 5 friends for classtime!  The answer is NONE!  They love these tables...

In America, I worked as a principal's secretary at a high school, and whenever furniture needed to be moved to another classroom, I called our "maintenance guys" and gave them the orders!  In Korea though, we don't have "maintenance guys!" Rather, we have 6th grade boys... and today, my principal put them to work, along with the 2 able-bodied male teachers!  Their job - to carry (5) 100lb+ all wood tables down 8 flights of stairs!

As you can see, everyone is put to work in this country, (even 11 year olds!) and no one says "NO" to the principal!

Believe it or not, no one was hurt in this ordeal, and the bright shiny new desks look fabulous in my classroom!  I'd say it was a pretty productive day!  Thanks boys! :)

***

Trivia Night

I decided to play trivia tonight with Aaron, and while he's much smarter than me when it comes to trivia... he did make me laugh hysterically with his following 3 answers:

Who was the cartoon character married to Jessica in a film starring Bob Hoskins?

Aaron's answer: Ummm, wait I know this one.  The rabbit!  Peter. yea Peter…. No no… crap, I don’t know.

 The real answer: Roger Rabbit

Who was Anne Sullivan's most famous pupil?
Aaron's response: Jillers, You can’t ask me something you don’t know the answer too!

The answer: Helen Keller. (which of course I knew... Who doesn't?!)

What is the title of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical based on a collection of animal poems by T S Eliot?
Aaron's answer: (Completely serious...) Where the Wild Things Are

The real answer: Cats.

 

If you're ever forced to have a date night in, because of freezing cold temperatures outside, I would highly recommend playing trivia on this website: www.triviacountry.com!

Leaving late...

Fall is here, and in accordance with the season, it's all of a sudden been getting dark REALLY early!  Last Friday, I left work about 30 minutes late because I was busy checking e-mails, catching up on facebook, and writing a blog...  I was shocked when I turned off my office light and realized I couldn't see anything in my classroom!  It was only 5:15pm, and already pitch black outside, and everyone had already left work!  In addition, the hallway at my school was like a scene from a horribly scary movie - dark and eire and probably haunted - and I was ALL ALONE!  It will definitely be the last time I stay late around here!

On the positive side, I grabbed my camera out of my bag and snapped this picture of the city below, from my classroom window!  I've never been here after dark and was shocked at the view of the city lights below - so pretty, huh?! 

This is one of the redeeming qualitites of working on top of a hill! :)

***

Street Scene!

Last night, I was determined to learn how to take better pictures, so Aaron and I went to Nampodong in search of some photo opts. I'm convinced that I've got a long way to go in mastering photography, but I don't mind... I like the learning process, and especially the practice! I decided to document the delicious, oily, fried, and extremely crowded, Nampodong street food scene! ENJOY! 

Fresh, steamed corn!

BBQ'd chicken on a stick...

Grilled and dried squid tentacles!

Waffles with frosting!  (Believe it or not, I've yet to actually taste one of these!)

More corn... and baked potatoe sticks...

Kimbap, rice sticks in red sauce, and fried fish - on a stick and marinated in fish soup...

Delicious fried pastry with cinamon and sunflower seeds inside!

The only Korean who was willing to allow me to take her picture!  :)

Grilled chicken on a stick, and corn dogs-covered in fried potaoes!  Strange, I know!

 

Little squid balls!

Pork burritos!  One of my favorites!

As a side note... how amazing are the kids shoes here?!  I want a little girl, just to dress her in over-the-top Korean stuff!

Mandu, cow intestine, and pajung!

Any and every kind of vegetable, covered in a flour mix, and dipped in boiling oil!  Notice, Korean's are all about this place!

Cookies!!!

Candy covered nuts, waffers, and banana chips!

All I see in this picture are the 3 GIGANTIC blocks of butter!  Eeehhhh

Fancy seafood - octopus, clams, shrimp, lobster, etc, etc...!

More outrageous, raw seafood! 

Hope you enjoyed my little tour of the street food scene, and all the yummies I have to chose from around here!

*** As a side note:  I had a dream last night that my mom said she was getting bored with my blog because I've only been talking about food lately!  Obviously, I'm aware that I've been writing about food a lot because I had a dream about it!  So, I will do my best to get off the subject of food for a while and chose different topics - at least I'll give it my best shot! :)

Happy Monday morning from Busan!