Anyone hungry?

In Korea, we are constantly finding funny things written on packages, or interesting foods for sale. Here is a glimpse into some things you can find at the local market or the local grocery store! mmmmm....

Can you ever imagine yourself saying, "Oh... a pig head! I've been looking everywhere for one of those!"


Sardines in a snack pack for the equivalent of 50 cents! Disgusting!


Yes, this is a "Crunky" chocolate bar!


This beer had a pirate hat!


These are "crunky nude balls!" Isn't there anyone working for this company that knows enough english to understand the connotations this title carries?!!


This is Soju (alcohol) IN A JUICE BOX!

Apparently it's important to drink "stylish" beer!


Why would you ever want chips in your lunchbox if you could have an octopus instead?!


Dried fish with eyeballs... dried eyeballs!

Like I said, this is just a glimpse! I happened to have had my camera one day and snapped these pictures! We have seen much craziers things since!

She licked my face!

The dog of course... There is a furniture shop near Jessica and Carlos's house and the owner always has his yellow lab and black lab with him at the store! When we walked by the other day, they were tied to the front porch and I couldn't resist stopping to give them a little pet! The yellow one was very sweet and kept licking my face. The black one was a little more rambunctous and didn't want me to pet him... He wanted me to play with him! I just didn't know that his way of playing was going to be bitting my hand! Don't worry... I survived!

Wednesday is Teacher Volleyball

So, every Wednesday, the teachers get to leave school early to play volleyball against other elementary schools in the area!  Today was my school's 1st game and I was all geared up in my matching adidas track suit, my red Korea shirt, and my brand new 15,000 won ($10.00) shoes with sparkly laces (yes, I bought black laces to switch out the sparkly ones, but I didn't have enough time!)  Sadly, my awesome outfit didn't win us any games... In fact, we lost ALL 4 of our games!  :( The Koreans are SERIOUS about their volleyball and are legit on the court! Even Barbara, the 63 year old teacher was out there... and she was digging for hits (I think that's a volleyball term...) and spiking the ball. I was shocked! Anyhow, we didn't just lose... we were DEMOLISHED!  Check out the score of our last game:

I asked one of the male teachers to take a picture while we were playing and he took 34 pictures of us in action!  Unfortunately, there was only 1 decent one!  (below)

The ladies team!  

This one is blurry, but it catches Nicole and I giving each other high fives after one of our plays!

My 1st Japanese friend!

Last weekend, Jess and I went shopping at Nampodong and stopped to eat some kimbap at a local street vendor. While we were there, we met 2 Japanese guys who had been traveling through Korea for a week and it was their last day before they flew back to Japan. One of them took a picture with us and offerred to send it if we gave him our e-mail. I just received it this morning! This is what his e-mail said:

"Hello. How are you? Do you remember me? MY name is RYO MIHARA. It was happy to meet in the stall the other day. It was lucky because that day was a day of the South Korea end. Did you come to Japan? I live in Shimonoseki. Yes, kanpu-ferry terminal in shimonoseki. If you come to Japan, please send E-mail. I will guide you. Season today Japan's cherry blossoms are very beautiful. I want to meet slowly this time in South Korea or Japan and to talk again. See you."

As a side note: This is about as good as it gets when it comes to people speaking English. It's really broken and sometimes very funny, ie: "I want to meet slowly this time." Last night Kevin had to go to the bathroom and Stella said, "There is not a bathroom near here. Can you endure?"

Dinner with my Vice Principal

So, tonight was the big dinner date with my Vice Principal and his family!  We had the most delicious meat, BBQ'd right at our table and then we all walked to a trendy little coffee shop a couple blocks away from the restaurant for some coffee and tea.

"Gyo Gam Sun Seng Neim" means "Vice Principal" in Korean, so everytime I want to get his attention or say hello to him, I have to say his ENTIRE title.   Tonight, he told Kevin and I that we could call him "servant" because he was cooking for us!  His daughter spoke fluent English and told me that she has NEVER seen her dad cook!  She said that we should feel VERY honored that he would do that for us!   :)

Gyo Gam Sun Seng Neim, his daughter, me, Kevin, his wife, and Stella (my co-teacher) outside the restaurant after dinner.

While we were walking to the coffee shop, I spotted this store and pointed it out to Stella!  She was so excited and said, "I have my own store!  I am very rich!"

 

After the coffee shop, Stella, Kevin and I did some shopping in the outdoor market and Kevin spotted this kid who he said was "suited and booted" (very fashionable!) I wish this picture showed his entire outfit, because he had really cool jeans on and black dress shoes.  Minus the scarf, I think any fashionable guy would have worn this kid's outfit!