Korean Fare

Korean side dishes, called banchan

Before coming to South Korea, I had never heard of Korean food. Ever. When I told people that I was considering moving here, everyone said, "Hope you like kimchi!" I had to look it up online to see what it was. Honestly, I was frightened.

Since moving here nearly three months ago I have fallen in love with Korean food. Not only is it colorful and delicious, it's very nutritious. Some sources say Korean food is the healthiest cuisine in the world. I'm pretty sure those sources are Korean. Still, it's quite good.

I'm sure I've only tried the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the many varieties of Korean fare, but some of my favorites so far are bulgogi (Korean BBQ), naengmyeon (cold noodle soup), lotus root, dok bok ki (similar to a rice pasta, though they're called rice cakes) and - yes - kimchi. Kimchi isn't really a main dish, it's pretty much always served with banchan (side dishes) which come with all Korean meals. In Korea, there's no tax on food in restaurants, no tip and all the side dishes are gratis. You can eat an amazing meal for less than $8... and I've even had amazing meals for less than $2.50!

It's quite a relief that the food here is amazing, and I'm looking forward to all the new dishes I have yet to try. Luckily I get to try a lot of new things since I basically just point at the menu and hope whatever they bring me didn't used to be someone's pet. It's always an adventure...

Seafood soup. I found out later that some of the weird, brain-like things in the soup are "warty sea squirts". Appetizing, huh?

I'm learning how to make some Korean food... and this is my first attempt at preparing lotus root. It turned out really well!

Dok bok ki from a street vendor. You stand at the cart and spear the rice cakes with a long toothpick, and to drink, they pour you hot fish juice broth out of a vat of boiling fish cakes. Mmm... refreshing?

SoKo Signs

One of my favorite pastimes here in Korea is reading all the misspelled, inappropriate or misused English. If I wasn't so embarrassed about being an obvious tourist, I would take pictures of some of the English shirts that people wear, which say things like; "This is very many", "San Flanklin", "Little Dartling" and some that I won't post here due to their graphic and profane nature.

Luckily, there are plenty of other funny signs that aren't being worn by people who would probably glare at me and tell me to move back to "San Flanklin" if they saw me taking their picture.

Enjoy!

This is a little button in some public bathroom stalls... an "ambiance" button if you will. In English it says, "Press PUSH button, then it sounds flushing." If you're feeling a little self-conscious, simply push this button and either a loud flushing sound or classical music will come out. Granted, as soon as other people here a concerto coming out of your stall, the jig is up anyway.

Poor advertising strategy.

Nobody tells ME where to approach my hands!

This sign was after three previous flights of stairs, and I think it's pretty obvious that the steps continue on ahead... but who knows, maybe some people just think "Well, I'm pretty sure that was enough steps" without looking and plummet to their death.

This sign made me happy (seven times, actually) until it left me hanging there at the end. WHAT will I happily become...?! ARGH!

When you want to appeal to a truly International clientele... O'Kim's Brauhaus.

Hanbok Day at School!

One of my favorite students... Flower! She kind of reminds me of a little Korean me. :)

Yesterday we had a special Chuseok day at school. Chuseok is the Korean harvest holiday and it's a time for visiting family, eating yummy traditional food and paying homage to one's ancestors. I got a hanbok specially made for me for the occasion (yes, even though it's a tent, it required measurements!)

All the students wore their hanboks and we made traditional Korean rice cakes and played traditional Korean games. It was so fun to see all the kids in their festive garb! I even went to school early so I could take the bus to pick the kids up (usually the Korean teachers pick them up and the foreign teachers stay at school.) I greeted the mothers "ohmonim annyeong hasseyo" and the fathers "ahbonim annyeong hasseyo". The kids were delighted to hear my Korean... as were their shocked parents!

Teachers: Monica, Sue, Sheila and Me

Standing Students: Andrew, Anny, Hoya, Jeff, Ryan, Jenny, Nana, Kim, David and Flower

Sitting Students: John, Daniel, Justin, Sam, Emily, Stella and Alvin.

After we picked the kids up, we had a few "regular" classes (teaching in a hanbok was anything but regular!) Then it was off to make rice cakes. Rice cakes are made out of dok which is basically rice powder and water thats steamed to make a very sticky, chewy dough. We rolled and flattened little dough balls to make little crescents and filled them with edamame seasoned with sesame oil.

I'm pretty sure this was the only rice cake that came out the right size and shape!

After rice cakes, we played traditional games; tug-of-war, yut (a game played with four sticks) and archery. Even though the arrows had suction cup tips... it's still a risky game with a bunch of kids, if you ask me. Luckily, everyone left with eyes and limbs in tact.

I had a great time learning about Chuseok and I felt honored to be given a hanbok and showed the traditions of a culture so different from my own. I'm excited about the next holiday when I get to wear my hanbok: New Years!

NoKo/SoKo

This is supposed to make me feel safe...?

Since I've been here, I've heard South Koreans talk about North Korea exactly two times. The first time, I asked one of my Korean friends about North Korea, to which she basically shrugged off my question by asking me why I wanted to know anything about North Korea. It was like North Korea was on a different planet.

The second time, a man randomly decided to tell me a "funny story" about a time when a North Korean saw someone opening a can of soda and ran for cover, thinking it was a grenade. This story didn't make me laugh, it made me sad. What must it be like to live in a world where all you know is seen through war-tinted glasses? To be so fearful and vigilant that a soda can makes you run for your life?

In South Korea, there is rarely mention of our northern neighbors... but there are tiny traces of their existence here and there. This picture is from the subway system in Seoul. There are tall glass cabinets through the subway stations that hold little brown sacks with bright orange safety masks in case of an attack. I'm not sure what is more alarming; the fact that there may be an attack, the fact that you're supposed to literally tie the bright orange mask around your neck, or the fact that there are about twenty sacks per station... and millions of commuters every day.

I'm planning a trip to the DMZ with some of my friends, so I'm sure I'll have some more insights on the NoKo/SoKo thing afterwards. I'll keep you posted. Until then, be thankful that you don't have to dive for cover when someone opens a Coke.

Note: I am perfectly safe here and not in danger. This post is not meant to alarm you, mom.

SoKo Costco

Last week, one of my coworkers and I made the arduous trek to find bulk American goods at none other than Costco! I braved the intense nausea brought on by the brake-happy bus drivers in search of a few staples to make me feel at home: popcorn, Kashi cereal and granola bars.

While there was definitely a wide variety of familiar products (like the famous Costco muffins!) there were quite a few exotic twists as well...

I always thought these were cough drops... but sure enough, they were in the candy aisle. Whether they're candy or medicine, I'd be really disappointed on Halloween if someone put these in my bag.

I kept wondering what that smell was. Oh right... the bulk packs of dried pollack! Duh!

The gift that keeps on giving.

There were two types of mayo: "Delicious Mayonnaise" and "Fresh Mayonnaise". Makes you wonder if this implies "Old and Delicious" and "Fresh and Nasty" Mayo. Luckily, I wasn't in the market for a five gallon jug of mayo, so that conundrum was left to other shoppers.

I'm definitely registering for this when I get married. A box of canned meats? What's not to love?!

Welcome to Korea: Squeeze On In!

A Relatively Uncrowded Ride on the Subway

The motto of South Korea is, roughly translated, Benefit All Mankind. This seems like a fitting statement considering the entirety of mankind seems to be living shoulder-to-shoulder within SoKo's narrow borders. Not exactly sure what the benefit part of the motto could mean... perhaps safety in numbers?

Since moving here, I've learned that less than 2% of the entire population of South Korea consists of foreigners. Coming from the melting pot of the US, these numbers surprised me. At first I thought this was due to SoKo's stringent immigration requirements or other red tape issues. Now I'm beginning to think it's simply that more people won't fit. Everywhere you go, any time of day or night, there are people. Lots of them.

I've tried running on my neighborhood track at various times to avoid the throngs of walkers... but no luck. Whether it's 5 am or 11 pm, the experience resembles something like a Walk-a-Thon. Grocery store? Every day is like the day before Thanksgiving, minus the turkey.

There are no town homes or free-standing houses here. Everyone lives in giant towers of apartments. Hotels, restaurants, shops and clinics aren't their own entities, either. They're all tucked into large skyscrapers, with different floors for every type of business. It's all very efficient; packed in nice and tight, just like the citizens.

I still haven't gotten used to the crowds. I still get annoyed when Korean people slam into me and act like nothing happened, or step on my feet and remain oblivious. This is just a regular part of their lives and I'm trying to get accustomed to it. I have a feeling this is going to be the hardest part about transitioning to my SoKo life.

Taught

Teaching

I wasn't a teacher back in the States. I can't really remember ever teaching anyone anything at any point in time. Nope, I just paused to reflect and I really can't remember a single time that I bestowed knowledge on another person. Being the fourth of five children gave me plenty of older siblings who taught me plenty of things, and I have lots of friends who I've learned a great deal from. Actually, maybe I've showed some people what not to do. Does that count?

Moving on. I had no idea how rewarding teaching could be. Not only is it one of the most amazing experiences when a child grasps a concept that you taught them, but it's also amazing to be an unwitting role model for promising young lives.

My kids are smarter than I could have imagined and teaching them is, for the most part, a delight. My heart swells with pride when they use a correct tense, or say a complete sentence with appropriate pronouns.

While I've truly been in awe of their capacity to learn, I've also been a bit shocked by what they've taught me. Very simple life lessons that we tend to forget in the rush and stress of being a grown-up. Here are a few simple things my students have bestowed on me lately:

• It's better to focus on the good than dwell on the bad. How often in everyday situations I've complained about something that upsets me instead of focusing on the good. In my classroom, if I only focus on the one child who's acting up, I'm ignoring the wonderful progress of all my other students. Plus, I've noticed that when I laud the children who are working hard, the troublemakers usually snap into shape. This attitude has rubbed off on my children. Instead of tattling on their classmates as much as they used to, now they'll yell "Sticker! Sticker!" for the classmate who makes a concerted effort in class. (It's a reward system that seems to be working quite well!)

• Laughter is life-giving. If my kids are having an off-day, all it takes is a little play time with them and they perk right up. Sure, it's important to have discipline and accomplish our daily tasks, but a little laughter and play time makes life worth living. Plus, it's a great way to bond with kids.

• It really is the little things in life. Recently, my older class leveled up, which is exciting for many reasons. First, they stay on a level for five or six weeks, and things get pretty tedious towards week five. Second, there are all sorts of funny new little words for them to learn and pictures to laugh at. One of our new stories has lots of fruit and vegetables with cartoon faces and I've never seen kids laugh so hard. Sometimes the smallest things are the best things.

• Hugs rule. Hugs from anyone are pretty great, aside from creepy strangers, but a hug from a little kid is... amazing. I think it's due to the fact that when they're hugging you, they're really hugging you. They're not thinking about their To-Do List or secretly thinking how bad your perfume smells. Their hugs are full-body, clingy-monkey, squeeze-til-it-hurts and never-let-go. I begrudgingly have to peel them off me when it's time for their next class.

• Life is now. Be present. My kids live their lives in the moment. Whether they're sad, happy, excited or "so-so" (a new phrase they just learned), they're present in their lives. How often I have to remind myself to be present, right where I'm at, and not think about what I'm going to do after this moment, or what happened before. Just now. Just be. It's beautiful.

Honestly, my kids have probably taught me way more than I've taught them. I love seeing them everyday and learning new things about who they are and how they see the world; and bit by bit, I begin to see the world with their same wide-eyed wonder...