빼빼로 DAY!

While Americans are celebrating veterans and the sacrifices they have made for America (or enjoying a three day weekend), Koreans are celebrating a completely different kind of holiday. On November 11th every year, Koreans exchange 빼빼로 (Pepero), tiny breadsticks covered in chocolate. No one really knows how this tradition started. According to Lotte, which makes 빼빼로, people just started doing it. I'm inclined to believe they actually started it. According to the all-knowing wikipedia, Lotte does 55% of their 빼빼로 business in the month of November. Every store that's worth anything has a huge display to encourage them. There are gift baskets. 


Anyway, the idea is that 11/11 looks like four sticks of 빼빼로 and therefore we should all exchange them!! If you're following, that means that 11/11/11 is the 빼빼로 Day to end all 빼빼로 days. My students spared no expense. Here's my haul from 빼빼로 Day (minus two boxes which were shared with students...)

Some off brand, peanut, almond and regular!

All in all, a very successful 빼빼로 Day. I felt very loved by my students and ate entirely too many chocolate covered breadsticks. There are worse things. 

Now, back to a holiday with a purpose, but sadly, much less chocolate. Thank you, veterans, especially to my dad. This summer, I was lucky enough to go to Vietnam with my parents, as most of you know. What you might not know is that my dad was drafted during the Vietnam war. It's not something he talks about very much, understandable so. Before we decided to go to Vietnam he said something along the lines of "Seems strange to go to Vietnam on vacation, since I spent so much of my adult life trying to avoid it." We got a chance to talk more about his experience. 

TANK!

HELICOPTER!

He never actually went to Vietnam, but instead served his time mostly in Germany. It was really interesting to hear about that time in his life. I got to see some of the tanks and guns he was trained to use. It's so strange to think about my dad, such a peaceful and fun-loving guy, as a trained soldier. And crazy to think how the luck of the draw changed his life forever. 

The museum which housed these impressive relics was called the War Remnants Museum. It was made up mostly of photographs. It was really intense and really moving. It's not every day you get to read the perspective of the country that BEAT America, so the text was really interesting too. I learned a lot. Unfortunately, these are pretty much the only pictures that I took.

To sum up, Happy 빼빼로 Day! And Happy Veteran's Day. I also just realized how many pictures I have, both from Korea and vacation with my parents, that I have yet to share. I'll work on that. 

How to Stay Safe in the Forest

So, every week, we do a Creative Thinking Project. Students brainstorm an idea, write a script and perform. This week the topic was "How can you stay safe when hiking?" This is one of the best and most hilarious videos any group has created in the 7.5 months that I have been in Korea. (I know you're thinking "SEVEN AND A HALF MONTHS??? But where did the time go?" I feel the same way. Anyway, check out this video. Pay special attention to Ryan. He's one of my favorites. 

I owe all of you an update or two. I'm going to try to give you some more leisure reading this weekend. I might just be too busy being awesome, though. I guess we'll see.

BLOW YOUR MIND

Oh man, this has been stuck in my head ALL DAY!!
 

Sistar19

This blog promises K-pop, but has definitely been lacking so far. I'm making a personal goal to listen to more Korean music. The good news for you is that you get to hear more Korean music too!!!

This is one of my favorite jams.

Speaking of North Korea...

Ain't no party like a Pyongyang party, 'cause a Pyongyang party is ABSOLUTELY MANDATORY

North Korea is still a mystery to the world

Apparently, North Korea is making a concerted effort to increase tourism, especially from China. If you go here, there are some really great photos (especially the ones at the end) of North Korean life. It is fascinating to see what North Korea is willing to show foreign journalists and how carefully they are monitoring the image they give the world. Here's one of my favorites of the pictures. 

Photo by David Guttenfelder from the Associated Press. 

I may have recommended it already, but there is a National Geographic special called Inside North Korea, featuring none other than Lisa Ling. It's streaming on Netflix! She accompanies a doctor who is teaching North Korean doctors how to perform cataract surgery. It's a pretty interest glance inside North Korea. Lisa Ling had this to say about it: "I have traveled to many places on many continents, but I never felt my personal freedom limited as much as it was during our time in North Korea."

Anyway, just some stuff to check out if you are both bored AND interested in North Korea. 

The best gift ever.

That's right. It's a succulent. AND A PHONE CHARM. Diane is the best sister ever. Sorry, Andrea, this gift is going to be hard to beat.  Did I mention it's alive???????? I couldn't be more excited.

Only in Korea

I thought I'd give you some of the random pictures I have taken over the last few months. Some things you'll only see in Korea. Or at least things I think are unique to Korea but someone will be like, Oh, yeah, we have that in ________.  But anyway, here goes. 

This man opened his eyes right after I took this picture. He may have realized I took it, but I just pretended not to notice. 

Do you think it translates?

The post-Mudfest trash pile. That's a lot of soju.

My baseball game snack. It even comes with beak. Pro tip: Even if you don't have time to finish it, do not put the squid in your backpack. I repeat, DO NOT PUT THE SQUID IN YOUR BACKPACK. I don't think I have to tell you why. 

Noraebang with my coworkers after company dinner. 

Some very intoxicated, overly friendly Koreans, who apparently claimed to be gangsters.

This was the ad on the back of the bus seat on my way to the airport. 

My whole class stopped so Alice could braid this girl's hair. Poor Harry, the only boy, was stuck watching too. 

I'm the creep that takes stealthy pictures of other people's children. But considering I was shooting from the hip, I couldn't be more pleased with this picture. 

Three microwaves outside a Family Mart near the National Museum. 

I think this says it all. 

That's my name in Korean. 

Diane bought this poop bread for me. The instructions are as follows: 1. Eat the poop bread   2. Poop   3.  Inspect your poop  4. Eat more poop bread. Obviously.

YES! The Seoul mascot. 

Coworker get away! We spent Korean Thanksgiving relaxing in a pension. It was great.

Lauren Hillard: Blogger Extraodinaire

Hello everyone!

Just a quick post to recommend that you check out Lauren Hillard's Blog. She is the first friend I made here and she's from Gig Harbor. She is much better about blogging regularly than I am. Her most recent post gives a great recap of the trip she, Diane and I took to Namsan Tower. She has great pictures and amazing detail. It's like you are right there with us!

Anyway, check it out. And keep an eye for pictures from me in the very near future. I'm working on it as we speak!

Secret Garden

My new obsession: Korean dramas. Actually, this Korean drama in particular, Secret Garden. It's 70% sexual tension, 10% mistaken identity and 20% disapproving parents. IT'S WONDERFUL. This is the most famous scene.

The good news is you can watch it online with English subtitles! Here. Just click on an episode and it streams online.


Also, Diane is here. She likes this show too. I'll post pictures of our time together soon!

I'm so Korean right now.

I have started buying kimchi to eat with the meals I cook at home. I'm going to have to figure out how to make this stuff if I ever come back to America.

Look how delicious it looks in this picture that I stole from the internet.

Blog? What blog?? Oooooh, THIS blog...

Hello. The biggest update and most recent self-realization is that I am a terrible blogger. Surprise, surprise.

There are a lot of other updates. I have a million vacation photos that are currently being uploaded to my computer. I had a great visit with my parents. We saw as much of Vietnam as we could without going crazy and mostly saw as much Korean food as possible. My coworkers did a FANTASTIC job of showing my parents Korea and making sure they had a great time. I couldn't have asked for more. Diane will be here a week! I've already got some stellar plans. Here's a preview of my pictures.

Market in Saigon

Sunrise over Saigon on my way back to Korea

First of all, I should change the name of my blog. I believe to Soju and Noraebang. Although kimchi and k-pop are still important parts of my everyday life, soju and noraebang seem to be dominating my free time.  What little free time I have left anyway.

Summer in Korea is hot. Everyone keeps telling me I got out easy and that it hasn't been as hot as usual. Well, thank god. I don't know if I would have survived it any hotter. Fortunately, the air conditioner in my apartment works like a dream. The one in my classroom works so well the children always complain about being cold. Teacher gets hot!! I'm really looking forward to fall weather and changing leaves and hot coffee.

Work is going well. Really well, actually. Starting next week, I will be Head Instructor. Mostly that means that I will help new teachers be great teachers. I'm really excited to work closely with my coworkers. I think it will be a lot of work, but it will also be really fun. At least I hope so. The best news is that it is actually something that will help me to get a better job when I come back to the U.S.

My students have been SO cute this term. One girl's mom called and said that she refuses to have any teacher other than me. Another had a huge smile when I told her I'll be her teacher next term. And my favorite class, the highest level at April, wrote me the sweetest notes yesterday. Please see attached photo. I'm going to miss my students from this term a lot, but I have a pretty great schedule next term too and I get to keep some of my favorite students. Turns out those snot-nosed Korean kids are actually really great.

I realize that after nearly three full months without a single blog, this isn't very thorough. I'm going to try to be better about this. I hope to put more vacation pictures up this weekend. We'll see.

Oooo! One more thing!! I have received 2 postcards since I've been in Korea, one from Casa Bonita (it was so worth it) and another from Sarah, the student in the Taekwondo gear above. I would love to put more postcards up in classroom, the students are really into it. They all want to go to Casa Bonita. They can't believe they have a cliff diver and a gun show. Send me more!! My mailing address is:

107-8 Bansong-dong
Jeil Plaza 6F
Gyeonggi-do, Hwaseong City 445-160
Korea

I also finally found some Korean postcards, so I'll be working on that in the near future. (Bryan and Carly: I've been looking for a tree you can drive through. So far it seems that aren't into that here. Fools.)

Farewell for now!

Hwaseong Fortress

When I first found out where I would be going in Korea, I was told Hwaseong. The internet (at least the English speaking internet) is VERY confused about the actual location of Hwaseong. Some of the internet understands the basics, but most of the internet wants you to think that the fortress is really the only thing known as Hwaseong. The real problem is that despite the fact that my address is Hwaseong, no one actually calls this area Hwaseong. I live in Dongtan, which is in Hwaseong, but really outside of Suwon. Frankly, after more than two months, I'm just figuring it out myself.

Anyway, none of that is really the point. The point is that I went to the fortress. It's pretty darn cool. It was built in the late 18th century by some guy who wanted to keep his shit safe. You know, the standard fortress story. The coolest part is that, like many ancient things in Korea, the fortress is completely coexisting with modern day Suwon. You pay a couple of dollars and you can wander around the fortress. Lauren, my sightseeing buddy from Gig Harbor, and I walked about half of the outside wall, got hot, the cut through the city to get to the excitement (and to eat an ice cream).  Alright, on to the good stuff: the pictures!

One of the main gates of the fortress.

Looking back at the gate from inside along the wall.

Using what was once intended for weaponry (CROSSBOWS!) to creepily peek out to Suwon.

What is that person wearing?!

Lauren and I being super touristy.

The trolley for people visiting the fortress that we foolishly chose not to ride. It was hot!

Some Koreans learning about archery.

We discovered this as we cut through the city to eat our ice cream. Two questions. One: who sells tapes? It's 2011!! Two: Who buys them???!!!!

Creeping on some fake people. 

More fake people, these were much more realistic.

A giant Buddha with a little shrine (?) underneath.

Inside the shrine.

Lauren at the highest point in the fort. Suwon is in the background.

Some Koreans ring the bell.

On the way back to where we started.

The fortress.

Alright, that about does it for touristy pictures for a little while. I'm going to try to blog about my real life in the very near future. Stay tuned!

COEX Aquarium

The COEX Aquarium is pretty darn cool. A few weeks ago, I had some time off and no money, so I stuck around Seoul and tried to do some touristy stuff. I mostly just went to the aquarium and took a million pictures. These are my favorites.

Just a little reminder that you are still in Korea, they put these little guys in a fish tank. 

Another reminder that you are in Korea! 

These little guys look so friendly!!

PIRANHA

It's nice to have friends.

This little guy looks the friendliest of all. 

For the record, I know that it's creepy to take pictures of other people at the aquarium, but this was too good to pass up.

MANATEE