Thanksgiving Part 1

Today, Thursday October 26th, is Thanksgiving.

At school I traced my hand on the whiteboard and drew a turkey with a bright red wattle.  Next to it I wrote "Happy Thanksgiving!"

One kid came up to me and informed me that my picture did not look like a turkey.  But then a girl interjected and said that when she went to Kindergarten in Texas they drew turkeys like that too.  So yes, while it is true that the hand cut-outs do not look like a turkey, they damn-well are anyway.

Shortly after I got home from school I took a taxi to the Ingadong Home Plus and walked to the Korean buffet dinner that was organized by the Suwon Vegetarian Club.  I was a little weary about having Thanksgiving in a Korean restaurant, but it only cost w7,000 for an all-you-can-eat buffet and the prices at the Outback Steakhouse could not compare.

Behold my fabulous Thanksgiving feast!!  Ok, not so fabulous, but edible nonetheless.

To the right of the watermelon slice is some Ambrosia salad, corned mashed potatoes, a Korean pancake, coleslaw, 2 pieces of Tteokbokki, and some stir fry mix with broccoli.

I also had 2 bowls of pumpkin soup.

Hah!  Mashed potatoes and pumpkin soup.

I do declare a Thanksgiving meal after all!

Book Club

Yesterday I went to my first English book-club meeting.  About 2 weeks ago I responded to an ad posted on the Seoul Craigslist for people interested in starting an English book-club.  Amazingly, the person who was coordinating this club lives in Yeongtong and wanted to meet just a mere 5 minute walk from my house!  Heck yes!

We met at the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf at the Yeongtong Home Plus at 8pm on Wednesday.  I met with 3 others in the club:

Bibana is the organizer of the group.  She's originally from Columbia but moved to the US when she was 12.  She has lived in several areas of South Korea during the past 2 years where she has had a few different Hagwon jobs.  She currently teaches Kindergarten but doesn't like it because she hates singing songs all day long.

Alex is from New York City.  He has lived in Korea for about 6 months now but hasn't picked up much Korean beyond the basic hello-goodbye-thank you-please, etc.  He teaches at a Hagwon across from the Home Plus and likely sees some of the kids I teach at my elementary school.

The third member attending the group that day was a Korean man but I can't recall his name.  He commutes about 45 minutes each day to work at an advertising agency.  He works long hours (usually from 7am - 9pm) and says he doesn't get paid much.

Additionally, there will be one more person from the US who couldn't make it on Wednesday as well as 3 other Koreans who couldn't make it.

We picked the book I recommended because Bibana had already heard of the book and also wanted to read it.  Additionally, we thought that it would be the easiest read (compared to the other books we had thought of) for the Koreans who have a more difficult time reading.

I'm very excited for the book-club.  It will be my first book group.  Hopefully, having the mix of Koreans and Americans will be an interesting cultural experience too.

For more information about the book, please click here.
You are invited to read the book during the month of December and share your thoughts with me at the end month.  

Once in a Blue Moon

Highlight of the week:

I got cable television!

I ordered the package that cost just under w10,000 and has about 60 channels but for some reason they actually gave me the 75 channel package instead.  There are about 5 or so English channels at any given time and most of them are terrible.  I watched the show Numb3rs for the first time in my life. Eh.  I also watched the movie While You Were Sleeping.  Nothing all that great so far, but it's still nice to have the TV to keep me company at night.


Highlights of this weekend include:
1.  Now Bar
2.  Itaewon
3.  Once in a Blue Moon
4.  What the Book?

1.  Now Bar
I didn't take many pictures this weekend so you'll have to pardon me on that one.  As always, I stayed out way later than anticipated.  The Now Bar has some way of making me lose all concept of time and it's 3am before I know it.  At Now Bar I played darts and it turns out that I'm really good at darts!  I may have to start being a dart shark.

2.  Itaewon
Thanksgiving is coming up this Thursday and I'm very excited.  Thanksgiving is my absolute, hands-down favorite holiday.  Koreans don't really eat turkey but they are available -- at a hefty price.  A turkey that would only feed 3 people costs around $80 or so.  My brother, Natalie, and I decided that we will have chicken instead this year since you can get chicken for just $8.

Some other things that are necessities for Thanksgiving are also not readily available in the regular grocery store such as cranberry sauce, pumpkin puree, jello, and pie crust.  I was able to go to a foreign food mart aptly called Foreign Food Mart and buy all of the aforementioned items sans pie crust.  I may have to just buy a pumpkin & pecan pie at the Paris Baguette.

 
The Foreign Food Mart is located in Itaewon and sells mostly Indian food but some American foods too like Kashi cereal and Pop-Tarts.  I wouldn't make shopping there a regular habit though.  The store is messy and there was food spilling from the aisles onto the floor.  Additionally, I think everything had a slight layer of dust to it.  But, when you need your Jell-o...






Paris Baguette is a Korean bakery that likes to think it is French.  Don't be fooled.  It is not.  But, they do regularly sell Pecan Pie.  If my microwave pumpkin pie fails, there is alway the Paris Baguette to save me.








For dinner I went to a Thai place that, honestly, had better decor than it did food.  It was called Buddha's Belly and it is located on the second floor of a building in an alley off the main strip of Iteawon.  I'm a big fan of eating atmosphere.  Sometimes food tastes better just because of the restaurant's decor.  In this case the decor was what I would call luxury-industrial.  The chairs all had a velour covering to them and the colors were all in rich grays, reds, and blacks.  I felt stylish and elegant eating there.  I was slightly disappointed in the Pad Thai with Tofu that I got though.  While it was fine, it wasn't really delicious either.  


3.  Once in a Blue Moon

After Thai food it was off to Apgujong which is an area of Gangnam and is like Seoul's Beverly Hills.  They even have a Rodeo Drive Street.

This area also has the best jazz club in town.  With the exception of the ridiculously high drink prices, I loved it.  The people that I was with, Jennifer and her two friends, reminded me that the w14,000 glass of wine I had was really not that bad since there was no cover charge to enter and if you think of it like that then it's not so expensive anymore.  Well maybe, but I would have gotten another glass of wine if it was cheaper...    

Anyway, the jazz was great and I'm glad I got to go!

Getting back home to Suwon, however, was not so great.  I got totally disoriented on the main street in Gangnam and couldn't figure out which direction I needed to take the bus back home.  I walked up and down and up and down for close to an hour before I spotted my bus-- naturally going in the opposite direction I was convinced I had to go.  It was 1am when I got back to my house.

4.  What the Book?

While in Itaewon on Saturday I also stopped by the bookstore, What the Book.  It was just a building or two away from the Foreign Mart.  It's known to be the best English bookstore in Korea but it was a lot smaller than I had expected.  Still, it did not disappoint and I found a book that I was looking for, The Glass Castle.

I spent my Sunday afternoon at Tom N Toms reading my new book, drinking a latte, and eating a pretzel.  Tom N Toms makes great soft pretzels.









Back to school on Monday...!

Coex Aquarium

This weekend Jennifer and I spent a day in the Coex mall because we wanted to go to the aquarium there.  I had seen someone else's pictures from the aquarium and so even though it cost w15,000 for admission, we decided that it would still be worth it.

Actually,  Seoul's aquarium might be one of the coolest aquariums I have ever seen.  Other top aquariums include Boston (which has a massive muti-layer walk around tank), Sydney (which I only barely remember since I was 7 years old) and maybe Monterey (which is just a classic aquarium).

So what made this aquarium so fabulous?  Well, mostly it was because it wasn't your run of the mill, standard aquarium.  Yes, they did have a starfish petting area like Boston, yes, they did have penguins like Australia, yes they did have sea otters like Monterey.

But the Seoul aquarium is the only one that I can think of that also has monkeys.

Still, this is not the reason why it is so cool.  The award is given because it is the most creative aquarium I have ever seen.  Check out these fish tanks!

Hot tub fish tank  (above left)                                                           Refrigerator fish tank (above right)

 Fire hydrant fish tank (above)


Jennifer looking at the fish in a bed-frame (right) 













After the aquarium we wandered, got lost, wandered some more, and got lost some more inside the mall.  The mall is huge.  I mean, you figure any mall that hosts both a 16-screen movie theater and an aquarium is large, but it also has hundreds of stores, two food courts, and a Kimchi museum.  The underground mall is the largest in all of Asia and spans 85,000 square meters (or almost 915,000 sq. ft!!)

After shopping we went to the Hyundai department store.  What? Hyundai has a department store? Yes.  And it's like a Marks & Spencer because it sells food too.  I had a great Italian dinner there for about w7,000 but the people sitting next to us in the food court had something not so great.  Well, perhaps it tasted ok but Jennifer and I were totally freaked out by their moving food and we could not figure out what the heck it was even after blatantly staring at it for 20 minutes.   Finally Jennifer worked up the courage to ask what it was.  They said it was this but it doesn't explain the creepy moving objects so the case is still open.

After dinner we got some gelato.  They have crazy flavors like rice, sesame, and red bean.  I tried the red bean and I couldn't help but laugh as I ate it because it tasted exactly like red bean.  I LOVE red bean but apparently not in ice cream.  Instead I settled on white chocolate.  It may have been the first time I didn't get a coffee-flavored ice cream in years.  It was delicious!  But it would have been even better if I got 2 scoops white chocolate and coffee mixed..

All in all it was a wonderful day and a great way to spend the cold afternoon.  Additionally, I would like to say that I'm so thankful for my friendship with Jennifer.

HALP.  I'm stuck at the COEX aquarium.

Weekend Highlights

Highlights of this weekend include:

1.  Indian dinner with the Suwon Vegetarian Club

2.  Drinks with the Seoul Friends Circle

3.  National Museum of Korea

4.  Dongdaemun shopping

1.  Suwon Vegetarian Club

As you may know, I have been a vegetarian on and off for many years.  But upon coming to Korea I decided that it would be best to give up my vegetarianism in order to participate more fully in the Korean culture.  Koreans are big meat eaters and there are few vegetarian options on any given menu, if at all.  And even though I have been eating meat without a problem (well, without much of a problem) I am still a vegetarian at heart.

As such, I was excited to hear that the Suwon Vegetarian Club was hosting another dinner get-together.  There were about 15 people in total and most of them were also GEPIK teachers like me.  Most of them were from Canada and the US with one from South Africa and one from England.

Dinner was good and I enjoyed everyone's company.

2.  Seoul Friends Circle

After the dinner was over some of the Suwon vegetarians were going into Seoul for something called a Seoul Friends Circle.  I guess it is a group on Facebook.  The name sounds terribly tacky/hippie and I wasn't convinced it was going to be cool but everyone seemed to have positive impressions about it so I decided to go.

The event was at some bar called Beer Hunter and there were about 50 or so people there for the SFC but the set-up was such that everyone was sitting at these long tables and there really wasn't a lot of mingling between small groups.  Mostly, I talked to the Suwon Vegetarians but that good I enjoyed my conversation with them.

Later, we went to this bar called Monkey Beach in Gangnam that was about 1/2 Korean and 1/2 Foreigner.  It seemed like 1/2 of those foreigners were American soldiers.

One cool thing about Monkey Beach is that you get to drink a "bucket" drink.  I didn't get one but I tasted Zenas's.  He got Banana Punch which tasted exactly like a banana Now and Later candy.

3.  National Museum of Korea

I got to go into the entire museum for free because it was celebrating 100 years (of something..?) and today was the last day that you could go for free, so I decided to go back into Seoul for the museum.

The museum shows the entire cultural history of Korea from the Neolithic times to modern day.  Traditional paintings and ceramics are also on display at the museum.

 

The museum claims to be the largest museum in Asia and the 6th largest in the world in terms of floor space, but it didn't really seem all that big to me.

<--- There is the museum behind the tree and red pagoda.

The inside of the museum is really beautiful and covered entirely in marble.

  

The picture above is a 10-story Gyeongcheonsa Pagoda that if my memory serves me right, was built in 1368.  Oh darn, I looked it up and it was 1348-- so close!

Koreans like their PDA.  Look closely at the picture of the right and you can see a couple making out on the escalator.  busted.  

4.  Dongdaemun Market 

After the museum I took the subway north to Dongdaemun market to buy a pair of pants suitable for work.  Shopping in Korea can be difficult because they don't let you try on shirts-- only pants.  This can be so frustrating and you really have to take a gamble if you want to buy a shirt or sweater. Luckily, you are able to try on pants, shorts, and skirts.  I found a pair of black pants that the saleslady said looks slimming and beautiful on me.  Alright sold!

Finally it was time for me to head back home.  A long ride on the subway and bus... and I was back in Happy Suwon.

A good weekend.  Can't believe it's Monday already.  Time has been moving by fast lately.

Visitation Rights

In addition to it being Halloween last Saturday, the weekend was also special for another reason: my mom and step-dad came to Korea to visit!  They flew in from San Diego to Busan and then went to Goeje Island to visit my step-sister Nicole and her husband Sam.  (click here to see my previous post about Goeje)  They were there for the earlier part of last week and traveled west to visit Natalie, my brother's girlfriend, and then north to Seoul where they rented a traditional Korean house called a Hanok.  

Then on Wednesday October 28th my mom and Darrell came down to Suwon to spend the day at the Korean Folk Village (click here to see my post on the KFV).  After a little bit of confusion about my school and the correct time to meet, I was finally able to see them.  I gave them a tour of my classroom and a little bit of the school.  Unfortunately no children were at school that day because of the H1N1 flu and most of the teachers had already left too.  However, they did get to meet Yunjoo who is the music teacher and one of my favorite co-workers at the school.

My mom, Darrell, and I walked back to my apartment ("You have to walk this far everyday?" they asked me.  "Sure do," I replied.  My walk to and from work/school takes about 20 minutes at a casual walking pace so I figure it's about a mile away).

After showing them my apartment (alright fine I'll show you ONE picture of it because you haven't seen it yet and it's been 2 months.  Since the addition of my television though, I've had to rearrange and so it doesn't even look like that anymore.) we went out for an early dinner in downtown Yeongtong.


We ate at the same Galbi place that Nicole and I ate at when she was in town.  The first time I was there with Nicole the waiter ordered for us and he picked out the thinly sliced beef which I think is called Bulgogi.  This time we had some kind of pork Galbi and beef Galbi which are thicker slices of meet, and then later, because we were still hungry we got the thinly sliced Bulgogi.

After dinner we met up with my co-teacher Eunju who was kind enough to give my mom and step-dad a ride to Suwon Station so that they could take the subway back to Seoul.

***

On Friday morning I had a cold and a sore throat so I called in sick.  I wanted to sleep in but because of all cases of flu it was advised that I go to the doctor before 9am.  Ugh.  So I did.  It cost me w2,500 to see the doctor and another w3,000 for pills and meds.  Not too shabby at all!

I arrived in Seoul (Insadong) at around 1pm but since Mom and Darrell were not there I went inside and slept for a little while to feel better.  And by a little while I actually mean 3 hours.

That afternoon my mom and I went window-shopping down the main drag in Insadong (click here for my entry about Insadong) and then out to tea at a cute little tea shop.  Insadong is known for all their tea houses and it's one of the things I didn't do the last time I went and really wanted to.

It's not the greatest picture because I really was feeling sick that day, but going out to tea with my mom remains the highlight of their visit for me.





On Saturday Nicole & Sam came from Geoje to stay at the Hanok house.  That evening we went out to dinner at a kitschy little restaurant in Insasong that is known for their handmade mandu/dumplings and has been mentioned in numerous newspapers and guidebooks.

See? Very kitschy.                                                         The food was great though!  And pretty too.          

Good food = Good times

On Sunday we took the Seoul Bus Tour all around the city.  Here are some pictures from the tour:

 

  

The pic above is Haechi, Seoul's mascott.  Personally I think he looks like a wild thing minus the horns:

Legend has it though, that Haechi can distinguish good from evil and can repel fire and disaster.  All those Wild Things can do is roar their terrible roars and gnash their terrible teeth.  Haechi wins.

We also went up to Seoul tower.  It was really cool!

 

Inside the tower.

Halloween SoKo Style

Saturday, October 31st was Halloween.  Koreans don't really celebrate Halloween the way we do in the US but because of the influx of American English teachers in South Korea, more and more Koreans are beginning to grasp the concept.  They don't go trick-or-treating and they don't even really dress up and eat massive amounts of candy.

Some areas of Seoul (and Korea in general) are known for having a higher ratio of foreigners than others.  Those areas, such as Itaewon (where the Yongsan US army base is located) and Hongdae (where Hongik University is located) which is known for having bars and  nightclubs with fewer army personnel, cater to the crowd and hold big Halloween events.

I met up with Mali at her apartment in the southern part of Seoul (near Seoul National University) to get ready for the night.  Mali planned ahead and had her mother send her a costume from the States.  (Although there are a few costume stores in Seoul, they can be hard to find.)  I decided to go as Robin and pieced together my own costume made from clothes I already had, green tights I purchased at a Subway station a few weeks ago in preparation for Halloween, and a skirt and yellow belt from the American Apparel store in Myongdong).

Up up and Away, Robin!

Robin fights crime with Batgirl

The bar scene in Hongdae was out of control.  I had been there once before with the Hagwon kids from Maetan but I still could not have predicted how wild this was going to be.  There were costumes of all kind and everyone was drunk and raring to go.

By the end of the night the streets were littered with trash, broken bottles, costume parts that had fallen off during the mayhem, and so forth.  It was 6am when I finally made it back to Mali's apartment to crash for the night.

Without the candy corn, pumpkins, and jack-o-lanterns it didn't ever really feel like Halloween, but it sure was a good time.