My Korean Taurus Party Event Invitation

Start Time: Saturday, May 15, 2010

Location: Ju-Ang Park in Bucheon (near Hyundai Dept. store)

Description: There's a costume party in the park to celebrate the birthing day of a select group of individuals brought into the world under the astrological sign of Taurus, as it were, and you're invited to attend.

The May Babies: Jessica, Gra Ham, Fernando, and Buddha

The Theme: Zodiac (you must wear a costume as not to anger the bulls)

The (Satur)Day: The 15th of May

Where to Start: Ju-Ang Park in Bucheon near Hyundai Department store...and then perhaps a roof, and then perhaps a bar, and then well, only time can tell.

When to Come: At half past one in the sun

What to Wear: Anything Zodiac inspired...think Astrologically. You can choose any images from Western Astrology to Eastern Chinese Zodiac or a blending of the two to create your costume. If you need help, we can start a forum of comments below for ideas. Be creative, anything goes.

What to Bring: Snacks to share, drinks to drink (and maybe your own re-usable cup to appease the natural environment), badminton and musical instruments to play, blankets to lounge on, cameras to capture candidness, games to, well you see where this is going....oh, and bring your friends!

Presents: Expensive cigars, phone cards, hookers, won, booze, fried chicken and sidewalk chalk all make fine gifts, er, um, offerings to the Gods.

Soju Punch Provided! (but really, bring a cup)

Events and Activities include:
Make an Amusing Konglish T-shirt---bring your own T-shirt, paints provided
A raffle for profit, er, uh, Prizes rather
Hash Run (if someone else organizes it)
Hard-Boiled Egg Hunt---if you find an egg you get to eat it
Meet John Henke
Acoustic Karaoke

This ends with a link to Sonic Youth's "Bull in the Heather" mv...enjoy and see you in the park!
: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2T4BsnXmJaI

Child de Mayo a.k.a. Children's Day

In the U.S. we like to celebrate the Mexican holiday Cinco de Mayo on May 5th. But in Korea, May 5th is a national holiday for children and it just so happens to be called: Children's Day. All of the schools will be closed tomorrow so that these estudient students get a day off racking their brains with school work. They even get presents! [There's also a parents' day, but I don't think they get a day off of work--it's probably just like Mothers'/Fathers' day except in one.]

Anywho, my school's Principle decided to be awesome and give all of us a 5-day weekend! I get May 5th, 6th, and 7th off of school! It couldn't have come at a better time. I really need to start cleaning, packing, and getting ready to get back to Florida. Plus, I think I'll do a few touristy things while I'm off. Perhaps a Palace tour in Seoul, or something like that.

Oh, and apparently one of the foreigner bars in Bucheon we go to called Rhythm and Booze (a.k.a. Seinfelds), is having a Quatro de Mayo party tonight that we might go to. Cheap tequilla shots and corona...I'm going to have to cut myself off early so I don't ruin my day tomorrow since there is no "last call" in Korea.

I love May! :)

DVD Bang

I forgot to talk about all the different Bangs, or rooms, in Korea. There's Norae Bangs (singing rooms a.k.a. private party karoake), PC bangs (computer rooms for all your gaming needs), and DVD bangs.

DVD bangs are places that have a selection of movie rentals that you don't take home and return, but instead watch in a small, private room at the establisment. Apparently, according to some Korean friends, these places are sometimes used by people to fool around, especially younger adults who still live with their parents (or maybe the box of tissues in the room was just in case you wanted to watch a tear-jerker, who knows). So it may look odd for two girls to go into a room together, but Erin and I don't care about getting strange looks and we found the experience to be worth the wonder.

This particular DVD Bang we went to is on the north side of Yeokgok station on the fourth or fifth floor. It was clean and the Ajuma that worked there was nice to us. We went in and decided on 2 Days in Paris to watch. For 11,000won we got to pick out a drink and sit in our own private room to watch our movie on a big screen with great sound. The room was also very clean and cozy. Well worth the money and more enjoyable than going to a movie theatre, in my opinion.

Just like being at home, but with a better entertainment system. I definitely recommend the experience if you're ever in Korea. These places are plentiful, so it's not hard to find one.

We actually haven't been back there since, but I definitely want to go again before I leave. It'd be cool to open one of the in the U.S.

점심 맛있었어요! Lunch was delicious!

Lunch is often my favorite meal of the day during the week. I never have to worry about figuring out what I'm going to eat, because I eat in the cafeteria with other teachers. Sometimes it's not exactly what I want, but usually it hits the spot. Today we actually had spaghetti with meat sauce (including mushrooms and corn) and vegetable/seaweed mixed rice patties (I don't remember the actual name of them) with orange juice. The spaghetti this time around was pretty good, not sweet like the last time. And it's funny that no matter how many carbs or starches lunch includes, you can always guarantee there will be rice. Some Koreans have told me if they don't have rice everyday their stomachs feel empty. Bread is actually thought of as an in-between-meals snack, not part of a meal like we eat it in the West. So if I tell Sun Jung that I had a bagel for breakfast or even just some yogurt or fruit, she thinks I'm not eating enough. She eats rice, soup, kimchi, and sometimes fried eggs for breakfast. After all, it is the most important meal of the day.

I'm getting side-tracked. My point is, yesterday's lunch was way better! There was 오의 김치 (cucumber kimchi--my fav), rice, orange halves, some kind of salty, brown-brothed crab soup with small crabs in it chopped in half, and my new favorite dish: 장조림!

장조림(jang jo lim) is tender chunks of beef and hard-boiled quail eggs cooked in a type of soy sauce marinade. This is the second time I've had it. The first, that I remember at least, is when Sun Jung's mom sent a package of her home-cooked food and Sun Jung gave me a plastic container of it. I love her mom's cooking so of course it was delicious then, and at lunch yesterday it was just as good.

Are you sick?

The Korean word for sick, hurt, pain, and the like is all the same: 아프다 -- apeuda, or ah-ppuh. Whether you have a headache or a cold or you fell down the stairs and broke your ankle, they will ask, "Are you sick?"

I remember the first time I got my Asian hair extensions, the girl weaving them in didn't speak much English, so she kept asking me, "are you sick, are you sick?" I was confused as to why she would randomly ask me that until I figured out she was talking about my head. Luckily, I'm not tender headed and I already knew the word for hurt, so I told her it didn't hurt, in Korean.

This came to mind today when I saw one of my 4th graders in the hall about 5 minutes after her class let out, holding a bag of ice to her ankle while she hobbled down the hall. She saw me and said, "Jessica teacher, I'm sick!" and she pointed to her ankle. I thought it was cute. I mean, she's ok, her ankle isn't broken or anything, I wouldn't laugh at that. Language translation is just...interesting, sometimes.

Everland: October 18, 2009

Everland is an amusement park in Korea, North East (?) of Seoul. Me, Erin, and a high school teacher we know, Fernando, decided to go since teachers could get in at half price before Halloween. The park was actually decorated for Halloween, which surprised me because most of my students didn't even know anything about Halloween back when I decorated the classroom at the beginning of October. Nevertheless, it was nice to be in a Halloween decorated environment and outside breathing the cool, crisp fall air in a mountainesque scene with Autumn colored leaves all around. It really set the spirit for the holiday. ;)

There was a pretty big animal section in the park. It was basically like a small zoo. Erin liked the cheetahs the best; they were behind a plastic cage/window so you could stand right next to it, and it was almost creepy because they look so viscious. I definitely wouldn't want to run into one of those in the wild. And there were baby lion cubs that were adorable. They were playing with each other and pouncing around. You could get close to them as well.

When we got to the bird sanctuary, Fernando decided he was gonna feed some birds. Then Erin decided to do the same, and just as I got my camera out, she said, "Jessie look, I got some bird food," and all of a sudden, all these birds swarmed to her, and as if she was getting attacked, she ran towards Fernando for help...and this is how the picture came out...I captured the moment a little too late because I was laughing, c'mon it was funny. :)


Sometimes you just can't pass up a funny photo op. :


Lots of animals at this theme park...kinda like Bush Gardens in Tampa.


This kid is cute, but he doesn't look real enthused about his parents forcing him to sit on the fake monkey.

Everland features the second fastest and biggest roller coaster in Asia that has a huge drop, which not only goes straight down, but also slightly inward. Erin really wanted to go on it, but I refuse to go on wooden roller coasters (they always give me a migraine headache) and I knew it would ruin my whole night if I did. So, her and Fernando were gonna go on it and I decided to just wander around to where the carnival/fair type rides were. Well they ended up not going on the roller coaster, and Erin was a little upset about it, especially after she saw that I was riding what she considers a lame kids' ride...I was just killing time, man. Anywho, we all ended up going on the smaller rollercoaster before we headed to the gift shops; it was ok, but nothing can top Islands of Adventure in Orlando...Incredible Hulk anyone? It's the best.

The Magic Swing: the ride that ruined Erin's night

We hit up the gift shops at the end of the night to discover that the merch was very reasonably priced and marked down quite a bit. I bought all kinds of Halloween goodies.

I finished the night off with some 만두 (mahn-do=Korean dumplings) and we took the two hour bus ride back to Gangnam where we had to take the subway home. The whole day would've definitely been better if we would've got an earlier start and not woke up late from being hungover, but we've been to enough theme parks for it to not really matter too much. I mean, between Jacksonville and Yorktown/Williamsburg, I've been to enough theme parks to last me a lifetime ;)

Wake me up...when the winter ends

Well, it's March 17th, St. Patrick's Day, and a very cold day indeed. Spring is supposed to start in 3 days, and it snowed again last week. They know nothing about St. Patrick's Day in Korea, and the best attempt I made for the holiday was painting my nails green. I entertained the thought of drinking green soju tonight, but I have to go to my dance class at 9:00; though, drinking green soju would make the "Single Ladies" dance by Beyonce a bit less hellish for me....hmmm.

I figured that before winter ends, whenever that is, that I should put up some pictures of my first time living on my own in the snow. I've managed to adapt, but I haven't mastered how to look cute like the Korean women do, when it's freezing out. I bought an over-sized, but very warm, man's coat from HomePlus for 20,000 won, and I wear about 3-5 layers of clothing under the coat, which makes me look pretty frumpy. But at least I'm warm! I can't imagine that the office girls that are walking around in mini-skirts with only one pair of tights underneath and high heels, for crying out loud, are very warm at all.

Without further ado, here are the pictures of the beautiful snow before it got all muddy and melted and unpleasant.

This is at Jung-Ang park in Bucheon. Lee and I went here with the silly intention of playing badminton, and then I convinced him to go to Rhythm and Booze for chicken tacos. He never had a taco before! Much better idea.

Pic. 1) In front of Yeokgok Stn.
Pic. 2) In front of my apartment

The School Parking Lot

sNOw God
The snow in Korea is like salt or sand
Unfit for making angels and men
Where's a Snow God when you need one?

칡 즙: "Good food tastes bitter."

I went to my landlady's apartment last night to pay her mahn won ($10) for my monthly cable bill and in return she loaded me up with bags of Chi(l)k Jeup. It's a drink, or a juice, made from a kind of root and comes in a small, rectangular plastic bag. I smiled, thanked her, and carried the strange substances back down to my apartment. I decided to bring a few to school to share with my co-teachers (*co-teachers, plural, see foot note) and to get some info. about this brown concoction before injesting it.

Here is what I learned:
-old men really love this drink
-it's good for blood circulation
-it makes your skin healthy
-you can use it in a detox diet
-prevents bone problems when older
-boosts the immune system and helps with colds
-it's good for the bodies of growing children
-it tastes really really bitter, but is better with hot water and honey
-it might possibly help with b.m.'s judging from the gurgling in my stomach and the urge to use the 화성실...

Sun Jung thinks I should drink the rest, 1 a day, until they're all gone to see if it helps improve my body. I'm willing to try it, but I kinda want to make other foreigners try it too (ahem, erin, ahem) and see their reaction. My friend Lee always reminds me of the Korean saying, "good food is bitter," meaning that most things that are really good for your body, don't taste good. I'll let you know if I feel a big improvement by the end of next week.

*the footnote*

The new school year started this week. Monday, March 1st, was a holiday (Korean Independence Day?) so there was no school. Tuesday was the first day of school, which means new teachers. In Korea, teachers change schools every few years. I'm not sure of the exact logic behind this, but most teachers don't know where/what (grade) they're teaching until 2 weeks before school starts.

Luckily, Sun Jung is still the Korean English teacher and I get to co-teach with her. However, there are some changes being made by the school board and this school year we have 2 Korean English Language teachers, and 1 native teacher (me ;). I teach 3rd and 6th grade with Sun Jung 3 days out of the week, and I teach 4th and 5th grade with Young Ju 2 days out of the week. This year they want all grades to have English 2 times per week, but they can only work me 22 hours per week by my contractual agreement, so Sun Jung and Young Ju have to teach English with out me a couple times each week, as well as teach the students "Ethics/Morals" class. Young Ju is nice, but a bit nervous as it's her first time teaching English. So I'll help her out as much as I can.

In addition, I interviewed and helped pick the new native English teacher to replace me yesterday. The principle kept changing his mind about what kind of replacement he wanted, but I think we talked him into picking one of two girl I interviewed on the phone. I feel bad for leaving Sun Jung and my students; everyone really likes me here and many teachers have told me they are sad to here that I'm leaving in May. I just want to find a good native teacher to replace me and make the transition smoothe for the kids and easy for Sun Jung--she works so hard and is so stressed out from the principle and all the hard work she does for this school.

That was a long footnote. But I figured inquiring minds would like to know.

October: China Town in Incheon

Way back in October, we (me, Erin and our friend Fernando) checked out China Town. It's off of the last subway stop on line 1...Incheon. It was the beginning of fall and the cooler weather, with a crisp breeze in the air, yet still sunny enough to not have to wear a jacket during the day.

We walked through the entrance gate and looked around at some of the China trinkets being sold on the street and in small shops. I was kinda hungry, and Erin and Fernando were, um, thirsty, so walked up the road to look for some food. We found these stairs and walked half way up them to chill for a few minutes and check out the scenery.






At the top of the stairs, there was an entrace gate that looked like a palace and more stairs leading up into the nature trail/park, if you will. Looking down the other way we just came from was the street lined with shops and restaurants. I decided I wanted to eat a Chinese restaurant before we started hiking around. Down one set of stairs to the left was a Chinese restaurant with outdoor seating on a balcony.

I ordered some kind of rice/vegetable/noodle dish that was pretty tasty and came with a side of spicy seafood soup. Of course, we were all thirsty by that point and Fernando ordered us a round of Tsing Tao beers, which are huge, so we had a good buzz going on the balcony. And our timing was perfect because while we were enjoying our food and drinks a parade started with dancing dragons and small fire crackers and some kind of royal court.

The dragon dancers were actually kids. There were 2 boys per dragon and when the dragon was at it's tallest you could see the one kid was on the other's shoulders. I'm not sure about the royal court bit, I'm assuming this guy is posing as some kind of royal figure and if I remember right there was a woman be carried on a tented platform...I have a video of the whole thing that is uploading for some reason, but I'm working on it.

When in China Town, do as this old Korean man does, and drink in the streets while enjoying a nice, stumbling, stroll.

After lunch, we grabbed a few more beers for the walk and continued looking around. I bought two "artsy" 3-D pictures of naked women, one for me and one for Erin. We walked around and up the other side to the hill that leads to the same park we wanted to go to earlier. There were speakers playing music in some parts of the park. I'm pretty sure I remember hearing a Micheal Jackson song at some point, it wasn't too long after his death, and it affected Korea a little bit. The nature park was nice though, and went well with our tall cans of Cass, or was it Hite? One of those Korean beers. All in all, a nice outing in China Town was had...

School Lunch

Everyday, I eat lunch in the cafeteria with Sun Jung and a few other teacher. The lunch is very cheap (less than 2,000won per meal) and it comes directly out of my paycheck; not to mention that it beats the hastle of figuring out what to eat everyday.

We eat on tin trays that get sterilized everyday and we always grab a metal spoon and chopsticks for utensils. In the tray, there are 2 big, deep bowls (if you will) and 2 small ones along with one shallow, small bowl. One big bowl area is for soup, the other is for rice. The small shallow one is where I always put my kimchi, and the other 2 small areas I use for whatever meat/vegetable side options there are. Sometimes there's fruit or a yogurt drink, etc.

No one ever drinks with there meal. There is a water fountain area near the door where you can drink after you put your un-eaten food in the food trash and separate your chopsticks, spoon and tray in the bins provided.

Usually the food is pretty good. I've grown fond of Korean food and it's not bad for you. They think food should be like medicine and everything they eat, for the most part, they believe is good for our bodies. The soups are always delicious, except there's one spicy and sour cabbage soup that I don't like, but other than that, I can always count on the soup and rice. The kimchi they make at the school is not up to my standards, and that goes for most of the students as well. I've had some really good kimchi at restaurants and Sun Jung's mom makes some pretty spectacular kimchi as well. And the sides are usually pretty good as well. I always eat what ever vegetable or additional type of kimchi side that is made for lunch. This ranges from flavored bean sprouts to radishes or even fruit. The "meat" sides include chicken, duck, pork, beef, seafood, and other things that I'm not so sure of...

Which brings me to today's lunch:

된장찌게 - one of my favorite soups; basically a salty bean soup (almost like Japanese miso soup) with cubed tofu and chopped zucchini and cabbage and, today, potatoes.

밥 - rice, today it was a greenish color; this could be food coloring to make it look pretty or maybe some kind of her or sauce added for a little flavor.

김치 - always kimchi

Bean Sprout side dish - I don't know the Korean name, but I love this salty bean sprout salad dish.

순대볶음 - this side dish is the inspiration of my blog today. Soondae is pig intestines stuffed with clear noodles and this particular kind is mixed with cabbage, peppers, and a red pepper paste.

Usually, I don't ask what anything is. By lunchtime, I'm hungry, and fully prepared to eat whatever is ready and waiting for me. But today, I wasn't starving, and my stomach was a bit upset to begin with. I scooped a few pieces of Soondae onto my tray along with everything else and sat down without thinking as I do everyday. The students all say hi to me everyday at lunch so I'm usually distracted by them. I was excited about the soup and the sprouts that it took me awhile to contemplate the rest of my tray. After noticing, then examining the Soondae, I had a hunch that it was probably some part of an animal I'm not accustomed to eating. I decided to ask the school nurse what it was, thinking she knows body part in English and would tell me if it was that. She only replied with the Korean name and smiled and added that there were noodles in it. I decided to man up and just try it. And I didn't like it one bit. So I scooped the rest of it onto SunJung's tray while she wasn't paying attention and the school nurse saw and nodded approvingly and I excused myself. Don't worry. I didn't puke or anything. But I did call my Korean friend, Lee, and asked him about 순대. He laughed, of course, and told me that I just ate pig intestine and then said he was envious because he loves that dish.

So there you have it, my pig intestine tasting. I'm sure I've eaten other "weird" things, things that we might consider weird, that is, but I never wanted to ask about it before. Now I just figure, what the hell, might as well know what I'm eating so if ever asked, I can say, "yes, I've tried it." And to peak your curiosity, here's a pic I found on the internet of it: