American Thanksgiving

This year our school did not have Thanksgiving day off (in the past they have had Thursday

and Friday off, next year we're going back to that).  It was a bummer and I definitely could have used the mental break, but the school ordered an American Thanksgiving from the US Military base which was delicious.  

On the ride home (we have yellow KIS buses) we had a very fun sing-along led by our MS/HS Chorus instructor, Jack Brown.

White Gloves and Stolen Pictures

My friends, Nalisha and Jay, are getting married next summer and Nalisha invited a few of us to join her for some dress shopping recently.  

Did you know that people actually pay just to try dresses on?!  I'd never heard of that in the US (and I've attended A LOT of dress shopping excursions), but apparently this is happening.  Whaaaa?!?!  I can't wrap my head around that.

But I digress.

We went to Vera Wang, mostly for the experience.  It was quite an experience.  They give you white gloves and watch you like a hawk (no pictures!).  Also, Nalisha could only try on five dresses.  

Wait.  Let me get this straight.  

I have to pay to try on dresses but I can't try on every single dress in the store if my heart so desires?!  

Despite my bafflement at the aforementioned points, we had a lovely time.

Nalisha, Diane, Jasmine (outside pictures were acceptable)

 Snuck one shot before the hawks flew in.

Are reflection photos ok?  (At this point I was about to get tackled by a petite Korean woman.)

We headed to a great lounge for some celebratory champagne (she didn't purchase anything but we were celebrating nonetheless).  Despite my slight fear of open flames, I love this candle tree.

Tricky Chicken

Recently, a group of us were heading to a Bundang Social Club event (a group that puts on expat activities throughout Bundang and Seoul) at a local pub.  Being the responsible drinkers we are, we felt it'd be best if we started with a hearty meal.  

Unfortunately, we were running late which left our wonderful friend, Jason, in charge.  He was easily swayed by an attractive young Korean woman who convinced him to go to the restaurant bar club in which she worked.  

When we arrived our group was easy to find.  Because we were the only foreigners, you say?  Oh no.  We were the ONLY people.  See, clubs are generally places that "pick up" in the wee hours of the night.  Also, they are not known for their cuisine.  

Jason was swayed by 2,000 won beer and 5,000 chicken.  

Fried chicken is very popular (and very delicious, albeit unhealthy) in Korea.  We figured, eh, a plate of fried chicken would probably serve us well before we head off to the pub.  

Weeelllll....

We received chicken carcasses!!  Mmmmm...

Actually, it was quite delicious - served with salt, pepper, and mustard.

The trick was eating it with chopsticks.  

Everyone We Know Is Giving Out Candy?!

My favorite Halloween book is Jerry Seinfeld's Halloween.  I read it every year and connect it to my writing lessons on voice.  This year, it felt more like propaganda.  

"Everyone we know is giving out candy?!"  

"I gotta be a part of this!"

Koreans don't celebrate Halloween, but we do at our "American" international school.  If you haven't read this book, check it out - or you can listen to it on youtube.  I always read it aloud, then play Jerry's stand up version.   

The Korean moms here do not mess around.  They go all out decorating for holidays!  

I don't hate Halloween, but I don't love it.  I think mostly because of the time, energy, and money in putting a costume together (obligatory as an elementary teacher).  I do love, however, when it all comes together on the cheap.  I picked up some striped legwarmers (which are coming in handy now!) in a subway shop (subway shopping is awesome here), the apron from a dollar store type place (Daiso), and the wig at one of the few Halloween shops in Seoul.  All under 20,000 won.  Pippi Longstocking!  I loved how many Koreans knew Pippi!

Free candy?!  They're on board.

Free Market and Free Parking

I finally went to the Free Market (a market where various local artists sell their goods) while Mentha and Christy were here.  I bought my first pieces of art for my house.  The market had a mix of ceramics, jewelry, knits, paintings, and other craft goods.  I had a successful trip, but it does change each time and it's probably best to go in without an agenda.  

 Grace took Mentha, Christy, and I to a wonderful lunch at the Millenium Hilton.  We were exiting the parking lot and this sign caught my eye.  Is this chivalrous?  Sexist?  Where are we going with this?  Discuss.

New Strategy

I'm finding that the difficulty in blogging is directly related to how much I am enjoying life.  More fun = less blog time.  No complaints here, although I am otherwise from across the pond.  :)  Of course, it's on my list (trying to keep it short this year) of New Year's resolutions, so here's hoping.  I have decided I should at least start posting short clips here and there  and the longer ones will just come when they do.  My hope in having Chuseok finished before my big holiday trip will probably not come to fruition, but here are some random clips from the last few months.

September

 My students (missing a few stragglers who were still changing) wearing hanboks for the Chuseok holiday.  I LOVE hanboks, they are beautiful and practical.  I mean, look how flowing and forgiving they are...a perfect choice for a Thanksgiving meal!  

I went to see Swan Lake with some fellow KISers just before the Chuseok holiday.  It was performed by the Moscow City Ballet at the Seoul Arts Center.  Culture squared!  It was exquisite.

History and Cicadas

After some much needed refueling (Japanese, of course, because Korean restaurants were still closed) in the shopping neighborhood next to Bukchon, we wandered over to Gyeongbokgung Palace.  Bukchon Village lies directly between the previously visited Changdeokgung Palace and Gyeongbokgung Palace (also acceptable to leave off the -gung).  Since I had been to Changdeok we decided on Gyeongbok.  This palace seemed much larger, although if you recall it was boiling hot when we went to Changdeok and we skipped the Secret Garden. 

Beauty in the details.

Right next to Gyeongbok is the National Folk Museum (this was convenient since we were considering taking a trip to a folk village to see such performances - fellow teachers advised it was a bit kitschy and best for field trips.  Enough said.)

I think I will be upgrading to Mentha's camera as she was able to really zoom in (we were standing in the back of a crowd) on the action.  I love the candid emotions and expressions she captures.  

On the tops of their hats were ribbons and as they performed and danced they flicked their head just right to create a beautiful spinning of the ribbon.  It was mesmerizing.

The palace was so much more crowded than my previous palace experience (I'm sorry, what did you say?  Seoul would be empty over Chuseok?).  After our fill of the palace, and folk entertainment, and crowds, we headed towards Insadong.  

Enroute our mouths watered over all the delicious street food.  Street food is the real deal here and is cheap!  It offers some adventure along the way, too.  I'm willing to try just about anything (even spicy stuff here and there).  But you know where I draw the line....

at the bottom half of this picture!  I had seen this bucket of [beans?] at various food vendors and was so excited...beans!! (Beans are not only not a Korean staple but they are very expensive here.)  Ohhhhh no dear friends, those would be BUGS!  Cicadas, we believe.  You know, the most annoying bug of summer.  Ok, fine, mosquitos probably win that contest.  But, eww.  My adventurous eating ends at insects.  That's some Fear Factor style grub.

It should be noted that I have yet to see a Korean (or anyone) order up a cup or bowl (I'm not sure how they're served) of these.  They are supposedly a delicacy but maybe they're a dying delicacy.  Why eat cicadas when you can eat meat on a stick or an onion pancake or...anything besides bugs?!

Sorry, I digress.

Insadong is one of the many cute shopping districts, also known for it's tea houses and shops.  We decided we would check out one of the recommended tea shops and shop along the way.  We were impressed with the many ceramic shops, as well.

Christy and I were determined to find a particularly famous tea shop.

Found it! 

 And that would be a "permanent vacation."

 For some reason every tea shop on the list was eluding us.  We found a quaint cafe with a variety of tea choices, just what Christy was looking for (minus the history, but after a long day, we were content).

  

DMZ is next!  Wait for it.

Meandering Through Bukchon

Since I've been in Korea I have been repeatedly told that Chuseok break is the perfect time to stay in Seoul because everyone leaves the city for the holiday.  We quickly discovered that the day after Chuseok is very much like the day after American Thanksgiving, and this year everyone stayed in...Seoul!  I guess it was nice it wasn't a ghost town, so the ladies could get the full Seoul city experience.

We set out early for a full day of sight seeing:  Bukchon Hanok Village, Gyeongbok Palace, National Folk Museum of Korea, and the shopping district of Insadong.

Bukchon Hanok Village is a traditional Korean village.  It boasts high walls and intricate architectural details.  It's hilly streets offer a maze of unique and beautiful homes.  

I see a coffee table book of doors in my future...

A series of silliness...I think Mentha was trying to get the architectural detail AND us.  We were being less than cooperative.

Or maybe a coffee table book of doors...and walls.

Well, are ya?!

All roads lead to...everywhere.

After our stroll through Bukchon it was time for lunch.  We decided to take a short cut.  The shortest route between A and B is a straight line...straight down.  I don't know if the pictures quite capture it, but we were holding on for dear life down these stairs (a slide would have been a safer option).

I'm working on collaging the photos since there are so many.  Even still, many will not make the cut.  :(  I will try to wrap the rest of this day into one post.  Then we still have the DMZ, Daegu, Busan, and fireworks in Seoul!  I'm getting there...slowly.  Hopefully I'll catch up before my winter break trip to Cambodia, Laos, and Malaysia!

We Came to Korea for the Sushi!

The weekend of September 29th was the holiday of Chuseok which is Korean Thanksgiving.  It's celebrated in much the same way US Thanksgiving is celebrated - gluttony, putting the fun back in family dysfunction, and shopping.  

I was very lucky to have two great friends come and visit over Chuseok, Christy and Mentha. They have both been very supportive of my decision to move abroad, and even booked their flights to Korea before I had a flight to Korea (they were confident I'd show up, since I had already signed the contract).

Between Mentha and I, we took close to 1,000 pictures over the week.  I'm going to do my best to taper that down for ya'll.  ;)

I'm also going to break it down into multiple posts.  You'll thank me later.

The ladies arrived Saturday night.  They were my pack mules so we spent most of Saturday unpacking the goods.  I miss Trader Joe's - much to the chagrin of Christy, Mentha insisted on loading me up on TJ's must haves.

We spent Sunday wandering around Bundang and my neighborhood, Sunae-dong (dong = neighborhood).  

Our photos got mixed up, but Mentha gets photo credit for, I'm pretty sure, all of these photos.

Mentha and I along the river.

I know fish like I know trees and flowers [i.e. not at all], but these are huge and all over the river.

Of course, one of the first things they wanted to do was dive into a bowl of bibimbap or other Korean dish.  Unfortunately, Koreans don't mess around when it comes to celebrating a holiday.  Absolutely no Korean restaurants were open.  So, the next best thing and next closest neighbor...Japanese!

We had a fun time trying just about everything on the sushi boat.

Mentha is a wonderful photographer (and has a much nicer camera than I).  These are the kinds of things that, even after only three months (it feels longer), you don't notice as much anymore.  You go into resourceful/survival mode and manage around all these things.    Some things are translated into English (or English spellings, rather), but many signs are not.  

At the same time...I really need to put more time into Korean language studies. 

Next up, day 1 in Seoul!

Follow By Email

I have added a "Follow by Email" option.  So you can now sign up for alerts to be sent to your email when I post.  The good news is I won't be spamming your inbox seeing as I'm averaging about one update per week.  

Hope that helps, ahem, Mom.  :)

Scavenger Hunt Madness!

**Oops, I started this post before Chuseok break and forgot to finish/post it...two weeks later...**

After meeting up with the Chuns on Saturday, I participated in KIS's 3rd Annual Scavenger Hunt.  It's organized by three very creative and dedicated teachers.  It is serious business - not yo mama's scavenger hunt!

There were over 100 volunteers and participants, 14 teams, and 6 Waldos (ahem, excuse me, Wally, apparently to the rest of the world). 

Not the best picture, but it has almost everyone in it!  The guys in blue on the ground in front (Pete, Jason, and Kevin) organized and planned the game.

In the past, teams have merely chosen a team color, this year along with the color teams either had shirts screen printed, costumes created, and bought team jogging suits.  We were red/white stripes, so naturally, went with Where's Waldo (nothing makes one blend in better than wearing bold stripes and ski caps in a foreign country).  The pink team, very cleverly, went with the pig theme.  They had shirts screen printed with pieces of bacon.  Then they each had a different name.  How genius is this:

Rasher

Samgyeopsal

Canadian

Lacon

Kevin

Fakin

Different types or names of bacon!  Kevin included!

Pre-gaming and strategizing!  (One of our teammates joined us later.)

There were cash prizes for 1st (plus trophy), 2nd, 3rd, and 7th places.  And if you came in 13th place you had to buy 14th place a round of drinks at the end.  There were also two raffle drawings up for grabs.  

We met at 5:15 in Central Park in Bundang (conveniently, right down the street from my apartment).  Our first clue was a word scramble.  

Multiple Intelligences!

Spatial

Logical

Interpersonal

Intrapersonal

Naturalistic

Musical

Kinesthetic

Moral

(I think they left off linguistic - unless that was the word scramble itself.)

This would be the name of the game!  

After we solved the word scramble, we were given our next challenge - and it was...musical!  We were given an excerpt from a musical and a random word (most were of naughty nature).  We had to rework the song using this random word, perform the song using movement and the props provided, and one member had to "interpret" the song non-verbally.

Our song was "Summer Nights" from Grease and our word was "balls."  An easy word to fit into this innuendo filled musical.  I don't have the video of this part yet, but that's probably for the best since I was singing Sandy's part.

:/

The place you came in determined who "got" to start up the hefty hill to the top of the park.  We came somewhere in the middle.  We ran up through the woods to the top of the hill/mountain (running up hill feels like running up a mountain).  The Master of Fitness (Pete, one of our elementary PE coaches) lead part of the team in exercises that they had to complete while two members (Heidi and I) went to the outdoor fitness area and had to take pictures and video on the various equipment, demonstrating the use of different muscle groups.  We then had to match the muscle group we were working out to the Latin name equivalent.  (Naturalist and Kinesthetic - whew.)

We then ran down the hill, out of the park and across to Seohyeon Station where there is a pedestrian mall.  Here we had to complete a photo booth challenge (seriously, it is a challenge here - there are all sorts of graphics that they add onto the photos - VERY time consuming!  We thought we'd run in and take a series of silly group photos and be done) and then complete various arcade games with specific scores.  Are we out of breath yet?  Did I mention the stair running?  Many of these places were NOT on the ground level.  Some of us should have started training for this a few weeks ago!

We then received our next clue via phone interview (Interpersonal).  We had to determine the job we were interviewing for based on the questions asked.  Upon completion of that task we were given a clue in Korean (thankfully we had our Korean coworker, Jay, on our team - I haven't quite mastered Hangul yet).  We took a cab to the next spot (whew, the break was nice!) and were directed to an apartment in the Paragon building (where many KIS teachers live) for an Intrapersonal activity - ink blot pictures!  We were happy to sit in a circle, take a break, and analyze our ink blot pictures in the most ridiculous way.  

Next we were directed onto the rooftop for a Moral challenge.  We were given a list of inspirational quotes to match to the famous person who the quote belonged to...as we began picking the quotes apart one of our team members noticed a note on the instructions - you could skip this whole challenge if each person chugged a beer!  Uhh, done.  Saved us about 20 minutes, well worth it.

We were then to take the subway to Seoul.  At the subway car a puzzle awaited us - ideally you were to put it together before the train arrived...otherwise, you put it together on the train. We ended up doing the latter.  Once put together and taped, on the flip side was a treasure map.  You had to follow that according to paces, take pictures with certain landmarks along the way, and end up at your next check point.

One of our landmarks along the treasure map (lingerie store in the subway station, why not?).

We figured we were for sure finished, but no!  At the final checkpoint we received a double sided sheet of tasks to complete throughout Gangnam (the perfect place for a true scavenger hunt)!  Some of the tasks were to sing an 80's song at noreabang (Korean style karaoke where you get your own room), take a Charlie's Angels pic, dance Gangnam style with Koreans, pose like mannequins in front of American Apparel, eat street food, and about 50 other tasks (although, we only had to complete about 20 of them).

Charlie's Angels (more Charlies than Angels here)

Show a variety of emotions

Take a picture in front of the Rainbow shisha (hookah) lounge

Buy rice wine and share it with Koreans

"Oppa Gangnam Style" with Koreans!

Follow a foreigner and narrate their actions a la Steve Irwin. (We creeped this guy out and he ended up turning around and following us for a bit.  Fair enough.)

Singing 80's great "Livin' on a Prayer"!

Dance the twist while the videographer sings "The Twist."

We ended up coming in 6th place out of 14 teams (not too shabby - although, by that point we were hoping for 7th, at least we'd have won a cash prize)! 

A fun (albeit, exhausting) time was had by all!