Pork, Baseball Bats, Makgeolli and Korean Drinking Games

On Friday night I went out with some of the adult students from work. There were two guys from my 7:40am class and one woman from my 9:00am class. I wasn't sure if it was going to be awkward or not and then my 9:00am student rang to ask if she could bring a friend, which made me think it might turn out a bit weird.

I was wrong. It was so much fun!! Lots of laughter and nonstop talking - no awkwardness at all.

I met everyone outside my work in Kyungsung at Starbucks and we headed to a pork restaurant that someone recommended in the area. It was a great choice with beautiful food and an amusing time learning about everything I should do being the oldest of the five of us (by 2 years). Things like being the first person to pick up my chopsticks to eat. Jay also said, after jokingly calling me an ahjumma, that I could even hit him because I am older than him and he can't do anything about it. So I did, ahjumma indeed!!! At the end I shouted dinner, which turned out to be really cheap; only 30,000won for 5 people. The lady at the restaurant was so approving. She said I was the first foreigner who had ever visited her restaurant to pay for Koreans. She loved it and said it was so good I was behaving like a Korean. Lol.



After dinner we went to the baseball batting cages to hit some balls. I have always wanted to do this and surprisingly, only one person out of our group had ever done this. We made a bet, whoever hit the least amount of balls had to pay for the first round of drinks at the bar we would go to afterwards. After many practice goes at the slow and fast straight cages we decided to go to the slow one for our competition. We played rock paper scissors to see the order. I was first, followed by Robby, Young Seo and then Jay. I hit 13 balls, Robby hit 13 balls, Young Seo hit 13 balls. It all came down to Jay. He hit 14 balls:( It was so much fun. I am addicted and can't wait to go back to play. It's really cheap; only 500won (about AU40c) for 15 balls.


Young Seo's friend had to leave so the four of us went drinking. We ended up at this place which had a special of the night. Unlimited Makgeolli until midnight for 5,000won each. We also ordered a seafood pancake as a sidedish. This was when they started teaching me Korean drinking games. Randomly, at any time during the night you can stand up nd say 'one' then they each have to quickly get up and say 'two' and 'three'. The last person to do so must drink their whole glass of alcohol. BUT if you get up at the same time as someone else, you must both drink from the glass. Another game is called horse. Each person is a horse number eg. 'one horse', 'two horse', 'three horse' and 'four horse'. One starts and might say 'one, three', the number three person should then go 'three, two' and so on, until someone misses their go. Then they drink. If you have to drink you can ask someone else to drink for you and if they agree you must do whatever they ask of you.

In Korea you are not allowed to leave someone's glass empty so when you see someone has finished their drink you should refill it for them. I did this when I noticed Jay had finished his drink and I put a bit too much in the glass, it was nearly to the brim. He looked at me and asked 'Do you like me?'. I was a bit taken aback as this was very a very forward question of him, until he laughed and explained that in Korea they say that if you fill someones glass to the top it means you like them. After that, we all kept filling everyones glass to the top. We had so much fun, we made plans for the four of us to meet up again in February. What lovely people. I have been fortunate to have met them.

Me and Young Seo


Jay and Robby

Teaching Adults in Korea: Regulations a world away from teaching teens in Australia

On my orientation day a month ago at my work there was one important thing stressed to me about teaching adults in Korea. We should take them out for drinks once a month. The way it was put to me is as follows:

'Do you like drinking soju?'
Me: 'Yes'
'Good. It is important that you take each class out for drinks once a month.'
Me: Baffled look as I wondered why.
'Think of them as friends.'
Me: ????

Now I understand. In Korea, it is unlike teaching at high school in Australia. Here I see my classes for one hour five days a week. Occasionaly someone has to miss a day, but so far most have been to every lesson. In that time, because it is a conversation class and we are always talking about our lives, experiences, likes dislikes, beliefs, attitudes to social situations, ethics and a whole host of other stuff, I feel like I have come to know them very well and they are like friends. I know their dreams, what they do in their day to day life, their habits, I hear about their families, girlfriends, boyfriends, relationship ups and downs and sometimes even things I don't really need to know. So it was quite natural when I asked them out for dinner and drinks on Friday night and gave them all me phone number. Hopefully they come. Lol...

But other things are different here too. For example, The students love to feed me traditional Korean food and different things they have found that they don't think I know about. Today one of my students brought me in traditional food his mother made for Lunar New Year, last week another student gave me traditional rice cakes and drinks, still another gave me a Body Shop gift set, another gave me Korean biscuits and Japanese coffee. Again, in Australia it a big no-no to accept gifts off students unless they are graduating. Although I will remember when one gave me sugar candy to cook Asian pear in when I had a really nasty cough and sore throat.

On Friday one of my Korean co-workers had an accident and I took one of her classes, a low level class. There were only two students. One was a girl so cute and she kept calling me 'teacher'. The other guy was so nervous at first. I think I was the first foreigner he had met and he kept fanning his face when he had to talk. He was adorable. At the end he told me it was his birthday on Wednesday (today) so I picked him up this tiny tart with strawberry and cream. I visited his class during my break and gave it to him with a message of Happy Birthday. His teacher later told me that he was so surprised and touched because no one had ever given him something like this for his birthday before. It's quite common in Australia so I thought nothing of it but he really appreciated it. I had no idea how much so.

One of my students teaches me Korean so today we went to a coffee shop after work to study. I buy him a drink in exchange for his help. Again, just another example of how different Korea and Australia are.

At first I thought it was strange but then I realised, it's just normal in Korea. We'll see how Friday night goes!

Lunar New Year at Goseong

I was super excited for the start of the Lunar New Year long weekend because I was finally going to see my friend Misook for the first time in over one year. On Friday night, as soon as I finished work I jumped on the subway and headed out to Sasang to catch an intercity bus to Goseong. Just a note for anyone actually planning to leave from this bus terminal; you cannot buy tickets in advance, as I found out Wednesday night after a wasted trip out there.

My bus was waiting so as soon as I got a ticket I just jumped on the bus and off we went. An old lady chose to sit next to me and she gave me a little disapproving frown (I won’t say what at) so I thought it would be nice to give her a lemon vitamin drop. She was all smiles and gave me a mandarin in return. So there I was sitting on the bus listening to Wheesung’s Eternal Essence of Music, reading a romance novel with a mandarin on my lap that I really was too full to eat. After a while the lady got out another mandarin, maybe because I hadn’t started eating mine yet, and she peeled it, broke it in half and gave me some. This time I had to eat it. So again, there I was, still listening to Wheesung’s Eternal Essence of Music, reading a romance novel with a mandarin on my lap that I definitely couldn’t eat. But then I started to think that was rude. So I broke open the one she gave me and gave her half back. She smiled and ate it. I ate mine too.

The bus ride took about 2 hours. Less time than I expected. People at work told me that the roads were crazy over this holiday as everyone goes back to their hometowns to celebrate with their families. Luck I missed it going there, by the next day there were so many news reports about road jams, particularly going in and out of Seoul, it was gridlocked.

When I got to Goseong, Misook’s brother and his daughter picked me up from the station. I was easy to spot being the only foreigner in this small country town. Finally I got to see Misook again. It was like no time had passed at all. I love it when I get that feeling with special friends. I met her whole family, her older brother, middle brother, his wife and two children as well as her mother. The whole family were wonderful. I look forward to visiting again later in the year.

To wrap it up in a nutshell, our weekend was spent doing any number of these things at one time:
1. Talking about her boyfriend Joon Tae who I spoke to on the phone for the first time and I have to say I can’t wait to meet.
2. Kakao messaging with the guy in Australia who set them up and I had met at a Korean church event.
3. Catching each other up with what’s going on with mutual friends.
4. Gossiping about hot Korean actors, singers, sportspeople, comedians etc… there were never too few to talk about.
5. Shopping in the markets.
6. Walking in the countryside.
7. Sleeping during the day.
8. Watching variety shows, music competitions, dramas and sports.
9. Eating constantly – and I actually lost 1kg this weekend. There must be something wrong with the scales!
10. Cooking.
11. Laying in her mum’s bed which had heating on both sides so Misook could turn her side up to a boiling 45 degrees and I could have mine set at a more reasonable 30 degrees. I loved this bed. I wonder how much it would cost to buy and ship a bed like that.
12. Taking photos.





Country bus stop

Dog meat?


Making popcorn

The official 'Joon Tae this is Belinda photo'


For the Lunar New Year traditions we had to cook a whole lot of food. A LOT. Basically all day Sunday was spent cooking. I really loved this. All of the women were together. Me, Misook, her mum, sister-in-law and niece. It was a great but tiring day.
On the Monday all the family came together at her mum’s house and the food was placed on the table as an offering to the ancestors. Everything had to be plated up in odd numbers. 3 bunches of grapes, 7 strawberries, 5 raw fish etc. Then they poor wine for the ancestors and bow to them, again an odd number of times. Then they bowed to the eldest people and gave and received money in return.





The weekend was coming to an end and on Monday afternoon we headed back to the bus stop to catch our buses home. Me to Busan and Misook to Suwon, with plans to meet in Seoul in February. Yay, I get to meet Joon Tae! On the trip back I hit traffic and instead of the 2 hours it took me to get there, it took twice as long going back to Busan. But I made it!

Overall, it was a wonderful weekend that I sent all of today getting over by staying in bed, watching TV and sleeping. Reality hit in for about an hour and I prepped 3 days’ worth of lessons so it wasn’t a complete bludge and I did have a small shop (cough cough) at Mega Mart too. Shame I don’t have another day off. But then again, only 3 days until the weekend.

Korean Skin Care

In Korea it is ESSENTIAL that you look after your skin. After all, we all want to look younger, particularly as we age, right? I have women in my classes who I originally thought looked the same age as me or maybe a few years older, only to find out that most of them are OVER TEN YEARS OLDER THAN ME! They haven't had plastic surgery, unless you count the double eyelid surgery that has nothing to do with making one look younger. I thought maybe it was the diet. Everyone here eats seafood all the time, minimal meat and chicken and lots of vegetables. There are not many oily dishes and everything just feels healthier.

Then one day I saw some ladies on the street with little skin tone stickers on their faces. I thought it was to cover up a blister or scratched sore of some kind. But the more I looked, LOTS of women had these stickers on their faces and not just one or two either, up to 10 or 12 each. I asked one of my friends what they were for and she explained that the women had been to the dematologist and had freckles removed. Apparently you can go for about 5-6 sessions over a period of time. Maybe this is common and people do it all the time in Australia also, but I have never seen it. I always thought a detmatologist was just someone to visit if you had a skin condition or severe acne or something. I didn't realise so many women went to one.

Anyway, this had me thinking. If all these women are going to the dermatologist and looking so young afterwards without surgery, they must be getting some great treatment. I started to wonder whether I should go. But of course, I didn't and thought I'd just stock up on some skin care items from the store instead.



So here is my new and improved skin care regime with some Korean tips I have picked up off people.

1. Foaming wash with COLD water. Don't know why it is important that it has to be cold. But apparently it does. It's freezing though!
2. Papaya and pinapple facial scrub. I have never exfoliated my face and now I can't live without it.
3. Ecopure toner.
4. Ecopure Emulsion (I actually have no idea what this is but the woman at the store told me to put it on after toner but before the other products)
5. Ecopure Peptide Collagen Eye Cream. As long as it helpe get rid of the eye wrinkles and circles I am all for it. Really Important: Apparently if you apply the cream with your ring finger it causes less damage to your skin. Don't know if it's true or not but it's worth a shot.
6. RGII Premium EX Deep Wrinkle Line Cream. I actually only have samples of this that were given to me for free because it is so expensive, about 130,000 won per bottle. I could buy 5 different tops for that price or 130 bottles of water. When the samples run out in about 12 days I'll just have to buy a cheaper bottle. I am really loving the Ecopure range, maybe they have one.
7. Skin Whitening Moisturiser. No choice. Everything here has skin whitening in it. I don't really think it works, but then again my skin is white so I don't know if I'd be able to tell. When you put on the moisturiser I have been told that you have to lightly tap the cream on with an upwards motion to push your skin up. I usually just rub everywhere, now I have been reformed.
8. Missha BB Cream with SPF 42 PA+++ No. 23. My friend showed me how to mix this with a little bit of cream so it's more natural. When I went to a makeup party once we were told to remember, whatever goes on wet must be set dry so you put powder over the foundtion. With BB cream, unless you already have super oily skin, it just looks weird. BB cream with the blush over the top etc is enough.

NIGHT: At night I have a Dual Effect Sleeping Pack which is a combined whitening and anti-wrinkle formulation.

Once a week I will use a callagen eye patch and nutra-energy face mask.

When in Korea, do as the Koreans do!

설날 Lunar New Year is coming

It's only one day away from the Lunar New Year public holiday 설날 and I have been invited to go skiing for the weekend and to stay at Giman oppa's parents house. But I am going to do the most important thing; I am seeing my sweet, beautiful, incredibly kind and funny friend Misook. I met Misook in Australia when she was working in Sydney for a year and we have stayed in contact ever since. This will be the first time I will have seen her in over ONE YEAR. It's been that long since she returned to Korea. I have missed her!

So on Friday night after work I am heading to Sasang to catch an intercity bus from Busan to Goseong. She will come pick me up at the bus terminal with her brother and I can't wait to see her. I will stay with her at her parents house. I am nervous and excited. I should buy a present for her parents for 설날 but I am not sure what. I might have to make a trip to Mega Mart to pick something up tonight.

As I was leaving work tonight one of the office ladies gave me a 설날 gift from my company. It was a great gift and it means I won't have to buy toothpaste, soap or body wash for ages.

Typical Weekend in Busan & a Dinner all in Korean

I love it when the weekend rolls around I don't have to wake up at the ridiculous hour of 5:30am to get ready for work. My friend and coworker who I will call 203 rather than his name, has shown me his routine for starting early in the morning (he starts an hour before me - cry!). His clothes for the day hang on the wardrobe handle which is next to the toothbrush and toothpaste that is beside the mirror and hair products, the towel is dried from the day before and hangs in the bathroom, his shoes and socks are even ready and waiting at the door. He can literally roll out of bed, have a shower, get ready and be out of the door in less than 10 minutes. I couldn't do it. It takes me forever to get ready in the morning. But on the weekends I don't have to worry about it:)

So what's a typical weekend? This weekend was only my 3rd since being here but here's what I do most weekends.

Friday: Hang with 203 in his apartment after work until we head out to a nightclub or pub around 10pm with some other friends. This weekend we unknowingly picked a sleezy joint that I won't name and will not go back to. Last weekend I s.o.s. texted him to save me from this leech of a guy that was hanging around me and he was there to save me from the creep. This weekend I could return the favour when a chick wouldn't leave him alone at the club we went to. On our way home we either stop to buy a kebab from a guy called Ian or a toasted sandwich from Issac's Toast. They are opened until all hours of the morning. I actually never expected kebabs to be popular here as an after partying snack like it is at home, but it is.

Saturday: Wake up late and explore a different part of the city. Preferably an area where I can shop. Sometimes I go with a mate, other times by myself. This Saturday I headed out to Nampodong by myself on the bus. I have been there before, but always with friends so it was the first time trying to remember the stop to get off. Of course, I went too far, got lost and had to catch the subway back to Nampo. I spent the day shopping and buying cute Korean stuff.

Saturday night: I can never do two nights in a row so on Saturdays I usually have dinner with a friend and hang at a cafe or visit a coworker at her sister's cafe and hang there for tehe night. Last night I met a friend of a friend for the first time and it was so funny because we had never met before. We were meeting at a local Starbucks in KyungSung and I was going to call when I got there but when I walked in the door, I hadn't even got my phone out and we instantly recognised each other. She jumped up to meet me and I headed straight for her. So funny, because KyungSung is full of foreigners on the weekend as there are heaps of bars so there were lots of people out and the place was chock-a-block full. But for some reason we just had this weird instinct about each other. We had coffee and went for dinner at a Hong Kong restaurant. We ordered fried pork with sweet and sour sauce (nothing like we get at home at all - it looked like styrofoam with the sauce on the side) that melted in the mouth and a spicy mussel ramen soup. It was beautiful. I am so glad to have met Yoonseok. She is lovely. Her boyfriend didn't come but had asked her to take a photo of me so he could see who I was, so we had lots of photos taken. I can't wait to meet the two of them together next time.


Sunday: After another late start I walked to Gwangalli beach (about a 40 minute - 1 hour walk depending on whether you go through Pukyong Uni or not). There is a great walking trail around there and information on this massive walk that goes for about 8 hours. I am determined to do it when the weather gets a bit warmer and when I can rope someone into going with me. When I got to Gwangalli, I camped out at a cafe along the beach on the second floor so I had a great view of the beach and had some brunch while I read my book. It was great. My mobile was going off the whole time making plans to catch up with all different people I have met since being here so my next week is nearly full already. What's great is that there is so much to do at night here as it's pretty much a 24/7 city. Shops and cafes close really late - early morning - so there's a never ending list of things I want to do and places to go. On the way back I stopped by Mega Mart, bought a sloppy cardigan, went home and watched some Taiwanese tv.

One of the things I love about Korea is that the restaurants are so cheap. It's actually cheaper to eat out than to cook at home. My area is a uni area so there are LOTS of pubs and LOTS of restaurants. Basically from the time I walk out of my apartment everywhere I go has somewhere to eat or drink. I can't really explain it because we don't really have anything like this at home. I used to be a bit wary of going to a restaurnt here by myself if they didn't have pictures or an English menu. I got over that this weekend and I have decided to go and just order anything. Kind of like pot luck and hope I end up with something good.

Tonight I went to this little mama and papa restaurant a couple of streets away. I was so proud, I spoke Korean the whole time! Yay! Ok, it wasn't that impressive as I only said 4 things the whole time. But the point is that it was all in Korean.
I ordered: 자장밥 주세요 (jajangbap juseyo - I'll have jajangbap [black bean rice with fried egg] please). The lady who cooks there walked by and she saw that I had mixed the rice, egg and sauce but was eating the side dishes first. I think she was worried that I didn't like the 자장밥 because she pointed to it on my plate so I said to her 맛이 있어요 (Mashi-esawyo - it's delicious). She smiled this massive big grin and nodded approvingly at me. At the end I went up to the woman's husband to pay: 감사합니다 (Kamsamnida - thank you) 안녕히 계세요 (annyeonghi gyeseyo - goodbye [to the person who is staying. You say it slightly differently if the other person is the one who is leaving]). I said before that food here is really cheap. My dinner tonight cost me 3,500won. That's the equivalent of AU$2.95 and this is a picture of what I got. I had already started eating it so it doesn't look too great here. It was really yummy. I don't know how they can charge such low prices as it also came with pasta salad, coleslaw with a mayo/tomato sauce, radish, kimchi and a noodle egg soup.


Water is free at every restaurant. It's usually self serve so don't be afraid to go and grab a jug of water from the fridge and a couple of cups. More often than not they won't bring it to you.

Korean Snacks

In Busan there is a massive cafe culture. Along with the coffee, there is also a huge range of cakes. In Korea they call it 'bung' or bread. It's not bread but cakes full of sugar and cream. People must sure have sweet toothes here. I am not a cake person but I like savoury food. This makes it very difficult to find snack food that is not too sweet.

I saw this packet of chips in my local corner supermarket and I thought I'd give it a try. It looked like it might be a bit spicy. But I forgot I am in Korea... it's sweet. But at least it doesn't have that honey flavour to it. When I opened the package I actually found two packets of sauce. The kind of tub sauce you get from McDonalds. It has that on the front but I thought that was just to indicate that it was flavourful. Kind of like when there is a picture of prawns to indicate prawn flavour. It was the first time I have ever had chips with dipping sauce. It is SO good. Yum:)



My favourite coffee shop is a place called 'Cafe on:u' that's just around the corner from my apartment, across the road from the main entrance to Pukyong University, and a few shopfronts into the alley that leads to the Modern China restaurant. Their caramel latte is to die for (The male barista makes it better than the woman though), and they give you a kiss each time you go there. Ok, not a real kiss; a chocolate Hershey's one. This costs about 3,600 won which is actually cheaper than most places around here and it is delicious. I'll have to take some pics and blog about some of my favourite cafes soon. Anyway, sometimes I just don't have enough money on me to get a coffee when I want it, but I have found the next best thing.

All of the convenience stores here have a huge selection of cold coffee in bottles. They even package coffee from major chains like Angel-in-us. But I have found a really nice and CHEAP coffee milk. I love the Korean word for milk 우유 (oo yoo). Each one costs about 700 won.


So, if you are ever in Korea and feel like some snacks that aren't cakes, these are my suggestions.

Korean Hip Hop

I was so excited to find the cd by MYK 'Lost in Translation'. I had heard him rap with Tablo for ages but in Australia I couldn't get any of his music. I couldn't even find out information about his self-produced album on the internet. Tonight I found his album and bought it. It has become one of my all time favourite albums already!

MYK: Blindfold


Some of my favourite Korean Hip Hop artists and songs both current and past.

Dynamic Duo: Without You


Tiger JK: Monster and True Romance


Leessang: Girl That Can't Break Up, Guy That Can't Leave


Epik High: Fan


Outsider: Loner


Basick


MC Mong: I Love You, Oh Thank You

Please Look After Mom by Kyung-Sook Shin

I was telling one of the ladies in my class that I wanted to read a Korean book that had been translated into English and she suggested I read 'Please Look After Mom' by Kyung-Sook Shin. It is supposed to be popular worldwide and was one of the books guaranteed to be translated.


Tonight I headed over to Shinsegae Department Store at Centum City where there is a Kyobo Books with an English section. It's tiny though. Sure enough there were copies of this book available.

As I was heading home on the subway I couldn't help but unwrap it from the plastic and start reading.

The novel is about an older woman who has gone missing at Seoul Station when her and her husband were going to visit their son and his wife. It is written to the reader which I think is quite powerful and starts:

It's been one week since Mom went missing.

The family is gathered at your eldest brother Hyong-chol's house, bouncing ideas off each other. You decide to make flyers and hand them out where mom was last seen.

It is a tale which is heard from the perspective of the daughter, son, mother and father and tells the story of one family's search for their mother.

People who know me are aware that I do not, and I mean NEVER, buy a book unless I know the ending and am happy with it. Why waste so much time reading something that is going to leave me upset? When I asked the lady in class how it ended she wouldn't tell me, only saying that it does not have a happy ending. Under normal circumstances I would not touch this with a ten-foot pole but just hearing the storyline almost made me want to cry because I can just imagine how it ends. Without even starting it, it made me miss my mum. It promised:

You will never think of your mum the same way again after you read this book.

Definitely one worth reading.

Centum City is only 6 stops from Kyungsung/Pukyong Uni station so I didn't get far into it before getting off. I read to the end of page 12 and it tells of how the father made it onto the train but the mum just missed it. She walks around Seoul Station not knowing what to do and then she gets on another train. The father hops off at the next stop and goes back to find her but of course by this time she is gone. There is a lot of questioning as to why she doesn't just use a payphone or look for directions as there are signs and instructions everywhere. Page 12 then ends with:

When was it you realised Mom didn't know how to read?

When I read those words my heart nearly broke. I can't wait to finish it. Even if I have to hole myself up in a cafe tomorrow night and miss the Pukyong National Uni party to finish reading this, I will.

Have I sold it to you already? I have taken the quesswork out of how to find it. You can buy it for US$20 from Book Depository and they even have free shipping. Here's the link, BUY IT!

http://www.bookdepository.com/Please-Look-After-Mom-Kyung-Sook-Shin/9780307593917

Converse to Koreans = Thongs to Aussies

Cons are worn all over the world and there is no denying that they are popular in Australia, but I have never seen a higher concentration of Converse wearers than in Korea. My feet were starting to feel jealous. I couldn't have that so I bought my first ever pair of Cons. I have officially started my Korean conversion.


The other thing I love in Korea is the Konglish jumpers and just plain weird clothing. At Mega Mart the other day I picked up my first cutesy Korean sweater sporting the very insightful suggestion that 'Every man has a fool in his sleeve'.


Bianca, my co-worker, picked up the cutest, and when I say cutest I mean ugliest, jumper with wooly arms. That's it. Sweater material with wooly arms. Now there is something weird in the air in Korea. What you wouldn't be caught dead wearing at home is actually trendy here. I love it. I have officially started my collection. Now I just have to go on a girly shop for the weird and wonderful Korean fashion.

Walking to Work through Kyungsung

Every morning I leave for work at about 6:45am so I can get there by 7:00am. It only takes about 10 minutes to walk but then I have to wait for the elevator and my building is busy, it can take a while. At that time of day, and with it being winter, it's a) way too cold to take photos, and b) pitch black.

I love the area I live in. I have caught the bus and subway to other areas but I feel so comfortable in my area. There is everything you need; cafes, restaurants, bars and clubs, university parks and ovals, many gyms, PC bangs, shops; cosmetics, food, mobile phones, clothing, shoes, discount and variety, Mega Mart you name it. There are street vendors selling cheap food, winter accessories and little bits and pieces. As one of my coworkers from America said, you don't even really need to leave the Kyungsung area. It's an easy walk to Gwangalli beach and the beachside excercise track as well as mountains to hike.

Anyway, here is a photo journey of my trip to work each day. I have to say it looks good of a day but amazing at night. I'll have to blog that another day.

My apartment block.


The street I live on. There are garbage bags on the path because you have to put things in different types of bags and leave it on the street for collection every couple of days.


Through the first alley, and past the tradition food stores.




Through another alley and on past Modern China restaurant. This restaurant used to be my landmark at first so I knew my way home.



Left at Pukyong National University (I love this uni!) and down the main street. You can see my massive building at the back.



Past restaurants, food stalls and cute cosmetic stores. Unlike Australia where the stores are next to each other on the street unless it is a shopping centre, stores, cafes, restaurants and bars here are on top of each other in buildings so you have to walk up stairs or catch the lift up the the level you want. So you'll see signs that say PC Bang 3F, The 1st Egg 2F etc. Of course, most signs are in Korean so I have no idea what is in the different buildings.





'Is that a man in the background advertising cosmetics?' I hear you ask. Yes. Mostly male celebrities are used in advertisements at cosmetic stores. Last year when I was here on holidays it was mainly DBSK members. The guy hiding in the back there is none other than Park Geun Suk from You're Beautiful. I liked the drama but he's a bit girly.

And I finally get to my work.


That's my daily trip through Kyungsung:)

Adult Conversation Classes

It's been almost one full week at work and I have been so tired. I don't know if it's the cold, the long workday or just the fact that I feel like I haven't had a holiday in ages. Probably a bit of everything.

I couldn't believe it; two nights ago I fell asleep at about 7:30pm. Ollie, my British coworker who lives below me came knocking on my door twice to see me and I didn't even hear a thing! Must be all the hard work:)

My first class of the morning is at 7:40am and my last class finishes at 5:00pm. Somewhere within that period I have two 60 minute breaks. That's a much longer day than I am used to working back home in Australia where the school day starts at 8:45am and finishes at 3:10pm and I have an 80 minute period off and a total of 60 minutes for recess and lunch.

Having said that the students in my classes are wonderful. They are all adults and choose to be there so it's great that they all give it their best. One of the things that surprised me was the level of dediction some of my students have. All of the uni students are on vacation until March so they have no classes at university but there are so many who are doing full days of English study. (I say vacation now with an American accent because I used to ask them what they are doing on their 'holiday' but they didn't know what I was saying)

One of my favourite students comes into the company at 11am with her boyfriend and they spend time studying in the study room, then she takes my class at 2pm and goes back to continue studying until 8pm. Another student Robby, comes to my 7:30am class, then a 3 hour TOEFL class, has an hour break, another 3 hour TOEFL class, has a 2 hour study group and then goes to the library to study until 10pm. I don't know how he does it. I sure couldn't. The guys say that it's because they have done military training. They say it makes them diligent. That brings me to another point. The word 'diligent'. It is used here ALL THE TIME! I don't think I have ever used that word in a conversation outside of parent/teacher interviews but here I hear someone use it EVERY SINGLE DAY. Of all the English words, I think 'diligent' must be drilled in from birth.

In terms of my classes, I teach two different level conversastion classes. One is the lowest foreigner taught class at my institute but all the classes at this level are pretty good. They are definitely keen to learn and take notes. So far with them I have done things like two truths and a lie, find someone who, first impressions, regrets, New Years resolutions and personality traits. I write heaps of my own dialogue jam packed with everyday language and idioms. For my top classes, where the students are pretty fluent, I have such different classes. One has only a 17 year old boy so we analyse rap songs and watch music videos and deconstruct them. Another has a 19 year old girl and we talk about relationships a fair bit. One has an older man and we discuss politics and history and he always asks how I know so much about Korea - he says it isn't normal. Yet another has 2 teenage cousins and a woman in her late 20s. We talk about things like stereotypes, arranged marriages vs marraige for love, positive and negative influences of popular culture. Tomorrow my classes will be on internet addiction and the accuracy of blood type and star sign character assessments.

Relaxing After Work Watching Ring Ring Bell

Today was my first full day of work at my company and it felt like a really long day. I had 7 classes, 50 minutes each starting at 7:40am and finishing at 5:00pm. During the day I have 10 minutes between each class and 2 x one hour breaks. I don't mind this. The first break is good to eat during and the second to get my photocopying and planning done for the next day.

The first three days of term are not set. Students can change classes if it is too hard or easy for them so I could end up with different people by Thursday. Having said that, I have some really amazing and funny people in my classes who I don't want to see go. Once I know what my classes are like I'll blog about my schedule then. Until that time I want to sleep in this cold weather.

Coming out of work tonight all I wanted to do was go back to my apartment and curl up in bed with the internet and watch tv. Over the past week I have had more of a tolerance for the cold. Maybe because I was out and about the other days and was used to it, whereas today I had been in a heated building for 10 hours and tired after the first day of work.

Anyway, I did just that. Came home, got into my pjs and have not gotten out from under my quilt for 3 hours. I am currently watching a Taiwanese Drama called Ring Ring Bell.

It's a romantic drama about a woman who was infected with some virus and quarantined in the hospital. This guy goes into the hospital and photographs the people who are not allowed out of quarantine. She is one of them. They start an unusual friendship. She had only ever seen him with a medical mask on so they never really met properly. Coming out of hospital, he invites her to his photography exhibit and they meet again. There is an interest from both sides in the opposite person but due to a misunderstanding they end up with different people.

Cut to a few years later, he is getting a divorce and she has split from her long term boyfriend and raising her daughter by herself. It's not really her biological daughter but a girl who was orphaned as a baby who she raised with the boyfriend. Needless to say they meet up again only he does not know who she is as she is meant to be this ugly, bedraggled, unkempt single mum. Of course, this is an Asian drama so even though she is meant to look horrible, she's actually gorgeous. Anyway, she recognises him but does not reveal her identity.

It's a typical drama, I am sure she hides her identity, they fall in love, the exp-partners come back in to try to get back with them, they refuse, he finds out who she is and they think it is fate. I am only up to episode 4 but I think I have seen so many of these dramas I should be writing them.

1, 2 or 3? Pay in Installments.

Today when I went to Mega Mart to buy a few things for the apartment and some groceries the bill came to about 60,000 won. In Australia dollars that's roughly $50. When I handed the girl my eftpos card she asked me '1, 2 or 3?'. I had no idea what she was talking about so I just said '1'.

As I was walking home some guys helped me carry the stuff I had bought and they explained that you could pay in installments. You could pay all at once as I did, or they could charge you installments over 3 months. I guess they just halve the bill if you want to pay it over two installments and so on. I don't know if they charge interest or some fee for the service.

I don't quite know what to think of this. I guess for some people it would be better for them to spread their payments out over a few installments so they don't have to use a credit card and ring up a whole lot of interest. On the other hand, if you started asking for them to break the bill down over a period of time, how would you ever remember what was coming out month by month?

Japchae Recipe 잡채

A couple of months ago my friend gave me her recipe for japchae - I don't think it's a secret - at least there's no secret ingredients in it. I love it so much and I think it is definitely better than what you can get at a restaurant. In Australia that is, I haven't tried it since coming to Korea because it's easier to make it at home than walk to the local 'Modern China' restaurant that sells it two alleys away.

Here it is. So yummy - give it a try. If you are making this in Australia, all the ingredients are available in Korean grocery stores. There is a pretty good one in Strathfield Plaza across from the checkouts at Woolworths, next to the chemist.

1. Boil the rice noodles, I just used charm vermicelli.


2. Rinse the noodles in cold water and let stand.

3. Thinly slice the vegetables. I use carrots, green capsicum and onion. Cook the vegetables with a little splash of sesame oil. Take out of fry pan. I don't cook my vegetables until they are soft because I like them hard.


4. Cook some beef strips - about 100-150 grams is enough. This is optional - it tastes good without meat if you are a vegetarian. Take the meat out of the frypan.


5. Put the noodles in the frypan with 7 spoons of soy sauce, 1 spoon of brown sugar, 1 spoon of 요리당 and 1 spoon of 미림. (I had to google it - 미림 is a cooking wine that takes away a fish smell and 요리당 is a cooking syrup). When I mix this I just taste test it and usually add a splash more of each of the three liquids.


6. Add the vegetables and beef strips and mix until hot.


7. Put on a plate and add sesame oil to taste - about 2 spoons.

This was enough for 3 meals.

NOTE: In the one I just cooked I used beef mince instead of strips of beefs and it was just as good. You can add sesame seeds at the end but I don't.