Thursday, November 27, 2008

Crunky and Other Korean Snacks


I was going to make my next blog about the kids because I have already made so many observations but right now I am very interested in snacks, so I will blog about them. Today in one of my classes, the kids were eating squid. SQUID. Dried squid. Possibly similar to meat jerky. I don't know exactly but it doesn't smell good. (Technically, they are not supposed to eat in class but they reasoned that since I was chewing gum, they should eat squid and since I am ever the disciplinarian, I didn't argue.) The kids love to share their food so I have tried all sorts of snacks here. Most of them are pretty good. A little different but not too odd. Not everything is squid. Today I tried some corn chips that were softer than corn chips I am used to and a little sweet. My favorite things so far is Mychu. I don't know the spelling because its all in Korean, but when the kids see them, they always yell "MYCHU!" (Or my chew?). Anyway, good stuff. Like soft fruity taffy.

Today I stopped at Lotte Mart (Lotte is the new Target) on the way home. What was I looking for? I forgot but I got caught up in snacks. And I bought the crunky. Crunky is like a Crunch bar, maybe? I don't know. I haven't tried it yet. But Crunky! CRUNKY! Come on. That's funny. Crunky. There are lots more crazy snacks. I will continue to share in the future.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Mr. Pizza: Love For Women







Now I have been here for almost 2 weeks. I am feeling pretty comfortable. The language barrier is not that bad. Sometimes it poses a problem when ordering food but a lot of menus have pictures and I just found a great interpretation of a popular menu online.
A lot of the sales people will show you how much something costs on a calculator and if you are looking for something, just ask a school aged child. Most of them know at least a little English. A lot of children will approach me on the street and start talking in English. I think they like the practice, although I have had more conversation with some children on the street than I have had with some children in my classes. I think the kids in class are shy about their English, especially in front of their friends. This is sad because I am consistently impressed with these kids, when they talk. And Korean kids are CONSTANTLY studying. They fill their days with school and tons of extra lessons and studying and then they go to school 2 Saturdays a month!

Apartment: I am living in Ilsan. I like the city- there is so much here. There are many tall buildings covered with advertisements for the places within. Most of them are in Korean but sometimes an English word sticks out and it makes it easy to find things. There is also a lot of neon. The pictures at the beginning are of the view from my window. I will try to take lots more. I tried to put them below but it didn't work. My big shocker was that my shower head sticks out of my wall. No shower stall. My bathroom is the shower. I just could not believe it! Now I have become used to it. The only thing is that, since my bathroom floor is my shower floor too, the part near the drain never seems to get dry. Sometimes in the morning, I have to wear my shoes to brush my teeth. You'll find a picture of my shower head and my washing machine above as well. I like that there are places to eat in my building so that when its winter and very cold, I can get food without being exposed to the elements. In my building there is a place called Mr. Pizza. Here begins my fascination. Everything about Mr. Pizza is fantastic. Slogan: Love For Women. That's right. Mr. Pizza: Love For Women. I can't say one without the other. Mr. Pizza: Love For Women. The toppings selections are wild. The commercials are awesome.
and
Food: I have been able to try quite a few things. Sometimes I order the wrong thing, though, and one time I took out my food "cheat sheet" of things I like so far and, in trying to order 1 of them, I ended up with several. I am getting used to the spicy. There are some things I really love. One is from the street vendors. I forget what its called, but its sort of bread like with bean paste inside and its in the shape of a fish. YUM! There is also Tuk Boki or I am not sure on the spelling. One of my students told me 2 Ts (TTuk) but I have seen it a few different ways. Even Duk. But it is good. Duk/tuk/ttuk whatever is this delicious rice dough stuff. Its hard to describe. I have seen it described as rice cake which to me is like crunchy rice cakes which this is not. Anyway, great stuff. Then there is gimbap or kimbap or kimbab or gimbab. Convenient and tasty. Seaweed, rice, (vegetables, egg, fish, meat) all wrapped up and sliced for easy transport and eating.
One last 1st impressions because I am tired:
There are lots of dogs in clothes here.












Saturday, November 15, 2008

Heather moves to Korea

My trip went very smoothly. No long lines, no hassles. I had packed 2 large suitcases, trying not to pack too heavily and exceed the 50 lb each weight limit. I didn't. The bags were around 35 and 37 pounds each, which caused me to spend what hours I was awake dwelling on the 20 lbs more of clothes and shoes I could have jammed in there. I also had a carry on bag and my laptop bag jammed with stuff but leaving for at least a year? I don't think its easy without a uhaul involved. Because my flight was ultimately international, I arrived at the airport about 3 hours early. I had about 2 1/2 hours to spare. At least the Hartford airport had WIFI. Hartford to D.C. I missed the pretzels because I was sleeping. I sat in a middle seat. To my left was a lady o imbibing in a morning cocktail. Afterwards, she watched tv without the headphones. She laughed and gesticulated madly. I slept most of the way. The second leg of my flight was from Washington DC to Tokyo. I sat by myself and used 2 pillows and 2 blankets. The plane was enormous as I guess it would have to be in order to carry enough fuel to get us that far. It took about 17 hours. And it was about 7,000 miles. I became obsessed with the map that showed where we were. Especially near the International Date Line. I wanted to watch us cross but for a while we seemed to be flying parallel to the line so I gave up and went to sleep. I was really impressed with Alaska. I saw mountains that were very thickly covered in snow and what I think were glaciers. I would fly over Alaska again in a heartbeat. The food was abundant and actually very good. They served like 4 meals. I kept waking up to more food sitting there. I think I slept a good amount. I also watched parts of Get Smart and that Step Brothers movie with Will Ferrell. I was a little disappointed because the people going in the other direction (Tokyo to Washington) had a better selection of movies. One of the flight attendants was kind of rude but I didn't have to interact with her much and it wasn't just that she was rude to me, she was rude to everyone. I even heard other flight attendants talking about her. My feet and ankles and I think part of my legs got so swollen and stayed that way for days. I took off my shoes for most of the flight and they barely fit when I put them back on. Last flight was Tokyo to Seoul. Again I sat alone and used both blankets and pillows. During take off, we had to wait in line and it probably took like 45 minutes to get off the ground. I had headphones on and I was sort of dozing. Well, they kept playing this one song. When the plane would move it would start to play and then when the plane would stop it wouldn't stop. Then when it moved again the song would start over. It's not a horrible song but I definitely had my fill of it for a while. I was going to try not to sleep so that I would be good and tired to sleep through the night and make it easier to get on my new schedule. I did sleep though. A lot. I think I am doing pretty well though in adjusting to the time change. When I got off the last plane, I sailed through immigration and customs, and my bags were just coming out when I reached the turnstile. There was only a small line to exchange money and then the person who was picking me up recognized me right away. Besides a little turbulence on the descent to and ascent from Tokyo, and a moment in during the first flight where it sounded like there was something not working right with the landing gear, everything went so smoothly, its hard to believe. I expect my return flight may end up like that show lost, just to even it out.