seoul food

Short version:

Seoul this weekend. One night, one day. 7 ETAs and one very overworked KEY club member (native korean).

We had a really fantastic and random time! everything worked out even with our guide's desire to stick to the itinerary... to the minute/hour, planning and scheduling and our almost missing the very first bus. We didn't end up going to the premier club that had been researched, recommended, and searched for in the light rain for 20+ minutes on foot (in high heels). But it was absolutely fantastic.

Long version to come...

remote from the mundane world

songnisan, or "remote from the mundane world," was a fabulous weekend retreat. It's a village. it's tiny. There's a big golden Buddha (big = 5 stories tall) and a monk village. There's mountains and acres upon acres of green. Seriously. Greener than Washington. That's saying something.

Hiking included a steep mountain side (apparently a theme in Korea. I better have killer legs by the end of this), some pool jumping/wading, and taekwondo at the top of the mountain (well, sort of the top).

We lucked out on the hotel - we got beds (although back-ache inducing), tv, and a/c. The people on the floor before us were subject to a more traditional experience with non-functioning tvs, nonexistent a/c, and, well, nonexistent beds. The beds were folded up neatly in their closets which they unrolled when they were ready to sleep. :)

Interesting run-ins. Aside from everyone in the small village/town part staring at the white foreigners in groups that were probably the size of 1/4 of the town at a time, i bought some mushrooms (famous here) for my language teachers. I recruited the help of two advanced ETA speakers. It started off well when one friend convinced the ajima (older korean lady) to break up one of her 10,000w bag into two smaller 5k w bags. Unfortunately, the ajima started getting testy, telling my two korean speaking friends to stop speaking in English... and then directing them to become boyfriend and girlfriend... Which was made even more awkward by the fact that one of my korean speaking friends was standing next to her boyfriend (who doesn't speak korean). The ajima spouted nationalism telling them to replant the korean seed, to move back from america, and stay in korea. And THEN, when she found out that the mushrooms were meant to be gifts to a teacher, she started bashing on americans for being cheap and saying that this was an insufficient gift. I was thankful I didn't really understand and profusely thanked and apologized to my friends who got me the 2 bag deal in the first place.

But really, it wasn't all bad. That just stood out.

As did the FABULOUS food. Mrs. Shim (program coordinator) went all out for us. I realized that I still do like korean food, even after the cafeteria. :) We had delicious banchan upon banchan upon banchan (side dishes). Awesome mountain vegetable bibimbap. Best octopus I've had in a panchan (pancake). Homemade magkali (milky rice wine - tasted a bit like sap at the end....). Looots of i-soo cream-oo (ice cream - my new favorites are walnut speckled popsicle and honeydew melon popsicle).

Pictures soon. Camp Fulbright commences in about 11 hours. One lesson plan down and two to go. 1) Haikus and syllables 2) something on valentine's day? 3) birthdays and horroscopes. Ladies and gentlemen, we have hit the ground running. So much for the mundane world.

The way of foot and fist

Leap frogging, legs spread wide, over a classmate.

Sliding on the floor.

More jumps - split jumps to be exact.

High jumps, touching your feet while you swing your straight legs in front of you.

20 laps around the gym.

The first day of tae (foot) kwon (fist) do (way of...) was much harder than I thought it would be. Whew.

The master only made an appearance as he talked on his cell phone. His co-teacher/pupil suggested that we may be sore today, but after awhile, it will feel better. More specifically, when we can actually do it right, we will feel the positive effects more. It seemed like a Korean back-hand comment.

At least the kids I saw at the TKD International Open Tournament in Chuncheon weren't as baffled as I was!

Enjoy...

QUARANTINED

Most blog-worthy moment thus far:

Yesterday, for 24 hours, we were quarantined by Kangwon National University (KNU) for a threat of H1N1, or more commonly known as swine flu.

One student reported that he felt sick the second morning of being here. The orientation coordinators (OCs)took him to the hospital for precautions. The university was also made aware that this student was taken to the hospital... By the time we received the news at 11 am or so, he was already feeling better but still at the hospital under observation.

KNU wanted us all to wear face masks (which are plentiful here. They can be bought in the cute little corner stores along with cartoon cell phone ornaments.... the masks are made of fabric and look like pigs or cats or something else that's pink and cutesy....), but the OCs managed to get out of that. However, our lunch hour was isolated from others. We had to go late and eat in a separated room. We were also told to "lay low" on campus and not hang out outside... They were actually considering bussing us from our classroom building to our dorm (one walk on a hill away..). Luckily, things were pretty lax. We kept to ourselves and the student came back safe. No swine flu.

We should commemorate the experience with "we dont' have swine flu" t-shirts. Or maybe "Under quarantine."

Bibimbap on a plane

What I learned about traveling:

1) Carry light carry-ons or baggage with wheels. I learned the hard way. Don’t do it.

2) Know when your airline opens. This would have made the heavy carry-ons less annoying. After arriving at LAX and wondering how exactly to get out of domestic terminal central, I exited security, walked over to the other terminal, confused myself when I didn’t see a ticket booth for Asiana, walked the long hallways a couple times until someone was finally helpful enough to mention that Asian wasn’t even open until 4 hours before flights… Know when your airline opens. But good comes out of everything, right? I ended up securing the seat I wanted by waiting 40 minutes before the airline even opened. Which leads to point number 3.

3) Aisle seats definitely win, and with the Boeing 777 you actually have a fair chance of getting one. It is arranged in seats of three, starting at each window and with a set of three seats in the middle. For a total of four aisle seats, two windows, and even if you did get stuck in the middle, you only need to ask one person (and not several) to get out of your way.

4) Gift giving. Still a prevalent element of Korean culture found on Asiana air. These gifts ranged from hot towels (they were hot! Let them cool a little) upon entering the plane to toothbrushes and toothpaste (Dad, I know you’re excited) provided in the bathroom (individually packaged of course).

5) Food provided, also an extension of gift giving, or maybe just some element of service that hasn’t died with the entirety of the airline industry. 2 full meals. First choice: 1) American style “beef steak” with mashed potatoes and broccoli (although I’ve heard to be wary of “American” style food made by Koreans) and 2) Korean style meal with Bibimbap which is a bowl of Asian style veggies that you mix in rice, hot/sweet chili paste, and sesame oil. Being a good blossoming Korean-phile, I chose bibimbap. Luckily, I was a step ahead of the game because I knew how to assemble it. Others on the plane were not so food enlightened. They started in on the vegetables alone or attempted to put the fishy soup broth in the veggies and add some rice in a rather noxious sounding mix. Bibimbap is probably one of the best reprieves in Korean food from the fishy taste that is prevalent in many dishes, like kimci (yes, it is served breakfast, lunch, and dinner!). So, to CORRECTLY do BIMBIMBAP: 1. put rice in with veggies. 2. squirt in red chili paste (remember it’s usually equally sweet and spicy so don’t be too worried about the red color meaning overwhelming heat). 3. add sesame oil if desired. 4. mix thoroughly. 5. eat with chopsticks OR spoon. Both seem to be acceptable while eating this dish. 6. enjoy my favorite Korean food so far.

2 suitcases, 4 seasons

So how to pack? suitcase? backpack? pack backpack in suitcase? At any rate, it's a bit terrifying to think these are the things that i'll be taking for the next year of my life. Another shirt? Pair of shoes? More photos?

Leaving tomorrow and hope I have everything!