Happy Thanksgiving!
After work tonight, which ended at 10:30, Ben said "why am I so hungry?" We realized that this day is typically the one day of the year where we just eat because it tastes good, and then eat more. And then eat more, watch some football, eat more, and then fall asleep. It seems that our bodies are so used to being ridiculously full on this day by the time 10:30 rolls around. Our Thanksgiving celebration wasn't much of anything, as there were no pilgrims that landed on the shores of Korea. We had some people wish us a happy day, and we reflected a bit on the things we are thankful for.
Please leave us a note and share about your holiday. We hope that you are enjoying time with family and friends. We also hope that you are not taking the delicious Thanksgiving menu for granted! Tell us what you are eating, too! Jen will attempt to make a couple of *small* holiday dishes in the new toaster oven, and recipe ideas are much appreciated.
Happy eating, and happy napping!
Thursday, November 27
Sunday, November 23
Catching Up
It feels like the last two weeks have been so full of new places, new people, and new experiences. Because of our internet situation, we are quite behind on sending stories and photos from all of those new things. Thus, you can now look below for some random pictures and quick stories on our first two weeks.
You must realize that we are in a small city that is a part of one of the largest cities in the world. People who live here in Ilsan think that it is quite small, compared to the heart of Seoul, which is about 45-60 minutes by subway. Many of our experiences have been not only with Korean culture, but also with 'big city' life. Because of the size of the city, there is a lot of western influence. It is interesting to see things that Koreans have adapted, especially when it is mixed with their own styles and customs. One of the funniest things is the influence of American music here. The American songs that the Koreans know, and like, are quite random and include: Celine Dion, Michael Jackson, the Spice Girls (Ben and I sang that during our first Korean Karaoke singing room experience) and an eclectic mix of eighties and early-nineties songs. At the gym yesterday, we were next to a very strong Korean man who was singing aloud. He was singing "It's rainin' men...hallelujah...it's rainin' men." While he was lifting weights. As we left the gym and the elevator doors closed behind us, Ben and I said to one another, "Does he even know what he was saying?!"
Us singing "Wanna Be"
I mentioned the Western influence. This is the women's bathroom at a German Pub-style restaurant. Yes, that is Keanu Reeves. Why? I don't know. I had to take a picture so that Ben would believe me when I said there was a giant mural of Keanu on the wall of the restroom. Like I would even pretend that there would be a giant mural of Keanu on the wall.
We took a lovely tour of the Han River, which allowed us to see the city of Seoul from the water.
We visited the Namdaemun Market, an open air market that was full of clothes, local cuisine, some fresh vegetables, and other small stores. And full of people.
The characters under the logo read (each bundle of symbols is one syllable) "Suh-ta-bok-suh-koh-pi" and mmm it is still delicious. This is the only store that has the store name written in Korean, because it is in a traditional district of town. All others are in English.
Visiting with an old friend in Seoul! We have quite a representation of Northern Indiana people here in Seoul. Deanne was among other friends from the South Bend area that we met with, and who we will visit more during our time here.
Meet a few of the ladies from LMC school: Kalii (US: she left after our first week here), Atsuko (Japan: our manager), Kyung-min (Korean receptionist), JaYoung (Korean teacher), Noriko (Japanese teacher), Razel (She's from the Philippines, but is married to a Korean. She teaches English, but is leaving soon--we are taking her classes). They were dancing, they don't always pose for pictures like that.
And the men, who, along with Jen, make up the entire English department at LMC. Ben, the handsome one, Thomas (Tom-he's from Canada) and Lawrence (South Africa). Atsuko likes to squeeze into pictures, too.
You must realize that we are in a small city that is a part of one of the largest cities in the world. People who live here in Ilsan think that it is quite small, compared to the heart of Seoul, which is about 45-60 minutes by subway. Many of our experiences have been not only with Korean culture, but also with 'big city' life. Because of the size of the city, there is a lot of western influence. It is interesting to see things that Koreans have adapted, especially when it is mixed with their own styles and customs. One of the funniest things is the influence of American music here. The American songs that the Koreans know, and like, are quite random and include: Celine Dion, Michael Jackson, the Spice Girls (Ben and I sang that during our first Korean Karaoke singing room experience) and an eclectic mix of eighties and early-nineties songs. At the gym yesterday, we were next to a very strong Korean man who was singing aloud. He was singing "It's rainin' men...hallelujah...it's rainin' men." While he was lifting weights. As we left the gym and the elevator doors closed behind us, Ben and I said to one another, "Does he even know what he was saying?!"
Us singing "Wanna Be"
I mentioned the Western influence. This is the women's bathroom at a German Pub-style restaurant. Yes, that is Keanu Reeves. Why? I don't know. I had to take a picture so that Ben would believe me when I said there was a giant mural of Keanu on the wall of the restroom. Like I would even pretend that there would be a giant mural of Keanu on the wall.
We took a lovely tour of the Han River, which allowed us to see the city of Seoul from the water.
We visited the Namdaemun Market, an open air market that was full of clothes, local cuisine, some fresh vegetables, and other small stores. And full of people.
The characters under the logo read (each bundle of symbols is one syllable) "Suh-ta-bok-suh-koh-pi" and mmm it is still delicious. This is the only store that has the store name written in Korean, because it is in a traditional district of town. All others are in English.
Visiting with an old friend in Seoul! We have quite a representation of Northern Indiana people here in Seoul. Deanne was among other friends from the South Bend area that we met with, and who we will visit more during our time here.
Meet a few of the ladies from LMC school: Kalii (US: she left after our first week here), Atsuko (Japan: our manager), Kyung-min (Korean receptionist), JaYoung (Korean teacher), Noriko (Japanese teacher), Razel (She's from the Philippines, but is married to a Korean. She teaches English, but is leaving soon--we are taking her classes). They were dancing, they don't always pose for pictures like that.
And the men, who, along with Jen, make up the entire English department at LMC. Ben, the handsome one, Thomas (Tom-he's from Canada) and Lawrence (South Africa). Atsuko likes to squeeze into pictures, too.
Friday, November 21
Home sweet home...
This week, we moved across the street into our new apartment. Of course, we would love to have you for a meal or coffee at our home, but that would require you to take a trip to Seoul. Instead, please feel welcomed as our first guests through pictures!
On Tuesday morning, we packed our belongings--four suitcases, three backpacks, a few bags of food, and a big package of toilet paper--and trekked across the street into our new building. Our previous apartment was...small, so we had no idea what to expect. Well, we were pleasantly surprised!
Our kitchen is typical Korean, with a small sink, a two-burner electric stovetop, a refrigerator, and a small washer where an oven belongs. I'm still a bit bitter about the oven situation, as Koreans just don't bake like we do. However, Ben said that we can get a toaster oven, which has since made our kitchen complete.
In addition to living without ovens, Koreans also live without clothes dryers. We survived our first load of laundry in our 'old' apartment, finding every possible hook to hang the wet clothes on. When we moved into our new place, we were delighted to discover that our washer also DRYS the clothes! We've never seen such a thing, but it is such a relief and an added convenience that we were not expecting. The machine itself doesn't hold much, and it takes about 3.5-4 hours to do a load from start to finish, but wow, we can do laundry!
The main room of our apartment is quite roomy. Up until tonight, we didn't have a single piece of furniture in it. Today, we purchased some 'stools' (they are perfect for a freshman girls' dorm room) and a few seat pads (think of the mats that you see on the floor of a Japanese teppan restaurant) so now we can have friends over and be more comfortable. The advantage of the floor seating mats is that the main source of heat in Korean homes is through the floor. It is getting colder each day, so we'll probably get a small space heater for our bedroom area, which has no heat because it is a loft.
The loft is quite cozy, and by cozy we mean four and a half feet tall. When standing on the second-to-last step, Jen's head just grazes the ceiling. The final step means walking like the hunchback. For Ben, well, yeah, he has to duck. Our bed consists of two twin mattresses on the floor, which you can see fit just right in the loft. We still don't have curtains yet, so we wake up to a nice view of the building across the street. At night, the lights from the street are similar to that red sign from that Seinfeld episode that kept them from sleeping. Thankfully, we are so tired at the end of the day, it is easy to find rest. It is a comfortable room, and we are so glad to have some sort of separation from the main room. In our old apartment, if anyone wanted to come over, they would have had to sit on our mattresses.
It is Korean tradition NOT to clean your apartment when you move out. Granted, there's not many rules in the States about leaving your place spotless, but there is such a thing as apartment maintenance, who will clean the apartment, re-paint, etc. Not so in Korea. That same tradition also holds that when you move into the apartment, it looks like it did when the previous tenants moved out. A bit...different for us, especially when it came to cleaning the bathroom. Of course, cleaning any bathroom, including your own, can be a chore. But, cleaning your bathroom and finding long, dark Asian hair everywhere is just...gross. It was a challenge. Today's adventure is cleaning out the refrigerator, which smells like old Korean food.
Despite Korean tradition, we have felt very comfortable and at home at our new place. We praise God for an apartment that is big enough to have people over, which is what we love to do. Jen's excited to learn how to cook some things the Korean way, and we already have plans to teach the guys we work with how to play Euchre. Now, if I can only convince Ben that we need a small Christmas tree next week...'tis the Season!
On Tuesday morning, we packed our belongings--four suitcases, three backpacks, a few bags of food, and a big package of toilet paper--and trekked across the street into our new building. Our previous apartment was...small, so we had no idea what to expect. Well, we were pleasantly surprised!
Our kitchen is typical Korean, with a small sink, a two-burner electric stovetop, a refrigerator, and a small washer where an oven belongs. I'm still a bit bitter about the oven situation, as Koreans just don't bake like we do. However, Ben said that we can get a toaster oven, which has since made our kitchen complete.
In addition to living without ovens, Koreans also live without clothes dryers. We survived our first load of laundry in our 'old' apartment, finding every possible hook to hang the wet clothes on. When we moved into our new place, we were delighted to discover that our washer also DRYS the clothes! We've never seen such a thing, but it is such a relief and an added convenience that we were not expecting. The machine itself doesn't hold much, and it takes about 3.5-4 hours to do a load from start to finish, but wow, we can do laundry!
The main room of our apartment is quite roomy. Up until tonight, we didn't have a single piece of furniture in it. Today, we purchased some 'stools' (they are perfect for a freshman girls' dorm room) and a few seat pads (think of the mats that you see on the floor of a Japanese teppan restaurant) so now we can have friends over and be more comfortable. The advantage of the floor seating mats is that the main source of heat in Korean homes is through the floor. It is getting colder each day, so we'll probably get a small space heater for our bedroom area, which has no heat because it is a loft.
The loft is quite cozy, and by cozy we mean four and a half feet tall. When standing on the second-to-last step, Jen's head just grazes the ceiling. The final step means walking like the hunchback. For Ben, well, yeah, he has to duck. Our bed consists of two twin mattresses on the floor, which you can see fit just right in the loft. We still don't have curtains yet, so we wake up to a nice view of the building across the street. At night, the lights from the street are similar to that red sign from that Seinfeld episode that kept them from sleeping. Thankfully, we are so tired at the end of the day, it is easy to find rest. It is a comfortable room, and we are so glad to have some sort of separation from the main room. In our old apartment, if anyone wanted to come over, they would have had to sit on our mattresses.
It is Korean tradition NOT to clean your apartment when you move out. Granted, there's not many rules in the States about leaving your place spotless, but there is such a thing as apartment maintenance, who will clean the apartment, re-paint, etc. Not so in Korea. That same tradition also holds that when you move into the apartment, it looks like it did when the previous tenants moved out. A bit...different for us, especially when it came to cleaning the bathroom. Of course, cleaning any bathroom, including your own, can be a chore. But, cleaning your bathroom and finding long, dark Asian hair everywhere is just...gross. It was a challenge. Today's adventure is cleaning out the refrigerator, which smells like old Korean food.
Despite Korean tradition, we have felt very comfortable and at home at our new place. We praise God for an apartment that is big enough to have people over, which is what we love to do. Jen's excited to learn how to cook some things the Korean way, and we already have plans to teach the guys we work with how to play Euchre. Now, if I can only convince Ben that we need a small Christmas tree next week...'tis the Season!
Sunday, November 16
Seoul Food from Korea
Hey Everyone! We are finally able to update you on our first ten days in South Korea!
We have had so many adventures in such little time. Now, the word "adventure" is widely used, and includes anything from living out of our suitcases in a "the bedroom is also the living room and...the only room" apartment to visits into the capital city of Seoul, and about eating strange foods and also seeing a four-story Dunkin' Donuts. Korea is a beautiful place, full of rich tradition and heritage, yet busy with modern technology and Western trends. Throughout our time here, we hope to share with you about this place, the people, and about what we are experiencing through it all. Please expect to find fun stories and photos, and maybe you'll learn a thing or two about Korean culture. Hopefully we can update enough to keep you entertained, but not bored. Here is a quick glimpse at our journey so far...
After about 30 hours of travel, we came to our new home. As we were unloading our suitcases, we were told that this apartment was just a temporary one. And that we had to be at work in 12 hours. We didn't have towels or anything, so we made a great first impression after drying off with t-shirts and wearing wrinkly clothes.
On our Tuesday morning, we'll move into our 'real' place (a building next door). We're told it's a loft, but we're just not sure what to expect. We've made due just fine here so far, with the only frustration being more time having to live out of our suitcases (it has been about three months now).
Our first day of work was nice, as we were welcomed by the director (Miya, from Japan) and our manager (Atsuko, also from Japan), and all of the other foreign teachers. We are now the only Americans out of 20 staff, which includes about 5 Japanese ladies, 2 from China, one Korean teacher and all other Korean staff, two Frenchmen, our Canadian Tom, and Lawrence, from South Africa. The teachers that Ben and I are 'replacing' more or less are Kalii from the US and Razel, from the Philippines but is married to a Korean and has a couple of children. The last four mentioned are all English teachers, which means that when December comes, it will be Tom, Lawrence, Ben, and me, representing the girls, in the English department. Our directors took our department out to lunch. Take a look at this typical Korean feast! Everything is in the middle, including the barbecue rack that sits over hot coals. Everyone literally digs in with their chopsticks!
Our first visit to Seoul! This is Changdeokgung Palace, which was surrounded by absolutely beautiful fall trees! I'll put more photos in a photo album, once I figure out how to do that on here.
Not far from the palace was quite a culture shock experience. As you cross the streets in Seoul, you realize that you are crossing with at least 200 or 300 other people. The Insa Dong Market is the Art District of Seoul, where you can buy and see more Korean traditional art, jewelry, and gifts.
The Myeong Dong Market is exactly what I expected: NEON. People everywhere, small streets, and designer shops from all over the world. This is where you can find the four-story Dunkin' Donuts building. This is a great place for shopping and just to visit, but there are just so many people! And above all else, everyone is dressed up. Almost all of the ladies wear high heels everywhere, and they are all quite trendy. Not me! I'm in my trusted Habitat fleece and jeans!
Ben thought he was ordering a side dish for Chicken. I can't believe he ate all of those fish heads.
We've had yet another crazy weekend, and can't wait to tell you about it. Please check back soon for more!
On-young-gee-kah-say-oh! Goodbye!
We have had so many adventures in such little time. Now, the word "adventure" is widely used, and includes anything from living out of our suitcases in a "the bedroom is also the living room and...the only room" apartment to visits into the capital city of Seoul, and about eating strange foods and also seeing a four-story Dunkin' Donuts. Korea is a beautiful place, full of rich tradition and heritage, yet busy with modern technology and Western trends. Throughout our time here, we hope to share with you about this place, the people, and about what we are experiencing through it all. Please expect to find fun stories and photos, and maybe you'll learn a thing or two about Korean culture. Hopefully we can update enough to keep you entertained, but not bored. Here is a quick glimpse at our journey so far...
After about 30 hours of travel, we came to our new home. As we were unloading our suitcases, we were told that this apartment was just a temporary one. And that we had to be at work in 12 hours. We didn't have towels or anything, so we made a great first impression after drying off with t-shirts and wearing wrinkly clothes.
On our Tuesday morning, we'll move into our 'real' place (a building next door). We're told it's a loft, but we're just not sure what to expect. We've made due just fine here so far, with the only frustration being more time having to live out of our suitcases (it has been about three months now).
Our first day of work was nice, as we were welcomed by the director (Miya, from Japan) and our manager (Atsuko, also from Japan), and all of the other foreign teachers. We are now the only Americans out of 20 staff, which includes about 5 Japanese ladies, 2 from China, one Korean teacher and all other Korean staff, two Frenchmen, our Canadian Tom, and Lawrence, from South Africa. The teachers that Ben and I are 'replacing' more or less are Kalii from the US and Razel, from the Philippines but is married to a Korean and has a couple of children. The last four mentioned are all English teachers, which means that when December comes, it will be Tom, Lawrence, Ben, and me, representing the girls, in the English department. Our directors took our department out to lunch. Take a look at this typical Korean feast! Everything is in the middle, including the barbecue rack that sits over hot coals. Everyone literally digs in with their chopsticks!
Our first visit to Seoul! This is Changdeokgung Palace, which was surrounded by absolutely beautiful fall trees! I'll put more photos in a photo album, once I figure out how to do that on here.
Not far from the palace was quite a culture shock experience. As you cross the streets in Seoul, you realize that you are crossing with at least 200 or 300 other people. The Insa Dong Market is the Art District of Seoul, where you can buy and see more Korean traditional art, jewelry, and gifts.
The Myeong Dong Market is exactly what I expected: NEON. People everywhere, small streets, and designer shops from all over the world. This is where you can find the four-story Dunkin' Donuts building. This is a great place for shopping and just to visit, but there are just so many people! And above all else, everyone is dressed up. Almost all of the ladies wear high heels everywhere, and they are all quite trendy. Not me! I'm in my trusted Habitat fleece and jeans!
Ben thought he was ordering a side dish for Chicken. I can't believe he ate all of those fish heads.
We've had yet another crazy weekend, and can't wait to tell you about it. Please check back soon for more!
On-young-gee-kah-say-oh! Goodbye!
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