Little fishies

I walked into the cafeteria and knew I was having some sort of seafood. I could smell the fish. Imagine my surprise when they plopped one of these onto my plate...

This is a picture of some fish in the grocery store. The fish I got was very small, probably 5 inches long. Now I know you're thinking "Oh yum, fish!" But this was no fish fillet. This was no grouper taco. This was an entire little fish - head and all. The eyeballs were missing...Bryan informed me that eyeballs tend to explode when cooked. I've eaten fish. I enjoy eating fish. But I've never had an entire fish - bone, skin, head and all.
I tentatively began to eat the little devil. I've started as far away from the head as I can, taking small bites and chasing it with my very meaty soup and bites of rice. As I'm get closer to the head...I notice a flavor change. The closer I get to the head, the BETTER the fish tastes. I soon find myself with nothing but the head left to eat. I look around and see other people eating from the head but I'm out of rice and soup...so what happens if I really hate what the head tastes like? I can't cover up the flavor by eating something else. After a moment of self contemplation, I go for it. Using my chopsticks, I crack open the head and - before I can think about what I'm about to do - I scoop out a handful of...whatever...and pop it into my mouth.
Wow.
Talk about some deliciousness. My dad always talked about fish head soup, mum and dad talked about how the head was the best part. I always thought they were disgusting for thinking that. I can honestly say that the head was the best part of my fish. They were right.

Church

Yesterday, I looked out of our window and saw tents set up about a block away. Being the curious kid I am, Jacob and I went to explore the tents. It turned out to be a church fundraiser for the poor complete with food and clothing for sale. As we turned to leave, we were followed by Mr. Moon. Mr. Moon introduced himself to us and told us to come in and have something to eat. We didn't see anything wrong with eating so we said sure. He ended up buying us this huge "pancake" that had cabbage, onion, and meat inside that was very good. We also got some homemade pumpkin soup - gotta love the harvest season! We talked with him for a while and met some of the other members of the church. He was very kind and polite, spending about an hour just talking and eating with us- showing us around. Jacob agreed to see him Sunday for church because Mr. Moon said there would be food after. Hm...we don't even go to church in America!
Sunday morning. I have mixed feelings about this. As I previously stated, we don't go to church in America. Jacob and I have differing religious beliefs - neither of which are Christian in any way. So it was strange to walk into a Korean Presbyterian Church. We entered and took our seats...my gawd. The money that churches have. There were huge televisions and projectors, a good sound system, and even a four person orchestra. But, alas, no air conditioning. This seems to be relatively common in Korea - AC is a luxury. We were polite for the hour that the sermon went on. Jacob sat next to Mr. Moon, who explained what the Pastor (Preacher? Priest? Elder?) was saying. Apparently there seems to be an uprising of Muslims in Korea, something the Christians aren't too happy about.
After the sermon, we were taken to the food. We stood in line, shook tons of people's hands, and waited to get food when we were ushered out of our line and escorted to a private room. Before entering the room, we removed our shoes. We were seated at a low table and had to sit on the floor (traditional!). Then came the food. Bulgolgi, seaweed salad, spicy bean sprout, little fishes, kimchi, soup, and yummy pumpkin bread - all homemade and all delicious. We ate and talked, discussing the upcoming holiday. I found it humorous that I was sitting with Christians, discussing a Pagan holiday that they were about to celebrate without even knowing it was Pagan in origins. Chuseok is a holiday to celebrate the harvest - Fall Equinox celebrates the harvest.
We had just finished eating and were getting ready to make our exit when Mr. Moon informed us that he was going to take us to the foreign church. Not wanting to be rude, we complied with his wishes. We walked outside and they still had the little tents set up so I bought a little cute military style jacket (military style is in!) and we went to his car. A few minutes later, we found ourselves in an entirely different world.
The Korean church had been huge with several large screen televisions, drinks and coffee for everyone, food galore, kitchens, several levels with rooms for kids, libraries, and offices, etc. The foreign church was one room. 12x12. If that big. Unlike the Korean churches four person orchestra and 20 member choir, the foreign church had one keyboard. One preacher. One dry erase board. 12 or so stackable chairs. A refrigerator and a broken AC unit. Oh and a fan. I would call it less of a "foreign" church and more of an African church. There are six members of the African church and one Korean woman (who apparently works at the school with me). The service was completely different from the Korean service. Instead of just sitting in our chairs, listening and staying quiet - here the men got up and walked around, everyone constantly said "amen" "jesus" and "thank you" while the preacher spoke. When he asked everyone to pray, everyone spoke their prayers out loud - none of this quiet prayer stuff, oh no! When the service was over, he asked everyone to welcome Jacob and me to the group. He asked that we come every Sunday and worship with them. We got to talking and we explained that we weren't Christians and they seemed fine with that. The preacher said we were still welcomed to come and spend time with them. We were given juice and some tasty green bread, a small bible, and thanked many times for coming. We gave them our number and we were on our way.
Oh! The preacher explained some of the events they had going on. One of them was a pray-a-thon (not what he called it but what I surmised it to be) in Ansan. They are going to pray for 24 hours straight. The group is also raising money to buy books for Liberia.
All in all...Christianity seems the same everywhere in the world. Now that I've gone with Jacob to a Christian church, next I'm dragging him to a temple service. Buddhism here we come!

Geumchon

 This is how our night started...with Baskin Robbins Belgian Mint Chocolate ice cream and....

 POPPING POPPING BANANA SWIRL! A delicious blend of strawberry, chocolate, and banana ice cream. But wait! What gives the ice cream it's delicious POP? POP ROCKS! It was pretty tasty.

 While we were eating ice cream, these kids in front of us were giggling away - randomly saying "hello" to us. They asked how old we were and we asked how old they were...everyone here seems pretty friendly. Unafraid to talk to Americans. Most of the kids seem eager to want to practice their English - a lot of adults as well.
















 

Last night, after ice cream and our tent adventure (which will be explained in another blog), Jacob and I traveled into Geumchon. We had watched this video and it led us to believe that Geumchon was a must visit location. It definitely was fun. Geumchon is basically the best bar hopping town around. I swear there is a bar on every corner. Not only lots of bars but tons of places to eat. The smells that were coming out of the restaurants made you salivate. Mmmm tasty.

We weren't sure what this picture was supposed to tell us...that it's professional to drink? The little man has a tie and is carrying a notebook - maybe he's a student? Apparently, drinking is a large part of the Korean lifestyle.

Jacob said that this was the most awesome advert ever. "Liquor Beer Cabin" - and, if that wasn't enough awesomeness for you, they put a scorpion in the middle.

I don't know if you can read it very well but the this picture is for Eric. The top of the sign says "Athens". I found Athens in South Korea and it happened to be in the bar hopping area. Haha. I took a shot of Soju for Eric last night!

This is just an example of how crazy Korea driving is. They car to the left is parked half in the road and half on the sidewalk. This is normal and seems to be perfectly accepted here. At least, I haven't seen anyone pulled over for it yet.







Since the buses stop running at midnight and it was getting rather late, we opted to go home and start drinking at the bar across the street. The Hof, as we have named it. We walked into the bar and were introduced to the Korean way of drinking. Since Koreans look at drinking as more of a social thing, bars tend to be on the more Taco Mac side of things. We sat down and the waitress came over, we managed to use broken Korean to ask for Soju and Beer but she wanted us to get something else. She pointed to the menu and, using our detective skills, we determined that she wanted us to eat. We weren't really hungry so we said no but she was pretty persistent on us eating. Thankfully, the table across from us got some sort of meat concoction (we couldn't see it very well from where we were sitting) so we pointed to it and asked her to bring us one of those. Which turned out to be...

Hot dogs and french fries! Basically. It was a little different from regular hot dogs - a spicy hot dog was blue while the plain hot dog was orange - the concept was the same. In the picture are our hot dogs, french fries, my little Soju shot (they bring you a bottle and a shot glass!), and these really hard, slightly sweet popcorns.

This is Jacob drinking his Max beer. He said it wasn't that bad...kinda like Miller.

When they bring you the bottle of Soju, they also bring you a really big mug of water. At first, I didn't understand why as I thought Soju was kind of sweet. Boy was I wrong.

Soju COCKTAIL is sweet like juice. Soju is just alcohol. PURE alcohol. It isn't as bad as taking a shot of Vodka but it isn't as easy as taking a shot of Sake. But it is cheap. I got an entire bottle for roughly 3 dollars. In the grocery store, I can get the same bottle for under 2 dollars. Soju is cheeeeeaaaaaap.

The School

So much to write!
On Monday, I met my co-teacher at the bottom of my building (we live on the 11th floor), and we walked to the bus stop. We got on the number 90 bus with three symbols (oh give me a month and I'll know what those symbols mean!) to get to our school. Lemme just say that the Korean bus drivers are cray-zee. There are rules for driving in Korea but not for the bus drivers. They follow their own rules. Think you are on a two lane road? Think again! That bus will lay on his horn until all the little cars move over and make room for him to squeeze by. Pfft to turn lanes! Oh and think he's going to slow down to take that 90 degree turn? Hahahaha - think again! I think he speeds up just to see how many people he can throw from one side to another (I was holding on tight, thank you very much). The bus rides are...well...if you are sleepy in the morning then you'll definitely be woken up by the bus ride.
Once we got to school - in one piece - I was given a pair of guest slippers. These "guest slippers" are really just platform, high heeled sandals that are only worn inside the school. Considering the fact that this school only has two janitors - I guess this cuts down on the amount of dirt tracked inside. Anyway, back to the shoes. So, not only was I already the tallest woman around but now I'm given these shoes that add an extra seven centimeters to my already 170 centimeters (haha yea metric system!). Now I can't understand anyone and I'm the giant of the building.
Then came the introductions. I walked around for over an hour being introduced to everyone. I couldn't understand anything and they couldn't understand me but we smiled and said hello to each other. They asked me if I liked Korea, I replied that the country is very beautiful. Oh! That reminds me - haha - Koreans are giving me too much confidence! Everywhere I turn, I hear "You are so beautiful!" or "Oh so pretty!". I just smile and say "I'll tell my mum, she'll be proud." and, after translated, they smile and nod their heads. With that being said, Hey mum and dad! I'm pretty! haha
After being shown around to the school world, I went to my first class. From roughly 8:50-12:50, my co-teacher and I instruct 4-5 classes a day. Monday and Tuesday are for 6th graders,Wednesday for 5th graders, and Thursday/Friday are a mix of 4th and 5th graders. The classes each have roughly 30 students.
My KT (Korean teacher) instructed me to observe the class however, after observing one class, I jumped up when the second class came in and asked if I could read the vocabulary. It progressed throughout the day and we were co-teaching by the end. At the end of the day, my KT told me she was surprised that I was so ready to teach - especially since today was my first day. I laughed and explained to her that I had spent 5 years in college preparing to be a teacher and was ready.
Monday afternoon I made a "Ms Taylor's Trivia" power point and Tuesday we played the game with the kids. They seemed to enjoy guessing different facts about me. Allow me to just say, I did this power point for each class in each grade so I did this power point a total of 11 times. Probably 6 of those 11 times, when the picture of Jacob came onto the screen, someone screamed "KOREAN! HE KOREAN!" ^_^
Another question on the power point involved my birthday so I included the picture Dad has on his facebook of my birthday party when I was younger. The kids enjoyed seeing me at such a young age and I used the opportunity to share more about my family. Morgan, Kyle, and Blake were on another slide. All the kids said that Kyle's cheeks were so chubby and Blake looked cool in his sunglasses.
Wednesday went about the same except something unexpected happened. The principal asked me to speak in front of the parent representatives - yes, apparently the parents all get together and choose representatives to go to the school and speak to the principal and vice principal about the students, staff, system, etc. My KT was surprised that he asked me to do this because he had never asked it of any other English teacher. Yay me!
Thursday's classes were filled with a game involving Korean pop music. I learned that I actually like Korean pop music - it's Techno. Have I mentioned lunch yet? OMG! Lunch was fab-u-lous today.
Okay so first let me preface this by saying that I have two options for lunch - bring my own or pay $2 to eat the school lunch (it's immediately deducted from my salary). I opted for school lunch - dive into the culture! The meal consists of kimchi, soup, rice, a type of meat, and a random side. Throughout the week I was served; mini-hot dogs in a ketchup sauce, potatoes in a spicy sauce, pork in a spicy sauce, dried squid, seaweed soup, seafood soup, purple rice (no clue on that one), and barely cooked potatoes (almost hashbrowns). But the best of the best was Thursday. Thursday was...ready for it? CURRY! Oh my goodness...Koreans make some awesome curry. I would have gone back for seconds if it were possible. It was sooooo bloody fantastic! Reminded me a little of curry at mum and dad's house :)
Friday was more Korean pop music. I was invited to eat pizza with the vice principal and the 4th grade teachers. Korean pizza has corn. Strange. Also, Koreans feel that they should have some sort of vegetable with each meal so the pizza comes with a side of pickled cucumbers. Yup, corn and cucumbers. Most people think pineapple and ham is strange - take that!
This week taught me that my upbringing really has prepared me to travel. I'm willing to try new foods (a big thing in Korea as they are very proud of...well...everything) and I know a lot of the stuff already. Curry isn't something that foreign to me but it is to a lot of Americans, my fellow teachers were surprised that I knew about curry let alone enjoyed it. Playing with chopsticks gave me the fundamental skills to use them in a practical setting and I've received several compliments on my ability to eat with chopsticks - even if I do hold them differently. Dad putting Tabasco on everything, thus me eating spicy food as well, has given me the stomach to endure the fire that Korean food has. I'm comfortable being in a random place, around strangers, not knowing the language, because I know that I will learn the language, a smile makes a friend, and I can always jump in a taxi and, in broken Korean, tell him where to go. 
Overall, I learned that Korean children are just like all the other children in the world. They are loud, excited about everything, swoon when their current heartthrob is talked about, won't sit still, laugh a lot, and listen when they want to listen. No real behavioral issues to speak of in the class aside from the student's volume. Now to figure out a way to quickly grab their attention every time they start loudly chatting...

Paju!

This is our city, Paju. We live above a pharmacy, bakery, and beauty shop.












We live across from a 7-11. No slurpies though :(

This is just another picture of our city. The city is small. We have not noticed much traffic yet.

Cut/Perm/Color! I was excited to see English words.

We are probably two blocks away from this beautiful river. There is a trail that runs along it where you can bike, run, and walk. We are going to explore that before I go to work this morning.

These tanks are everywhere, just sitting outside, and full of random sea creatures. These are eels. There were other tanks full of squid, octopus, flounder, sea cucumbers, and other random fishes. I can't wait to eat 'em!

This was breakfast. Coke Zero and Pepsi Nex were a surprise. I never understood what my brother Richard meant when he said the coke tasted different...I do now. The pepsi has a lemon flavor to it and the coke tastes...almost...flat, I guess would be the best way to put it. The Cheetos are BBQ flavor - Jacob saw a picture of a steak on them and thought they were steak flavor so we got them. :) The twisty thingy is a Korean donut - Delish! Dangerous. Much stay away from those babies. The roll has red bean and cream inside, I used to get them at this Japanese store (Umozono's) in Georgia and the flavors are pretty much identical.

We went out to eat lunch and ended up at this restaurant where no one spoke English. We got lucky when a guy walked in who was able to help translate for us. What you see here is pork in thick slices, Kimchi (sooooo goood), soup, and rice. The very nice lady came over and put the kimchi on the hot plate with the pork, showed us how to cook it all, then motioned with us to eat when the meat was finished. Thankfully, Jacob and I have eaten lettuce rolls before and were able to decipher what we were to do.

The foot was fantastic. Afterward lunch, 18500 won, I went to the guy who had helped us. I thanked him in Korean (kamsehamnida - thanks Richard!) and he replied with "You have great beauty". Yup, I like this country. Haha!

Squid!!!

Apartment

This is our apartment. To the left is the couch, that door leads to a really small room with a water heater and stuff, the telly is that small rectangle next to it, my desk is next to the telly, ironing board (Thanks for teaching me how to iron, Mum!) and our really uncomfortable bed.

Continuing along to the right...next to our bed is a fan followed by our closet space. After hanging up our clothes, I realized that Jacob has more clothes than me. After walking around the town, I realized that I didn't care because I want to go shopping! ^_^

Behind the closet (which is basically a room divider) is our kitchen. That little machine with the circle on it is our washer. Unfortunately, the washer is in Korean so figuring out the settings is going to be fun :)     

Across the kitchen is our dining room. haha. We have a little table and four chairs (look at the other pictures to see if you can find the fourth!). That door is our gateway into another world. The door to the left is...well...the only negative I have found about Korea so far. 

This is our bathroom. A seemingly normal place. Wrong. The entire bathroom is set up so that it can get wet. The toilet paper has a guard around to prevent water from touching it. Why the precautions? Because, my friends, the ENTIRE bathroom is a shower. Oh, this might sound fantastic and you might be looking at the ceiling for the rain forest shower heads. Look to the right, see that cord connected to the faucet and going onto the wall? That is our shower. It doesn't come down upon our heads, we hold it and shower ourselves. This is similar to when you bath an animal. Alas, the only downfall to Korea. I enjoy my American showers.

Last but not least...

^_^

Plane Ride

Well we are here! After flying to Charlotte and saying a quick hello to Jennifer! We flew to LAX where we spent three hours waiting to get on our final destination plane. We entered the plane, fully prepared to have a miserable experience on this 13 hour ride, and we were immediately greeted with a nice pillow and comfy blanket. Within moments of take off we were handed little cloth slippers (I already had my shoes off but putting these on seemed appropriate rather than walking around in socks!) and - drum roll please - a HOT CLOTH! The hot towel was wonderful and warm and smelled clean. This was very refreshing as we had already been traveling for 12 hours.
The joys didn't stop there, however, as we were soon witness to the best customer service I have received in a loooong time. The ladies brought out their drink tray full of pops, juices, water, and FREE alcohol. Yes, that is correct, there was free alcohol on the plane ride. Wine and spirits. Following the drinks was food and what a meal it was!

This was my meal of rice, vegetables, fruit, soup, kimchi (which was yummy!), and little dried fishes. It was fantastic. Mum was right when she said international flights had the best food. I was shocked by how pleased we were.

Jacob got the steak which came with an assortment of sides as well. After our meal was complete, they walked back around with coffee and tea for everyone to enjoy as an after dinner treat.

We had our own personal touch screen tellies with the option to play games or watch several blockbuster flicks. We went through quite a few in our 13 hours.

Roughly 8 hours into our flight we were fed again. At this point, I was groggy and forgot to take a picture but it was chicken and rice with random sides. Jacob got the seafood pasta. There was this little dessert thing that we both received...quite delicious and also flan like in its consistency.

I'm going to post all of my random pictures on Facebook  as I don't want to fill this blog up with pictures.