On the Hunt

A typical Sunday morning--headed to church and had mass.

After church, I was on a mission. I wanted to find the perfect Easter brunch spot for when Mom comes. I walked from Hannam to Noksapyeong (which I normally do anyway) but I went up and down side alleys and through back streets scouring menus and scrutinizing the interiors of restaurants. As I went along, I snapped photos of places and menus making notes of them. By the time I finished, I had a big list of restaurants that would be nice not only for Easter brunch, but that I would like to try in the future. My next task was lunch. I wasn't feeling that hungry and I was also thinking that I hadn't eaten Korean food in quite some time. So I decided to head home first and go from there.

When I got off the subway, I saw a poster for a restaurant that I had noticed quite a few months ago but never got a chance to go and try their food. Even better, I had been thinking about eating jjoelmyeon (a chewy noodle dish with spicy sauce and fresh vegetables) and that was on the menu for that restaurant. I glanced at the poster and went out the exit. Except I hadn't paid close attention to which direction I should go specifically. I figured I'd walk a little bit and should stumble upon it. Instead, I found a dog cafe (no, they don't eat dogs here) called Bichon. This place had grooming on the first floor, a cafe with Bichons on the second floor (bring your own or meet the live in crew!) and a hotel for Bichons in the basement. Wow. I checked it out and then took off. I ended up going back into the subway to try and figure out where exactly the restaurant was located. After getting the information I found it very easily.

I looked at the menu and they had the jjoelmyeon or jjoelmyeon plus mandu for an extra 500W. While it's only an extra 50 cents or so, I decided I'd get my noodles to go and make my own mandu at home. I returned home with my food and made mandu and watched some tv before packing up for soccer. It was nice out and kind of warm, but not as nice as last week.

In April we are having a kind of tournament playing against parents of domestically adopted kids. This week, the families all came so we could practice and scrimmage against each other. They told us we should be gentle and play softly. Eirik scoffed and said there's no such thing as that in soccer. At first we really crushed them-making goals left and right. Then they called in for backup and some of their sons (high schoolish aged) arrived and hopped in relieving the older dads. They were decent and gave a little bit more of a challenge, but it was still a walk in the park for us. I saw how good we were at passing and making good plays. Also unusual for us, they wanted to play for 20 minutes and then take a 5 minute break. We were all kind of antsy and didn't like having to stop and rest. Some of the guys were annoyed and also annoyed at the sportsmanship of some of the opponents-they were pushing on us, but complained if we pushed back. Oh well, it's all for fun anyway.

Long Chats

This morning I skyped with my mom and Grandpa. It was good to talk with both of them together. Toby also made a small appearance.

After talking with them, I decided I'd go for a short run. The weather wasn't too cold and it was sunny. I felt like I needed to get some exercise in since I hadn't run in a long time! It was a nice run and lots of people were out walking along the stream.

I got home and made a plan to go to Itaewon before meeting Michelle for dinner. I would get a tea and possibly sit by the Han River outside for a little bit. I started getting ready when I got a message from Liduvina asking if I had time to talk. It was around 1:30 so I figured I had plenty of time. She and Joel had just bought their tickets to Korea! She wanted to ask about how to get to my place from the airport and get some ideas of what to do while they are here. We talked through some ideas and she suggested seeing another city. I decided Busan would probably be the most fun so we will go there for a few days. We also did a lot of other catching up-we send messages here and there, but this was the first time we had a proper chat in a long time! We were talking and talking and talking...when I realized we had been talking for almost 2 1/2 hours! We were starting to say goodbyes when Joel came home and he wanted to ask a few questions as well. So in total, we talked for 3 hours! I had to cut it short because I was running late to meet Michelle.

I rushed to get to Itaewon and was about 20 minutes late. I met Michelle in a coffee shop near the subway station and we walked to Craftworks for dinner. I had seen a promotion if you showed them their ad, they'd give you their beer paddle sampler for free! We ordered sandwiches and got our free beer paddle sampler. I got the buffalo chicken sandwich and it was really delicious! We remembered that today was Pi day and I tried to think of somewhere we could get pie. Of course Sugar Daddy's came to mind, but their apple pie is not the best of their desserts and not a good introduction for someone new there. (It's possible just because my mom makes amazing pie crust nothing else can compare) Instead we went to a place called Sweet East and got a strawberry funnel cake. It was served with a small dish of whipped cream and ice cream. YUM!

After our dessert, we went to a meetup group for foreigners and Koreans alike. It was held at a kind of bar/club. Michelle and I met a Korean American, Ken and a Korean, Joon. Then our goal was to mingle and try to meet a bunch of different people. At one point Ken sat down and we said that sitting kind of defeats the purpose of mingling so we went in search of other groups to meet. After awhile, we checked back in with Ken and he said he was thinking of going to Hongdae instead. We decided we'd move there with him and told Joon. He joined us as well and we took the subway to Hongdae. Joon left us to meet up with some of his friends and the three of us went to the Playground to sit outside. There weren't too many people at the Playground and I guessed it was because everyone was actually in Itaewon at all of the foreign bars and restaurants to celebrate Saint Patrick's Day. We went to Monster Pizza to get a slice of pizza-it was pretty delicious. Can't go wrong with a slice of pizza! We called it a night shortly after that.

Fun Friday!

The first class was cancelled because students were voting for their class presidents. Instead, we had to swap and do it for 5th period later in the day. So, in the morning, I looked up restaurants to go to for dinner. The rest of the work day was rather uneventful.

After work, I headed to Jongno area where I had picked a restaurant and had idea of a coffee shop I would go to to study Korean after dinner. It was a bit early for dinner when I first arrived to the area so I located the restaurant, Koba and then went to Cheonggyecheon. I sat by the stream for a little bit soaking up the last few rays of sunshine and worked more on itineraries for my visitors.

I returned to Koba and was greeted with a smallish mostly empty restaurant. There was a older Korean man on the left side of the bar and an older Caucasian man on the right side. The young waiter was also doubling as bartender and he was very friendly, asking where I was from. I finally got my food (I ordered a vegetarian sandwich) and was enjoying it-it rivaled my favorite sandwich from Casablanca (though I like how Casablanca puts more veggies on the sandwich). The chef came out (his name is Simon and he's from Morocco) and saw me eating the sandwich-holding it with both hands and diving right in-and he applauded me and said it was good to see me eating a sandwich the "real" way. After I finished eating, G, the waiter asked me if I liked beer. I said I didn't mind it and he told me he was going to give me a free glass. I got my beer and joined the others at the bar. They ended up cranking up the music a bit more and we talked and sang and danced in our seats. G got a little crazy and was even flicking the lights on and off. After a little bit, some other people came into the restaurant and G said, "we have to act normal now!" and they turned the music down a little bit. I talked with the American man-he works for an NGO and was doing a business trip in Korea. It was really great to talk with him. As time went on a few more people trickled in and out. We were joined at the bar by a Japanese girl who somehow knew G. Then, we were joined by a Brazilian. He teaches music at Kyunghee University-has lived in Korea for 10 years. There was a drum in the restaurant so he ended up doing a few small "performances" for us and also was teaching us how to play the drum. Simon made some fried potato balls for us as service and they were delicious. It was a lot of fun meeting new people. I was there from 6 until 12:30! I never made it to a cafe to study Korean because I was enjoying the time at Koba so much. It was such a great find to stumble upon and I was thankful that G had asked if I wanted a beer and was friendly.

Staff Dinner

Nothing too special at work today. It was fun seeing my little 4th graders again. Some of the boys who were in summer camp and already know me kind of showed off to their classmates that they knew me so it was entertaining.

At the end of the day we had a staff dinner. We went to Gyeonggi-do (the province surrounding Seoul) to an area called Seollung. Last year we also went to this area, so I thought we were going to the same restaurant (and I was very excited because it was some of the most delicious meat BBQ I've had here) but was very disappointed when we pulled up to a different place. I rode in the car with my 4th grade COT who drove and a few other teachers.

The dinner was pretty good. There were lots and lots of side dishes all leading up to a bulgogi (beef) stew. I think they brought out at least 5 or 6 small "main" dishes before the final one. My principal went around to some of the new teachers, wanting to do a shot of soju with them and he also asked me if I wanted one. It's generally considered rude to turn down a drink (especially from a boss or higher up) so I complied. After eating, we did a kind of poem "game". They took the name of each new staff member and broke it down into the 3 characters (for example my Korean name is Kim, Jong Hee) and then started a sentence with each of the characters (so going with my example there would be one sentence starting "Kim", the next "Jong" and the last "Hee) I of course couldn't really participate but my 4th grade COT, Alex thought it would be funny to make a really sweet one to the new vice principal and sign my name. She translated it to me and had me write the English. Basically the poem went something like "the first time I saw you my heart started beating faster, I couldn't believe you were here. Is it destiny?" The next part of the game required teachers taking the papers out of a box and reading them aloud to the new staff member and then an exchange of sorts in Korean. Well, when they finally read mine I had to go up in front of everyone, but couldn't say anything at all. Just some awkward bowing and shook hands with the vice principal.

After dinner, my COT dropped people off which was nice. I had planned on walking back because it was around 2 or 3 miles. The rest of the evening I worked out an itinerary for my Mom's upcoming visit!

Issac Toast

I had my last "first class" and finally met all of my students and classes for the new year. Today was all 4th graders. They are so cute!

After work, I stopped by the post office as usual and then headed downtown. I was deciding what to have for dinner and picked Issac Toast. This is a chain of fast food grilled sandwiches. It was a lifesaver dining spot while I lived at Inje and the Biotech dorm dished up some crazy dinners. Many nights Emily, Jenny and I would get a sandwich from our beloved Issac's. Anyway, I decided I'd grab a sandwich and took it to go. I debated sitting by Cheonggyecheon to eat, but it was just a little bit too cold to eat outside. What to do? I went to the building of my Korean classes and sat on a bench inside to eat.

Class was okay; not many people showed up and my teacher guessed it was because of the cold weather. We were able to finish a little bit early and got dismissed about 10 minutes ahead of normal. It was nice to get home earlier than usual.

A night home

Previously Tuesdays were my most challenging day, but even though it was long, it didn't seem as difficult as last year. Like I said before, it's still a bit too early to tell for sure, but I'm looking forward to this school year, my last semester here.

After work, I decided it would be good to have a night in. I caught up on housework and other odds and ends. It was pretty cold so I didn't feel like venturing out. Hopefully this is one of the last cold days of the year.

Hello 6th Graders

I met five of my eight 6th grade classes today. I had most of these students as 5th graders last year. I was a bit apprehensive because as 5th graders they were quite wild. I know it was only the first day of class with them, but already they did seem a bit better. I think the way they were split into different homerooms this year was very well done. I think they will do a great job this year.

After work I met Michelle again for dinner. This time we went to Yeoido to meet. Originally I was going to take the bus route that goes to the island but takes about an hour. Instead I realized I could take one bus to a subway line that goes straight there. I tried it out and made it in half the time I predicted. I arrived early so I went to the IFC mall and just window shopped before meeting Michelle. Yesterday the weather was really nice-I played soccer in shorts. Today was COLD and WINDY! (Though I believe it was extra windy because we were on an island) We walked to Chalsu Kimbap, a kind of famous kimbap shop. The meat is stone grilled (so smokey and flavorful) and it's much bigger than a normal kimbap roll. We each got our own roll of kimbap and shared ddeokboki, rice cake dumplings in a spicy sauce. After dinner we went in search of a cafe. We found an Audrey Hepburn themed cafe and tried it out. There were tons of photographs of Audrey all over the cafe and they were playing Breakfast at Tiffany's (without sound) in one corner. Beyond that, there wasn't anything to do with Audrey. It was fun all the same. We had a good time talking and after awhile each headed home. I took a bus so I didn't have to walk as far outside when I reached my stop.

Soccer--on fire!

I was finally able to get to church after a few weeks of being gone. It was good to be back again.

After mass I went to Battered Sole, a British gastro pub I had heard about that recently started offering a brunch menu. I ordered a bacon breakfast sandwich and wasn't sure what to expect when they said homemade bacon. I was picturing typical American style bacon...but this was bacon x10! It was thicker than thick cut bacon from home-it was the most intense bacon I've ever seen! Anyway, it was served on a bagel with cream cheese and a side salad and hash brown patties. As a promotion they offered a free cocktail as well, so I tried the mango hard iced tea.

I went to Sugar Daddy's to get a slice of cheesecake for an experiment and then headed home. The weather was absolutely beautiful. I headed to soccer a little bit early just to be outside and enjoy the sunshine. Soccer was great. This week the high school boys didn't come so we played 5 on 5 for the full 2 hours. I had 5 or 6 goals and did pretty good on defense as well. I felt so good playing, but my legs were a little bit sore. At the end, Eirik asked me how many goals I had because he said he lost count after 6. I don't think it was that many but...it still felt great.

Garosugil/Sinsa/Apgujeong

This morning I skyped with Grandpa for a bit and then my Mom. It was good to finally chat with them after a few weeks.

I decided I would go somewhere new! I wanted to study my Korean in a cafe somewhere and picked the neighborhood Sinsa, with a famous street, Garosugil. I walked around there and found a cafe and bought a piece of carrot cake to go. I continued looking for a place that looked cozy to study. The weather was a bit warm and the sunshine felt so nice I enjoyed walking around stopping in different shops and cafes looking for the perfect spot. I finally picked one that had a kind of covered patio and got a tea and sat "outside" in the sun. I stayed and studied for a little over an hour. Then I looked up a place to have dinner. I found a pizza place called Ace and thought I'd give it a go.

I went in search of the restaurant and finally found it. Right below it was a burger place, so I had a few moments of indecision to pick what I wanted for dinner. The pizza won and I'm glad I chose it. There were several good sounding pizzas on the menu, but there was a build your own option for only 15,000W, with as many toppings as you wanted! I did that and put lots of veggies on my pizza. They baked the pizza in a brick oven and served it on a wooden paddle. It was really good! I didn't finish the whole thing and they gave me a container to take the rest home.

Mexican Night!

Work was pretty easy-I had two classes and the other two my one COT told me I didn't need to come because she was just doing an introduction/orientation class. It was nice to have that time off.

In the evening I came home and had a little bit of down time before heading to Mangwon. I decided I would walk there since I didn't do any running during the week and it wasn't too far. The only problem was I got lost and went way too far down the street and had to backtrack a bit. I wasn't exactly late to the cooking class, but I wasn't there as early as I had wanted. Chef D asked for burners and I volunteered mine, but he didn't want to use it because it wasn't gas. Anyway, the cooking studio space was quite small and there were around 30 people.

First things first we made corn tortilla dough. He had already measured everything out, we just added water and kneaded it. Then we made jalapeno poppers, stuffing the jalapenos with cream cheese and wrapping with bacon. While those cooked, he showed us how he made his jalapeno jelly, guacamole and salsa. The poppers were finished cooking and we sampled them-spicy but so delicious! Next we took or tortilla dough and pressed them using a tortilla press. We also fried/cooked the tortillas. Then it was time to clean up and Chef D cooked the meat he had marinated. There was chicken and pork to fill our tortillas with and we had tiny tacos with salsa and his guacamole and special chili sauce. Yum! Then we also had nachos with a cheese sauce he made. He topped the nachos with a pork and kimchi mix, cheese, salsa and sauce. They were delicious. Finally, we had habenero brownies with avocado ice cream. The brownies were spicy but the ice cream helped cool it off. All in all, it was a delicious night!

Cuties

Today was the first day teaching! I met the 4th graders and they were cute. I saw some of my students from summer and winter camp. They were excited to see me.

After work I came home to take it easy and keep working on feeling better. It was nice to just stay in and take a rest. (Does "take a rest" sound strange? Koreans use this expression a lot, but I had another native English speaker say it sounds a bit unusual)

Korean Class

I still felt a little sick, but not as bad as the day before. Today was the last day to prepare before we had our first class! I did more planning and then met with my 4/5 COT to discuss our classes for the Thursday and Friday.

As usual for Wednesdays, I headed downtown before my Korean class. I was deciding what to have for dinner and figured some comfort food would be good. I went to Subway and got a BMT. After eating, I headed to class. It was okay.

When I got home, I made a donation for an animal group in Korea. I also signed up for a weekend trip to Jindo for a Sea Parting Festival in a few weekends. I'm looking forward to seeing a new city in Korea.

Sick

I woke in the middle of the night a few times with a lot of stomach pain. I couldn't sleep well even though I was exhausted. When it was time to wake up and come to school, it was so hard to get out of bed and go. I had considered calling my COTs and saying I couldn't come to work, but figured it would be okay since it was another planning day.

I got to school and just stared into my computer screen for about an hour before asking one COT if I could go to the nurses office to lay down. She took me down and explained how I was feeling to the nurse. My COT turned on the heated blanket for me and I slept for 2 hours. She woke me at lunch time and asked if I would eat. I was tempted to because she told me the menu was jap chae! But I didn't feel like eating though I knew I was hungry. I passed and just sat at my desk doing small prep work until the end of the day.

After work, I went to Hongdae to meet a new acquaintance. My friend Mike had a friend from Ann Arbor who was moving temporarily to Seoul to be with her parents. Her name is Michelle. She and I had made plans the day before to meet and I didn't want to cancel at the last minute and for the first meeting. So, we met at the station and I suggested a few places to try. We agreed Shabu Shabu (a kind of soup) sounded the best as it was cool and rainy. It was nice to meet someone new and we had fun chatting. We went to get bingsu for dessert. We shared a strawberry one and it was delicious!

Beginning of the (Last) School Year!

Back to work...it was a relatively easy day at work. We didn't have to do too much today except prepare for classes. At noon all the subject teachers went out to lunch. We were going to go to the restaurant we've been to the last two times, but there was no room for all of us. Instead we went to a place to have a rice dish with bossam (steamed pork) and other sides. One of the subject teachers paid for everyone's meal. I met the new 3rd grade English teacher; her English name is Jaymie and she's a year older than me. She was at our school when I first started here, but last year she went to teach in Taiwan. I also was able to get to know my 4th grade COT a little better; she was a 6th grade homeroom teacher last year. I knew her by sight but didn't know her well.

We returned to school after our lunch and had a staff meeting in the afternoon. After work I came home, organized my photos from my trip, and had dinner. I was still not feeling well so I took a hot shower since it had helped immensely the night before.

Return to Seoul

Our flight landed at 6am. I dozed off and on until we landed and was jolted awake by the plane touching down. We were waiting to get off the plane and the woman next to me was talking about how they had a 10 hour layover and wasn't sure what to do. I told her that my friend had worked in the airport giving tours to people with long layovers so she should look into that if she wanted to see Seoul. We finally got off the plane and after a 1 hour commute, I found myself back at home, quite exhausted. I took a nap until a little after noon. When I woke, I was feeling a bit groggy and not so good.

I unpacked and cleaned. Then I looked for something to eat for lunch. I also felt really sore from horseback riding. I started feeling worse, but had said I was going to soccer already so I figured I'd just give it a go and see how it went. I walked to soccer as normal, but it almost took me a full hour as I was not feeling well and was so stiff and sore.

As it turned out, soccer went pretty well though. There were a few oldies that returned and Johan brought a few new guys. The high school boys were there as well, so we had 3 teams of 5 or 6. My team did quite well and we were winning almost every game. I also scored 3 goals! It felt great to be playing again though I was worried that I would be off after missing a few weeks.

I returned home and took a hot shower and felt much better after that. I was exhausted and got ready for bed early.