Thanksgiving in Korea

Thanksgiving in Korea was better than expected.  I talked about thanksgiving to my students all month like Halloween and even brought in mashed potatoes for them to try.  They had never had them before but loved them of course.  When I showed them pictures of Thanksgiving in America they were in ahh of the amount of food and the huge turkey which most had never tasted either.

 My friend got a 14lb turkey from the Underground grocers that has Canadian and American food.  It is a very small store but you can find things like frozen green beans, re fried beans and lunch meat which you can not find anywhere else.  Of course you pay extra but that is a small price to pay when you need a taste of home.  We do not have ovens in Korea so they offered to cook the turkey for us and provide gravy and stuffing for about $100 so we each paid about $10 for that and brought a side dish to share.  The one rule was nothing Korean was allowed.  We did not have enough room for everything on the table but we had mashed potatoes, turkey, gravy, stuffing, broccoli and cheese, soup, cranberry sauce and yam fries.  I brought vegetables and ranch dip thanks to my mom for sending me the ranch mix and my friend Anna for telling me which yogurt taste the most like sour cream (both which they do not have in Korea).  Everyone was loving the ranch dip since it has been so long for many since they had ranch last.

 We found American wine to seal the deal.

 Jen hosted the dinner and Johns mom sent the center piece to make it a complete American Thanksgiving.

 Though we sat on the floor and we celebrated on Saturday and not Thanksgiving it was great to be around friends and having the feast I love so much back home.

 As you could see we had a Thanksgiving coma after eating just like back home.  John brought walnut pie (there is not pumpkin or pecan pie here) and ice cream for desert and we downloaded Home Alone to watch as we recovered from all the food.

It was a great day.  I hiked that morning so I did not feel so bad for eating everything I wanted.  We come from all over the world, England, LA, Canada, Texas...but together we brought the American Holiday to Korea and had a great Thanksgiving.

My First Hike

Mt. Geumdangsan is located in Nam-gu by the World Cup Stadium.  I went hiking with 5 Canadians and 3 of their kids. 

This was the first stop.  The hike begins with about 50-65 steps about the size of my calf.  Once you make it up the steps the trails up the mountain begin.  This is a great view of the World Cup Stadium and the Purgam Reservoir.

        Along the trail is stretching and workout equipment so during your 3-4 hour hike you and can stop and get your ab workout in.  All over Korea there is workout equipment everywhere, along pathways, at parks, or just randomly on the corner.  People use them all the time too, they have weight machines and non-electric elliptical type workout equipment.  You see men and women of all ages using them on a daily basis.  Even the children enjoy using the workout equipment, in Korea working out is fun.

  They also are big into hiking gear of course and they sell hiking clothing and shoes everywhere, even at the E-mart.  Hiking is a big part of the Korean lifestyle, families hike a lot.  While we were hiking we saw families with children and older Koreans around 60+.  They stroll past as if it is nothing and then stop to do some crunches and push-ups.  I was struggling up the first 60 steps and the hike up the hill.  It never stops surprising me how fit Koreans are and it never stops making me feel that much more out of shape. 

 This was along the top of the mountain.  Lets just say these Canadians were in shape too, the men carried the boys on their shoulders for the last 100+ steps up to the top.  It was steep and I could barely make it, I don't know how they carried kids on their shoulders.  It took about 1 hour and 45min to make it up the top.  Dan (the one in the red coat) told me that when they do not have kids they usually run down on their way back, boy was I glad we had the kids with us for this hike, run down? Are they crazy?

 I was so happy to be on the top, it would be a piece of cake from here on out right?  NOPE...little did I know.

 We had to hike about another 30 min on the top and some parts just continued to go up and down.  It was steep going down too there were jagged rocks everywhere, I was just waiting to fall. Again run down? Crazy!

 You have to love the small village feel Korea holds.  Most things are shared here.  This is their water fountain.  They have a scoop that you fill with water and drink from, everyone drinks from the same scoop and it is left there.  No one worries about sickness, they embrace nature and are some of the healthiest individuals in the world.

 I love this.  At the end of the mountain on the bottom they have a whole system for cleaning your shoes off.  This is the air pressure sprayer.  It helps get the dust or small rocks out of your shoes, they are so fun.

This is the area you scrub your shoes at...so pratical.

Halloween in Korea

We had a Halloween party at my school.  I talked about Halloween with them all month and read about the ways we celebrate it in America.  The children were so shocked to hear that kids dress up and go door to door getting candy, needless to say Trick-or-Treat was their favorite phrase of the month.  They thought that anytime they said it they would get candy, I told them that is not how it worked, they get one day.  I planned games for them.  We played pin the nose on the Jack-o-lantern and the mummy wrap game.  Earlier I explained the games to the teachers who had never heard of them of course.  I told them we blind fold one child at a time and give them a paper triangle for the nose, spin them and they have to try and put the nose on the large Jack-o-lantern, the closest to where the nose should be wins.  The mummy wrap game:  I told them in America we would use toilet paper and wrap the kid in it and they would have to run to the board answer and question and run back, then the next  person on their team would be wrapped up and so on until everyone on their team had  a turn.  They said that toilet paper was wasteful and they would rather us the medical wrap you use to wrap up sprained ankles.  I thought this was a great idea but was shocked because in American cheap is better, but here environmentally friendly is better so we went that route.  On the day of the party I explained the rules to the children and then asked one of my Korean teachers to help with the other half of the class.  They said to me" but we do not understand how to play"  I said "but you said you understood when I explained it to you last week."  They said, "well yes but we just said that to make you happy."  I thought so you didn't understand but just said you did to make me happy?  Well after explaining it once again we were on the same page.  The kids had a blast.  They had never played the games before and usually do not get to play games of any kind in school or in their daily lives.  It was so much fun to see them so happy and enjoying games we as children grew up playing.  They got their candy and pizza with corn and potatoes on it cause that is just how they do pizza in Korea.

 Most Koreans do not celebrate Halloween, in fact it is really hard to find a costume of any kind.  That does not stop the foreigners, we are just more creative and show the Koreans how it is done.  Many of the bars or restaurants had special Halloween celebrations though and so we were able to celebrate one of my favorite holidays after all.

Lionel had sent me his football jersey to sleep in and it just so worked out perfect for my costume, thank goodness cause I had no idea where to start to look for one.  Even some Koreans got into the spirit and dressed up.  There was a costume contest and everything...

This was at Heaven.

I felt like I was in Las Vegas when the bartenders started to light the alcohol on fire.

My adventure to find kickball

The organization I went through to come to Korea: Teach ESL Korea, was holding a kickball game with other teachers from Gwangju.  The person who created the program Dan lives in Gwangju with his family and regulary gets people in the area together to have some fun.  I started off with the bus thinking I knew where to get off.  From what I understood the location of the park was close to the World Cup Statuim.   I already wrote about the rest of the day but here are the photos of the World Cup Satuim:

My first temple visit

I found this while on my way to the city.   

It was a slice of Heaven in the busy neighborhood.



These three markers were locked behind a fenced in area.



Inside it was set up for what looked like a presentation or speaker.  There were few people in outside, most where in the small prayer rooms you see in this picture.  There is a prayer room behind each set of doors.  They leave their shoes outside of course.  The few people inside where quiet, yet smiled and bowed to me as they pasted.

The buildings were so beautiful and rich with color and detail.

It was so peaceful.  All you could hear was the sound of the wind and birds overhead.  You would find people laying down and resting all around. 

My school

This is the downstairs section of my school.  I work for an after school English Accadamy.  I work from 1:30pm to 8:30pm.  The Korean teachers stay till 10:30pm teaching.  The downstairs is mostly for the younger students 2nd-4th grade though there are some older kid classrooms and test taking down here in some of the bigger classrooms.  I teach any where from 3-5 classes a day which is not that many compaired with many other English teachers who could teach up to 7 or 8 classes a day.  The upstairs is for our older students.  Upstaris I teach 4th-6th graders though I believe we have students up to maybe 8th grade who take classes upstairs.  This is the lobby of the downstaris.  In the back you can see the long study table and the Library.

This is the computer room where students work on lessons.

This the the otherside of the Lobby.  The TV to the right plays the student's presenations that we record.  They play all day long.  So everyone gets to see how well or not so well you did on your presentation.  They also upload the presentations on the internet so parents can see them online as well.

This is the hallway to most of the classes.  Stright a head is the downstairs teacher's office.  My desk is upstairs.

This is one of the classrooms.  The littles' as I call them usually only have between 4-7 students per class.  Upstairs with the older student my classes are between 9-14 students, still quite small.

All the classrooms have a TV or a projector linked to the computer.  Our books we teach from have lessons on the computer that go with each unit.  It is also nice to be able to show them photos from online when they do not understand what I am talking about...a picture is worth a thousand words.

The Kimchi Fest

 I went to the Kimchi Fest that is held in Gwangju once a year to celebrate Kimchi.  There was all kinds of Kimchi and things made with Kimchi.  I took the bus there and while tring to ask the bus driver if I had missed my stop or when I should get off (he even called someone for me to speak to in English) two Americans came up and told me they were going to the fest too.  They had been there earlier in the week and knew where to get off.  Thank goodness because it was quite the hike from the bus stop, even if I did get off at the right stop.  They were really nice.  They told me they were from Texas and were taking a year off to travel.  They just came from Japan and were going to be in Korea for a month and then go to China (were their parents were from) and then Tialand...

There was music and dancing. 

You could make your own Kimchi for $5.  They had soaked the cabbage and prepared the spice rub already but you continued with steps 5 and 6.   



This guy was a great help.  His English was really good and he told me what I had to do.  Step 5 was to rub the spice mix into the cabbage, folding back each layer one at a time and spreading the spice rub inbetween. 

This lady thought I needed help, I thought I was going great, but I could tell she just took pride in Kimchi.  After I finished rubbing the spices inbetween the cabbage the lady put the Kimchi in a bag and then in my very own Kimchi pot so I could take it home (step 6).  I was told to let it sit out at room temperature for 4-5 days and then I could eat it.  I did let it sit out for 5 days.

 

These are Kimchi pots. They bury the Kimchi in the ground for months traditionally.  While in the ground the Kimchi soaks in the spice rub.

 I also made this pancake like thing that had Kimchi in it too.  It was 1,000 won which is less than $1 to make, great deal right.  While in the Kimchi tent I met some people from the UK there.  They were funny and together we were tossing the Kimchi pancake thing in the air.  The Korean women helping us could not get enough they would "ooooh" everytime and clap their hands encouraging us to do more.  I tasted so good when we finally stopped playing with it and ate it.




There were art tents there too.  I made this painting and another one just like it but blue.  You make them with paint and stamps that the gentleman  in the photo made ( he was the artist that made the stamps)  but I painted the picture all by myself. 





These guys were so funny.  They kept chasing me and knocking each other down.



That was the end of my day at the Kimchi Fest.  I met a lot of nice people and had fun creating food and art.