By Karl
So in my previous post I indicated the adventurousness of eating in Korea. Up to that point, my lunches had been great. Until Monday.
I would never have thought that I would describe any Korean food as bland. Disgusting looking, maybe. But certainly not bland or tasteless. Monday's lunch was all of those things. Never have I been served anything that looked or tasted so unappetizing as I was served on Monday. I will do my best here to describe to you the slop I was forced to endure.
First of all, the rice was plain. No biggy. Rice generally is plain and it's only a pleasant surprise when it isn't. The rest of the meal goes downhill from there. The soup was some kind of shrimpy broth....I think. Shrimp was the closest thing to a flavor I could detect. The rest of the soup was kombu (that seaweed stuff) and a few small bits of potato. That's it. And there was way too much kombu. And it was over cooked. And not tastey. Moving on.
The side dishes were...actually I'm not sure I remember what the side dishes were. The whole damn meal was really so forgettable that I'm not sure what one of the sides was.
.....
Oh yes I do. It was that grey slop! Oh god what were they thinking!? OK, so here is this grey sludge (no kidding, think of the consistency of sludge and that's what this was) with pieces of rice cake in it. It's like Japanese mochi but firmer. I think it's called Tokbogi or something like that. Usually it's made spicy and delicious but instead, there it was in the sludge and the ONLY thing you could taste was ground black pepper! I like black pepper but if that's the only thing I want to taste I'll just pour it in my mouth. Why disguise it as something that should taste good but instead is suspended in grey goo?
I think the other side dish was just normal kimchi but it was very sour. I don't like it sour.
There was something else but I truly can't remember what it was. The main dish, though, is something that will haunt me for a while.
The color was the color of....of...well it was the color of Swamp Thing. In fact, now that I think about it, if Swamp Thing were hunted down, killed, and chopped up and made into a stew, I think that would be a close approximation of what the main dish was like. Swamp Thing might have more flavor, though. This stuff was just a pile of over cooked greens that were then stewed and finally simmered down to it's final state. As added insult they threw in little tiny shrimp which went through the same overcooking process. So instead of being crispy and pink and yummy, they were soft and pale and, frankly, quite disgusting. Their disgusting-ness was the strongest flavor in the whole dish and you could barely even taste that. I tried eating it with rice but it just ruined the rice.
I don't think I ate even half my lunch. I just couldn't do it. What's more, I noticed most of the adults did not finish their lunch or eat much of the Swamp Thing entrée. If the Koreans won't eat it, you know it's just plain wrong.
Yesterday's lunch was pretty good but it was today's lunch that really got me excited. They served chicken curry! Oh it was wonderful. The soup was a clear broth soup of inoki mushrooms with white and green onions and egg. Yummy! And there was this wonderful side dish of flat rice noodles with shredded carrots, cucumbers, and sesame leaves. It was served cold and tossed in a delicious vinegary, slightly spicy, red sauce. I didn't eat the radish (daikon) kimchi but I certainly devoured the watermelon! The whole lunch was great. In fact, it was also so filling that I couldn't make it through all the curry. I tried my best but I just couldn't bring myself to over do it. Today's lunch certainly more than made up for Monday.
I'm learning that lunch here is hit or miss. Kind of like classes, but more on that later.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Mistakes & Frustrations
by Jenn
When you move to any new place, whether it's within your home country or not, there are always a certain amount of frustrations you face as you adjust, and if you're anything like me, mistakes that you make. When I move to a new city in the U.S., I like to take a day or two just driving around to explore my new neighborhood or city. Here, being in a smaller city with no subway and limited bus service, we've explored our neighborhood completely on foot. We're still not sure what all is within a 1-mile radius of our complex because it takes so long, especially in this heat.
Yesterday, we had to pick up our alien registration cards from the immigration office (FINALLY. It should NOT have taken this long.) and since Karl's co-teacher was driving him there from school, I was left with the task of figuring out how to get there myself. A quick glance at the city map I have revealed that it would probably be a good 45-60 minute hike up there, and since it was pretty hot yesterday, I didn't really want to arrive all sweaty and red-faced because they might have gotten the wrong idea and denied me my documents. Not really, but I wanted to at least look normal upon arrival. I decided to hop a bus there and then walk back. After doing online research about bus routes that rivaled the amount of research I did for my last term paper in grad school, I determined which bus to take and where to catch it. I managed to get on the correct bus and realized I didn't know which stop to get off at, but this was no problem since the route looked like the bus would go right past the immigration office. Luckily it did, and I hopped off at the next stop. I walked to the immigration office, picked up my ARC and passport in less than a minute (very busy office) and then was faced with the task of figuring out how to get back. I started walking in the general direction of our apartment, but became less and less sure of myself he farther I went. Our city is not laid out in a grid pattern at all, which makes for a lot of interesting diagonal intersections and easily lost sense of direction. Having been blessed with no sense of direction to begin with, this is not a good thing for someone like me. But I kept walking and discovered a little shopping district I'd like to go back to. Then I started seeing some creepy "gentlemen's clubs" and picked up my pace a bit. Finally I saw a major intersection ahead. Great, I thought, I'll recognize something there for sure.
Well, I definitely recognized it. I was right back where I had started, about two blocks down from the immigration office on the same street. Still no issue, though. I had brought more than enough money for two bus fares, although sadly not enough money to check out some of the stores I found. I went right back to the bus stop where I had gotten off to wait for the same bus. The only thing was, there was only one bus an hour, and I don't have a watch. After what I'm guessing was about 30 minutes of waiting, I swore that I would have a watch within the week. I was so relieved to just sit down and finally be on the way back that I just relaxed and took in the sights of the city. Then I realized I didn't recognize where we were. All around us were fields and what looked like villages in the distance. I was positive I had gotten on a city bus, but where the hell was this thing going? Anyway, it would eventually loop around back to my original stop, right?
Wrong.
I found myself traveling through part of the US Air Force Base and onward to the airport, where I hopped off as if it had been my intention all along. It's a good thing I did, because the bus driver parked there. The airport itself was about the size of my parents' barn, and you could tell what a hopping place it was by the group of five taxi drivers lounging on benches, smoking. Thankfully one of them spoke some English, and he was able to convey to the others that I actually didn't want to go someplace on the base, but downtown rather. The downtown-designated driver hopped up and we started back towards town. Finally, I thought, I'm almost back. We can't be that far from the apartment. It had already been two hours since I left for the immigration office and I was ready for some lunch. Well, once again, I was wrong. The airport and the base are quite a ways out from downtown, and the driver had to take the highway to get back. I began to break out in a cold sweat in the backseat as I watched the meter climb at an alarming rate. I had thought that it wouldn't be an issue since taxi rides are so cheap-- usually it's just as cheap for Karl and I to take a cab to one of the big grocery stores we like as it is to take the bus. But taxi rates here are based on distance, not time, and the highway sure made it rise at a nerve-wracking rate. I had about 13,000 won on me, half of it in change, and I began to worry about how I would convey that I had to go up to my apartment to get more money for the poor driver when we arrived. We pulled into the parking lot and I practically shouted "OK OK!" to get him to stop. We came to a rest at 12, 560 won. Whew! I paid and apologized that it was in change, but he just smiled and said "kenchanayo" (it's all right) and didn't even count it! Then he handed me his business card, said thank you in the formal way and we said good-bye. What a nice guy!
Needless to say I pretty much collapsed as soon as I walked in the door. Good lord.
Meanwhile, Karl was facing his own trials. His schools had been withholding his settlement allowance and plane ticket reimbursement until he got his ARC, which seems completely unnecessary to me. They are also holding his June pay until the end of July, which I also think is bullshit. Well, even though he got his ARC, his co-teacher informed him that she wouldn't take him to the bank because the money wasn't ready and that she was just taking him home. She also announced that she had no idea when they would pay it.
I can kind of understand them holding mine since I haven't started work yet, but giving someone a settlement allowance 3 weeks after they arrive kind of defeats the "settlement" part of it, don't you think? We were both so angry yesterday, seeing as how we were told that we would both receive our ticket reimbursement and settlement allowances upon arrival. The whole reason we moved here is because we can't make enough money in the U.S., so it makes absolutely no sense to me that they just expect us to live off of-- what? our looks?-- for an unspecified amount of time. They also want to make us go to some workshop next week in a city an hour away from here and pay our own way. Karl would be reimbursed, but not me since I'm not working yet. But I "should go" anyway. That's a laugh. I have some ideas about what they should do, too.
Anyway, we brought money to get set up here, but that's it, which means we are quickly running out. Luckily our recruiter is stepping in after we sent a frantic e-mail to her yesterday evening. I am trusting and hoping that she will straighten it out today. I just don't understand what these people expect us to do. We're not here on vacation, even though by the title of our positions, "Guest English Teachers," you'd think we were. Maybe they think we are. I don't know. I am so angry about this and the whole thing is leaving a really sour taste in my mouth before I even start working here. I will probably make a bad impression by not attending this workshop next week, but I can't afford to go all the way over there on my own dime when they're withholding pay. It can't be helped.
If you're coming here to teach, you better be prepared to bring several thousand dollars in the event they try to pull this crap on you, too. Even though you're here to make money. And if you can afford to bring thousands of dollars, then why are you doing this in the first place?
When you move to any new place, whether it's within your home country or not, there are always a certain amount of frustrations you face as you adjust, and if you're anything like me, mistakes that you make. When I move to a new city in the U.S., I like to take a day or two just driving around to explore my new neighborhood or city. Here, being in a smaller city with no subway and limited bus service, we've explored our neighborhood completely on foot. We're still not sure what all is within a 1-mile radius of our complex because it takes so long, especially in this heat.
Yesterday, we had to pick up our alien registration cards from the immigration office (FINALLY. It should NOT have taken this long.) and since Karl's co-teacher was driving him there from school, I was left with the task of figuring out how to get there myself. A quick glance at the city map I have revealed that it would probably be a good 45-60 minute hike up there, and since it was pretty hot yesterday, I didn't really want to arrive all sweaty and red-faced because they might have gotten the wrong idea and denied me my documents. Not really, but I wanted to at least look normal upon arrival. I decided to hop a bus there and then walk back. After doing online research about bus routes that rivaled the amount of research I did for my last term paper in grad school, I determined which bus to take and where to catch it. I managed to get on the correct bus and realized I didn't know which stop to get off at, but this was no problem since the route looked like the bus would go right past the immigration office. Luckily it did, and I hopped off at the next stop. I walked to the immigration office, picked up my ARC and passport in less than a minute (very busy office) and then was faced with the task of figuring out how to get back. I started walking in the general direction of our apartment, but became less and less sure of myself he farther I went. Our city is not laid out in a grid pattern at all, which makes for a lot of interesting diagonal intersections and easily lost sense of direction. Having been blessed with no sense of direction to begin with, this is not a good thing for someone like me. But I kept walking and discovered a little shopping district I'd like to go back to. Then I started seeing some creepy "gentlemen's clubs" and picked up my pace a bit. Finally I saw a major intersection ahead. Great, I thought, I'll recognize something there for sure.
Well, I definitely recognized it. I was right back where I had started, about two blocks down from the immigration office on the same street. Still no issue, though. I had brought more than enough money for two bus fares, although sadly not enough money to check out some of the stores I found. I went right back to the bus stop where I had gotten off to wait for the same bus. The only thing was, there was only one bus an hour, and I don't have a watch. After what I'm guessing was about 30 minutes of waiting, I swore that I would have a watch within the week. I was so relieved to just sit down and finally be on the way back that I just relaxed and took in the sights of the city. Then I realized I didn't recognize where we were. All around us were fields and what looked like villages in the distance. I was positive I had gotten on a city bus, but where the hell was this thing going? Anyway, it would eventually loop around back to my original stop, right?
Wrong.
I found myself traveling through part of the US Air Force Base and onward to the airport, where I hopped off as if it had been my intention all along. It's a good thing I did, because the bus driver parked there. The airport itself was about the size of my parents' barn, and you could tell what a hopping place it was by the group of five taxi drivers lounging on benches, smoking. Thankfully one of them spoke some English, and he was able to convey to the others that I actually didn't want to go someplace on the base, but downtown rather. The downtown-designated driver hopped up and we started back towards town. Finally, I thought, I'm almost back. We can't be that far from the apartment. It had already been two hours since I left for the immigration office and I was ready for some lunch. Well, once again, I was wrong. The airport and the base are quite a ways out from downtown, and the driver had to take the highway to get back. I began to break out in a cold sweat in the backseat as I watched the meter climb at an alarming rate. I had thought that it wouldn't be an issue since taxi rides are so cheap-- usually it's just as cheap for Karl and I to take a cab to one of the big grocery stores we like as it is to take the bus. But taxi rates here are based on distance, not time, and the highway sure made it rise at a nerve-wracking rate. I had about 13,000 won on me, half of it in change, and I began to worry about how I would convey that I had to go up to my apartment to get more money for the poor driver when we arrived. We pulled into the parking lot and I practically shouted "OK OK!" to get him to stop. We came to a rest at 12, 560 won. Whew! I paid and apologized that it was in change, but he just smiled and said "kenchanayo" (it's all right) and didn't even count it! Then he handed me his business card, said thank you in the formal way and we said good-bye. What a nice guy!
Needless to say I pretty much collapsed as soon as I walked in the door. Good lord.
Meanwhile, Karl was facing his own trials. His schools had been withholding his settlement allowance and plane ticket reimbursement until he got his ARC, which seems completely unnecessary to me. They are also holding his June pay until the end of July, which I also think is bullshit. Well, even though he got his ARC, his co-teacher informed him that she wouldn't take him to the bank because the money wasn't ready and that she was just taking him home. She also announced that she had no idea when they would pay it.
I can kind of understand them holding mine since I haven't started work yet, but giving someone a settlement allowance 3 weeks after they arrive kind of defeats the "settlement" part of it, don't you think? We were both so angry yesterday, seeing as how we were told that we would both receive our ticket reimbursement and settlement allowances upon arrival. The whole reason we moved here is because we can't make enough money in the U.S., so it makes absolutely no sense to me that they just expect us to live off of-- what? our looks?-- for an unspecified amount of time. They also want to make us go to some workshop next week in a city an hour away from here and pay our own way. Karl would be reimbursed, but not me since I'm not working yet. But I "should go" anyway. That's a laugh. I have some ideas about what they should do, too.
Anyway, we brought money to get set up here, but that's it, which means we are quickly running out. Luckily our recruiter is stepping in after we sent a frantic e-mail to her yesterday evening. I am trusting and hoping that she will straighten it out today. I just don't understand what these people expect us to do. We're not here on vacation, even though by the title of our positions, "Guest English Teachers," you'd think we were. Maybe they think we are. I don't know. I am so angry about this and the whole thing is leaving a really sour taste in my mouth before I even start working here. I will probably make a bad impression by not attending this workshop next week, but I can't afford to go all the way over there on my own dime when they're withholding pay. It can't be helped.
If you're coming here to teach, you better be prepared to bring several thousand dollars in the event they try to pull this crap on you, too. Even though you're here to make money. And if you can afford to bring thousands of dollars, then why are you doing this in the first place?
Monday, June 28, 2010
Coffee shop hunting ~part II~
by Jenn
3rd time's a charm?
Yes yes, this is coffee shop hunting part 2, but this little gem above is actually the 3rd place we went to. Having decided to continue our search last night, we planned to stop at a fairly large chain, Angels In Us, that we've seen in Incheon, Daejeon, Jeonju... everywhere, really. There are several large coffee chains here in Korea, and Angels looked most inviting, particularly the location nearest our apartment. We stepped in, enticed by the shiny promotional posters in the windows, only to back out with our jaws agape. I'm all for atmosphere, and even paying a little extra for it from time to time, but 5,300 won for a coffee drink is outrageous to me. That's about $5 for you guys Stateside; in other words, about $1.50 more than the fanciest drink I used to order at Starbucks or Joe Mugg's when I happened to go there. No thanks!
So we decided to mosey on over to another part of our neighborhood where we thought we may have seen a coffee and gelato place. But by happy accident, on the way to it, we discovered Bean & Bean, which is definitely our new favorite coffee place/ hangout. The whole interior is done in dark wood, with plush deep red booths and 19th century British relics, including a huge wall of chintz cups and saucers- which they actually use to serve the hot drinks!
The place almost has the feel of an old train station or pub. It's wonderful! The menu board is all in English, which was quirky but convenient, and the prices were much better than Angels at around 4,200 won for the most expensive drink. I went for the iced cafe vienna, and Karl had an iced caramel macchiato. The barista even spoke a little English, which made us feel even better.
The quality of these pictures is admittedly terrible- my camera takes beautiful shots outside in the daylight, but it freaks out at night. Maybe it's afraid of the dark or something. I did what I could, but I'll take more pictures when we go back during the day. It's been so nice in the afternoons and evenings that we've been taking walks as it gets dark. Here's a neat shot of our building that I took coming home from Bean & Bean:
Ours is the one with the big window. Lovely, no?
Tomorrow we have to trek back to the immigration office to finally pick up our ARCs, hurrah! It's only been a week, but it feels like so much longer because we're prevented from doing so many things without one, like getting internet service and cell phones. I loathe the picture that will be on mine because they informed us the day we arrived here that they were taking us to get passport-size photos for the ARCs. Nice. Thanks for the warning, guys. I'm definitely still jet-lagging in mine and I need a shower, but other than that, nice. Anyway I'll just be relieved to have it. The number on it and the fact that I have it will definitely outweigh the nasty picture. Maybe I'll just put a Hello Kitty sticker over the photo part. That's it.
Glamour shot of us in front of our beloved Lotte Mart (think upscale Target):
I'm holding a bag of Skin Food brand products-- highly recommended! My skin started freaking out with the change in weather and lack of air conditioning here, so I decided to try switching to something local. I'm glad I did because it really seems to be working. I got a seaweed extract cleanser that guarantees to leave your skin squeaky clean, and I'd say it lives up to its word. The other one I got is an exfoliant scrub, which sounded really nice, "black sugar scrub," but which turned out to be for men. So now I smell a little manly after I wash up in the morning, but I can deal with it since it makes my skin so smooth. But the best part in my opinion about this brand is the free samples that come with it! I only bought those two things and they gave me five awesome samples! You have to spend something like $100 at Sephora to even get their samples, but this stuff they just freely hand out. They even had some samples sitting around the display in the store. Love it!
Tama is getting big so fast, and more hyper each day. He's also gotten a little picky about his food- he only wants to eat the imported American brand wet food, not the dry food. Who'd have thought such a kitten would be finicky? It's amazing to think how sick he was just over a week ago. These days I get my exercise in by playing chase with him!
3rd time's a charm?
Yes yes, this is coffee shop hunting part 2, but this little gem above is actually the 3rd place we went to. Having decided to continue our search last night, we planned to stop at a fairly large chain, Angels In Us, that we've seen in Incheon, Daejeon, Jeonju... everywhere, really. There are several large coffee chains here in Korea, and Angels looked most inviting, particularly the location nearest our apartment. We stepped in, enticed by the shiny promotional posters in the windows, only to back out with our jaws agape. I'm all for atmosphere, and even paying a little extra for it from time to time, but 5,300 won for a coffee drink is outrageous to me. That's about $5 for you guys Stateside; in other words, about $1.50 more than the fanciest drink I used to order at Starbucks or Joe Mugg's when I happened to go there. No thanks!
So we decided to mosey on over to another part of our neighborhood where we thought we may have seen a coffee and gelato place. But by happy accident, on the way to it, we discovered Bean & Bean, which is definitely our new favorite coffee place/ hangout. The whole interior is done in dark wood, with plush deep red booths and 19th century British relics, including a huge wall of chintz cups and saucers- which they actually use to serve the hot drinks!
The place almost has the feel of an old train station or pub. It's wonderful! The menu board is all in English, which was quirky but convenient, and the prices were much better than Angels at around 4,200 won for the most expensive drink. I went for the iced cafe vienna, and Karl had an iced caramel macchiato. The barista even spoke a little English, which made us feel even better.
The quality of these pictures is admittedly terrible- my camera takes beautiful shots outside in the daylight, but it freaks out at night. Maybe it's afraid of the dark or something. I did what I could, but I'll take more pictures when we go back during the day. It's been so nice in the afternoons and evenings that we've been taking walks as it gets dark. Here's a neat shot of our building that I took coming home from Bean & Bean:
Ours is the one with the big window. Lovely, no?
Tomorrow we have to trek back to the immigration office to finally pick up our ARCs, hurrah! It's only been a week, but it feels like so much longer because we're prevented from doing so many things without one, like getting internet service and cell phones. I loathe the picture that will be on mine because they informed us the day we arrived here that they were taking us to get passport-size photos for the ARCs. Nice. Thanks for the warning, guys. I'm definitely still jet-lagging in mine and I need a shower, but other than that, nice. Anyway I'll just be relieved to have it. The number on it and the fact that I have it will definitely outweigh the nasty picture. Maybe I'll just put a Hello Kitty sticker over the photo part. That's it.
Glamour shot of us in front of our beloved Lotte Mart (think upscale Target):
I'm holding a bag of Skin Food brand products-- highly recommended! My skin started freaking out with the change in weather and lack of air conditioning here, so I decided to try switching to something local. I'm glad I did because it really seems to be working. I got a seaweed extract cleanser that guarantees to leave your skin squeaky clean, and I'd say it lives up to its word. The other one I got is an exfoliant scrub, which sounded really nice, "black sugar scrub," but which turned out to be for men. So now I smell a little manly after I wash up in the morning, but I can deal with it since it makes my skin so smooth. But the best part in my opinion about this brand is the free samples that come with it! I only bought those two things and they gave me five awesome samples! You have to spend something like $100 at Sephora to even get their samples, but this stuff they just freely hand out. They even had some samples sitting around the display in the store. Love it!
Tama is getting big so fast, and more hyper each day. He's also gotten a little picky about his food- he only wants to eat the imported American brand wet food, not the dry food. Who'd have thought such a kitten would be finicky? It's amazing to think how sick he was just over a week ago. These days I get my exercise in by playing chase with him!
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Grey Milk - Day to Day Culinary Adventures
By Karl
Of course, one of the major adjustments with moving to any new country is going to be the food. Unless you move to Canada. Or maybe you wouldn't have so many issues if you moved to England or Ireland either. France might not be an issue. Italy wouldn't be too hard to adjust to. Who doesn't like pasta, right? Australia and New Zealand would be easy as long as you don't eat the vegemite - unless you like vegemite.
In any case, moving to an Asian country can present a problem as you're more or less forced to adjust to a whole new kind of regular diet. That's not to say that western foods can't be found. It's just expensive and sometimes difficult to maintain a sense of dietary normalcy. The best thing to do is - well really you just shouldn't go anywhere if you can't stand the food - but you're best off trying to make the adjustment gradually. Mix it up a bit. Pancakes for breakfast, bibimbap for lunch, and them maybe some asian-style italian for dinner. Then try adding more native foods to the diet until your body no longer hates you for messing up the works. But always temper your adjustment with foods you're familiar with. Not only will you feel better physically but also emotionally since you'll be able to turn to some of these homely comfort foods when you're feeling totally foreign and lost.
This is my advice to anyone moving to Asia. That, and be adventurous!
There is no way you're ever going to adjust unless you have a sense of adventure. Try new foods! Half the time I'm eating stuff I have NO idea what it is. Well, ok, I know what rice is when I see it. And I can tell if a dish has carrots or potatoes or if it's fish or pork or chicken. Sure. But most Korean dishes are a hodgepodge of ingredients stewed together in a red sauce of some level of spiciness. And they're generally delicious. Take my school lunches for example.
Both of my schools serve something different every day. As a teacher, I get to cut in line, which is curiously satisfying as an adult since I remember all those times as a child when some bully would shove in front of me because his bully-friend would allow him to "back-cut" or some crap like that. You get chopsticks and a spoon and a metal tray with five bowls in it - three small and two large (I'll post some pics when I get a chance to shoot a few in the lunch rooms). As with all Korean meals, you get side dishes with the main meal. Generally lunch will be a serving of rice (in the big bowl on the left) and soup (in the big bowl on the right or sometimes in a separate metal bowl - depending on the side dishes). You get three side dishes (one of them is always some kind of kimchi) and a sweet dessert like side. The lunch ladies are pros at portion control. The smaller children get much smaller helpings, the 4th, 5th, and 6t graders get moderate helpings of everything, and teachers get adult sized servings. Somehow or another, thought, they've gotten the idea that as a foreign male I somehow require extra everything to sustain my enormousness or something. I've already gotten used to turning down the extra heaping spoonful of rice they try to give me. I appreciate the hospitality but, come on!, I'm not even that big compared to your average Korean male.
Since I have no photos to share, yet, I'll try my best to describe one of my recent lunches. The rice served was a mixture of white rice, some brown rice, and some rice that made the whole thing purple. So it was purple rice pilaf, I guess. The soup was a chicken and vegetable soup. Very basic. Chicken drumsticks served in a plain broth with carrots, potatoes, onions, shitake mushrooms, and seaweed called kombu (at least this is what it's called in Japanese). There was a side of cucumber kimchi, a small side of vegetables with korean style spicy red sauce with bits of pork, and a side of mixed greens which were also mixed with another korean style spicy red sauce - but slightly bitter. The "dessert" was a kind of bread pudding baked into a little paper cup (like a shot glass sized cup) that had bits of some kind of sweet fruit in it. To me, this whole lunch was absolutely delicious! The bread pudding was an absolute bonus. I just about squealed with joy when I saw it. I nearly cried tears of happiness when I ate it.
So everyday school lunch is something of a culinary adventure. The only problem is that since I don't know what any of the dishes are called (and when I ask and they tell me I can't remember the names anyway) I have no idea how to find these dishes at a restaurant. Other adventures include day to day grocery shopping. As I said, finding western products isn't too hard but it is more expensive than buying native brands. The problem comes when trying to find a suitable substitute for a western product. Since I am slightly lactose intolerant I'm having to buy native soy milk. It's going to be a trial and error process until I find one that is closest to the soy milk products I preferred in the U.S. (such as Silk or even the Publix brand Greenwise). So far the soy milk hasn't been too bad. I've found sweetened varieties that aren't as bland but they all have a slightly stronger soy taste which isn't so great for putting in coffee or tea. So when I saw something different on sale I decided, why not give it a try.
I was curious as to why this particular carton of soy milk was black. It had also come with a smaller carton of coffee as a promo (which was delicious!). This and the fact that it was on sale was enough for me to give it a try. I now know that the reason for the black carton is because the milk comes from black soy beans. And when you squeeze milk from black soy beans you get....
Of course, one of the major adjustments with moving to any new country is going to be the food. Unless you move to Canada. Or maybe you wouldn't have so many issues if you moved to England or Ireland either. France might not be an issue. Italy wouldn't be too hard to adjust to. Who doesn't like pasta, right? Australia and New Zealand would be easy as long as you don't eat the vegemite - unless you like vegemite.
In any case, moving to an Asian country can present a problem as you're more or less forced to adjust to a whole new kind of regular diet. That's not to say that western foods can't be found. It's just expensive and sometimes difficult to maintain a sense of dietary normalcy. The best thing to do is - well really you just shouldn't go anywhere if you can't stand the food - but you're best off trying to make the adjustment gradually. Mix it up a bit. Pancakes for breakfast, bibimbap for lunch, and them maybe some asian-style italian for dinner. Then try adding more native foods to the diet until your body no longer hates you for messing up the works. But always temper your adjustment with foods you're familiar with. Not only will you feel better physically but also emotionally since you'll be able to turn to some of these homely comfort foods when you're feeling totally foreign and lost.
This is my advice to anyone moving to Asia. That, and be adventurous!
There is no way you're ever going to adjust unless you have a sense of adventure. Try new foods! Half the time I'm eating stuff I have NO idea what it is. Well, ok, I know what rice is when I see it. And I can tell if a dish has carrots or potatoes or if it's fish or pork or chicken. Sure. But most Korean dishes are a hodgepodge of ingredients stewed together in a red sauce of some level of spiciness. And they're generally delicious. Take my school lunches for example.
Both of my schools serve something different every day. As a teacher, I get to cut in line, which is curiously satisfying as an adult since I remember all those times as a child when some bully would shove in front of me because his bully-friend would allow him to "back-cut" or some crap like that. You get chopsticks and a spoon and a metal tray with five bowls in it - three small and two large (I'll post some pics when I get a chance to shoot a few in the lunch rooms). As with all Korean meals, you get side dishes with the main meal. Generally lunch will be a serving of rice (in the big bowl on the left) and soup (in the big bowl on the right or sometimes in a separate metal bowl - depending on the side dishes). You get three side dishes (one of them is always some kind of kimchi) and a sweet dessert like side. The lunch ladies are pros at portion control. The smaller children get much smaller helpings, the 4th, 5th, and 6t graders get moderate helpings of everything, and teachers get adult sized servings. Somehow or another, thought, they've gotten the idea that as a foreign male I somehow require extra everything to sustain my enormousness or something. I've already gotten used to turning down the extra heaping spoonful of rice they try to give me. I appreciate the hospitality but, come on!, I'm not even that big compared to your average Korean male.
Since I have no photos to share, yet, I'll try my best to describe one of my recent lunches. The rice served was a mixture of white rice, some brown rice, and some rice that made the whole thing purple. So it was purple rice pilaf, I guess. The soup was a chicken and vegetable soup. Very basic. Chicken drumsticks served in a plain broth with carrots, potatoes, onions, shitake mushrooms, and seaweed called kombu (at least this is what it's called in Japanese). There was a side of cucumber kimchi, a small side of vegetables with korean style spicy red sauce with bits of pork, and a side of mixed greens which were also mixed with another korean style spicy red sauce - but slightly bitter. The "dessert" was a kind of bread pudding baked into a little paper cup (like a shot glass sized cup) that had bits of some kind of sweet fruit in it. To me, this whole lunch was absolutely delicious! The bread pudding was an absolute bonus. I just about squealed with joy when I saw it. I nearly cried tears of happiness when I ate it.
So everyday school lunch is something of a culinary adventure. The only problem is that since I don't know what any of the dishes are called (and when I ask and they tell me I can't remember the names anyway) I have no idea how to find these dishes at a restaurant. Other adventures include day to day grocery shopping. As I said, finding western products isn't too hard but it is more expensive than buying native brands. The problem comes when trying to find a suitable substitute for a western product. Since I am slightly lactose intolerant I'm having to buy native soy milk. It's going to be a trial and error process until I find one that is closest to the soy milk products I preferred in the U.S. (such as Silk or even the Publix brand Greenwise). So far the soy milk hasn't been too bad. I've found sweetened varieties that aren't as bland but they all have a slightly stronger soy taste which isn't so great for putting in coffee or tea. So when I saw something different on sale I decided, why not give it a try.
I was curious as to why this particular carton of soy milk was black. It had also come with a smaller carton of coffee as a promo (which was delicious!). This and the fact that it was on sale was enough for me to give it a try. I now know that the reason for the black carton is because the milk comes from black soy beans. And when you squeeze milk from black soy beans you get....
Grey Milk
Yeah. Grey milk. It's not just the quality of the photo, it's grey milk. While the grey variety of soy milk does taste much like the regular milkish-beige colored variety, there is something unsettling about ones cereal floating in a thickish grey substance. I don't think I'll be buying anymore black cartons of soy milk again.
One product that Jenn and I have found may seem some what off the wall at first but is something that the U.S. needs.
Walnut Ice Cream!
It's a delicious ice cream bar of walnut flavored ice cream with walnut pieces in it. It almost tastes like the walnut and maple fudge you can buy at... well at places that sell such fudge. It has quickly become one of our favorite ice creams here. Actually, I think Jenn or I will have to write an ice cream post one of these days. Asians seem much more creative when it comes to ice cream flavors - some good, some bad. But I think that's another adventure for another day.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Coffee shop hunting
by Jenn
It seems like there is a coffee shop on every other corner in our city. Being coffee and coffee house lovers, Karl and I have decided to start trying different ones so we can find the best cup of coffee for the price, and a good place to hang out. We tried out first one last night in a shopping area of our city, which happened to be a NesCafe Cafe. Yep, NesCafe as in instant Nestle coffee, the kind that comes in big clear plastic canisters. But trust me, this tasted nothing like that. Karl ordered a cafe Vienna and I got an iced cafe mocha. They were both delicious! The only downsides were the price-- 3,500 for Karl's and 4,800 for mine, prices which are printed nowhere on the wall menu, not cool-- and the fact that we accidentally ended up sitting in the smoking section. We just wanted the more comfortable seats with the better view :( I think the smoking section should have the worst view and the worst seating as a way to punish those jerks who feel it necessary to pollute the air I'm trying to breathe when I sip my coffee. I wonder if there are coffee houses that don't allow smoking? There are some restaurants around here that look like they're strictly no-smoking.
This little trinket machine was on our table. Ladies, if you're tired of hinting, just shove this thing towards your guy and make him read the fine print here. You'll have a plastic piece of crap ring on your finger in no time! Nothing like a proposal with a 1000-won toy, huh?
Now for a daily dose of cuteness!
Tama emerging from under the bed, getting ready to chase me through the living room. He's discovered how to play "chase," and it's all he wants to do now! Except one thing...
And that would be falling asleep in Karl's hand.
It seems like there is a coffee shop on every other corner in our city. Being coffee and coffee house lovers, Karl and I have decided to start trying different ones so we can find the best cup of coffee for the price, and a good place to hang out. We tried out first one last night in a shopping area of our city, which happened to be a NesCafe Cafe. Yep, NesCafe as in instant Nestle coffee, the kind that comes in big clear plastic canisters. But trust me, this tasted nothing like that. Karl ordered a cafe Vienna and I got an iced cafe mocha. They were both delicious! The only downsides were the price-- 3,500 for Karl's and 4,800 for mine, prices which are printed nowhere on the wall menu, not cool-- and the fact that we accidentally ended up sitting in the smoking section. We just wanted the more comfortable seats with the better view :( I think the smoking section should have the worst view and the worst seating as a way to punish those jerks who feel it necessary to pollute the air I'm trying to breathe when I sip my coffee. I wonder if there are coffee houses that don't allow smoking? There are some restaurants around here that look like they're strictly no-smoking.
This little trinket machine was on our table. Ladies, if you're tired of hinting, just shove this thing towards your guy and make him read the fine print here. You'll have a plastic piece of crap ring on your finger in no time! Nothing like a proposal with a 1000-won toy, huh?
Now for a daily dose of cuteness!
Tama emerging from under the bed, getting ready to chase me through the living room. He's discovered how to play "chase," and it's all he wants to do now! Except one thing...
And that would be falling asleep in Karl's hand.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Korean Kittle Love
by Jenn
As Karl mentioned in the last post, we got a kitten. We decided to do some volunteer work through Animal Rescue Korea (which is a great organization, if anyone reading this is interested) and since I still have a few weeks until my contract begins, I volunteered to be a foster. Over in Daejeon, which is between one and a half and two hours away from here by bus, the shelter is overflowing with kittens. I suspect the recent influx is because of the time of year it is now. The shelter there tries hard to be no-kill which is excellent, but they also don't limit the number of animals they take in, and unfortunately due to that and lack of volunteer manpower, many of the animals there die anyway. Now, we had a little fiasco with the train schedule the day we had set up a meeting to take a foster kitten-- we got to the station and it was closed, boarded up, and there were gates over the train tracks! Little did we know, and were not to discover until many days later, there is another station in our city (I use the word "in" loosely here) way over on the west side, probably 1 km from downtown. So anyway, we hopped a bus and since we were late, another ARK volunteer picked up a kitten for us and handed him off to us at a subway stop in Daejeon.
The kitten she picked for us was a little sick, which is not unusual given the conditions of the shelter, so we immediately went to a vet that she was familiar with. The name of it is Africa and it's in central Daejeon near the Lotte department store-- I highly recommend it. They give a big discount for adopted animals, you just have to show proof of adoption from a shelter. The vet also speaks enough English to answer questions and give you instructions about medication and the animal's needs. Even better than that, in my mind, was the cost of services. For our kitten's check-up, lab work, medication, and an injection to fight parasites, it came to 18,000 won. That's it!! In the U.S. I know it would be at least 3 times that.
He's now on his last day of medication and he is acting like a normal kitten and even starting to fatten up. I'm so happy we could help this little guy :3His name is Tama!
Isn't he cute?!
We're settling into a routine of daily life now. Grocery shopping still presents some challenges, but not always in the way you'd think-- for example, I love how many samples they give out at the stores on the weekend, but sometimes the samples aren't what they seem to be. What I thought was fruit juice turned out to be pomegranate flavored vinegar. Needless to say I hightailed it over to the coffee samples after that-- thank goodness it was actually coffee! Here are a couple of other curiosities that are easy to find and are growing on us. First up, gum flavored like coffee & ice cream. Together. Yep. As gross as it sounds, it's actually not too bad. This ID (I'm Different) brand seems to have a variety of flavors. I want to try more!
Next is the little yellow melons that are in season right now. These things are everywhere! Seriously, there was even a guy who just pulled his truck over on the side of the road around the corner from us and set up shop right there. They're also the big thing at the grocery stores- picture baskets of these things rotating on a conveyor belt and men with microphones announcing their deliciousness. Naturally I had to try some. They're very tasty and a good alternative to watermelons, which will leave a 16,000 won hole in your wallet.
I might slice on of these up to go with lunch. Yum!
Sunday, June 20, 2010
My first adventure in Korean Education
By Karl
Last week on Tuesday I started my new job as an English teacher (using the term loosely here). I'll skip my own initial confusion and set some things straight right now.
I have three co-teachers. At Dong Elementary School my co-teacher is Miss A. At Gyeong Po Elementary School my co-teachers are Miss B and Miss C. I teach - rephrase that - I work at Dong Elementary Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays and on Thursdays and Fridays I go to Gyeong Po. At Gyeong Po, I work one week with Miss C and the next with Miss B and alternate accordingly each week. All three teachers teach different grades. Miss A teaches 4th, 5th, and 6th. Miss B teaches 3rd and 5th. Miss C teaches 4th and 6th. On Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays I have five classes. On Wednesdays I only have three. All the classes are 40 minutes long. So the day generally runs four classes, lunch/recess, then one more class. Everyday, though, I'm expected to be at school by 8:30am and I'm expected to stay until 4:30pm (although I'll skip out early to catch my bus). So between 8:30am and 4:30pm, anything that isn't class or lunch is desk time.
Still with me? Great.
So what is it that I'm actually doing? I'm still working that out for myself.
So far my experiences at Dong elementary and Gyeong Po have been pretty much the same in general, but the specifics are really different (don't try to make sense of that just follow along). At Dong, Yeon-woo introduced me to the staff. This consisted of me stepping into a teacher's meeting in the morning, introducing myself, shaking hands with the principal, smiling politely while everyone chattered on in Korean, and then left. Took all of three minutes. At this point, I was introduced to my office. I kid you not. In the back corner of the room I've got a full sized desk, computer, desk lamp, drawers that lock, and a little cubicle wall behind me to shield me from the small terrors scampering around the school grounds. No door though, so really there's no protection at all. But it is my space and it's cool. I could do yoga in here, there's that much room. I don't do yoga, of course. I sit and read and go on-line. Like right now. How'd you think I was posting this?
When class started I began the routine of sitting off to the side of the class waiting for Yeon-woo to get started. I'd then introduce myself, help them get my name right, and then answer the handful of questions they might have. They usually only asked "How old are you," "Where are you from," and maybe throw in a "Do you speak Korean" or "Do you like Kimchi?" In most cases I only stood up there for maybe three minutes. This is in stark contrast to my Q&A sessions at Gyeong Po. Once class got going, Yeon-woo would ask me to assist her in correcting students pronunciation by reading aloud a particular word or sentence. That was the extent of my participation and it was much the same today as I met the 6th graders for the first time. Although, I did help a little more during class activities today when they had to write sentences stating their parents' occupations.
At Dong Elementary School everyone has been really nice and the work has been easy, if not a bit boring. Gyeong Po, however, has not been what one might consider boring.
I was first shown around on a Wednesday by a Mrs. Shin, a teacher at Gyeong Po. We first met when Jenn and I arrived here in Gunsan and I was sort of led to believe she was my other co-teacher. Nope. She introduced me first to the Principal and then the Vice Principal. She then showed me to the third floor English classrooms where I met Miss B and Miss C. No teacher's meeting introduction necessary. The next day, last Thursday, I started with Miss C and met her first class.
The class sizes at both schools are about the same, roughly 30 kids a class. At Dong, this means each class has 30 normal, everyday 4th, 5th, or 6th graders. At Gyeong Po, in that first class that I met on Thursday, it seemed like I was in a school where every class was filled with 30 or so kids coked up on pixie sticks. These were not classes where I would sit idly to the side while the real teacher taught after I did a three minute introduction. These were marathon Q&A sessions with the kids excitedly asking questions until the final bell (mostly in order to avoid any real school work). And if they did indeed happen to run out of questions I was still involved with class. All the while their blood coursed with sugar and excitement.
This is not to say that they were misbehaving. On the contrary. They were all very attentive and well behaved. They were just all well behaved and attentive in a loud and excited sort of way. Everyone wanted to ask more questions or participate in the lessons. They got especially noisy in the 4th grade classes when we got to the part where I had to draw the face of someone in the class on the board and they then guessed who it was. Whoever guessed correctly would then come up to the board, draw a face, and the game continued until the class bell. The 6th graders were not quite as loud but they were no less excitable and again, I was bombarded with questions. If any student wanted to ask me something but didn't know how in English, they would ask Miss C who would translate for them. I did this for five classes on Thursday and five more on Friday. It was fun, to be sure, but I did leave school with quite a headache.
Luckily it wasn't so overwhelming that I was ready to bolt. There were periods of down time when I could talk to Miss C and Miss B (when she popped over from her class next door). They've been helpful in figuring things out such as bus schedules, how to get to (insert place here), and pretty much any other question I had. They didn't always have the answer but they tried earnestly to do their best to find it. Even if it meant sending an IM to all the other teachers to try and find good cheap furniture.
All in all last week was good. Completely exhausting, but good. The differences between the two schools will take some time getting used to. I feel much more a part of the class at Gyeong Po. Whereas here at Dong, I'm either observing the class or at my desk (I have no desk at Gyeong Po, just an office chair). I know that coming in during the last six weeks doesn't really make it easy for me to just slide into place. I'm sure things will only get better. At Dong, I've now met all the classes. No more intros. I hope this well mean I start becoming a part of the class, rather than just sitting apart from it. At Gyeong Po, this week I work with Miss B. This means two more days of intros. And she teaches 3rd graders. All of them will be coked up on pixie sticks, I'm sure.
Oh, and on Saturday Jenn and I brought home a kitten.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
More apartment photos
by Jenn
Let's start with a picture of our bed today. It's OK, you don't have to be nice; I know it's hideous. Bedding sets are ridiculously expensive and ridiculously covered in huge flowery designs. Like, all of them. I got this one at a really great price as a set (minus the two smaller pillows) at one of the traditional city markets with a Korean friend. She haggled the vendor down to about $45 USD for the whole set, so I took it. I bought the smaller pillows later because the others were just too high and firm for us. The new smaller ones are filled with fake buckwheat, like the Japanese pillows that we love. But going with the fake filling = cheap!
The sliding window next to the bed goes out onto the laundry-drying portion of the front balcony.
Next, the beautiful wardrobes that line the far wall of the master bedroom. I love them!
Here's a better view of the balcony and living room from the kitchen. I think you can tell what's what better in this one.
This one is very similar, but you can see the doors to a bedroom, the bathroom, and the master bedroom here.
Here's a shot taken from the front balcony, where I hang out most of the time. Check out the yellow towel-- this is not a dish towel, it's a bath towel. Really. It only covers, well, nothing really. I'm going to search the water sports sections in stores for beach towels, because I like to wrap myself up like a piece of sushi when I step out of the shower.
And lastly for today, our meager supply of groceries so far. The loaf of bread is huge and tasty and was only 1,400 won! Oh, and I definitely bought that huge can of pineapple and no can opener. Yep. Good thing I'm teaching English and not life skills!
Let's start with a picture of our bed today. It's OK, you don't have to be nice; I know it's hideous. Bedding sets are ridiculously expensive and ridiculously covered in huge flowery designs. Like, all of them. I got this one at a really great price as a set (minus the two smaller pillows) at one of the traditional city markets with a Korean friend. She haggled the vendor down to about $45 USD for the whole set, so I took it. I bought the smaller pillows later because the others were just too high and firm for us. The new smaller ones are filled with fake buckwheat, like the Japanese pillows that we love. But going with the fake filling = cheap!
The sliding window next to the bed goes out onto the laundry-drying portion of the front balcony.
Next, the beautiful wardrobes that line the far wall of the master bedroom. I love them!
Here's a better view of the balcony and living room from the kitchen. I think you can tell what's what better in this one.
This one is very similar, but you can see the doors to a bedroom, the bathroom, and the master bedroom here.
Here's a shot taken from the front balcony, where I hang out most of the time. Check out the yellow towel-- this is not a dish towel, it's a bath towel. Really. It only covers, well, nothing really. I'm going to search the water sports sections in stores for beach towels, because I like to wrap myself up like a piece of sushi when I step out of the shower.
And lastly for today, our meager supply of groceries so far. The loaf of bread is huge and tasty and was only 1,400 won! Oh, and I definitely bought that huge can of pineapple and no can opener. Yep. Good thing I'm teaching English and not life skills!
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Moving in
by Jenn
We finally made it to our city, Gunsan, 2 1/2 days after we arrived in SK. Then we had another day before we could move into our apartment, but we are finally here! I think it was worth the wait because this apartment is wonderful-- maybe the nicest one we've ever lived in. It's on the 10th floor in a 20-story high rise building, which makes for some cool views of the city (small though it may be). We have three bedrooms and one bathroom with a huge tub (bigger than our old one stateside!), two balconies with screen and glass doors that run each side of the length of the apartment, a large kitchen area, and three beautiful heavy wood wardrobes in the master bedroom. K's school is providing our furniture, and we moved the table and chairs out onto one of the balconies, which is where I'm sitting now. There's such a nice cross breeze that there's no need to even buy a fan, let alone an air conditioner, even though I was melting when I walked to the store earlier today.
Our apartment is still quite empty. Our refrigerator, washer, and TV are due to arrive tomorrow or Friday. Hopefully that will make it look slightly more lived-in, but I can't help but feel that this is a lot of apartment to come to empty-handed! One of the other apartments we viewed before choosing this one was a huge four-bedroom, two-bathroom palace on like the 14th floor of a brand-new high rise. Well, of course I would have loved that one, but utilities probably would have cost an arm and a leg, and probably 80% of the place would have had to remain empty. So far I'm really content at this place. We're going to ask some of our new acquaintances about a second-hand furniture store that they mentioned that apparently does free delivery, which is definitely a plus for us-- I want a desk and a couch, but not so badly that I'm going to drag it across town on the sidewalk!
Well, I'll stop yakking now and post what you really came here for: pictures!! Here's our spacious but empty place:
Karl still unpacking while I'm playing with the camera
Same thing, different angle :P
Kitchen and kitchen/laundry balcony
Yes, I know it's messy, gimme a break! We're still unpacking! Focus on the big deep tub instead!
I'm not sure about letting this guy in. Would you? ;)
And now on to two of our views from the balconies. We have others too (jealous?) but they're not very impressive (or maybe I'm just saying that so you don't have a jealous fit of rage. yeah, that's it...)
Not bad, huh?
We finally made it to our city, Gunsan, 2 1/2 days after we arrived in SK. Then we had another day before we could move into our apartment, but we are finally here! I think it was worth the wait because this apartment is wonderful-- maybe the nicest one we've ever lived in. It's on the 10th floor in a 20-story high rise building, which makes for some cool views of the city (small though it may be). We have three bedrooms and one bathroom with a huge tub (bigger than our old one stateside!), two balconies with screen and glass doors that run each side of the length of the apartment, a large kitchen area, and three beautiful heavy wood wardrobes in the master bedroom. K's school is providing our furniture, and we moved the table and chairs out onto one of the balconies, which is where I'm sitting now. There's such a nice cross breeze that there's no need to even buy a fan, let alone an air conditioner, even though I was melting when I walked to the store earlier today.
Our apartment is still quite empty. Our refrigerator, washer, and TV are due to arrive tomorrow or Friday. Hopefully that will make it look slightly more lived-in, but I can't help but feel that this is a lot of apartment to come to empty-handed! One of the other apartments we viewed before choosing this one was a huge four-bedroom, two-bathroom palace on like the 14th floor of a brand-new high rise. Well, of course I would have loved that one, but utilities probably would have cost an arm and a leg, and probably 80% of the place would have had to remain empty. So far I'm really content at this place. We're going to ask some of our new acquaintances about a second-hand furniture store that they mentioned that apparently does free delivery, which is definitely a plus for us-- I want a desk and a couch, but not so badly that I'm going to drag it across town on the sidewalk!
Well, I'll stop yakking now and post what you really came here for: pictures!! Here's our spacious but empty place:
And now on to two of our views from the balconies. We have others too (jealous?) but they're not very impressive (or maybe I'm just saying that so you don't have a jealous fit of rage. yeah, that's it...)
Not bad, huh?
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Welcome to Korea!
We arrived safely in Korea two days ago now. It's proving to take a while to get to our city, Gunsan, as we are still not there yet. We should be there this afternoon, however. In the meantime, we've gotten to see a big chunk of the country already-- parts of Incheon, Seoul, Jeonju, and some places in between.
From top left: graffiti in Jeonju, more graffiti in Jeonju, sidewalk area in historical part of Jeonju
Bottom, clockwise from top left: traditional house in Jeonju, market vendors in the early morning in Jeonju, cathedral in Jeonju, overlooking part of the produce market in Jeonju
From top: Star Garden at Incheon Airport, quick snack at Tokyo Narita, Mini Cooper parked at Incheon Airport
Bottom, clockwise from top left: traditional house in Jeonju, market vendors in the early morning in Jeonju, cathedral in Jeonju, overlooking part of the produce market in Jeonju
From top: Star Garden at Incheon Airport, quick snack at Tokyo Narita, Mini Cooper parked at Incheon Airport
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