My First Co-workers dinner :)

1. I just wanted to make a correction on my previous post. Apparently I had the definition of hachima wrong? I still have to clarify a few things but I think i had it wrong lol. So confusing. 2. I had a great night last. I went to dinner with all my co-workers. I usually get off work at 9 but tonight I waited around till 10:30 for us all to go to dinner. We went to a chicken place by the school... actually the first place i ever went to in Korea (this was where the director greeted me). There were about 10 of us total and the owner of the school, Dreamon came as well. I've only met him once for about 2 minutes so it was nice chatting with him. Dinner started with cabbage salad, and like pickled raddish shut, and another little salad. They put the plate in the middle of the table for everyone to share. I don't think double dipping exists here ... YES! We ordered a couple different chicken dishes for just everyone to share (and when I say we, I just mean them lol). The picture on the right, I believe, is chicken large intestine. They said 'try this. It's good. Careful it's spicy" I ate a bite "it's a little bit squishy. What is it?" After much Korean talking trying to find the name of it, someone finally tells me "it is large intestine... you know the shit part area" lol. WHAT?! It's mixed in with potatoes so needlesss to say on THAT plate, I just ate potatos. No large intestine for me. The rest of the chicken was normal and tasted very good :) I really had a great time. This dinner was hosted for a couple reasons, 1. to welcome me, 2. to welcome a new korean teacher, 3. because winter camp is over... the Korean teachers no longer have class in the morning. So this other picture on the right is of me and Dreamon, the owner of my school. He was HILARIOUS! Cracking jokes right and left, asking me advice about what to do with one of his other teachers at another location (who am I to tell him what to do/not do with trouble teachers lol). Even after a couple shots of Soju and glasses of beer, he was the life of the party. There was a lot of conversation between me and everyone else about korean cultural differences and life stories. Everyone was laughing and having a really good time :) I was told that they couldn't have asked for a better foreign teacher and they hope the new teacher coming in is like me. Awwww :) They said they really admire the fact that I do not judge any of them and I am interested in their culture and want to try different things. A lot of Americans do not adjust well. One of the teachers, Joann (pic of us on the left), told me that I should call her sister...Unie (like undie without the d). I was told my by director to call him... Opa ... brother (Ho is the guy on the pink cell on the pic in the upper left). This is very common in the work place but it definitely made me feel accepted. Ho, my director, asked if I had ever had Soju... no i have not. So he got like 3 bottles. I really had never had it before. Everyone was drinking it out of a shot glass but some people were shooting it and others sipping. I was told for my first time, I had to shoot it. So I did. It was surprisingly not as bad as I thought. I was expecting it to be like vodka. Well it tasted a little bit similar but without the strong horrible aftertaste. Ho made me pose like this (pic on the right) but I'm still not a big enough drinker to chug a bottle!! lol. Over all a very good first soju exerience. Seemed like they would 'cheers' every time they drank it. In Korean, they say 'Gombae" which is just like cheers. I told them my way to remember that is to remember the green cartoon character called Gumby. They thought it was funny. Korean tradition apparently you can't pour your own drink. You can pour other peoples drink but not your own. Politeness? I don't know. I'll let you know. From what I hear, everyone usually gets pretty drunk. But because Dreamon As long as they were talking to each other, they'd speak korean, if they were speaking to me directly, they'd speak english. We were there for quite awhile. Till 2am or so. Usually they go karaoke after, Dreamon likes karaoke apparently. But instead we went to another restaurant type place...this reminded me of a hole in the wall, after hours type place. small, a few metal tables in the back. More food... more raddish stuff (tried it once didn't like it. Thought this was was different so I tried it... I still don't like it lol). But the soup was sooooo good. They said similar to miso soup with rice in it. It was YUM!! So we were there awhile longer, more conversation, etc. Good times!! :) Then Sonny gave me a ride home.
They were so funny. After long funny conversation, Esther tells me " we want to come to your house. It is traditional to have a housewarming party." Wow here too? lol. I think that would be fun!! My place is big enough to have people over :) Only 2 problems... I have nowhere to sit. I have a big chair and a bed. 2. I would have to cook. Traditionaly, it is considered rude to bring anything big (wine, etc) to a party. The host likes to take care of everything and considers it an insult. Little cakes are allowed though. So yea I have to cook. If you know me, you know that I LOVE to cook. But having only been here 2 weeks, the grocery stores are VERY difficult. I can't figure out what anything is. My fridge and cabinets have basic things in it... spaghetti, eggs, water, yogurt, tofu, cheese, etc. lol. So there are 2 things that worry me. 1. Finding something to cook 2. Finding something they like! I said something about apples dipped in peanut butter yesterday in class and the kids looked at me like I was crazy. They said 'very not delicious teacher.' Ok I LOVE apples and peanut butter lol. So if they don't like that, I don't know what else to make lol. Then of course they'll want alcohol (Koreans drink A LOT!). I don't know Soju from whiskey lol. ok...i think i could figure it out but honestly, I haven't drank much here yet. So many things to consider :) We will see how it goes....