Korean cooking, travel plans, and Springtime :)

Another Blog in the day of ME, living in completely different world, where everyday is an adventure and learning experience :) I can't believe sometimes that I've been here for just about 3 months. Times a flying when you're having fun.... only 9 months left in my contract, or 15 if I extend it another 6 months (and yes, I am considering it). We'll see what happens.

For the latest going on my life... my Korean friend Sonny and I have continued our 'Cultural Cooking Fridays.' Our last cooking date, she taught me how to make Kimbap... the Korean version of sushi rolls, but without as much fish. We used crab, carrots, cucumber, raddish (not a fan), fish cake (i have mixed emotions about this), and scrambled egg. It is still quite yummy. This time, one of our students, Jenny (who also lives
in Sonny's apartment building) joined us. Jenny is so cute. Her
brother is also one of my students. She really enjoyed the cooking and watching me try to read and pronounce Korean words. She sipped on pineapple juice while Sonny and I enjoyed our wine. Since Sonny has an oven (a luxury to us foreigners), we are going to make a chicken and broccoli casserole next time (yes, American food week). The only hard part can be finding cheese... oh how I miss cheese! But it should still
be fun.

On other dinner/food news, I was invited to have dinner with my boss and his family. He's been inviting me to his house for dinner for a long time now. I kept pushing it back (partly cause I was a bit uncomfortable at first) but finally went. We went to a pork/duck restaurant (not my pick of food) and he invited his English friend Tom. Tom, an overweight, late 50 year old, English guy joined us. He was a very interesting character. He was sooooo outspoken and sarcastic that I couldn't tell if he was nice, funny, and happy, or if he was a bitter, sad, and lonely old man. Wierd?? Most of my good friends/family know that I am very hesitant when it comes to meat. I try to only stick to beef and chicken if I can help it. But being in Korea, I have eaten a bit more pork. However, I wound up 'trying' the duck here. It was actually a big deal for me (mentally) to try duck. Though it didn't taste bad, I still didn't eat too much, the brain got to me. But it was still a good experience. The picture here, was of my boss's wife. She used to be an english teacher as well, so she spoke pretty good english. She was very funny :) Their daughter was soooooo adorable!! It always amazes me how much the Koreans drink. We're at a nice (somewhat expensive) dinner, and she was drinking a 'cocktail' of Soju, beer, and pineapple soda. and I'm talking several glasses!! The guys were drinking even more. I couldn't believe it! And I couldn't believe they didn't look drunker.
My favorite tradition in Korea so far, is the Employee dinners. Once a month, we go out to dinner, drink, and the boss pays for EVERYTHING!! Soooo awesome :) This past week was my 3rd empl0yee dinner. We have hired 2 new Korean teachers, one of the other Korean teachers (Sonny, my closest friend at work) is leaving :( (though we still plan on hanging out more), and Rory, the newest foreigner, british guy, officially got his new Visa and will be here for a year as well. So there were some things to celebrate. One of the new Korean teachers, sister owned a pork restaurant (sam gip sul = pork) so went there. Sooo yummy! We were there for a bit, and then I ALWAYS forget we go to a 2nd restaurant for after dinner appetizers. I'm a fat kid, so I like to fill up on dinner alone. We've gone to different restaurants for after dinner appetizers in the past... this time, I didn't feel like I was missing out on much. The first thing that came to our table... BUGS!! Pulpa? Cristalis? That part of the bug. Still gross and I refuse to try it. So let's see... Bugs, Kimchi, and Makali in a bowl?? Yes, Makali, Korean rice wine... is served in a bowl... Wierd? It's definitely got a unique taste to it, but it's not bad at all. That's how much people drink at once. So yes, I drank some Makali out of a bowl.
So that's always fun :)

This past weekend, I layed pretty low. Some friends and I were originally going to go to Gyeongju for the Cherry Blossom Festival however, due to the extremely strange weather this year, they were JUST starting to bloom so we are going to go next weekend instead. This weekend, we went to the UN park in Busan which also has beautiful Cherry Blossom trees. Before the UN park, we walked around Gwangalli Beach. I hadn't been there yet and it really was GORGEOUS. We had lunch at Breeze Burns, the local hamburger joint which has great burgers and fries :) Reminds us of home. Then walked along the beach. Once we arrived at the UN Park, we were surprised to see barely any Cherry Blossoms blooming. We were actually too late to go into the park so we just walked around it which was still very nice. This gazebo was right outside. It was really picturesque. Itll be even nicer when all the trees are in bloom around it :) All around the UN park, there are a bunch of fertility statues. It is pretty funny to see some of the phallic statues, and all these random reproductive parts.

My friend Gill spent the night at my house Saturday night and we had a fun girls night. I was excited because she was the first person who came to my house. We made tacos, drank wine, and watched, what we thought would be, a good movie (disappointing). For months, I've been eyeing a thin mattress topper and thought that her coming would be the perfect time to get it. Besides going on my bed, it's nice to use on the floor when I have company, etc. It must've been HILARIOUS watching me carry this HUGE mattress that was bigger than me in height and double my size in width through the city, on the bus, and then up the hill to my house. I ran into some of my students on the street and they looked at me like I was crazy!! But it was worth it when Gill and I had a comfy place to sit.
Sunday, we met up with Lacey at Shinsegae...The BIGGEST DEPARTMENT STORE IN THE WORLD!!! literally. I believe it's like 13 stories?? Very expensive... mostly brand name stuff... Gucci, Louis Vuitton, etc. There is an ICE SKATING rink too (though the most expensive one in Busan) and a Spa/Bathhouse. So we decided we needed to try to the bathhouse there... aka Bathhouse = jimjilbang. Shinsegae's Spaland was supposed to be the biggest/nicest jimjilbang. Well i was VERY nice but I think I was expecting more. There were night many baths or steam rooms. Only 5 baths, and 1 steam room (the last one I went to, Hirschenchang???) had twice that!! And the massage/scrubs were DOUBLE the price and just ridiculous! The rooms (each room has different oxygen flow that helps certain parts of your body to certain things??? Wierd but cool) were BEAUTIFUL!! But the room itself and it's purpose was kinda lame. I really enjoyed the first one I went to better. Hirschenchang was maybe not as beautiful, but more variety, and half the price... ALWAYS important :) But at least I tried the one in Shinsegae... the biggest department store in the world!

One a seperate side note, Just some extra little photos I picked up here and there. Some gorgeous plants... I heard it was cabbage... which would be hilarious. Then another diary of one of my students who was talking about her new face mask. It is very common, in Korea, if you are sick, to wear a mask around your mouth so you don't get anyone else sick. I think it is very polite. However, sometimes their views are skewed. Wearing the mask prevents kids from getting sick, yet they never wash their hands after going to the bathroom (GROSSSSSSS!!!!) So I'm sure everyone gets sick anyway. She talks about yellow dust season. In Spring, the 'yellow dust' which is kinda like pollen and other dusty stuff comes over from China... this is what creates acid rain, and why people get sick. Many people talk about 'yellow dust season.'
My last photo which made me happy. was the big statue of the Trevi Fountain (from Rome, Italy). It was like being in Italy in Korea! I've seen 2 different Italian fountain statue thingies around. It's pretty funny if you ask me. When I scrapbook this photo, I can use the new stickers I found... They're Italy/Traveling stickers but written in Korean... I thought it was HILARIOUS!!!

So that's about the latest that's been going on in my life the last few weeks :) The next few weeks should be very fun as well. The Busan Lotte Giants baseball team has just started their season. There is a stadium close by. The Koreans go CRAZZZZY for their baseball team. So I think a game is definitely something I should experience, baseball fan or not. Then Gyeongju for Cherry Blossom season, Then the first weekend of May, I am going with some friends to Seoul. Taking the DMX (North Korea border) tour, and exploring a small art village. Should be fun :) MORE TO COME....