SNOW!!!

It snowed last night!  I woke up this morning and walked down the steps of my apartment to find this...(look closely at the bottom of the door entrance...there is a line of snow...the little chunk missing is where I slipped...apparently Uggs have horrible traction)

I looked to my left...

and then to my right.

After almost eating snow/concrete on the way out of my apartment complex, I decided it would be in my best interest to Tinkerbell-step my way to school. Good thing I left 10 minutes earlier! This is the park that I usually trek through in the morning...I decided to be lame and opt out on the opportunity to be a trail blazer.  

By the time I got around to getting someone at school to take my picture...all the snow had melted in the front (in direct sunlight).  So my co-teacher asked if I wanted to go behind the school to take the picture...I felt desperate...but content.   

 I want it to snow again.

Dog eat dog world...

Hello there...

Daegu's weather has been bone-chilling cold! It actually snowed the other day.  Luckily, it hasn't happened since.

Anyways...before it became super frigid outside, I used to see a random dog roaming the streets in my neighborhood.  The dog looks like a wild coyote/fox mix or something.  I've seen "him" (just my assumption...I tend to assume all stray dogs are males unless told otherwise) in the park (picture above) on my way to school in the mornings. He walks along side a little shitzu mix who wears pink sweaters and the 70+year old man owner; they don't seem to mind the extra company. I soon found out he's just a stray in the neighborhood.   My friends in the neighborhood told me that some of the other neighbors feed him...which brings me to the purpose of this post.  Its a known fact that some Koreans do in fact eat dog; therefore, it is quite possible the stray dog has eaten dog!
Do I live in a dog eat dog world?

I've always tried to keep a distance from him because no one has confirmed his rabies status.  But I saw him on my way home from school one day and wanted to take his picture.  As I looked at him through my camera lense, we made eye contact! I snapped his photo and he proceeded to run after me! I didn't yell at him because I assumed he only spoke Korean, so I shouted: "UHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" He sniffed me and went about his business.  The end.

Give thanks for turkey!

Being westerners in Korea, we all got a little nervous about being away from our homes this past Thanksgiving.  Luckily, through Daegu Pockets (magazine for westerners), Laura found out about a "Traditional Thanksgiving" meal available for delivery.  In addition to ordering the meal, she also decided to host the dinner at her apartment...she has the largest one out of all of us. Mine is the smallest.

   
Here is the dining room table...only available in translucent white.

The delivery girl was even a westerner! SIKE! That's Melissa.
The gravy came in Styrofoam cups, which oddly enough were in a Taco Bell bag...so Melissa kept asking WHY the cups were in a Taco Bell bag? As if the delivery man had a secret vendetta against her. She has been "thinking outside the bun" since we've moved here, but has yet to find one. My biggest concern of the night was if there were giblets in the gravy or not...I LOATHE GIBLETS!

HELLO turkey!!!

I'm trying to hide my stomach by lifting my legs up...FAIL.  Me=blue sausage.

I'd like to take this time to put aside my sarcasm to say...this Thanksgiving, I was thankful for meeting such a good group of friends in Korea. The end.

Masterpiece!

I apologize for not updating my blog in like a month...

Over a month ago, some of my students approached me while I was sitting at my desk. "Teacher! Can we take pictures of you?" I immediately look around the teachers' room in hopes of finding some explanation. One of my co-teachers told me: "They are doing an art project...so they want to take a picture of you. Is that ok?" My response: "Um...ok..."  My co-teacher nodded her head to the students and all of a sudden, a million camera phones pop out of nowhere and all I hear is snap! snap! snap! snap! For that minute, I felt like a celebrity who just got ambushed by the paparazzi!

Weeks went by and there was no sign of any student having an "art project." So I began to wonder if they had lied and it was just an excuse for them to take my picture (I wondered how many students had my picture as their wallpaper on their cell phones)...I was wrong...well I was wrong about thinking that the students had lied about having an art project. Not long after I made the assumption my students were lying, I saw the MASTERPIECE! A student had drawn a picture of me! And it was shown at the school's talent show!

 

My whole school saw this MASTERPIECE!  There were 3 comments that stood out above the rest...

1. My beauty mark!
2. My eyeliner!
3. She did such a great job!

 

The girl who drew the picture is in one of my English classes. After the the talent show, my co-teacher pointed her out to me during class. She is very shy and quiet, so I thought she was going to throw it away (since she didn't acknowledge me when I saw her).  But my co-teacher told me that she wanted to give it to me...sure enough a week later she gave it to me as a present (she added some things to it)! I was so honored she gave it to me I almost cried! I gave her a HUGE hug and thanked her (I may have freaked her out, haha). I will keep it forever...at least I plan to.

1st Halloween in Korea: Richard Simmons 80's Workout Crew!!!

Halloween festivities came quicker than I thought...My group of friends came up with the idea to be Richad Simmon's workout crew...CIRCA 1980's. We went costume searching on Tuesday (the Halloween pub crawl was on Sat)...some of us found amazing pieces (Blondie sweatshirt, gold leggings, etc.) in downtown Daegu...not me of course. So the next day I bought a sweatshirt on impulse at Emart (similar to USA's Walmart)...it was stupid.  Its now a "home sweatshirt."  A "home sweatshirt" is a sweatshirt I wear at home and will NEVER leave the house in.  Its purposes now are to sleep in, lounge in, clean in...it might end up becoming a mop if I run out of Swiffer sheets and am too lazy to go to the store to buy more...

ANYWAYS...I ended up finding all the pieces to my costume at local markets that Thursday. 

Costume:

• Bright colorful leopard sweatshirt: 15,000 Won
• Pink and gold glitter leg warmers: 6,000 Won
• Sweatbands (wrist and headband): 2,000 Won
• Mike Grillo showing up as Richard Simmons: PRICELESS

 

Note: one member was MIA...missing in action. Good times...

Today's Lunch Menu: Stinky feet soup...

Today I didn't eat breakfast because I woke up late...the teachers at my school (assumed I ate breakfast) gave me: rice cake, sweet potato, pear, and warm bread ALL before lunch!  One of the teachers told me that Koreans have 2 stomachs: 1 for meals and 1 for snacks. 

The clock struck 12pm...lunchtime!!! We walked into the teachers' lunch room...it smelled like stinky feet...I was like "Um...what are we having for lunch?" They told me: "traditioanl soy bean soup."  It was really hard to enjoy my meal because the whole room smelled like a boy's locker room...and on top of that...I had a bowl of it sitting in front of my face...The teachers told me, "Tastes better than it smells."  I tried a spoonful and concluded that the teachers' statement is not necessarily a true statement.

After we left the lunch room, I asked one of my co-teachers: "why does it smell like that?" She said: "Its because of the soybeans."  I was like "Soybeans normally don't smell like that..." She replied: "Its like aged cheese." I googled it...its called cheonggukjang...FERMENTED SOYBEANS. 

I need to brush my teeth a few times...

Busan International Fireworks Festival

This weekend my friends and I decided to go to the 6th Busan International Fireworks Festival at Gwangalli Beach (surprisingly the same plans as many other people in Korea).  The fireworks were by far the best ones I've ever seen in my life (even compared to the ones I've seen at Mount Rushmore...on the Fourth of July)!  I tried uploading the video of them, but after waiting 2 hours I decided to quit...these pictures do not do them justice...what a shame.

 

While waiting for the fireworks extravaganza, we were entertained by magicians (the men sitting next to me)...after showing us multiple pocket magic tricks, he proceeded to show us pictures on his gold camera phone of "his girlfriends" (college girls at a car show)...ABRACADABRA...*POOF* the conversation ended.  We decided to watch the fireworks standing up...and 10 feet away.

And the aftermath of it all...

Am I really an ENGLISH teacher?

Growing up, my parents always told me I didn't speak English; I spoke "Mandanese".  "Mandanese" was my own dialect of English.  Only close family members and friends could understand the language.  Basically, I would talk to people as if they knew my thoughts, and I didn't practice censorship ("D"of mouth). I can still remember my mom saying, "Manda, you need to think before you talk."

Throughout my years of schooling, I've pretty much sqaushed Mandanese (on a rare occasion it comes out when I'm tired). Recently, I have not been able to form complete sentences...has Mandanese come back into my life?  The symptoms are unfamiliar...

SYMPTOMS:

• act out each sentence or phrase (as if I'm playing charades)
• talk like a cave woman.  "I go to park."

I hope there is a cure...

My favorite Korean invention...

So here is a small Korean bathroom (this is actually the one I shared at Jeonju University during my orientation week).  Notice there is no separation between the shower and the rest of the bathroom...super easy to clean, but may be inconvenient at times if you are used to Western style bathrooms.

Example: When I first took at shower...my towel got soaked...actually everything got soaked. 

This is by far my favorite invention I've come across while living in Korea...GENIUS! 

 I appreciate anything that encourages multitasking.

Busan or Bust! PART 3 (last part)

"Busan or Bust-Part II" told you of my food adventures in Busan.  This post will conclude the trilogy of "Busan or Bust"...

We had heard it was suppose to rain, so when we woke up to beautiful clear skies, we decided to venture to the beach!  This was at about 10am...

 The water was a perfect temperature.  As soon as I jumped into the ocean, I wanted nothing more than to be transformed into a mermaid...needless to say it didn't happen, but I swam as much as I could.  I almost got run over by a jet ski. I dove under a wave...when I bobbed up for air, a jet ski zoomed by my head (my friends were watching with their mouths open).  I suppose jet skis and people are suppose to swim harmoniously in the ocean.  We left the beach at around 4pm-ish.  We went back to the hostel to rest.  Later that night when we were getting ready, we all agreed we had been severely sunburned...a couple of us probably had 3rd degree burns...trying to coordinate your outfit with "red sunburn" can be annoying sometimes...

Later that night, we decided to walk to Gwangalli Beach (10min walk from our hostel)...the picture does not do justice to the breath taking view...

 

While walking around in Busan, we came across a couple business signs we just had to take pictures of...

So in conclusion, I love Busan and I may want to move to a beach some day...

24 years ago...I was born...

24 years ago...I was born...in Korea...in Seoul.  Today is my birthday!  In Korean years, I'd be 25...definitely not ready for that number yet.  Having moved from California to Korea, the whole 16 hour time difference has caused some confusion amongst my friends and family.  For example, my friend messaged me: "happy early birthday"  Instead of arguing, I just reply, "I live in the future."

Today, I came to school thinking my birthday would go unannounced (plus more than half the school is gone on a camping trip)...right after lunch, my co-teacher asked me to go to the women's "rest" room (its literally a room where the women teachers can rest and nap) to discuss something.  I thought I was getting in trouble for g-chatting all day, but NO! All the English teachers plus 1 math teacher (I sit next to her) surprised me with a cake (had a couple random tomatoes on it), roses (below) and sang happy birthday to me...in English! They are so generous!  I got other random gifts, like apple jam, cards, food, etc. from different teachers.  I am very appreciative and grateful to my school...I lucked out.

Busan or Bust-Part II

Looking at my blog post from yesterday, I realized that I need to change the time on my laptop...it currently has Pacific Standard Time on it...

So where was I...Oh yes I showed a pic of Chuseok dinner...charming...I think I shall speak about the food...This segment is a mix between Bourdain's "No Reservations" and Zimmerman's "Bizarre Foods."

NOTE: May not be in chronilogical order...just providing a summary since I have some catching up to do...

Chuseok dinner was composed of Chapchae, Rice, Kimchi, Curry pancakes, and Yakgwa (traditional Korean cookie). Not included in the free meal was Soju and Makgeolli (provided by hostel-mates).

On our way to Haeundae Beach, we crossed paths with Haeundae Market (SHOCKING I KNOW)...Unfortunately, it was bascially closed. I use "basically" because there were a few vendors/stores open, but those are the vendors/stores that would be open during the apocalypse...

Even the eels were not working...what a bunch of lazy losers...

Busan is right by the ocean...so naturally there'd be beef...

We ate at this random restaurant on Gwangalli Beach...I looked over at one of the tables and saw this "nacho chicken salad" and instantly wanted it...impulse ordering is never a good thing....little did I knw I would be eating tortilla chips and lettuce because the chicken mixture was SO incredibly spicy it was unedible...   

Lastly, we went to the Busan's famous fish market! AND IT WAS OPEN! 



Here I am fake smiling in front of one of the many "pick your poison" fish vendors...we didn't end up eating there...we heard from our hostel-mates that they paid about $40 per person...um no thanks, maybe next time...definitely paying for experience...if I'm going to pay $40 for fresh fish, it better do somersaults or something (while dead)...

This little jerky stand is just outside the fish market...I believe they're dried manta rays...maybe sting rays...either way, as long as they are not under my feet in the ocean, I'm happy...

We left the fish market and went across the street to check out the shopping area (consumer goods)...while  being bumped around like cattle, we broke away from herd and stopped to get some street food...cheap and gets the job done...not sure what their health inspection score is, but I'm alive today to tell the story...

This concludes the food segment...

Busan or Bust!

Quicky, I'd like to apologize for not blogging in awhile...My priorities haven't been in the most productive order...

In Korea, they celebrate a traditional holiday called Chuseok, which is similar to the American Thanksgiving...MINUS the Native Americans, Piligrims, Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, football, turkey, and Black Friday.  So basically Chuseok is not even close to Thanksgiving.  Well, anyways...what I gathered from talking to other teachers at my school is Chuseok is a week long and they visit family. They go to their in-laws house for a couple days, then to their own family's house for a couple days, and for the remaining time they relax.  Since I am not married and I don't have family out here, (that I know of) my friends and I decided to go on a little vacation to Busan...some say "Pusan" but I prefer the "B" over the "P."

I'm going to post a little right now and a little later...can't sum up a whole week with one post...wouldn't be right...

So anyways...a couple of us had to teach on Monday, so we reserved tickets for later in the evening.  Um yeah...we all arrive at Dongdaegu Station around 8:30ish-8:45ish...just to find out we're at the wrong station and we're not on KTX (fastest train in Korea).  We frantically rush to Daegu Station (correct station) and we get the some stairs...SOME STAIRS=3 flights of stairs.  I bolted up the stairs looking like a crazed quasimoto (hunched over because of my heavy backpack).  While running, my eyes were tearing up, I was yelling and laughing all at the same time...it was frightening!  We had 2 minutes to spare. Needless to say the trip was not starting out right...but at least we made it.

So after our arrival, we hopped in cab and headed toward our hostel...

Keep in mind, I've never been to a hostel in my life. The word itself brings back not so pleasant memories of when I watched the movie "Hostel" and had nightmares for weeks...I still believe there is some truth to that movie... 

Here is our beloved hostel...

Staying there, felt a lot like camping.   I have to admit, despite the communal aspect of the bathrooms, I loved the fact I got to take a hot shower (didn't know how to turn on my hot water in my apartment up until a week ago)...

Anyways, Mr. Lee, the host, surprised everyone in the hostel by cooking us a traditional meal for Chuseok!
Although we weren't with our families, we were all able to share in the same experience...

Here's the link if you're ever in Busan: http://www.actourist.com/ko/
note: can't guarantee you a free meal and Mr. Lee did not pay me to advertise his hostel (not opposed to it)

Busan or Bust...to be continued...

No more furry caterpillars!!!

 Just to give you a little background...Back home in San Francisco, I used to get my eyebrows waxed every 2-3 weeks by Ivory at Benefit Brow Bar in Union Square.  Before I left, she asked me, "what the are you going to do about your eyebrows in Korea? Do they even do that?" I told her that she should come in my suitcase cuz I didn't want to risk it...

So I got to Korea...a couple weeks passed and my eyebrows became instant furry catepillars!  My friends and I were walking around Banwaldong Station (downtown Daegu) and passed by a little shop with random pictures of different eyebrows, I thought EUREKA! I have found the spot!  It was closed at the time, but we decided we'd go back another day.  A week passed...I was starting to complain about my eyebrows, so my friends and I decided we'd go back to the spot!

We arrive at the spot...I say, "waxing?" She says nothing. My friends point at the picture of the eyebrow shape I want and she appears to understand...We follow her into her work area and she proceeds to put white liquidy stuff on my eyebrows...I instantly go numb...(in the back of my mind, I think oh dear god she's bleaching my eyebrows and they're going to be ORANGE) All my friends start laughing! *the picture* I keep my composure and start to ask, "what is this stuff?" She says nothing. Then she asks some other lady in the work area to say something in English, we get the response: "numbing." So my friends say, "oh ok, its so it won't hurt." I am starting to sweat a little. Then she says, "20 min..." At that point, I was like whatever! So we're just chatting amongst each other, and she comes up to me holding her hand out and points at two little squirts of brown stuff that looks like PAINT! I quickly respond, "um....no..." At this point my friends are in shear panic mode and/or saying they'd draw my eyebrows on with a Sharpie. I call my co-teacher from my friends' phone and she talks to the lady. The lady hands me back the phone and I find out I was about to get temporary tattooed eyebrows. WTF! I wipe off whatever the hell was on my eyebrows and we get rushed out of the shop (cuz we made a scene?).  Needless to say, I was a little traumatized and my eyebrows were still furry caterpillars...

During this past week, my friend, Alexandra, called me and told me she was out with her co-teacher at Lotte department store and saw a Benefit Brow Bar! OMG I DIED...made my whole week! So, today we went to the brow bar! "SUCCESS!" I told the lady at Benefit that I'd be there every 3 weeks...she didn't understand, but at least she understands WAXING!

 

Thanks goes out to Alexandra, Sheila, & Laura for making this possible! 

Finally started a B-L-O-G...

So...hello there! Welcome to my blog! (Is that what I'm supposed to say?!!?) Anyways, this is my first official post! I decided I needed to take a picture of the event, so I captured myself eating Korean Top Ramen with metal chopsticks (fancy...I know) and watching Pucca (kid's cartoon that's strangely popular in Peru)...then I realized I was watching the cartoon through my camera and decided it was time to post this and go to bed! There's more content coming soon...