Going to see the lights...

Weekdays I usually just hang around my apartment. I cook, clean, blog, chat on facebook or skype, read, take pictures, etc. If I’m feeling very adventurous I might walk over to the thrift store on the next block. I thought about going jogging along the river, but I have a hard time motivating myself to run even when it’s above 25 degrees F…

When the weekend rolls around it’s time to have fun, go places, meet up with friends, and explore. This generally means hanging out with Muang, a friend from Simpson who lives in another district of my city, and her friend Lize, who is now my friend too. We had been told that there was a “lights show” that was “along the river” and decided we should check it out Saturday. However, try as we might, we just couldn’t find it. And we didn’t really know what it was, so it was hard to ask people even if they did understand English. We ended up getting Starbucks and people watching, then going home.

Sunday we found out that we had been in the wrong area, but very close, so we decided to try again that evening. Muang wanted to take pictures in Seoul and meet another friend, Loren, so Lize and I decided to do a little exploring and try to find the place on our own, meeting up with the other girls in the evening. To fully appreciate that decision, you must first understand that Lize and I both … um … struggle with directions… I think when we left Muang she thought she might never see us again (or at least not that evening).

Our adventure took us to a subway transfer station where we were trying to decide which exit would place us closest to the river. We ran into some other foreigners who asked us for directions to another district. We didn’t know, but as soon as we walked away saw a sign pointing to that area. Lize ran back to tell them. They asked where we were going and we said, “To see the lights.” One of the girls said, “Oh, the Seoul Festival of Light?” Lize and I looked at each other, “Yup. That’s the one.” Ends up, they were headed to the same place, but wanted dinner first. They told us we needed to transfer onto another line and go one more stop. Having exchanged helpful directional information we thanked each other and parted ways.

When Lize and I finally exited the subway we couldn’t see a river anywhere. But there was a big square with lots of people and lots of, well, lights. We decided to check it out. We eventually found a tourist information booth and grabbed an English brochure. Come to find out, we were there on the final evening of the 2009 Seoul Festival of Light which had opened on Dec 19^th. There was music and light everywhere – lights shining up from the ground, projected onto buildings all around the square, emanating from stacks of TVs and sculptures of TVs, lighted garlands hanging over walkways, and even a lighted manmade river (so THAT’S the river!). We did run into Muang and Loren and the four of us went for a lighted carriage ride and then out to dinner.

All-in-all it was a fun day and Lize and I were quite proud of ourselves for not getting lost.

Here are some of my pictures from that evening. Again, there are more at http://www.flickr.com/photos/scribbledjourneys/.

"Hmm, I think there might be something going on over there..."

"What do you think?"

"I don't know..."

"Hey! Look!"

Now THERE'S a big screen!

Much cooler when you can see the movement - sorry no video.

We found the River!

Don't let your umbrella float away!

Yikes! Don't let ME float away!

Going for a lighted carriage ride

Muang and Lize

Me and Loren

A pretty fun evening.

Adventures In Cooking: Part 1

My kitchen consists of a sink, one burner, and a small strip of counter between the two. Recently, the mother of my dear friend Anny gave me this gigantic rice cooker to use for the year (I am accepting name suggestions for it. Those currently in the running are Bertha, Hilda, and Hal).

This limited cooking area, coupled with the fact that I’m not always completely sure of the contents of what I’m buying at the store, is sure to lead to some interesting culinary escapades. Now and again I may share these “Adventures in cooking” with you… like today…

My friend’s mom also gave me large amounts of kimchi, which I love. If you are not familiar with this spicy pickled cabbage, you really should try it. Kimchi does have one drawback though – its smell is so strong and penetrating that, if left in your refrigerator for more than .05 seconds, the entire unit will smell like kimchi and soon everything inside will taste like it. It’s kind of like the Bog of Eternal Stench… but, um, yummy… Anyway, since I didn’t want my muffins or filtered water to acquire a not-so-subtle kimchi flavor I left it on the counter for a day or two, postponing the inevitable.

Then, this evening I got the brilliant idea to make soup. So at about 10pm I ran downstairs to buy a knife from 7-Eleven, then got started chopping veggies and chicken. By 11:30 I had a delicious kimchi soup with onion, carrot, potato, rice, chicken, and, of course, kimchi.

The following are pictures of the process.

Now I just have to figure out how to store the leftovers since I don’t have tupperware… Hmm, hadn’t thought that far ahead…

Pictures

Ok, so last time I posted a blog and no pictures, this time it's pictures with no blog. Rather than paste them all into the body of this, you can check them out at http://www.flickr.com/photos/scribbledjourneys/. Just a note, the snow that you see is what is left from Monday the 4th and when I said I thought I had plenty of time to get pics of all the snow, I didn't take into account the army of people that were out there the next day with shovels and wheelbarrows carting the stuff away! Wish I had gotten pictures of THAT. Anyway, there is still plenty on the ground, but it's nothing compared to what it was.

It's Alright

I was listening to MxPx while eating my lunch of kimchi and rice and this song came on. I thought, “Hm, this might just be my theme-song for the year.” Enjoy. ^_^

"It's Alright" MxPx

There is no map, there are no signs,
We're on our way, we're crossing lines
Strap on your boots, go pack your bags,
No time to rest, no time to lag,

And you know, everyone here has been invited to go
Whoa oh whoa oh oh
And you know, we're on our way,
Into the unknown, into the unknown, into the unknown
whoa oh whoa oh oh

It's alright, it's alright
It's alright we can travel by the moonlight
It's alright, it's alright
It's alright we can travel through the twilight
It's alright, it's alright
It's alright we can travel by the moonlight
It's alright, it's alright
It's alright we can travel through the twilight

This life is good, the road is clear,
It's time to shift into high gear
Everything we're passing fades,
It's what inside our hearts that stays

And you know, everyone here has been invited to go
Whoa oh whoa oh oh
And you know, we're on our way,
Into the unknown, into the unknown, into the unknown
whoa oh whoa oh oh

It's alright, it's alright
It's alright we can travel by the moonlight
It's alright, it's alright
It's alright we can travel through the twilight
It's alright, it's alright
It's alright we can travel by the moonlight
It's alright, it's alright
It's alright we can travel through the twilight

It's alright, it's alright

It's alright we can travel by the moonlight
It's alright, it's alright

It's alright we can travel by the moonlight

Travel by the moonlight
Travel by the moonlight

It's already/only been a week?

It has been snowy here. Not “a light dusting,” snowy, or “winter wonderland” snowy, but “more snow than they’ve seen in 100 years here, cars abandoned on the road” snowy. It all started last Sunday night and continued building through Monday morning. If I had had a couple days to chill (no pun intended) it would have been lovely. Here are some things I might have done: take pictures of beautiful Korean scenery, cuddle up with a good book and enjoy the view outside my window from the comfort of a warm room, write a poetic blog about the transformation of the area around me. But none of that happened. Why? My week of training in Seoul started that morning and I HAD to be there. The shuttle that was supposed to pick me up decided not to show. Thankfully, the director of my school came and said he would ride the subway with me since I had absolutely no idea where I was going.

When we got down to the subway platform there were tons of people. Because of the snow people couldn’t drive and the busses didn’t want to run. The first train came it was so full people were pressed against the door windows. A couple people got off and even more got on. We decided to wait for the next train. This scenario repeated itself a couple more times and when the fourth train came, we decided it wasn’t going to get any better so we crammed ourselves into the cracks between people, then stood pinned, unmoving (except when others tried to get in or out), until our stop finally came. Oh, and I should mention, that along with the two of us, I had my carry-on suitcase with everything I needed for the week in Seoul.

Even with all of that craziness, I was still the second person there. The other four were delayed coming from the hotel because their shuttle was inching along through the snow. Once they got there we had a short introduction, were given schedules, and were sent to Seoul Medical Center for an examination. Since I had not gone to the hotel before training, I had to drag my rolling suitcase all around the city - through slushy snow, and thick, unmoving snow, down subway stairs, and up subway stairs. We got to the Med. Center and were subjected to a series of tests. They tested our vision and hearing, did chest x-rays, took our blood and collected our urine. The six of us trotted around from center to center passing each other in gowns and with Dixie cups filled with pee. It was a wonderful way to get to know the people with whom we would be spending the rest of the week!

The rest of training week was filled with long workshops during the day, and crazy study sessions at night back at the hotel. We slept little, and laughed a lot. And I guess we learned some things too. I trained for two different classes, Memory English, and Par Reading & Writing. I could try to explain all the different levels, but it would take too much time. If you really want to know I can tell you another time. Suffice to say they’re two different levels, ME being the lower and Par being the higher. When I got to my school Friday evening, I found out that I was actually going to teach ME and English Chip, the level before ME. This was a very nice surprise as I didn’t really enjoy Par, and EC is a simplified version of ME for adorable younger kids who are eager to participate (as opposed to the older students who are too shy and self-conscious to speak above a whisper most of the time).

Today was my first day of teaching and it went well. Not as well as I would have liked, but also not as badly as it could have. Classes are three hours long each, with five minute breaks each hour and the schedule is crammed full. If you get off even a little, you can get to the end of class and still have material to cover. Because the next day is just as full, you can’t do it then. And because students need to have everything in the book filled out, that means extra homework for them. Oops… Guess I better go faster tomorrow…

Anyway, that’s enough for now. Sorry, no pictures this time. I’ll try to take some before the snow melts, but from the looks and feel of it, I have a little time!

Hello from Korea!

Where to begin? As I have been thinking about writing, a million and one things have been running through my head. Well I guess first off I can say – I made it safely to Korea! Getting here was a little crazy. I had trouble re-confirming me flight (Expedia said “you just need our confirmation number”, US Airways said “Expedia hasn’t issued a ticket.” Lots of calls, being on hold, and being disconnected, only to find out upon getting to the airport that, regardless of what Expedia said on my itinerary, my flight was actually through United!)

I then took a tiny plane to LA where I had to go to the exact opposite end of the airport to get the next part of my ticket, stand in another security line for ages (15 minutes before my plane was scheduled to board), speed walk with my heavy carry-ons to the furthest gate in that terminal, and walk up right as the last people were boarding. Whew!

The flight was about 13 hours, but I slept a lot, watched a couple movies, and was served some pretty good food. Someone a few seats ahead of me threw up a couple times, but other than that, the flight was pretty uneventful. Near the end of my flight I had to fill out the customs declaration form. I went through the boxes quickly: no, I am not carrying illegal drugs or firearms, etc. Then I got to the produce box and remembered that Mom gave me an apple for the trip. I hadn’t eaten it and really wasn’t hungry. I began to wonder if I would have to get rid of it. But my Mommy packed it for me! The thought of throwing away that beautiful red apple made me want to cry! So I marked “no produce” and, when the time came, marched my way through the “nothing to declare” line. Thankfully, no armed guards pulled me aside to examine my bag and reveal my illegal apple.

This might be the best apple I've ever eaten. ^_~

I was met by a driver with my name written on a piece of paper, and driven to Bundang, about an hour from Seoul, where I was met by the director of my school who showed me my apartment and made sure I had some essentials for my first couple days in Korea. He left, I sent a quick email home, then went to bed at about 8:30pm.

This morning I met up with Muang, a friend from college who has been here for 8 months, and one of her friends. We went to Somang Presbyterian Church then to Muang’s apartment where I picked up some things Jeff left for me (thank you so much!). Then it was back to my apartment so I could get some things done before I start training tomorrow. It doesn’t sound like much, but man am I tired!

That’s it for now. I’ll leave you with a little tour of my apartment.

Closet?.....

Guess again! It's my kitchen/laundry!

My beautiful green, pink, and purple closet.

Bathroom. Yes, that is my shower hanging over the sink.

And my current favorite - My bed!

I also have a refrigerator, a little table with chairs, and a little tv, but they are not photo worthy. ^_^ Love you all. Bye for now!