What do you mean you've dropped 14 pounds since you arrived?

If you couldn't guess for yourself, this blog has been brought to you by none other than FOOD. (see below)

 

So, when I got here, finding food was a big problem. I couldn't read anything on the menus, I didn't know the names of food, and I didn't even know how to ask questions about food! All I knew was hello and thank you. You can get pretty far with that, but not far enough.

People helped me the first few days. The first day I was here, James showed me a good restaurant downstairs. We had something WAY too spicy for me! I didn't finish it. He told me there was a Japanese place too, but when I looked on my own I couldn't find it. He also showed me the convenience store in our building. Since I couldn't figure out which place we had gone to eat, I frequented the convenience store for a few days. I also walked around our building. There are several more restaurants, but I couldn't figure out what they were, or even how to get into some of them. Imagine my delight when I found a grocery store on the basement level! When I mentioned it to someone else, I got the standard "yes, there's a grocery store." Nobody knew how thrilled I was to find it. FYI, I still haven't cooked anything here yet, but I did buy some cat food, cereal, milk, fabric softener, drinks, cookies, and a few other random things. I bought some eggs and chicken wings the other day, but I still haven't cooked them.

But I digress. The first night I was here, we went out to "celebrate my arrival." While I had a really good time, I was exhausted and all I wanted to do was sleep! We went to some place with very spicy fish and some sort of egg and seafood pizza thing. I figured out that night that more than a hint of spicy is a bit much for me, but I think I'm gradually building up a basic tolerance. Koreans love their spicy food (ex. kimchi)! James told me to wait for someone else to pour my drink and not to drink until our big boss did. When they noticed I wasn't eating much, Jeff told me we were going somewhere else. I told him it was okay, that I was full, but we went anyway. I was really thankful we did. I realized I WAS hungry after all. I picked some kind of blackened sesame chicken. When I started to eat it, my stomach opened up! However, the next thing I knew other people were eating it too! I was so confused. I didn't understand why I was getting almost nothing. Then other dishes started to arrive and the director served us parts of each of them. Then I understood... they eat family style. I later read that there is a group mentality here. I get it now! So anyway, I also tried this salmon salad. It had a really great flavor, though I later learned it was raw! I also tried some kind of rice cake thing... and some other things I don't remember, but I liked that restaurant better. I remember a lot of good food and conversation.  I do remember refusing some shrimp. The night was really a blur. I know I was falling asleep at the table. We finally left. Oh, and here I think everyone leaves at the same time. I don't think it's like at home where a couple of people leave if they need to go somewhere...

So the next day (Wednesday) James showed me how to catch the bus. I was on my own that day. I can't remember eating anything other than what I could find at the convenience store. I think it was "epic fail" day. I went somewhere and the guy said chicken and egg, so I thought it had both. It was more of an egg loaf, and not good. I ate what I could and the guy only made me pay half. I was ashamed that he did that. It was my own fault!

Thursday, James and I stopped somewhere before school and had kimbap and I had ramen. Yum!! Of course, I couldn't finish the ramen before work. Too hot and too many noodles.

Friday, Jeff and Luka picked me up for my medical exam. On the way back is when I had the aforementioned octopus soup when I was told they sometimes eat it raw! I realized that day I really like dumplings and new food is not a bad thing.

Saturday, I went to Cheonan ("Chunan") to go shopping. I bought some makeup, a scarf, and met some other expats (that's what foreigners are called when they leave their home country). I ate at Pizza Hut. I ordered bacon potato pizza. It sounded good in theory. It had mayo, corn, onions, peppers, 4 potato wedges, and a sprinkling of bacon. Yeah, uh, I will stick to pepperoni next time.


Sunday, I went to Seoul. I ordered a bacon cheeseburger from TGI Friday's. Surely, I thought, this would be good. Surely I was wrong. I don't know quite what was wrong, but definitely something. The burger tasted undercooked or something. The bacon was limp. The bread was damp.. and I didn't know how to ask for no tomatoes or onions or mayo. However, it's hard to get fries wrong. mmmmm

Monday, I finally figured out where the other place was. James told me the first few things were kimbap, so I ordered two. I like kimbap. Also, I studied hanguel over the weekend, so I could kind of make out some things. I can read the word kimbap. 김밥... The name of the restaurant is Kimbap Heaven (김밥천국), and I just read on wikipedia that it's a chain.

Tuesday was Jay B's last day, so we went out after work. We went to some place on the floor below us and ordered lots of food again. There were some caterpillar larvae that I could not bring myself to try, but I can't remember disliking anything else. I just mostly remember that there was a lot of talking in Korean and when I pretended I understood, I got people laughing. I was told I was funny. I like being told that. I am a ham for attention, lol.

Wednesday, there was testing, so the schedule was different. Luka and I went to the Japanese place. I was having such a good time, I didn't take pictures. Sorry! We has pork and a bunch of sides. Basically, our goal was to eat "not spicy food," as we discovered neither of us like it. Good food, and even better company. Luka asked if Americans eat meat with every meal. I told her it's pretty common, though I personally eat cereal for breakfast.

Sometime in here, James and I went to a chicken place that I didn't like either. C'est la vie! I think there were several kimbap days in there too. Also, I used my newfound hanguel reading skills to order chicken gassa. I've ordered it twice. Yum!





*WARNING* No Christmas weekend pictures. I was uploading a snow vid for you people before I left and left the camera attached to the computer!!***

Friday was the last day before Christmas. Elin went out with me and James so we would have something to do for Christmas. I wanted to order this pepperoni pizza since Steve told me they were good. Bad choice! It was covered in onions and had no sauce! Blech! James wound up taking it to eat for lunch the next day. I should have listened to Elin only. She ordered the good food. I'm so glad Koreans order to feed everyone, because what she got was pretty decent. There were fries and other finger foods. Don't ask what, because I don't remember. However, great company is worth it!

Saturday (Christmas Eve), I went to Daegu. I didn't eat much before I got there. Steve took me to a BK and I got a cheeseburger and fries. Normal food, yay! The important thing to note here is that I NEVER eat at BK at home. lol That evening, Steve and Melissa invited some friends over for Christmas. Melissa had cooked a plethora of food. She made deviled eggs, tacos with all the trimmings, stuffing, homemade apple sauce, some kind of veggies, and so on. It was delicious (a favorite Korean word.. it's on all kind of snack foods, in the grocery stores, and they use it to describe anything that's the least bit tasty)!

Sunday (Christmas), Steve and Melissa took me to an Indian restaurant. We had curry and some interesting fried rice. I honestly don't think I would have tried it at home, but I would have been missing out. It was red, which led me to believe it was spicy. It was sweet, with raisins, maraschino cherries, cashews, etc. VERY tasty. For "dessert" they had chai and I had a yogurt drink. For dinner, we had KFC. Steve mentioned that some Koreans don't seem to know that KFC is an American restaurant.. I don't know where many come from, so I guess we're even!

Monday, kimbap with fish eggs. Can we say whoops?
Tuesday, James and I went to a DIFFERENT chicken place after work. We're pretty sure they fried the entire chicken and gave it to us in chunks. It was pretty good.


Wednesday, James showed me where the dumplings were on the menu at Kimbap Heaven. mmmmm "mondu" is the word for dumpling. "bi bim mondu" is veggie dumplings, and is very tasty.

Today, we went to Alien Registration, so I can get my AR ID card. We ate on the way back. It was some kind of soup with dumplings, onions, mushrooms, beef, noodles, etc. It was mildly spicy, but not too bad. We also had rice. Jeff and Luka both told me I'm getting better with the chopsticks, though I'm still having a bit of trouble. I really enjoy their company. We always have a good time when we go out. (The joke today happened when I left my passport on the counter. I told Luka I almost forgot it, and she told me people will sell passports for a lot of money, so I joked that she wanted to sell my passport. Also, the picture machine gave me 8 copies of my picture, though we only needed one, so I was offering to autograph them. lol) The meal was in a broth, so it was more of a soup. We also boiled it at the table before we ate it. It was very cool. I enjoyed the meal, though again I enjoyed the company more! 


So, that basically ties up my food consumption since I've gotten here, other than gorging myself on yogurt to keep me from getting sick. (It's okay. I like yogurt. ) I've been sick to my stomach several times, but I have been rewarded with weight loss. Whoo hoo! I've kind of leveled off, so I guess I need to forget how to read again....

BTW, AMERICA LISTEN UP: You HAVE TO get these heated cooler type things that give you WARM glass bottles from the store. I have enjoyed the warm tea and Frappuccino here. mmmmm


I have also just been taking random pictures of things I have NOT eaten, like whatever snack food is above.  Enjoy them...


Until next time,
ㅋ ㅡㄹㅣㅅ ㅡㅌㅣ or  크리스ㅌㅣ

Here, carry my bag.

There are definitely some cultural differences here. Men treat ladies with a degree of respect which is unfamiliar to me. In all cases, the man is superior in this culture, so I'm not talking about Southern chivalry, but I have had men carry my bag for me several times. When I had my medical exam (day #4 here), my manager carried my bag for me. James and I met some Korean guys last night who took us to another restaurant, and one of them insisted on carrying my bag. I was imitating how heavy my bag was, and he thought I was losing my balance, so he walked beside me. (Don't get any ideas. Korean home slice has a girlfriend. He showed us her picture, both before and after telling me I'm beautiful countless times. lol)

When you go out to eat with your boss (re: the guy above the manager who speaks little English), he must pour your drink for you, even if it is only water. He eats first and he will drink a lot. Koreans like their alcohol and they like to say "cheers!" frequently. Men who do not drink are looked down on, though I read somewhere that some Asians really cannot process alcohol and it makes them very sick. I don't think it's fair that they expect men to drink. 

When you eat with Koreans, it's family style (a la Buca di Beppo, if you've ever been there). They will order several main dishes, and your boss with serve you. Being the newcomer, I get served first, but I think this will fade, because after all I am a woman. They also have many side dishes, called "ahnju." I'm still working on kimchi. It's gradually growing on me.

Hey you, cover your mouth at the table! Korean women are supposed to act a certain way. They don't laugh too loud and if they laugh at all, they are supposed to cover their mouths. If you drink in front of your boss, you are also supposed to either look away or cover your mouth, so he doesn't see you drinking (that's for both genders).

My last little tidbit today is about your hands. Whenever you ask for something or offer something to someone, you should use both hands. I have mostly learned this from my students, though I typically forget to do it myself except when I'm holding my cup. I did read it on some other blogs, so I got it confirmed. Using your left hand is considered rude, even if you are left handed. Be careful how you beckon to people (palm down) because you can insult someone without knowing it (palm up like we do is how they call for their dogs).

I lied. I thought of one more tidbit. Koreans are crazy suspicious about death. The word for four sounds like the word for death, so some buildings don't have a 4th floor (think of our obsession with 13). The building where I work has three floors and a roof, but they do not call the roof the 4th floor. I know, they could just call it the roof, but I think here they would typically call it another floor, so it is odd that it's called something else. I learned this a few days ago. Do not write a name in red ink, as this is how people write about someone who has died. I asked my co-workers, and they said some young kids feel this way, but at least here the adults will not take offense. I don't think this is a widespread belief, but still we cautious. Finally, don't leave your chopsticks in your rice. This has something to do with death too, but I don't remember what, so please google it yourself....

Anyway, I have to get ready for work now. Can you please carry my bag?

Say what?

Everywhere you go, you see things like this: 영국 학교, or 가족 시장, or 24 시간을 여십시오.
Huh???

So the weekend before last, I went to talktomeinkorean.com and koreanwikiproject.com to learn how to read and write in hanguel. The Korean alphabet is pretty easy to learn in an afternoon, but I found it to be a bit overwhelming at first. The prospect of learning a new alphabet is a bit overwhelming and going to restaurants and grocery stores gives me a whole new respect for illiteracy!  I even now understand what my students were going through at home. Just because you CAN read a word phonetically does NOT mean you understand its meaning.  And by the time you get to the end of a sentence, you have NO idea what you just read. 

But I digress. James and I were thinking about taking Korean classes at the university behind our apartments. I just looked into it. The classes are  M-F 9:00am-1:00pm for 3 months. Hmm... I typically catch the bus to work by 1:20 and don't get home until at least 10pm. I will have to think about this a lot. Also, Sun Moon University is a religious school that I would call more of a cult. I guess I can still take classes if it's my only option...

I should quit rabbit-trailing. Here is the alphabet.


There are 24 basic letters (14 consonants and 10 vowels) and a few more compound letters. 
Here, I will copy and paste from Wikipedia and then come back to tell you what is the most important.

• 14 consonant letters: 1. ㄱ (g); 2. ㄴ (n); 3. ㄷ (d); 4. ㄹ (l/r); 5. ㅁ (m); 6. ㅂ (b); 7. ㅅ (s); 8. ㅇ (-/ng); 9. ㅈ (j); 10. ㅊ (ch); 11. ㅋ (k); 12. ㅌ (t); 13.ㅍ (p); 14. ㅎ (h).

There are also 13 obsolete consonants: ᄛ, ㅱ, ㅸ, ᄼ, ᄾ, ㅿ (alveolar), ㆁ (velar), ᅎ, ᅐ, ᅔ, ᅕ, ㆄ, ㆆ.

• 5 double ("tense") consonants: 1. ㄲ (kk); 2. ㄸ (tt); 3. ㅃ (pp); 4. ㅆ (ss); 5. ㅉ (jj).

In addition, there are 10 obsolete double consonants: ㅥ, ᄙ, ㅹ, ᄽ, ᄿ, ᅇ, ᇮ, ᅏ, ᅑ, ㆅ.

• 11 consonant clusters: 1. ㄳ (gs); 2. ㄵ (nj); 3. ㄶ (nh); 4. ㄺ (lg); 5. ㄻ (lm); 6. ㄼ (lb); 7. ㄽ (ls); 8. ㄾ (lt); 9. ㄿ (lp); 10. ㅀ (lh); 11. ㅄ (bs).

There are also 66 obsolete clusters of two consonants: ᇃ, ᄓ, ㅦ, ᄖ, ㅧ, ㅨ, ᇉ, ᄗ, ᇋ, ᄘ, ㅪ, ㅬ, ᇘ, ㅭ, ᇚ, ᇛ, ㅮ, ㅯ, ㅰ, ᇠ, ᇡ, ㅲ, ᄟ, ㅳ, ᇣ, ㅶ, ᄨ, ㅷ, ᄪ, ᇥ, ㅺ, ㅻ, ㅼ, ᄰ, ᄱ, ㅽ, ᄵ, ㅾ, ᄷ, ᄸ, ᄹ, ᄺ, ᄻ, ᅁ, ᅂ, ᅃ, ᅄ, ᅅ, ᅆ, ᅈ, ᅉ, ᅊ, ᅋ, ᇬ, ᇭ, ㆂ, ㆃ, ᇯ, ᅍ, ᅒ, ᅓ, ᅖ, ᇵ, ᇶ, ᇷ, ᇸ, and 17 of three consonants: ᇄ, ㅩ, ᇏ, ᇑ, ᇒ, ㅫ, ᇔ, ᇕ, ᇖ, ᇞ, ㅴ, ㅵ, ᄤ, ᄥ, ᄦ, ᄳ, ᄴ.

• 6 vowel letters: 1. ㅏ (a); 2. ㅓ (eo); 3. ㅗ (o); 4. ㅜ (u); 5. ㅡ (eu); 6. ㅣ (i)

plus obsolete ㆍ

• 4 iotized vowel letters (semivowel–vowel): 1. ㅑ (ya); 2. ㅕ (yeo); 3. ㅛ (yo); 4. ㅠ (yu)

plus obsolete ᆜ, ᆝ, ᆢ

• 11 diphthongs: 1. ㅐ (ae); 2. ㅒ (yae); 3. ㅔ (e); 4. ㅖ (ye); 5. ㅘ (wa); 6. ㅙ (wae); 7. ㅚ (oe); 8. ㅝ (wo); 9. ㅞ (we); 10. ㅟ (wi); 11. ㅢ (yi).

There are also 41 obsolete diphthongs: ᅷ, ᅸ, ᅹ, ᅺ, ᅻ, ᅼ, ᅽ, ᅾ, ᅿ, ᆀ, ᆁ, ᆂ, ᆃ, ㆇ, ㆈ, ᆆ, ᆇ, ㆉ, ᆉ, ᆊ, ᆋ, ᆌ, ᆍ, ᆎ, ᆏ, ᆐ, ㆊ, ㆋ, ᆓ, ㆌ, ᆕ, ᆖ, ᆗ, ᆘ, ᆙ, ᆚ, ᆛ, ᆟ, ᆠ, ㆎ.

Did you get all of that? Me neither. 


Words are made into syllables. When possible, they will be written in one small block. It really does save space. The Korean credit card machines have cut off my signature before I finish signing a few times. That should out it in perspective. Also, no letter can make a sound by itself. The smallest Korean words will have at least 2 characters. 
Focus on this:
Consonants
1. ㄱ  makes a g or k sound, and its shape can be changed depending on where it is in the word.
2. ㄴ makes an n sound, and again its shape can change depending on where it is written in the syllable block.
3. ㄷ can be either a d or t (they do sound a bit alike). The sounds can switch, such as in the city of Daegu (Taegu). I think it also makes a difference in sound based on where in the word it is written.
4. ㄹ can be an l or an r. It isn't a harsh sound, which kind of explains why the r and l sounds get mixed up. I really don't know when to use which sound.
5. ㅁ Close your mouth and try to push a sound through it. Now open your mouth while doing this. Did you hear mmm? This is supposed to look like the shape of your mouth when you make that sound.
6. ㅂ This is another of those two sound letters. It is either a b or a p, as in the city of Busan (Pusan). I think there is a rule telling you when to use which sound, but I haven't learned it yet.
7. ㅅ This one is easy. It is an s!!! However, I did learn that when it is followed byㅣit ALWAYS says "sh." Upon further reading, I see the same is true when followed by ㅕ, ㅑ, ㅠ, ㅛ
8. ㅇThis is a neat one. It makes no sound at the beginning of a word, as in it is more of a placeholder. No words or syllables can start with a vowel, so it is used as a silent consonant. When it comes at the end of a syllable, it makes the ng sound.
9. ㅈHere we have /j/ or sometimes /ch/. It is only confusing when the font or handwriting changed because it can be written a bit differently.
10. ㅊ So when the /j/ has another little line on it, it becomes a /ch/ or more accurately, /tch/
11. ㅋ this is a hard k. It looks like a double k, but is not to be confused with the g.
12. ㅌ I always thought this stood for error, but I was wrong. Hello, /t/!
13.ㅍ This little column looking guy is a hard p, not to be confused with the b above.
14. ㅎ This is my favorite, either because it's the first letter I figured out on my own (someone wrote directions to my apartment and it was the first letter twice --> Hosan-ri and Hongik Aparta) OR because it's the first letter of my last name. I haven't decided. 




Let's move on to the vowels.
1. ㅏ is ah, as in what your doctor tells you to open wide and say.
2. ㅓ  is a schwa sound most of the time.
3. ㅗ is oh, as in I the sound Jeremiah makes when I punch him in the stomach.
4. ㅜ is ooh, like what the three alien toys from Toy Story always say... lol
5. ㅡ this is a hard sound. It doesn't really translate. It's something of a ew meets uh.
6. ㅣ is the easiest letter because it looks like a capital letter i. The sound is /ee/
7. ㅐ, ㅔ are basically the same. They sounded differently and mean slightly different things, but supposedly they sound no different these days. They both make the /ae/ sound.
Complex vowels:
ㅑ, ㅕ, ㅛ, ㅠ, ㅖ and ㅒ
These are the regular vowels with a y sound in front of them.
1. ㅑ = y- + ah or think of a German ja.
2.  ㅠ = y- + ooh, similar to you
3. ㅕ is a little tougher. It sounds kind of like y'all without the L!
4.  ㅛ = y- + oh, kind of like yo man, whassup? (yo)
5. ㅖand ㅒ are pretty much the same sound = y- + ae , like an abbreviated yay. 


Okay... there may be more, but it's almost midnight and I had a busy weekend, which I will write about later.

Until the next time,
안녕히 가세요. (That's goodbye)

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from Korea! I'd try to write that phonetically in Korean, but since I don't have a Korean keyboard... I will have to Google it. -----> 즐거운 크리쓰마쓰


My brother left me a message and asked if I had seen Santa Claus yet... Actually, I did. Too bad I didn't have a camera out. We got a Santa suit at work on Thursday. They were asking if James (the other American teacher) wanted to wear it.  That's a joke. Neither one of us fits into Korean clothing. So, our manager Jeff put on the costume and handed out mittens to the kids. It was so funny when he walked around. I cried out, "look, it's Santa!" but those kids insisted on calling him Teacher! I asked later if they had seen Santa, and they said, "no, Teacher Jeff." I think Jeff had some problems getting the beard on because it was covering most of his face. Maybe it was intentional. Either way, the kids loved it and so did I.


So the other American teacher is James. He has been here about two months. I can't post his picture because he doesn't like to be in pictures, though he apparently used to be something of a professional photographer. Anyway, James and I have been having fun being cold Americans here. He is from Ohio, so he is much more used to it than I am, but the WIND is frigid. We were kidding about how our faces were going to break and fall off from the cold. I really enjoy walking to and from the bus stop (though we've only made the bus once and usually just take a cab) because we laugh the whole way. I think we will be good friends.


The teachers I have gotten to know the best at my school are Luka, Elin, Jennifer, and Jeff (aka Santa Claus). I can't pin down what it is about Luka that I like, but she reminds me of Alexandra and Angel, who are two of my closest friends and who share a similar sense of humor. When I had been here only a week, she told me she really liked me. What a compliment from such a lovely person! We had Japanese the next evening for dinner, which is when I was telling her how much Americans like meat and when she asked me if we eat meat with every meal. In my case, I eat cereal for breakfast!  


Elin and Jennifer are the two teachers I share a class with. And by this, I mean we teach the same students right after each other. Jennifer and I have the same students daily. I teach them for 2:40hrs a week and she teaches them for 3:10hrs a week. I think James and I must both teach part of Elin's class. I have them for 20 minutes MWF, and I suspect he has them 50 minutes TTh. Anyway, Jennifer and Elin are both sweet and funny. Jennifer is laid back and has beautiful hair. Elin is just lovely and has a great personality. 


Jeff is our manager, but also teaches. This guy is awesome. He has a sense of humor, which I appreciate. He teases me about my toboggans that I wear, something about how I will NEVER freeze while wearing them, so I keep asking if he wants one. lol  The other night, we all went out for dinner since it was Jay B's last day. Everyone was talking in Korean around us, so to entertain myself I pretended to be thoroughly engaged in the discussion and started nodding. Out of the corner of my eye, I see that I got Jeff laughing and I think Luka too. Everyone seems to think I'm funny and I love an audience. I really need to tone that down. haha... anyway, the point is I appreciate Jeff's sense of humor. He seems to like to catch me off guard. When I had my medical check, he and Luka and I had lunch together. We had octopus soup... which I tried, but grimaced when I did.. haha. It was actually okay. So then Jeff tells me, "you know, sometimes we eat this..... RAW!" I can't explain it, but the comedic timing was perfect. I'm still laughing about it.


As for me, I'm going to Daegu today to see Steve and Melissa. I'm spending Christmas weekend with them. I have to shower and be out of here pretty soon, so I can't write much more. However, my next update will include my food adventures, and probably how I'm tackling the language. In the meantime, merry Christmas! I hope you have a white Christmas. I'll post pictures on here when I figure out how to do so. In the meantime, check them out on facebook along with a couple of videos!


Ka-hap-sam-ni-da for reading,


Ann-ay-i-gah-say-yo (goodbye!)


Christie