This is an example of movers in Korea. This truck has a built in lift and things are moved in or out through the window. There’s a platform that goes from the bed of the truck up to the window.
It took me a year to fill up this piggy bank. Today, I was finally able to go to the bank and deposit it into my account. It’s amazing how it all adds up. That little pig was holding 71,190 won (about $62)!
After school I met up with Jamie and Shanna for dinner. There aren’t many restaurant choices in our neighborhood. Basically, there’s the oven baked chicken place and 2 kimbap places. Kimbap looks a lot like a sushi roll. It’s rice, ham, crab, cucumber, pickled radish and egg rolled up in dried seaweed. There are several varieties available, but I don’t know much about it because I don’t like seaweed.
Kimbap places serve a large variety of foods. You can get soups, dumplings, stir fries and even fried pork cutlet. These places are cheap and fast.
This is what our favorite neighborhood kimbap place looks like from the inside. They are usually hole in the wall types of places…Jamie and Shanna actually walked right past it today and we have gone there several times. The menu is posted on the wall and it’s all in Korean so you either need know how to read Korean and have a basic knowledge of what various Korean foods are or go with someone who does.
I took this photo on my walk home today. I’ve been watching the blooms on this tree everyday. I am so excited that spring is here. I cannot wait for everything to turn green again!
This picture may not look that interesting at first glance, but it’s actually pretty funny. That man that appears to be directing traffic is actually a robotic mannequin. His batons light up and his arms move. It’s pretty elaborate. Driving in Korea is weird and it’s something I’m glad I’ll never have to do.
One of my favorite things about living in Korea is being surrounded by randomness. It’s hard to explain, but I can’t help but smile when I see murals like this.
Today was a pretty rough day. I teach 1st graders and I planned the entire 40 minute class all on my own. I have never taught students with such a low English level before and it’s pretty intimidating. I have a co-teacher for the class, but the class was mostly led by me so there was very little translation happening. Some of the activities I thought would work were too advanced for the kids and the first class bombed… hard. It probably wasn’t the worst class ever, but I felt like going into the bathroom and shedding a few tears afterwards. After class, I had a chat with my co-teacher and things were better for the 2 classes after that.
Lunch was a bit disappointing, as well. Today was what I like to call a “rice & kimchi day.” That means that the only things I found edible were rice and kimchi. Today was a little bit different than most rice & kimchi days because we were served 3 different kinds of kimchi. On any given day, there are only 5 things served (usually rice, soup and 3 side dishes).
The soup of the day was seaweed soup with beef and rice cakes. We had rice with seeds (or grains of some sort?) and a few black beans mixed in. Today’s side dishes were radish kimchi, cabbage kimchi and a kimchi made from apple and cucumber. I know apples and cucumber in a spicy red sauce may sound gross, but don’t knock it until you try it. I love it!
The teachers I eat with have been so funny lately. They are so curious about English now… and me. They’ve been asking me questions (through JuHye) like, do I have a boyfriend, do I like to go to public bath houses, am I on a diet (because I wasn’t eating soup). They have been trying to learn new words every day. Yesterday they learned lettuce and cucumber so today they had a little review and also learned seaweed and “Don’t do that!” One of the teachers turned to me and said, “Meagan, fun fun English time!” hahaha Ahhhh! Why are they so cute??
Korean dramas are like chick flicks that are 20+ hours long (split into hour long episodes). They are cheesy, but super addictive. I’ve recently started watching Boys Before Flowers and I’m already halfway through. The problem is that the episodes always end in mini cliffhangers so it leaves you wanting more.
I was planning to cook dinner tonight so I had to run by the store after work to pick up a few things. When I was browsing the ice cream section, two of my 6th grade students spotted me and came over to say hi. I asked them which ice cream was good and they recommended a few. Before they left to go back to their academy (private cram school), I bought them each an ice cream for being so helpful.
Today is the first day of spring and it was beautiful out. People tend to laugh at how proud Koreans are about their “four distinct seasons,” but I think it’s pretty accurate. In Texas, we basically have 2 seasons — summer and not summer.
This winter was the coldest Korea has seen for a while so I am more than thankful for spring to be upon us. And I’m not the only one. The badminton courts by the river at Dongnae Station were full.
Life Outside of Texas 