Breakin' around

It's hard to believe that Chusok break is almost over. This week we have tried our best to ignore the inevitable pull towards planning for next week's lessons. On Monday and Tuesday, we visited an island off of the coast of Korea with Will, JungMi, Cara, and Toby. It was good to get out of the city for a while and see the Yellow Sea.
Yesterday, we went to Namdaemun market, a well known shopping area north of our neighborhood. There are many interesting things to purchase and consume in Seoul.
For example:

Below are many jars of pickled items and preserved items, including Ginseng, a very popular health supplement in Korea.

Later on, we took a tram to the top of Namsan mountain, where the North Seoul Tower is located. It was a little unnerving riding the tram. They herd as many people as they can into the little box, and unless you get packed in next to a window, all you can see are the backs of the people around you.

There is a great view of the city from the top of Namsan mountain. You can either pay more money to visit the observation deck at the top of the tower, or sit in the traditional gazebo and enjoy some bondaegi (steamed silk worm larvae).

We also visited our local iPark, a huge structure containing a department store, shopping mall, cinema, train station, food court, and E-Mart (similar to Wal-Mart).

Grocery stores in Korea feature a wide variety of Kimchi, the ever present side dish:

There is also an abundance of the other Korean staple, fish, which is available in many shapes, sizes, and states of decay. Here are some frozen:

And some dried:

Chuseok holiday

Students and teachers alike are rejoicing that we have made it to Chuseok holiday and have all of this week off school! On Friday, the middle school went on a field trip to Olympic Park. Abby had to keep track of nine sixth graders with three subway transfers to make on the way there. The day began beautifully but took a turn for the worse when one of the kids asked to buy a gatorade. Soon, the whole group was in line, disregarding Abby's instructions to put their items away and hurry. They got left and had no idea where they were going. Luckily one of the kids had a cell phone, so they were able to communicate with the other group and find their way. Abby's group bragged all day to the other groups that "we got lost! it was really fun!"

A lot of our students will probably have to go to hogwan all week during the break. Hogwan is an after school academic supplement which most of the Korean kids attend. A lot of the students in my Spanish class are also taking Chinese at hogwan and they are already fluent in English and Korean. There is tremendous pressure on these kids to succeed academically.

Ryan got sick this week so we had our first experience with the Korean pharmacy. There is one right near our house. I went in and acted out the cough that he had and the pharmacist came back with this green box of pills and said; " 3 x a day. no smoking!" Also in the picture is a bottle of vitamin C tonic, an orange popcicle and some o.j.

Ryan has begun to develop good relationships with his students. It is already evident that it would be really hard to have to leave the school to teach somewhere else. On Saturdays, he practices with the varsity soccer team. It's really interesting to see kids from Mexico, Spain, Nigeria, Korea, and Japan, all of them with their own styles of playing, learn to work together as a team. Many of the sudents have asked how long we plan on staying in Seoul. It really seems to mean a lot to many of them to hear that we don't plan to just put in our time and leave. There is a strong sense of community here that benefits from commited teachers who have invested in the students over many years.

Seoul is emptying out as families leave to return to the place their ancestors are from for Chuseok. Those are Asian pears in the first box.

These pictures are from last weekend. This area is called Myeongdong; it is a yet another fashion district.

Our camera has since broken. Hopefully we will get a new one soon. Tomorrow, we plan to go to a nearby island for a night with some friends for Chuseok. Maybe we will cook some rice cakes over pine needles and eat them under the moon.

As you can probably tell from the lack of updates, we have been very busy with lesson planning and school. It is going very well; we are starting to get to know the students a lot better and are really enjoying them. Ryan's students, being highschoolers, are especially inquisitive about his views on certain issues and will often stay after class to discuss. We are beginning to feel a lot more at home in Seoul. A big part of that is that our friend, Will Cote, is back in town along with his little sister and brother-in-law, Cara & Toby Kellogg, who are here to teach English. We are very thankful to have them near by. Today we all went to an afternoon church service in what is hands down the best looking church we've attended so far.

The other night we all went to play darts together. The boys befriended some Koreans there and played a darts tournament. Here are Ryan and his partner (making the kimchi sign) after their win.

A few weekends ago, our friend, Sarah Huffines, from Chattanooga came through Seoul with some friends. She introduced us to Lisa (in the green) and we got to enjoy some "mexican" food with her before she returned to another city where she attends law school.

We've been enjoying walks along the Han river. In Korea, there are community workout machines in public parks. The elderly especially frequent the parks and exercise. There was a heated game of senior croquet going on near here as well.

Happy Independence Day, Korea!

After only two days of teaching, we already got to enjoy a much needed holiday weekend for Korean Independence Day. We heard fireworks from our apartment, so we rushed down to the river walk along the Han to watch. We came to this park once before, but it was completely flooded from monsoon rains. The river park is a very peaceful place with many unique happenings along its route. Our side is pretty quiet, but we did pass one group of people lighting candles, burning incense, clanging bells and chanting what we think were Buddhist prayers. On the opposite shore, we could hear the occasional sound of fireworks and other evidence of merry-making.

We took a trip to Dongdaemun, a section of Seoul with multiple high rise shopping malls, street vendors galore, stages with most entertaining teen dance performances and an artificial river walk. On the subway ride there, Ryan stood up to offer a lady and her son his seat. The little boy began adorably practicing his English with Ryan; "Where are you from? I'm from Korea." Then the father joined in and told Ryan; "you are handsome man." It made us very happy to have a conversation with a Korean family because this was one of the only times since we have been here that a stranger has spoken to us. We've learned that, in general, Seoulites keep quiet and to themselves on the subway/bus. Typically no one smiles at us, nor do they smile at one another. I've been told it's more of a Seoul thing than a Korean thing. I think because Ryan got up to let them sit down, we had officially acknowledged each other's existence, and so we were able to have had a nice few moments together until the family got off at their stop.

At Dongdaemun, a Korean T.V. station was shooting some kind of variety show that had something to do with the Olympics. These two boys were waiting to go on and perform. Ryan asked to take their picture, and they happily obliged, making the "kimchi sign." Koreans almost always make this sign in pictures; Instead of "cheese" they say "kimchi."

On the way home, we noticed that an unusually large number of people were watching the Olympics on their cell phones. When we got to our neighborhood, all of the shopkeepers in our little neighborhood of Bogwangdong were glued to their television sets. The excitement was all about baseball, and it wasn't just any matchup. Korea was playing Japan: a rivalry of epic and historic proportions. Korea won, and when the last out was called, we heard our neighborhood celebrate their independence for the 2nd night.

You & Me & Kimchi

This week we have been spending most of our time at school getting ready for class to start on the 13th. Our class rosters posess the names of our future students from all over the world and we are getting very excited! We have found some time in the evenings to roam around Seoul. We went on a bread run to Paris Baguette last night. It is good to have a bakery so close by with bread that is so F-Style and Fresh:

Food shopping in Korea is never boring.

Nor is traveling via subway. Here is a Korean woman, exemplifying what is a pretty standard fashion trend at current; strappy high heels with anything. It has been very hot here this week; the subway wind is very refreshing.

We walked over to beautiful Insadong, a long cobblestone street with cultural Korean items, including calligraphy shops and traditional dress shops. There are many foreigners and a lot of tourist traps, but the winding side streets are peaceful and charming. Here are kimchi pots lining the stairs. Various vegetables and chili paste are placed in them and left to ferment outside until they are sufficiently pickled. There are many different kinds of kimchi, with cabbage being most common.

Seoul is a very modern city with sleek, new architecture. However, much of the old still stands.

While in the Insadong vicinity, we went to Kyobo, the largest bookstore in Korea. While we were there, we ate dinner at the Korean "fast food" establishment inside. Abby enjoyed some vegetable Kimbap (bap is rice; kim is seaweed). 10 pieces and some kimchi was the equivalent of $3 U.S. dollars.

Ryan had noodle (Udon) soup, accompanied by the ubiquitous kimchi.

From Bukhansan to Agra

This weekend we went with the entire staff of our school to a mountain at Bukhansan National Park just outside of Seoul. We took a nice hike up the mountain, stopping at peaks to look over the valley and admire the numerous cranes and skyscrapers of Seoul. It was a beautiful spot none-the-less.

When we got home we went suit shopping for Ryan. All the suits fit him perfectly here and the shop keepers hem the pants for you right in the store for no extra cost.

We ate dinner at Agra Indian Restaurant in Itaewon. We had Veggie Curry, Chicken Tika Masala and Garlic Naan. There was no spice scale, but i'd say it was very. It was a little steep in cost but we couldn't deny our hunger for Indian food. The ambiance, with all the brass furnishings, hookas (from which we did not partake) and Billie Holiday music made it worthwhile. Also, there is no tipping or tax in Korea.

After dinner, our aim was to hike to the North Seoul Tower. We had a nightmare taxi ride, once again ending up somewhere entirely different than where we intended (Namsan Town apartments rather than Namsan Tower). We made our way back to the park by bus. Then we wandered around the park for a long time, enjoying the trees and catching glimpses of city lights through their covering.

The park is beautiful and there are endless trails and winding footpaths. Unfortunately, we couldn't ever figure out how to get to the Tower tonight, so we took the bus home. It's very enjoyable...setting out to go somewhere, getting lost and then wandering around trying to find the bus stop, enjoying what we see along the way.

World Cup Stadium

Last night we went to World Cup Stadium to watch Korea play Australia. We were a little late getting to the game, and when we got out of the subway station, we could hear the crowd singing and cheering from the stadium. It was really confusing to figure out how to get tickets, and we wandered around for a while amid vendors and scalpers trying to find a booth. Eventually, a man approached us with tickets and hurried us along with him toward the gate. We thought he was legitimate, but when he tried to shove us through, the security guards stopped him, ran him off, and tore up his tickets, which were evidently fake.
We eventually located the ticket booth, and on our way there we heard a tremendous cheer come from the stadium. Korea had scored the first and only goal of the game.