Blog Carnival: Feeling at Home when Abroad

It is my second month contributing to the Reach to Teach | Teach Abroad Blog’s monthly "Blog Carnival." Each month, a blogger-teacher-traveler hosts and asks a question, which is voluntarily answered by interested bloggers. Published by the fifth of each month by the host on their blog, the Blog Carnival focuses on advice and helpful tips for ESL teachers. If you'd like to contribute to next month's Blog Carnival, please do contact Dean at dean@reachtoteachrecruiting.com - it is a very welcoming process. 

I taught English as a Second Language (ESL) in two rural elementary schools in South Korea for one year (2013-2014). 

February 2015 – Sharon Couzens:

Sharon Couzens of TEFL Tips asks:

"At what moment did you finally start to felt like you were at "home" during your time living abroad?" 

         .

My time living and working in South Korea was at its worst isolating and at its very best fulfilling and carefree. I think I would still be living and teaching in my city of Icheon had I achieved a steady feeling of "home." But I never found my place in Korea. There are moments, however, that life was good and felt complete. Moments of home - some familiar and some completely new that fit into my world of thinking. 

First, I want to thank the people who introduced me to and experienced with me new foods and new ways of dining. Those bowls of vegetables from above, sitting among the small and cluttered market kitchen/kitchen tables, were such a sight! I had never seen anything like them and they delighted me beyond words (so I snapped a picture). In Korea, vegetables made sense, and every day at school lunch and every time I ate out at a Korean restaurant, I stuffed my mouth full of traditional Korean side dishes where vegetables are the star. 

End of the Semester Happiness

I'm ecstatic about the semester being over, though possibly not as much as my students. Bounding in and out of the English room, crowding around me, asking for the millionth time about the photos by my desk, wanting to play UNO, and sneaking up on/scaring the bejeezus out of me.

 

Day 6 & 7: Badger Blogging Blitz

[Badger Blogging Blitz (BBB) 2014: Ashley ...meanwhile in Korea..., Vicky Outside the Pyxis, Maggie The Traveling Flamingo, Drew The Hungry Partier, Rebecca Rebe with a Clause]

Today is Sunday, March 30th. The weather today is sunny with a high of 68, low of 45 degrees fahrenheit. Saturday's weather was rainy, drizzling on and off all day in Seoul (high of 63, low of 48).

Saturday Daily Recap
Get in my belly, weekend. Dentist appointment in Seoul and first meal at Lotteria, Korea's version of McDonald's in case you don't want to go McDonald's. Shopping, soju, beer, and Vietnamese food with Anne and Rebecca on the "Avenue of Youth" in the Jonggak area; it was SO good to hang out with them.

7:13AM: I give up trying to sleep in until 8:00, when my alarm is set for. What can I say, my body is finely-tuned machine with the internal clock of a punctual polar bear. I listen to NPR's hourly newscast in bed and then I don't even know what -- pretty soon it's already 8:30 and I quickly shower, make coffee, take my calcium supplement, and race out the door to catch the Dongbu Express bus to Seoul for my dentist appointment.

Day 5: Badger Blogging Blitz

[Badger Blogging Blitz (BBB) 2014: Ashley ...meanwhile in Korea..., Vicky Outside the Pyxis, Maggie The Traveling Flamingo, Drew The Hungry Partier, Rebecca Rebe with a Clause]

Today is FRIDAY, March 29th. The weather today is partly cloudy and warm (high 75, low 50 degrees Fahrenheit). 

Daily Recap

It's Friday and the kids know it. Extra energy, extra laughs, extra enthusiasm for the games!

6:00AM: Alarm clock goes off. NPR's hourly newscast, check email, frozen blueberries, banana, peanut butter with a spoon, toast and jam, coffee, calcium supplement, brush my teeth twice with two different kinds of toothpaste.

7:30AM: Walk to bus stop. Notice a weird interaction between a high school "couple." The boy is standing next to me, drinking a milk box. The girl is about five feet away from where we're standing; she has her school uniform on and I recognize her from yesterday. The boy tosses his milk box on the ground, strides over to her, points down the street, and they walk off together, away from the bus stop. Weird...

Day 4: Badger Blogging Blitz

[Badger Blogging Blitz (BBB) 2014: Ashley ...meanwhile in Korea..., Vicky Outside the Pyxis, Maggie The Traveling Flamingo, Drew The Hungry Partier, Rebecca Rebe with a Clause]

Today is Thursday, March 27th. The weather today is sunny and warm (high 70, low 45 degrees Fahrenheit). The sunshine gives the dirt playground at Doji a dusty yellow glow. 

Daily Recap

This morning's sixth grade classes were painful. There's about 80% more Korean in my classes at Doji than at Doam (my Doji co-teacher basically translates everything I say). The 2nd and 3rd grade classes went really well, which is good, because it wasn't the easiest day.  

6:30AM: Alarm clock goes off. I was up late last night catching up on the BBB posts from the other Badgers; the fresh perspectives and different daily routines are like food to me -- really good stuff. The late night energy surge made it hard to fall asleep. NPR's hourly newscast, calcium supplement, banana, coffee, and packed toast again.

7:20AM: It takes me about ten minutes to walk to the bus stop that'll take me to my second school Doji Elementary. I'm not sure what the bus schedule is, just that it comes every ten minutes or so. It's a reliable bus, too, one that goes to the Icheon E-mart (which is essentially a Target super store), so my morning bus ride is actually quite stress free.

Day 3: Badger Blogging Blitz

[Badger Blogging Blitz (BBB) 2014: Ashley ...meanwhile in Korea..., Vicky Outside the Pyxis, Maggie The Traveling Flamingo, Drew The Hungry Partier, Rebecca Rebe with a Clause]

Today is Wednesday, March 26th. The weather today is cloudy with a chance of rain (high 72, low 41 degrees Fahrenheit). Woke up ten minutes before my alarm clock. Drat. 

Daily Recap

Teaching the younger grades is always a huge reminder about how kids are kids. They are so "pure of heart" as my co-teachers say. High energy classes and a productive afternoon today. 

6:00AM: Alarm clock goes off. I hop into the shower, get dressed, and listen to NPR's hourly newscast as I reheat the eggs from yesterday (now double microwave eggs). I take my calcium supplement and end up packing some toast and dried fruit I got from the Gwanghwamun market last Saturday into my bag to eat once I get to school. Boil some for water for coffee and into my travel mug it goes.
7:05AM: Walk to school. "How Did This Get Made #78 Crossroads (w/ Jeff Rubin)" plays on my iPhone. One of my go-to podcasts, How Did This Get Made? always makes me laugh. My favorite comedic actors discuss insanely bad and occasionally insanely good movies.

Day 2: Badger Blogging Blitz

[Badger Blogging Blitz (BBB) 2014: Ashley ...meanwhile in Korea..., Vicky Outside the Pyxis, Maggie The Traveling Flamingo, Drew The Hungry Partier, Rebecca Rebe with a Clause]

Today is Tuesday, March 25th. The weather today is overcast and warm (high 66, low 46 degrees Fahrenheit). I woke up feeling rested; I slept like a rock, the perks of a previously long day. 

Daily Recap

No lights and a cloudy morning, the hallways were so dark! Today was great class-wise, plus there were oranges in the teacher's room for snack. I was disappointed to find out that I was assigned more after school classes for April, even though I thought I had only agreed to teach extra classes for March. Lost in translation. 

5:45AM: Alarm clock goes off.  NPR's hourly newscast and I check my email and social media. Peanut butter and jelly toast with black pepper chai tea (water boiled in sixty seconds with my electric tea pot) for breakfast. The scratchy toast and steaming hot tea feels good on my throat. I make some microwave eggs but end up saving them in a tubberware for dinner perhaps.

6:40AM: Walk to school. It is a listen to "High School Musical" kind of gray morning. Zac Efron gets it.

Day 1: Badger Blogging Blitz

[Badger Blogging Blitz (BBB) 2014: Ashley ...meanwhile in Korea..., Vicky Outside the Pyxis, Maggie The Traveling Flamingo, Drew The Hungry Partier, Rebecca Rebe with a Clause]

Today is Monday, March 24th. The weather today is cloudy and cool (high 63, low 39 degrees Fahrenheit). I woke up feeling reluctant. Monday, you bastard. Koreans have a name for Mondays - 월요일 병 - which translates literally to "Monday sickness." 

Daily Recap

Today was a good day, despite it being Monday. I was pleasantly surprised at how well the 6th grade classes responded to the spelling activity, and I got to try several new games with my after school students. Lunch was fantastic per usual and my co-teacher SK and I had some good laughs today.

5:45AM: Alarm clock goes off. It's crazy, I know. I always lie to people when they ask me what time I get up. I listen to NPR's hourly newscast via iPhone before pulling myself out of bed. Fried eggs, toast, and a banana for breakfast. I wash down my calcium supplement with a glass of water (which I boiled via electric tea kettle the night before). After the dishes are clean, I drink my last yogurt drink and play an old episode of NPR Pop Culture Happy Hour "The Shambolic VMAs And Hollywood in The White House" as I get dressed, etc. I head out, grabbing the garbage bag that's been sitting by the door for the past week. 

6:35AM: Walk to school. Sunrise is around 6:30AM, and this morning was beautifully crisp. By the bridge, they're making good progress on the building they've been working on the past few months. Brickwork is finished and I suspect they'll be done in a couple of weeks.

True Korean Teacher Dinner

My first teacher dinner with the Doji staff was filled with beer, soju, sam gyeop sal, mul kimchi, two impromptu speeches, and noraebang. I had a really great time eating (like the best time eating) and after the main part of the meal was done, I was so happy to talk with some of the Doji teachers. I met four teachers who are my age -- How old are you? Twenty-five?! Friends. -- and it was great to chat about twentysomething stuff with them.

Everyone got febreezed on the way out the restaurant door (to get rid of the grilled meat smell?) and we headed to the noraebang, which is basically a private karaoke singing room. It's funny, but this was an obligation. One of the teachers told me that Doji was too small of a school to hope to sneak out of singing and go home. Everyone was expected to sing, especially my co-teacher because he's new and Korean. For the last song, we all stood in a half circle, held hands, and the mic was passed verse by verse down the line. Five hours later, I'm home. Wednesday, you may have killed me. 

The highlight of my day: waiting outside by the front door at Doam. My Doji co-teacher would pick me up for the teacher dinner. While I stood there, one of the little second graders came hopping towards me. "Oh, hello," he always says when he sees me. My teacher friend KH comes out and I dunno, we three just stand there and talk in broken English. Then, one of my fifth grade students joins us and gives me a picture he drew and colored -- "Hero Cookie Man." I was also really happy to receive a very pretty basket of flowers at the teacher dinner. It's the simple things that get me through the social things ::

Korean Elementary Schools, what they're made of

Unlike American elementary schools, Korean schools have a distinct look. "Korean school spotted," is on of my favorite in-my-head catch phrases when exploring a Korean city. It's an insanely easy and comforting game haha. 

A massive, dirt playground is a key feature. Doubling as a soccer field, a track, a performance-dance space, a bus drop-off and pick-up area, and a parking lot for parents on special days, all the Korean elementary schools have one. Bordering its outside edges are monkey bars, slides, swings, and other playground equipment. Doam and Doji also have basketball courts. Trees and statues of various Korean figures, such as King Sejong, line the side of the dirt playground that the main school building sits on.

Doam Elementary School 

First week at two schools, Doji thoughts

[On February 18th, I was told by my employer, Doam Elementary, that I would start working at a second school, Doji Elementary, two days a week. Three days a week, I continue to teach at Doam.]

Happy White Day! Students at my new school kept coming into the English classroom with candy, and I finally made a comment about it to my Doji co-teacher Seong Ho. He told me that it was White Day, similar to Pepero Day. A second "Valentine's Day" where boys and girls give sweet candy instead of chocolates is how he described it. I liked that they were comfortable enough to approach me since I met three of my classes for the first time today - and I'm the first native or foreigner English teacher at Doji in either two or five years. I've been told both so...

The first week (or two days) at my new school went well. It was reminiscent of my first week at Doam back in September, minus jet-lag and culture shock. I had classes, met the principal (who is referred to as the royal director), and was introduced to the various teachers as we ran into each other in the hallways. It was nice not to be completely lost - a sign of growth for sure. I am an expert at what it's like to be a native English teacher in my section of Korea.

Nom is food

Today's lunch was amazinggggg. In order of appearance:

1. Yes yogurt drink

2. Let's do this hard boiled eggs

3. Get excited 만두 mandu (dumplings)

4. Kill me sweet potatoes rolled in 김 kim (seaweed), deep fried 

5. Talk to me 떡볶이 ddeokbokki that included little sausages and 오뎅 odeng (Korean "fish hot dogs")

6. The lovely 오뎅 odeng soup (오뎅국?) 

7. Starch me 밥 bap (rice) of course

The regular Korean teachers had a lunch meeting so I happily ate with the kids and the daycare teachers. I sat next to 진세훈, easily one of my favorite students -- I love hanging out with him. The atmosphere felt loose, the students taking more time than usual to eat. Watching little hands crack and peel hard boiled eggs is possibly the cutest egg-scenario out there.  

We teachers sipped on some after-lunch Japanese coffee, brewed in a big metal soup bowl and ladled out into the small paper coffee cups. They joked, we laughed, and I left the lunchroom with a plastic bag full off leftover hard boiled eggs, mandu, and fried kim rolls. Hello breakfast and dinner for the next few days :D 

Last Day of School FOOD & NANTA

I admit, I anticipated food. Last day, I figured. No way there wouldn't be food. I planned accordingly (a dangerous habit in Korea) by eating a lighter breakfast. And by golly, I'm getting good at living in Korea, because I was greeted in the hallway by one of my favorite fifth graders handing out homemade chocolates. After the graduation ceremony, I was given the usual bag of rice cakes plus a prettily wrapped, fancy rice cake topped with soybeans and other tasty savories.

Bag-of-rice-cakes (뜩 ddeok) is the norm here. I've received countless and still struggle to finish the contents. I like ddeok fine, but they're like the elvish waybread in the "Lord of the Rings" to me -- and I'm sadly not a hobbit in this scenario. They are incredibly dense and filling; Koreans pop them down like saltine crackers.

For lunch, we teachers headed to a restaurant that serves the Korean ground mudfish soup (추아탕 chuatang). The fourth grade teacher raved about the soup on the ride to the restaurant, but he was aware that American taste buds might not appreciate the flavor. No need to worry, it was a fantastic lunch -- I didn't think it tasted all that fishy; it just tasted good.

My relationship with soup has grown into a full-blown love affair. Thank you, Korea. Served boiling hot in an earthenware bowl, I added garlic, green onions, and permilla seeds to my taste. Noodles and/or rice were also added and the slurping and sniffling noses soon followed. Utter perfection with two different varieties of kimchi, raw onions soaked in sauce, and pork cutlet available in between spoonfuls of soup, I was told I am very pretty at eating. Why thanks!

Teacher outing number three, next we headed in our coach bus to Seoul for the "Cookin Nanta" show in Myeongdong. The coach buses are well decorated and the drivers always very professional. Olympic speed skating and a small cat nap later, we arrived at Myeongdong, shopping dreamland. We had some time to kill before the show, so I hit the shopping streets with a group of teachers. I'm not at all shopping compatible with Koreans. They shop like they eat school lunch: quickly. I like to take my time and to feel the different fabrics and materials. No, no. But I did manage to buy two shirts, which all the teachers were excited to know.

I went to Nanta with Steph and Alex when they visited and it was fun. But going with the Doam teachers was an absolute hoot. We had great seats - second row from the stage, which meant that a lot of the teachers were pulled up onto stage during the performance - SO FUNNY. And they just ate up the humor, making Nanta round two really awesome. I think part of it was the English. Nanta is a nonverbal comedy percussion act, but when they do use "real" words, it's English. At one point in the show, the nephew carries in a take box of chicken - "take-out" written in big letters on the box. The teacher sitting next to me, who doesn't ever speak to me, sounded the words out, out loud. The language aspect of the show was something I didn't factor in the first time; it's like me being thrilled I can say, "만두 주세요." I'm planning on writing a full-review of the Nanta show coming soon.

Another bag of rice cakes and little oranges on the bus ride home: FOOD.

Happy White Chocolate Robot

Day of Food

Winter Break is officially over (nooooooo!) and as difficult as it was to come back from the long holiday weekend in Busan (more on this later <3), it was comforting to hear the students' shouts and noise as I walked into the school. Plus, we got eased into the last two weeks of the school year with no classes and lots of food. A day of food.

The President-Principal treated all of the teachers to lunch at this kal guk su 칼국수* restaurant down the highway from the school. 칼국수 is one of my favorite Korean meals; loosely translated into hand-cut noodle soup, I feel unstoppable whenever I eat it. The noodles are homemade, thick, and juicy all at the same time. The broth has a subtle chicken-noodle-soup-esque flavor from the mussels, clams, and vegetable. This version also included seaweed. I'm always amazed at the dinosaur-sized pot of soup set before us, but then I start eating and think, " I could do this all day. Sit here and eat 칼국수."

My first co-teacher Moonee is back from maternity leave for at least the rest of the year. She's hoping she can get a job closer to her home in Seoul for next year, and I hope she can, too! Her daughter Seung Ah 승아 is possibly the cutest baby I have ever seen, and she turns 100 days old today. In Korea, the family makes and gives out white rice cakes to celebrate. The white rice cake means that the baby is healthy and that she will live a long life. I felt so honored to receive one!

The Doam teachers love to travel. Combined we traveled to Japan, Turkey, Spain, and Europe this Winter Break. A key chain from Spain, sweets from Europe, and a Badger 5th Quarter tee from home, I was feeling the love today -- thank you all, lots of love from Icheon, South Korea ::

*Fun Fact: 칼국수 was one of the first Korean words I learned

Feed Me: More on Korean School Lunch

I will never stop talking about how much I love school lunches. Over winter break, I like to think of them as the cold lunch version - still fabulous but usually served cold. There are less of us here (about 30-35 students and 7 to 8 teachers), which means two things: more time to eat and I get seconds :D Though, the teachers that make and serve the food have noticed my appetite and load my plate so full of Korean deliciousness, I am usually too full to go up for more. It's been so nice eating and talking with a smaller set of students and teachers -- I am so thankful!

Eating at school always leaves me craving Korean food at home, and I've slowly started incorporating Korean eats into my home life. One of the second grade teachers, my self-proclaimed Korean mom, regularly gives me a batch of homemade kimchi. It is SO good. 

Can you guess which one I made at home? :) 

Hellooo January

Supper with Sin Hyeon Gyeong
& ddeokbokki people

As 2013 came to an end, so did my time with my co-teacher Sin Hyeon Gyeong 신현경. I was glad we could enjoy some particularly spicy cheuk seok ddeokbokki after our visit to the bank where the teller was "too happy" Sin Hyeon Gyeong declared. I like to think he had a little crush on me or something because the transactions I required were a pain in the ass. The games I make up in my head haha. I'm extremely sad to see her go but we live in the same neighborhood and I'm hopeful we can still get together to shop, eat, and dance to N'SYNC. It's strange that one person can so quickly become an everyday part of your life and then she's suddenly not. I will miss her. The ddeokbokki cleared out my sinuses as Sin Hyeon Gyeong mentioned that there was a better cheuk seok ddeobokki place in Seoul, somewhere on Subway Line 2 she thinks.

I was thrilled to ring in the new year with friends visiting from Wisco. I met Steph and Alex in Seoul at their hostel in Insadong, which is one of the artsiest areas of Seoul I've been to yet. Close to Gyeongbokgung Palace, galleries and specialty boutiques compliment the quirky architecture and winter-reinforced trees. Lots of walking, it was unbelievable how amazing it was to talk English with old friends.

And despite both Steph and Alex getting food poisoning, probably from a restaurant by the Express Bus Terminal (damn you, Gram Gram!!), it was a good new year. Their good humor ("It's happening") and finding small silver linings kept things light. I feel terrible and somewhat responsible that it happened, but it happened. Hello, 2014. Toilet christened and system cleaned out (for Steph and Alex at least). It couldn't make 2014 look bad at all. I'm very excited for our upcoming trip to Japan, and I am optimistic for the upcoming year.

Some resolutions ::

- Quality time at the Icheon market; buy some squid
- More day-weekend trips (Seoul, Suwon, Busan)
- Take more photos; stop "holding off"
- Take advantage of the built-in days off from work (Malaysia, Vietnam?)
- Wow, internet! Take some time to look up things and learn

- Just sketching something awesome

- Read via transport 

- Be less judgemental and more willing to educate/share thoughts without the intention of being condescending 

- Make a book; book cloth, get in my belly!

- Develop a "Personal Budget"

- Feng shui the apartment; reorganize and rearrange (EXCITED for this one) 

- What is raku firing?

- More podcasts

- Acknowledge people 

Okay,  2014. Lezdothis.

Happiest of new years to you! 

Birthday Suits Me

I could not (and would not) have a planned a more poetic way to spend my 25th birthday but in my birthday suit at a jjimjibang, or Korean-style spa. There was something quite liberating about it -- somewhere between bath time with my sister when we were kids and skinny-dipping at the lake with friends. 

Jjimjibangs are public bath houses where yes, you strip down to the nude and enjoy the hot-water baths, cold-water baths, saunas, massages, body scrubs, and more. Open 24 hours, it's a great cheap alternative to a hotel or hostel, costing around 12,000won (less than $12) for an overnight stay. Leaving your shoes behind in the shoe lockers, you get a wrist-band key for a locker that also acts as a credit card of sorts inside the facility, a pair of pajamas, and two hand towels. The changing rooms and public bath area is gender specific and at Dragon Hill Spa, one of the famed jjimjibangs in Seoul, the entrances are in separate areas of the building (to avoid a terrible, terrible mix up).

stack o' pajamas

I had brought my swim suit I suppose with the intention of wearing it. Even the threat of an ahhgumma yelling at me for not being naked didn't phase me. But once I got into the environment, I was just like, whatever. When in a jjimjibang, it's not weird. Dragon Hill had around six different hot tub pools, all held at different temperatures and some with massaging jets, two saunas, and the body scrubs I had heard about in America. Scrubbed pink with my dead skin all around me, my skin has never been softer (except perhaps on my actual birth-day).

After the baths, we got dressed in our pajamas and headed to the main area, where we could hang out with our guy friends. Jjimjibangs are a culture of their own -- complete with snack stands, small shops, yoga classes, an arcade, a fitness center, an outdoor heated pool, and a floor labelled on the elevator as "horse riding." I'm not sure if that was a "bad" translation, if there were actual horses on that floor, or if "horse riding" is something else (I have a feeling I'm missing a joke here haha).

The designated sleeping areas at Dragon Hill were all three: "women only," "men only," and co-ed. Bringing a small pillow (NECK PILLOW YAY!) is encouraged, and if you're lucky, you can snag a sleeping mat and/or blanket. One of my friends and I chose a co-ed sleeping room because it was a bit more airy than the others we had scoped out. We grabbed a spot on the heated floor and said our good nights. Probably one of the strangest experiences I've had yet in Korea was waking up next to a Korean man. Good times, good times lol.

That was the end of my birthday night. We started out with tacos & makgeolitas!

Me & Ashley
with our makgeolitas & beanies!

I had been craving so called "urban tacos" since my first visit to Itaewon in October, so for my birthday, we hit up the cool Vatos Tacos, Sinsa location. Great atmosphere, great staff, and great food fusions, including kimchi fries, galbi & baja fish tacos, nutella nachos, and the ever important makgeolita -- a mix between the popular, fermented, and alcoholic Korean rice drink called makgeolli 막걸리 and a margarita -- mango (delicious) was the flavor I got; I was very happy about it. And for ordering the makgeolitas, free beanies!!! 

Birthday shopping, birthday tacos, birthday alcohol, birthday GIANT barrel of beer, birthday fruit platter, birthday body scrub, and birthday waking up next to a Korean man. Perfect 25th birthday!!

Stick Day

Stick Day and my school's English Festival fell on the same day this year. Stick Day or, November 11th (11-11) was described to me as Korea's very own Valentine's Day. Stick candy, or pepero, is the star of Stick Day -- "smooth chocolate attached to the fragrant biscuit."

I mistook the boxes and boxes of this stick candy at school for part of the English Festival festivities, and dare I say it was good planning that the two collided onto the same day (haha, planning in Korea). But the kids' moods were sugar-happy for the English Festival, which had been a hugely stressful two week process for me and my co-teacher.

So thank you, tasteless biscuit sticks dipped in chocolate. And Happy Korean Valentine's Day, all. I <3 you.

Relaxing Weekend in Seoul

Hot Americano so fine

This weekend turned out to be very nice. A few of us decided to stay overnight in Seoul at a hostel, and there was shopping, sushi, Issac Toast, slow-drip coffee, and a phenomenal french toast breakfast (second breakfast if we're getting technical). The hostel stay was superb. I've never stayed at a hostel before but this one - Backpackers Inside - was really something comfortable. Great atmosphere, cool staff (cool like I wanted to be friends with the guy), an amazingly soft bed, and an amazingly comfy comforter. It was perfect.

I think what I enjoyed most was taking it easy with other people. It's one thing to crash at my apartment by myself but therapeutic to do the same with friends. The hostel has this main room with a couch and other seating -- probably one of my favorite moments from the weekend was chilling in there for about an hour. Light guitar playing, talking about students and school, and I flipped through one of the guestbooks, which had messages and drawings from the hostel's worldly occupants. That was neat to look through.

Sunday morning, we grabbed some breakfast from the conveniently located (ten steps from the hostel) Issac Toast stand. I got a ham-cheese Issac Toast, which is basically a ham and cheese egg sandwich. Everything is processed - white bread, fake cheese, spam-ham - but mouthwatering good. About halfway through, I discovered corn had been mixed in with the egg. Keeping me on my toes, Korea.

Second breakfast happened because we had planned on eating at the french toast place (250° Celsius) the night before but it wasn't open when we had wanted (needed) to eat. We were chatting outside the doors when it opened for the day. Two of our group departed for the Rail Bike and three of us stayed behind, sipped on tea, and fangirled over the fancy china tea cups and good music selection. I split the french toast platter, which came with bananas, whipped cream, sausage, salad, and homemade yogurt. Delish.

Anne & Rebecca with fancy tea 

Haven't had good bread
for a while -- amazing

Makes me happy

The food in Korea is good. Like really good for my body. I'd say it took me a week or so to start craving kimchi simply because it fills a void in my stomach I never knew I had. Kimchi, like all the Korean food I've had, isn't scarfed, guzzled, or stuffed down. It might be shoved, slurped, and curled in seaweed but in excess? Never. One is a belchful full, but I've found that I stop when I am satisfied. I'm not tempted to eat more than I need to.

Attribute that to the absence of the salt and sugars found in meals in America and the addition of fresh vegtables (mushrooms, onions, raddishes, cabbage...), beans of lots of variety, rice, and fish. I'd say Korean food is about nourishment of the body, mind, and soul. 

Watching the teachers eat at school is my favorite show. They eat incredibly fast -- something I read about but an observation I happily share with my new co-teacher (she also thinks they eat quickly). One day, we were served chicken wings, like the ones at Quaker Steak & Lube. And you bet I waited to see how they would handle that situation; they used their chopsticks. They picked them up and so beautifully ate those wings. I wish I could paint a painting that could capture that moment of grace. So I followed suit and hey, didn't do so badly. It's in my blood after all. 

Lunch at school is one of my favorite activities to do in Korea. Such a routine and natural thing, but I really enjoy the surprise and hope for what is served. Sin Hyeon Gyeong, my new co-teacher, and I head down around noon after our last normal class of the day, and being teachers and all, float up to the front of the line. I grab my "teacher" metal lunch tray, spoon, and metal chopsticks and move along the line. First comes the kimchi and the spicy vegetable-sometimes-pineapple stop (the pineapple happened once!). Then comes the rice stop - white rice, rice with flecks of beans, fancy rice that's seasoned up. Next comes the soup stop - soup everyday and everyday a different soup. I'm starting to love and need my soup. Last comes what I like to call the "this makes me happy" stop. This is where you get the chicken wings. The "corn dog." The "sweet and sour chicken." The protein and the familiar. Everything is a little different in Korea, including milk, gum, and popcorn, but the glimmer of familiar is enough and it's so good.