Blog for BLOG SAKE!

Ok, ok, ok, ok, ok! I have been putting off blogging as if it were homework! Now I feel like I am so far behind there would be far too much to talk about in one session so I am lost for where to start or what to talk about.

Scott has arrived!!! He was having a little culture shock for sure, but he came out of the negative horror after about day three. But I noticed some similarities between his experience and mine. I call it the "Pringle Effect". Let me explain, after your first couple of days you are desperate for anything western or familiar and it just so happens that Pringles are in every convenient store here. My first day here I went to the market and bought a can of Pringles and loved every single chip that I ate. I don't event really buy them at home, but it was comforting to buy something and to know what it was going to taste like and to feel normal for just a bite. Scott on his second day bought a can of Pringles and had the same nostalgia for them as I did. It was awesome to see him experience exactly what I had experienced just weeks before. Lovely!

My students... oh my students. I have been battling 8 year olds for as long as I can stand it and they have added even more to my class. I was sitting at 10 kids...now I have 14! It is actually fine and I've just realized that I can't take it too seriously and that if I slam my hand on the desk and yell at them just once, they're terrified for the rest of the hour...magical! :)


If you have noticed in my slideshow I took a couple of pictures of some colorings my students produced. One is a stick figure with boobs, courtesy of a little boy we call Tom. The sad thing is I had just talked to his mom not even a half hour before and told her that he is a good kid and that he tries but needs a little more focus, like any 8 year old! The other is from a kid named Gi Beom, I took a picture because you'll notice between the mans legs there are hands doing a ddong chim. This is where the kids put there hands together with a pointed finger and cram it up someones butt. Interesting I know, but he thought it was sooooo funny that he couldn't even stand up when he handed it to me! He was literally rolling on the floor laughing! I just took it and put it on my desk and ignored him.


Tonight I went to dinner with my free talking (advanced) class and we went to a couple of restaurant/ bar type places and they taught me a lot of helpful Korean and I hope to learn even more! One student, Jinwoo AKA General Jueng as his friends call him was especially helpful. He spent about an hour with me teaching me words and telling me how important it is to listen and apply the words. He is amazing! He has become fluent in english in about 6 months. He is one of my best speakers and he has crazy good listening skills! I'm thankful that I have him in my class and he has offered to teach me more if I am interested, and I am :)

Tonight I also tried the dried squid. I thought it looked and smelled bad and I'll be honest. It's not the best thing that I've ever eaten, but it's a great kind of fish jerky and I enjoyed it!

Last weekend we went to Maisan, a couple of mountains about an hour and a half from here that are shaped like donkey ears. We visited the Buddhist temples and just enjoyed our little day trip. For a hike, it was relaxing. I actually tried some silk worm larva... It wasn't good at all, but it was good enough for me to eat about 10 and be done.

Scott and I have also found two new foods that we LOVE!!! There is this soup and it is prepared at your table, like many Korean foods, and it is a spicy beef broth, and you throw all these veggies and dumplings in and let them cook and then you put in thinly sliced beef and after you have eaten all the beef, you put in handmade noodles - which are AMAZING! The last course of the meal is a porridge made from the remaining broth and what ever small vegetable bits are left in the pot. It's flipping amazing! So amazing in fact that Scott has dubbed it "Korean soup for the soul". And then there's duck... never would I have thought that I would be loving some duck, but I honestly love duck! It's great! It is cooked at your table, whether steamed or roasted. I prefer roasted. It's like little duck fajitas :) The sides at this restaurant are interesting too, they give you a ton and one of them happens to be hard boiled quail eggs. They taste just like regular eggs and are cute.



Tomorrow I am going to have Korean soup for the soul for lunch and then it's the weekend ! Wooty woot!

I promise I will try to blog more often! That way I have a focused blog and not this crap :)