Funny Email from My Uncle

This tidbit is too great to not share.

In an email from my uncle, asking when my cousin and I are arriving in the Philippines, this was in the email to tempt us to arrive earlier:

"We shall have a 40 kg lechon and two goats."

Awesome.

If you don't know what a lechon is, you obviously haven't lived life and you should google it.

No More Pictures :(

I can't post any more pictures on my blog. I have apparently used up my quota allowed for photos, which completely defeats the purpose of my blog. Sad day.

I might still blog about my SE Asian Adventure, but without pictures, my blog is a million times more boring.

Stay tuned and hopefully I'll figure out a loophole through this mess...

Also, I lost my camera at the Full Moon Party with over 200 hundred pictures from Bagan, Mandalay, Chiang Mai, Bangkok, Koh Phangan, and of course the infamous Full Moon Party. If I could post a picture of a really sad face I would.

Yangon --> Inle Lake

After a couple days in Yangon, I decided to head up north to Inle Lake. I sat around the hostel while it rained for a bit, then got pick up in some sort of trailer, and was shoved in the back with some locals and a bunch of packages. It was about an hour ride to the bus “station” and it was so incredibly bumpy in the back of the trailer. I immediately regretted my decision to go braless that day.

Hanging with the hostel kitty during the rain

When we got to the bus “station”, a man pointed at me, helped me with my bags, then brought me to an area where a bus was waiting next to an open concrete room full with flies and stink. I use the term “station” loosely because it looked more like a market with buses occasionally coming in and out. I roamed around and started watching a women make Paan (I can't remember what the Myanmar people called it, but this is what wikipedia calls it. Here's a link to a description). The boys who worked for the bus company were hanging around too and helping her. As I watched, they offered me one, so of course I had to try it. It was weird. I think I was supposed to chew the Betel green leaf and swallow it, but the leaf tasted terrible. I was instructed to chew more. Whatever I was chewing tasted terrible, then at last, my spit turned beet red, just like the Myanmese men. A crowd gathered to watch the foreign girl try the local chew. They gave me high fives and it was awesome.

It had now been a while since I saw any other foreigners. I was getting worried, because I had no idea what to do. I was supposed to instruct the bus driver where to drop me off, then take a taxi from there to head to Nyuangshwe. I told the bus driver, but I might have mispronounced the township.

Lo and behold, lucky girl, I have become. When we stopped at our first rest stop of our 12 hours bus ride I was unsure where we were or how long we were to be there for. There was a man on the bus who spoke English, his hometown was Inle Lake, he was stopping at the same stop as me, AND his uncle owned the guesthouse I was staying at. He paid for my meal at the rest stop. It was a delicious soup made form fish bones, with beans in it, that he said was a traditional meal of the people in the northern part of the country.

We arrived in Nyaungshwe and his brother came to pick us up, and they dropped me off at my guesthouse.

Lucky me!

First Stop: Yangon, Myanmar

"So much to see, with nothing to see."

Yangon, Myanmar is not what I had expected. I actually felt frustrated and overwhelmed in the beginning. Maybe I was still upset about leaving Korea and my wonderful friends, maybe it was the big dirty city, or maybe it was simply culture shock. Whatever the case, the first 16 hours were annoying.

Upon arrival there was confusion with the airport pickup from my guesthouse, I was not picked up, so I started off a little anxious. The next morning, exchanging money was a blister in my butthole. Bills had to be American for the best rate and brand new and crisp with no creases, marks, or slight imperfections. I checked my dollars before leaving Korea and I thought they were fine, but upon closer inspection by money changers, they were not. I went from place to place, and they were very picky, I ended up getting a lower rate with my crisp $50 bills.

Shwedagon Pagoda

The travelers that are here are mainly older people, and most of the other travelers here are French. I was expecting there to be younger backpackers (like me), but I've ran into a couple cool people regardless.

Young Monks

After changing money and guesthouses to be closer to the city, I went to the infamous Shwedagon Pagoda. It was stunning! It was so vast and every inch of it was beautiful. I walked around it several times, and sat down to wait for the sunset, enjoying the vibe of Shwedagon. A monk sat next to me and enjoyed as much small talk as our language barrier allowed. We walked around the pagoda together as he gave me a guided tour, kind of explaining things. I had trouble understanding, so I just smiled and nodded. I do remember it seemed like each area in the pagoda represented something different. There was one area was for luck, where he had me pour water over a statue three times so I can be “lucky girl”, and there was another area for meditation. Even though I didn't understand much of what was going on, it was sweet to have a monk as a tour guide.

The food stand with various pig parts

After the amazing Shwedagon Pagoda, I was starving and decided to look for some noms. I wanted to try some street food but was a little hesitant. I decided to go big. I watched a documentary on my flight over about Myanmar; one of the foods featured was various parts of pig, including pig intestines. As I walked around I saw dozens of stands with the pig parts. I stopped at one that a family was running. I tried asking exactly what parts of the animal I was eating, but I still am not sure. One was something to do with the arm, heart, and something about blood. Whatever I ate was actually really delicious and tasty, but sometimes with a very odd texture. I think it’s better not knowing exactly what I was eating. The son and daughter smiled and giggled at me as I made funny faces while eating. I was joined by a local Myanmar man who would cheers his pig part skewer with me. He taught me to dip the skewer in the fat, then dip it in a red sauce provided on the stand, then chew. We laughed at each other, without knowing what the other was saying, then he paid for my meal! It was so nice of him!

The adorable daughter

Next, I wandered around looking for a beer. Found a place with seating outside, but with limited seating we were seated with strangers. I was seated next to an older gentleman from Quebec who I exchanged travel stories with, and who was enjoying his second visit to Myanmar after 20 years. It was interesting to hear what he had to say about how things have changed. He also described the city of Yangon best, "so much to see, with nothing to see". We enjoyed Myanmar lager and nice conversation, then when it was time to go he paid for my beer!

The friendly local who paid for my meal!

What a lucky day. I think I owe it to the monk and the Myanmese gentleman who had me pour the water on the statue.

Solid first full day in Myanmar.

My Travels

I had no intentions of making my blog into a travel blog, but my time in Myanmar was so amazing I've decided to share (mostly brag) about my experience, adventures, and interactions.

I left Myanmar today, and I'm waiting in the airport in Bangkok to head to Chiang Mai. Stay tuned for some exciting stuff!

Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon, Myanmar

A Love Letter

I have never been good as expressing myself with words (as you all very well know), and since I am terrible with emotions in person, this is the best way I can say what I want to say.

Dear Korea, Inje, people of Inje, and everyone I have met during my year in Korea,

I love you. I love Korea, I love Inje, I love the people. I love all of you.

To Korea, you're the best. I love your people, food, culture, lifestyle, everything.

To my students who will never read this, thank you for pissing me off, making me laugh, making me angry, letting me teach you, and making me miss you and care for you way too much.

To my boss who has been like a mother to me, thank you. I couldn't have asked for a more caring and generous person to have as my boss. Having you as my boss has changed my life for the better in Korea.

To everyone I have met in the past month, you fucking rock. You are all amazing and as unfortunate as it was to meet you with such little time left, I am so glad. (Canoe trip people and everyone I met at Min's cabin over Chuseok, this is for you).

And finally, to my Inje family, thank you. Thank you for being my friend, my brother, and my sister. Thank you for going to Jjokki Jjokki with me, drinking cojiganmeks, eating at Kimbap Cheunguk, dealing with me, reminding me that my jokes aren't funny, laughing at my "punny" jokes, consoling me, letting me confide in you, noraebang nights, and thank you for being you and letting me be me. (Well that was cheesy). But seriously, Inje peeps, thank you, I love you.

Saying goodbye to my Inje family was one of the worst goodbyes I've ever had to make. I feel like the luckiest girl in the world having met all of you. Handing over my ARC card was another emotional journey where the immigration lady probably had her doubts about letting me through.

I am now sitting at the Incheon International Airport, Gate 26, crying, surrounded by a bunch of permed elderly women, waiting for my flight to Myanmar. I'm so excited for my travel adventures I'm about to embark on, but my adventure Korea will forever be etched in my mind.

Goodbye fuckers, goodbye Korea, I love you, it's been a trip. (Apologies to my parents for swearing.)

"Enjoy life."

My Dirty Little Secret

I've been avoiding writing about this for some time now, but this is such a magical wonderland I realized I have been selfish. It is time to talk about the one and only Gwangjang Market!

Thrifting and vintage shops are a passion of mine. I love the idea that "one man's trash is another man's treasure", or "one old woman's frock is my new summer dress!" I was bummed when I heard that thrift stores aren't very common in Korea; everyone's trying to wear the latest styles and newest clothes. After intense Google research and extensive blogger fishing, I finally discovered the hidden gem.

Gwangjang Market is a dream land! Inside is a labyrinth of dozens and dozens of tiny shops.

Shoes! Glorious shoes!

A cat denim vest

A hallway with stalls everywhere

A plaid suit for 56,000 won. What a deal!

The first time I went, I was in such awe of everything I didn't buy anything. It's such a maze! I've been back several times since and bought dresses, denim vests, awkward track jackets, and shoes. One thing I learned that I think is essential to know, if you see something buy it. Numerous times I saw something I liked, decided I'll look around more and come back. When I decided to go back to a specific stall to make the final purchase, I could never find it. It would take me ages to finally find the same stall again. Something else I noticed, is that they are very seasonal. I went in August and there were denim vests and tank tops galore! Two weeks later, a dress I had my eye on was gone, as were most of the denim vests, which were replaced my denim jackets and long sleeved shirts.

How do you get to this magical wonderland, you ask? Well let me tell you my way and what I think is easiest (other people may tell you differently)

1. Take Line 1 (dark blue line) to Jongno 5-ga
2. Walk to Exit 12
3. Walk out of Exit 12
4. On your left you should see an alley with an NH Bank on the left, and the Pharmacy (약) on the right.
5. Walk through the alley
6. When you reach the first intersection in the alley, on your right, you will see a staircase that says "Textile Gallery Joong Ang"
7. Go upstairs. 
8. Enter the door.
9. Walk straight through the fabric stalls. You should see a staircase at the end of the hallway, which is at the end of the vintage clothes market.
10. Then the adventure begins. 
11. If you didn't see the staircase, you went the wrong way. 

You should walk down this once you enter the market area

Gwangjang Market sign

If you explore a little more, at the edges of the stalls with young, hip Koreans working, explore the outskirts.  I went down a creepy hallway and found myself in an area with ajummas working and the selection was older, muskier, and better. There were leather coats, fur coats, purses, cardigans, and a cat dress that I so regret not buying. (I went back later, and it was gone).

The cat dress!

If you go to the market, let me know what you end up finding!

Korean Baseball Game

After our first attempt at a Korean baseball game was shut down by rain, my friend Joeanna and I finally made it to a game on her last night in Korea. I especially wanted to go to an LG Twins game, because they had the same name and similar logo to my beloved Minnesota Twins. Luckily, this game was the LG Twins versus the KIA Tigers.

Inflatable red clappers errywhere

I hate to admit this, but baseball games in Korea are soooo much more fun and exciting than baseball games in America. First of all, you can bring your own food and beer into the game! Families brought full pizzas and boxes of chicken in the stadium. Many people (myself included) brought in their own beer from one of the many convenient stores outside the stadium, and even if you wanted to buy beer there, it was only about 3,000 won! Amazing!

Ominous weather. Luckily, no rain that night.

Not only was the BYOB concept great, but the fans are a whole other story. For both teams, there were songs and chants that everyone took part in, songs for specific players, songs for whatever was happening in the game, even Justin Bieber's Baby was turned into a baseball chant. The fans' enthusiasm was contagious. I had no idea what was being said, but I found myself clapping and yelling at everything. My favorite thing that I really think baseball fans in America need to adapt are what I called "the Clappers". They are long inflatable tubes that you inflate to the fullest and clap together to make a loud, annoying sound. Not only do they make a lot of noise, but they are a hoot to clap together.

Keg-on-a-back. America, do you see this?

I forgot to mention that they had cheerleaders at the baseball game. AND instead of selling beer in cans or bottles, guys with kegs on their backs came around refilling cups.

Cooking Day: Sandwich Rolls

Another Cooking Day at the Inje English Village, and today's recipe? Sandwich Rolls! As mentioned before, the Western cooking recipes we use are slightly adapted to Korean tastes, and what ingredients Korea has to offer.

The original recipe. Luckily, we modified it.

John is unsure of the Sandwich Rolls

I don't know where the first recipe we had came from. It called for a sauce made with mayonnaise and strawberry jam, and for us to spread butter on the bread before spreading the mayo-jam concoction. Thankfully we decided not to use butter, or the mayonnaise/strawberry jam sauce. We changed the sandwich toppings and used ham, cheese, crab, sliced apples. We also changed the spread to just strawberry jam.

Jenny and Mille

I had the students flatten the sandwich bread with a rolling pin to make the bread thinner and easier to roll once finished. One of my students called it "paper bread". Then we would spread the strawberry jam on the bread. At this point I would yell "spread the bread!" to my students because it rhymed and I love things that rhyme. No one found this amusing. 

Mona, Lilly, and Rose enjoying their Sandwich Rolls

Next, we placed a slice of ham on the strawberry jam. I couldn't control my rhyming self so I yelled "ham on the jam!". Same response from my students: nothing. At this point I gave up. Which was a good thing, because I couldn't think of anything that rhymed with apple. Anyways, we added sliced apples, cheese, and pieces of crab sticks to the roll. Then we rolled the bread up like a tortilla or kimbap.

The inside of my Sandwich Roll

The Sandwich Roll was interesting. Like the Chicken Tortillas and Cheese Canapes, it was unique with so many different flavors that shouldn't go together, but it wasn't terrible. I wouldn't recommend making it at home for yourself, but if you find yourself teaching a cooking class that's making this, try it!

Music Monday

This band probably has one of the coolest names of any artist/band I have reviewed in the history of my Music Monday. KAKKMADDAFAKKA. Say that ten times fast.

Kakkmaddafakka is a seven piece indie rock band hailing from Bergen, Norway. Their music is a beautiful blend of indie-rock-pop and even a touch of reggae. I have been unsuccessful in my attempt to illegally download a free copy of their most recent album Hest, so this is based of a couple of songs that I sampled. I mean, what?! I would never try to illegally download music...

All the songs make me feel happy on the inside, and I usually start a one woman dance party while listening to them without even noticing. Their songs are catchy and melodic, and the lyrics are simple and comical (and in English!) The lead singer, Alex Bindenes, sings a lot about young girls, touching girls, other guys' girls, sandwiching on the dance floor with girls, and being an "original G". Kakkmaddafakka obviously has no intention of being taken seriously, which I think makes them awesome. I think they're great and I think they definitely have the potential to be bigger and better. I couldn't pick a favorite song, but I will leave you with their "Gangsta" music video, which made me literally LOL.

I lied. I can't pick just one. Here's "Your Girl", the very first song I heard by Kakkmaddafakka that really caught my ears. (This is basically a video of the band members making out with girls, so this might be NSFW.)

If you ever have the opportunity to see them live, do it. I haven't yet, but I heard they have backup singers (who are men) and who sometimes dress in matching costumes.

Orange Nails Errywhere

It's that time of year again. The time of year where I'm confused as to why most of my girl students have orange fingernails. They all can't possibly have the exact same taste in nail polish. That would be absurd. Well apparently there is a beautiful tradition behind the orange fingernails.

My youngest girls' nails

Fingernails are dyed using Garden Balsam (봉숭아), a flower grown in Korea that is usually used after heavy rainfalls (so about end of July-August). You can buy a powder to dye your nails, or you can go out and find the flower in the wild and do it yourself, (I don't know how to do this). The dye is strong, so be careful; your fingers can be stained for up to two weeks.

The Garden Balsam

And the the cute tradition behind the orange fingernails, if the color stays on your nails until the first snowfall, then you will marry your true love. Aaaaw, how cute is that?? I also heard that in way back in the day, the Garden Balsam was used to ward off evil spirits. Wow, no evil AND you marry your first true love? Amazing.

(Information found at Daughter of Korea)

My Day at a Cat Cafe

Dreams DO come true! I finally went to a Cat Cafe.

My friend Marjan was visiting from Minnesota and this was our second weekend in Seoul before she left to head back home. Going to a Cat Cafe has been on my Korean Bucket List since I even knew such a thing existed. Luckily, we were shopping around Myeongdong and when we needed a break I saw a sign. I knew this was a sign, figuratively and literally. We had to go in.

Taken with Instagram

The rules of the Cat Cafe are simple:

1. Go up to the 4th floor via stairs or elevator
2. Enter
3. Take in the glorious view of cats draped everywhere around the cafe
4. Pay 8,000 won per person
5. Choose your complimentary beverage (typical coffee shop drinks offered)
6. Find a place to sit and store your belongings
7. Play with cats for as long as you want!

The cafe had a great variety of cats: they had a Scottish fold, a hairless cat, various fat cats, and a Persian cat with a very unfortunate haircut. There was even a board in the front with information about each cat, the breed of cat, it's name, and other various information that was written in Korean.

Upon entrance I freaked out. I squealed at a pitch I didn't even know I was possible. I then proceeded to run around the cafe like a crazy woman and took self portraits of me and cats that were half asleep and allowed me to exploit them. It was amazing. My inner 13 year old and taken over my body, and there was no stopping her. After a green tea latte, she finally calmed down. You basically just chill out and enjoy your drinks while watching cats sleep and play. You can purchase treats at an additional cost (about 2,000-4,000 won) that you can feed the cats with. I recommend doing this, because some of the cats flocked over to me as soon as I ripped open the packet of tasty seafood. You cannot pick up the cats or hold them, but you are allowed to pet the cats to your heart's delight!

BEST FRIENDS FOREVER.

This cat cafe in particular was awesome. This was my first and only, but I heard other cat cafes can be dirty, smelly, and sometimes the cats aren't well taken care of. That was not the case here. It was clean, smelled nice, cats were well groomed and well fed, there were many platforms for the cats to climb and jump from, and there were many secret cubbies for the cats to sleep in and hide from people like me.

If you want to check out this cat cafe, all I can tell you is that it's in Myeongdong in Seoul and it's near a Pizza Hut and maybe a Guess store. My best bet is to walk the main streets and look for a sign, or a person in a cat outfit. Good luck!

Sign on the entrance

I would also like to note, that I am not a crazy cat lady! I love all animals. There are even dog cafes in Korea you could check out, though they aren't as common as cat cafes.

My Not-So Secret Love Affair with Korean Food, Episode 2

My love affair with Korean food continues.
Warning! NSFW! XXX! FOOD PORN! 

Gee, where do I start with my Korean food love saga? Since it is summer, I will start with a Korean summer dish, Naengmyeon (냉면). It's a cold soup, perfect for the Korean summer heat. The noodles are usually handmade and made with buckwheat, or at least the one I ate was made with buckwheat. I was a little put off by the idea of cold soup, I like my soups scorching hot, but this was surprisingly delicious and incredibly refreshing. A cold beef broth was poured over the noodles, boiled egg, seaweed, and various vegetables in the soup. It kind of reminded me of pho, because we were able to add our own vinegar, mustard sauce, and sugar to create a flavor that matched our taste buds.

Naengmyeon (냉면) on Buddha's Birthday

Next up is black chicken, also known as Ogol Chicken (오골계). My initial thought was that was was going to be normal chicken with some sort of black sauce, like a jajangmyeon sauce. Nope, it was black chicken, with black feathers and black skin and incredibly delicious! Every part of the chicken was cooked, skin and organs included. This black chicken is supposedly very healthy and my Korean friend who introduced ogol chicken to me said that it's good for your skin too. Woo! Eating tasty food AND getting a ton of health benefits. The chicken was freshly butchered as well which was pretty cool and pretty unsettling when I saw the chickens running around the yard when we left. But man, was it tasty. The chicken itself definitely tasted different and more flavorful than the usual white feather chicken, and the marinade was perfection.

 Ogol Chicken (오골계)

Apparently there is a famous fish soup restaurant in Inje County that we had the pleasure of going to for lunch at work last week. The restaurant was on a side road cutting through the mountains, just off the shore of a river, so the view was stunning. The soup is called Chueotang (추어탕), which translates to loach soup. According to my extensive Google research, a loach is a small elongated, bottom-dwelling freshwater fish. The soup's deliciousness went above and beyond my expectations. I was anticipating the fish to be in big chunks, with a fish head staring at me from pot, but the texture and consistency of the soup was surprisingly smooth and slightly flaky. It was spicy, but not too spicy, and had bits of tofu and dough flakes (which I think are called sujebi), and it tasted perfect with with a bowl of rice. FUN FACT: apparently the loach fish just sleeps and doesn't eat anything during the winter, so it is usually consumed in the fall.

Chueotang (추어탕)

On Teacher's Day we took a trip to Incheon to check out another dam owned by K Water. We went to a seafood restaurant in the area that the Korean president frequents, so that was pretty sweet. Most Korean restaurants specialize in a specific food, so the specialty of this place was a seafood soup. It had mussels, clams, crab, squid, shrimp, scallops, and probably other mysterious crustaceans that I was unaware of. I can't say the soup really wowed me, but what really got to me was the size of these bowls and the amount of seafood in each bowl. Unfortunately, I lost my camera with the pictures of the bowl, but fortunately I took some photos with my phone, so you kind of get an idea of what we had. If you look at the pictures below, you can see what sort of seafood was in the bowl, and you could kind of get an idea of how big the bowls were. The soup itself was delicious, but I can't say I would eat it again. I am a self proclaimed soup fanatic, so I enjoyed it, but the broth really had no flavor except for the very prominent seafood flavor.

Tiny crab

Charlie cutting up the octopus into smaller pieces

Another interesting eat is Sanchae Jeongsik (산채정식) also known as, Mountain Bibimbap. I discussed bibimbap in a previous post, but as a quick recap it's a big bowl of rice with vegetables, red pepper paste, and a fried egg. Sanchae Joengsik is famous in the Gangwon region (my province) so it was a treat to try our area's specialty. It's basically just bibimbap, but the vegetables were fresh vegetables, picked from the region's mountains, thus the name "mountain bibimbap". It was cool to kind of "create your own" bibimbap. The mountain vegetables were presented on the table, along with the different sauces and other various foods to add, and we were given a big bowl of rice to customize our own sanchae jeongsik. And of course, the spread included various kimchis, and my favorite, kimchijeon (kimchi pancake). I'm a mushroom enthusiast, so the fresh mountain mushrooms blew my mind. Again, I apologize for the lack of pictures, but my camera ran away.

I will conclude my NSFW food post with one of my favorites dakgalbi. I mentioned it previously, but this wasn't just your ordinary dakgalbi, this, my friends, is CHEESE DAKGALBI! At our favorite dakgalbi restuarant in Inje we usually order the cheese dakgalbi (치즈닭갈비) which is just dakgalbi with melted shredded cheese on top, but the taste is so freaking unreal I can't even describe it.

Dakgalbi with cheesy tteok and ramyeon noodles

At a restaurant in Hongdae (my favorite area in Seoul) we had dakgalbi, with ramyeon noodles and cheesy tteok! Tteok (떡) is one of my favorite Korean foods, it's a rice cake made with rice flour. This medley of deliciousness was amazing! I highly recommend trying dakgalbi with cheesy tteok. It's insanely delicious.

Welp, I hope this post left you all salivating at the mouth and itching to come to Korea to eat tasty food with me. And in case you were wondering, with one month left in Korea, I still haven't broken into my emergency box of macaroni and cheese.

"What Teachers Make"

Thank you Justin S. for posting this. Shout out to Momma Foroozan who is one of the most amazing mothers, teachers, and women in the world.

"Why won't I let you go to the bathroom? Because you're bored. And you don't really have to go, do you?"

Music Monday

This is a very special Music Monday  (so special that it's not even Monday in Korea anymore) dedicated to Mr. Beaver who has left us in the Land of the Morning Calm to seek out new adventures in the Land of the Rising Sun.

Connor introduced to me the wonderful band, The Vaccines, and we had the opportunity to see them live in Seoul at the Super!Sonic music festival AND we got to meet them. It was amazing.

Best buddies.

The Vaccines are a indie rock group from London, who remind me of The Strokes and a bit of The Walkmen. Their debut album "What Did You Expect From The Vaccines?" was released in late 2010 with positive reviews. One of my favorites is Wetsuit, a nostalgic song about being young and carefree. The lyrics in the song, for example "We all got old at breakneck speed, slow it down, go easy on me" remind me of Fun's We Are Young in the sense that it's a feel good song about youth.

I can't pick one favorite song from album, because they are all great. The Vaccines' lyrics are quite relatable, the songs are danceable with quick guitar pop and accelerated drums. I will leave you with Norgaard, a slightly creepy, upbeat, energetic 100 second song that will leave you grooving in your seat.

Music Monday

I'm an sure you have all heard about Gangnam Style so this song needs no introduction. Enjoy the video, the catchiness of the tune, and some horse dancing.

Here is a must read a friend posted about the song, discussing the meaning behind it, why it's hilarious, and that it is actually quite witty. Read it RIGHT HERE! (Includes a horse dancing GIF for you viewing pleasure.)

Now for the best parody of the song: Hongdae Style!!!! I've only been out in Gangnam three or four times, however I go to Hongdae almost every weekend. I love Hongdae. It's special, magical, magnetic, amazing. Watch the parody below and see one of my favorite places in Korea.

It's a lazy Monday morning, after an exhausting weekend, so I apologize for this non-descriptive, half-ass post.

Korean Students Speak

Oh wow. This blog is truly inspiring.

http://koreanstudentsspeak.tumblr.com/

"The Korean education system is notorious for "teaching to the test" and not encouraging creative thinking." The group of Fulbright English Teaching Assistants  who created this blog and this project are promoting the freedom of expression. Students writing about anything from their favorite K-pop star to Kimchi to Dokdo, and some express their frustrations with school and the pressure involved.

 
Amazing blog. Check it out.

Teaching and Life

I've failed at twittering on Twitter, so my daily complaints and egotistical yammerings about life will now be featured on my blog! Yay!

Last Thursday, July 12, 2012, was a crazy day. I don't know why but I had all boys in every single one of classes. In my second class of the day, within the 40-45 minute class time, five of them cried. One cried because boys who were younger than him called him a name, another cried because another boy grabbed his hair and slammed his head against the table repeatedly, another cried because he lost all his pieces in a game called "dak chi" (딱지) and I think the other boys cried because they were sleepy. It was so ridiculous, I almost wanted to cry myself.

딱지. It's like pogs where you flip you opponent's piece with your piece, and if you succeed, you  take it

Continuing this note of ridiculousness, I want to tell the world about the team names some of my students come up with. They are epic. In the past two weeks I've had Team Helicopter Jet, Team Ice Dragon, Team Koopa Song, Team Angel, Team Ace, Team Rocky 3, and Team Angry Bird Rio. They're so creative and silly and weird. I love it.

On a another ridiculous, slightly unrelated note, I am on my ninth day of twelve continuous working days. Which isn't so bad considering my coworkers will have sixteen consecutive days or working. Why do I only have twelve days? Because I'm going to Jisan Valley Rock in 2 days, that's why!

Finishing with a completely unrelated note, and signing off with a rant, three of my favorite bands are going to be in Minneapolis when I'm not there! Insert sad face here. I feel like so many of my favorite bands and DJs have made stops in Minnesota while I've been gone, and whenever I go home, no one will be there. 헐. So for you Minnesotans, if you see Two Door Cinema Club, San Sisco, or The xx (who I just featured on my recent Music Monday) please bring my cardboard cutout and install skype on your phone and skype me throughout the entire concert. Thanks.

Oh well. I'm living in Korea! Insert big obnoxious grinning smiley face here.

IN OTHER NEWS: Congratulations to my brother and his wonderful girlfriend on their engagement!! I normally wouldn't make a news announcement like this on my blog, but they've made it Facebook official, so they cat's already out of the bag.

Music Monday

Mmmm The xx. Sexy and whispery and minimal (in a good way). 

The xx is releasing a new album "Coexist" on September 11, their first since their self-titled debut album in 2009. Their first album was amazing. Delicious. Decadent. Lovely. The combination of the voices of Oliver Sim and Romy Madley Croft, (I had to wiki their names, don't judge me), is hauntingly beautiful. It sends goosebumps up and down my spine. Seeing them live would be a dream come true.

Here's the studio version of Angels (just released last week! I recommend watching in full screen, HD):

Their first single from their upcoming album, Angels is available for purchase now. I think that The xx will keep with their sexy sound which is so uniquely theirs. And from listening to bootleg concert videos, I have a sense their new album will be just as sultry as the first. Mmmmmmmm, yes.

I'm not sure what this song is called, but YouTube comments suggest Leave:

Inje Ice Fishing Festival

This is long overdue, but it was an experience definitely worth revisiting. And sorry for the long post and excessive pictures, I couldn't help myself.

The Inje English Village crew (Aubyn, Darren and I) went during the first weekend to represent K-Water, AKA smile and pass out water and brochures about K-Water, and met up with other friends when we were off duty. We first met up for lunch where we ate delicious 빙어, which is basically smelt. This wasn't just any smelt, this was special smelt eaten only in the Winter, especially at the Inje Ice Fishing Festival, and this smelt was alive. Yes, you've read that right, it's not raw, it's a live, wriggly, slimy, tiny fish. And it tasted horrible! Hah, jokes! I didn't have big enough balls to stomach that, maybe someday. However, I did try the deep fried smelt, and that was delicious.

Fried  빙어

Live  빙어

I wasn't expecting much from the Ice Fishing Festival but WOW! Minnesota, land of the cold and snow, could learn a thing or two. Hailed as one of Korea's biggest Winter festivals, and conveniently located in my own backyard on the Soyangho Lake. There were so many things to do and so much to see! There was ice fishing (obviously), the novelty of eating live 빙어 (smelt), sledding, people paragliding off the mountain and landing on the ice, ice skating, four-wheeling on the ice, rides driven by snow mobiles throughout the festival grounds, ice soccer, and one of my favorites, an enchanted ice forest. The ice forest was a bunch of trees grouped together that were completely frozen and covered with ice, it looked like something from the Chronicles of Narnia.

I don't know what these were called, but they were a lot of fun, and there were families and children scooting around on these.

Snow Mobile rides!

Ice Fishing!

Ice Skating!

Paragliding!

Sledding!

Ice Soccer!

The Enchanted Ice Forest!

We were roaming around the ice soccer "fields" and a group of Koreans invited us to play ice soccer with them, we couldn't refuse. Ice soccer was a rush. Sliding around with the gut feeling that you're going to slip, the adrenaline of the game running through you, bonding with Koreans despite the language barrier. It was amazing! One of the guys from the other team took a hard fall and the game had to end.

Charlie on the swing

We moped around and ran into another group of Koreans who wanted to play a group of foreigners. Assa! I played goalie, and was surprised with how many goals I actually managed to stop. I think it was my abnormally large dinosaur feet that had something to do with that. Regardless, it was a very close game, so the spokesperson for the team said that the next goal wins, and the losing team will have to treat the winning team to makgeolli. Things got intense. The Koreans were zooming around the ice like crazy, shooting goals at me, luckily my amazon woman feet were blocking most of the goals, our team was zooming around as well and I didn't know what was happening. Next thing I know we got a goal! We win!

Beautiful Soyangho Lake

We all rejoined at the food tents where the Korean team we played fed us more smelt and makgeolli which warmed our numb fingers and toes. This experience of the ice fishing festival was unreal. Playing ice soccer and connecting with this group of Koreans, hanging out with some of my students and sliding around the ice together, and being a part of an event that's so family oriented and community based, and the fact that his event is the proud and joy of Inje, was amazing.

The Foreign Teachers (stolen from Facebook)