cone pizza

curiosity won friday night. the teachers walked into a small restaurant, i saw an entire machine devoted to a mysterious "cone pizza" and i had to have it. whatever "it" was. it was actually fine, and worth the less-than-two-bucks price. and with a machine like that, it better be. it is exactly what it says, pizza in the shape of a cone.

of the past week

above: coppie, er...coffee
above: this is adorable katie.
above: eating chinese food (again) esther, anna, becky)above: esther, at this "hunting lodge" restaurant up in the mountains that felt more like vermont than korea to me. according to my trusted korean sources, the place has horrible food but great atmosphere. i was adviced to only get coffee.
chinese food (again) with esther (again) and "david's mom". i'm sure she's got a name, but that's what she is always referred to and, when i was putting her number in my "handi-pone" (cell phone) she said "david's mom" when i got to the "name".
funny shopping mall. very.
above: adorable Eunice

this the waiter/fire stirrer at the hunting lodge bad food place. but oh, did they ever have atmosphere.

korea whom i love and hate and love

the korea experience thus far has been a painful dichotomy of love/hate.
i love.
i hate.
i love.
i hate.
teaching english, i hate.
disorganized korean-styled schools, i hate.
miscommunication, misunderstanding, mistaken identity, i hate.

korean spontaneity, i love.
korean food, i love.
becoming an insider of culture so far from my own, i love.

but there is little happy medium here.
little falls between this pendulum swing.
i am miserable.
i am filled with an inexpressible joy.
i am miserable.

this i know, i am not cut out for this job. not naturally at least.
now, whether that means i should escape, i know not. not yet at least.

perhaps, if i had my way (an impossible dream, of course), i would run away from here, bringing with me the smattering of food and spontaneity and korean peeps and posse i have grown to love. but, i would escape from this job which i hate. and, i would instead find something i love.

korea is indescribably awful and indescribably wonderful. it is both even as that is impossible.
and i hate it and i love it and i hate it and i love it...

2 fires

a lot of you have probably heard about the fire in Seoul that destroyed the famous ancient city gate in Namdaemum on sunday evening.

and, the fire that devastated London's Camden Town Market saturday night.

both in the last 48 hours.
both places that i have laid eyes on.
and both significant places dear to my heart.
kind of ironic.
kind of thought provoking.
really, quite sad.

4 cakes and word about Koreans and their birthdays

The 3 kids above (Kevin, Ashley, Chloe) are the 3 kids that I would try to fit into my suitcase to take home with me if only I had no moral conscience about stealing children and a lifestyle that would allow for three 5 year olds at the present time. But seriously, at 2 and a half feet tall these 3 have won my unashamed favoritism.


once a month, we celebrate all the birthdays of that month. this week, there were 4 kids with upcoming february birthdays. so, we had 4 cakes, as well as other exciting goodies as each parent tried to show up the other parents with the best spread for their 4 year old. but hey, who's complaining. for the teachers it means free cake, plus leftovers.

Korean birthdays/Korean "age":
This, my friends, is rather complicated. Brace yourself.
I am 26 years old. I was born in December of 1981. However, by Korean math, I am actually 28 years old. It is, I think, the only culture that wants to be older their entire life. When you are born here, you are immediately one year old.. So, at that rate, I would currently be 27. But there is more. At the turn of the new year, everyone becomes their next year older. So, because I am a December baby, I am basically two years older than I really am for 11 months of the year, my whole life.
My Korean friend Eunice is, by Korean standards, 29. However, she was born 2 weeks later than my sister, who is 27. Weird, eh? No, no, just different. :)
It's taken me the 4 months I've been here to bring light on this age mystery, but I think I have finally got it all figured out.
But, once you're in Korea for awhile, you find yourself always saying, "now, is that Korean age or real age?". And, in my opinion, it certain makes teaching a little confusing and complicated.
We've got "five year old" kids who are really what, 3? And we wonder why they are wetting their pants.
Welcome to Korea.

the closer you are to china...

...inevitably the better the Chinese food will taste.
and korea did not disappoint. my first encounter with Korea's stab at Chinese food blew America's fast food take on China's dishes out of the water. Let's just put it this way: all that American Chinese food has going for it is the cute little take out box.
Joseph (the headmaster) took the teachers out for Chinese food this past monday night.
Mah-she-suh-yoh. Delicious.

above: Jeff and Rizza
below: Chris and Joseph


above: Sally and Bob

a night on the town with my korean posse

last week, my friends (Eunice and Katie) took me around Seoul. We went to this tiny hole-in-the-wall Korean BBQ place that I think is one of those places where "everyone knows your name"(except for my name, because in Korea, people can't actually pronounce my name). I did get a lot of smiles and stares though. It must be the hair. It was quite tasty, as usual. The food, not the hair. And then, because this is so Korean, we went to Dunkin Donuts for coffee and donuts.

Have I mentioned yet that I actually named Katie myself? Her Koren name is Gyung-Mi, so I was aiming for something that rhymed. The amazing thing about Koreans and their english names is just how quickly they embrace them. I had assumed that Eunice had her English name for years when I was officially introduced to her a few weeks ago. I discovered this past week that her name had been given to her the day before I met her. Fascinating.

happy new year?

here in good ol' Korea, the most important New Year to celebrate is the Lunar one. Which, incidentally occurred these last 3 days. It's strange indeed to be greeted with a "happy new year" on what feels like a one month delay.
But, this is Korea.
And so, I celebrate what they tell me to, when they tell me to. And, I do it without complaint because, there was no school Wednesday thru Friday of this week.
This past 24 hours, in my quest to be Korean, I ticked a few experiences off the "how to be a Korean" list. While staying at a Korean teacher's house, I can now say that I have done the following:
1. eaten spicy soup and chicken and spinach for breakfast.
2. slept on the floor in a house without beds. :)
3. celebrated new years in february.
4. have helped to make Korean Mandoo dumplings from scratch.

High five to me.

oh, we also (my Korean teacher friend and her family and me) climbed some big mountain (Mt Yongmunsan) with cool Buddhist Temples at the top. And, for the future, I will not forget that increased altitude=decreased temperatures. Dang, it was cold up there.

p.s.: this Korean teacher friend, whose English name is Hannah, not to be confused with the other teacher friend named Hannah, who left in December, lives on a "farm" and raises pigs. in case the pig picture threw you off.