Food.

One of the things I love most about traveling.  I knew I would be trying and eating many new things, however I did not realize that by moving to Korea I would have to redesign my entire diet.  It’s coming as a bit of a shock actually. I have never considered myself a picky eater, apart from being an olive-despising vegetarian, but after transplanting myself into the Korean culture I realize I am much more particular than I thought. I think this is attributable to two reasons…

First, I’ve become a huge health nut in the past couple of years.  Whole grain, cage-free, no processed sugars, farmer’s market, organic, fresh, local, sustainable (have I annoyed you yet?) And not having access to these foods can kind of, well, freak me out.

Second, my mom says I never eat a calorie that I don’t absolutely love, which is all too easy at home (thanks, Ina, love your show!) I really think I must get more enjoyment from food than your average person, and with just so many good tasting choices around, I would never something that wasn’t worth it.

My taste buds have been busy at work this week. I eat ethnic food nearly everyday at home, but Korean food is by far the Asian cuisine I am least familiar with. Many good and bad surprises.

I did a little research yesterday on being a vegetarian in Korea…and the bottom line is that…it is hard.  Koreans eat SO much red meat, it really surprised me. And the concept of vegetarianism seems difficult for Koreans to understand. No, ham and crab do not count at vegetables, nor does chicken. I may have chosen the wrong Asian country to teach English in (just kidding, I love it here!) Seafood may just be my savior.  Even still, the seafood seems to be a bit fishier than I am accustomed to at home.  It is becoming standard for me to see a little octopus tentacle in any mixed seafood dish. As I go out to restaurants, I think may be better (at least for now) that I don’t know much Korean. Probably better to not know what I’m eating…

Korean barbeque is huge, and from what I can smell, delicious.  I can’t say I have any desire to eat pork, but sometime down the road I’m sure I’ll try a bite.  Everyone else loves it.  We’ve been out to two Korean BBQ restaurants this week, and while there are lots of little side dishes for me to nibble on, I do feel like I’m missing the big event.  The second restaurant had a steamed egg soufflé that will probably be my go-to on KBBQ nights. On the other hand, if you don't get eat meat you can get a nearly free dinner. Side dishes are free!

Red pepper paste. It’s everywhere, like it or not, and in the past week it has definitely grown on me. Spicy food is no problem as long I can still enjoy my meal. Given a preference, I would choose not to sweat during dinner. But anyways, I hope to continue acquiring a taste for red pepper paste because Koreans sure have. Right now it just seems spicy while lacking flavor.

Kimchi…I’m working on that one.  I don’t mind it, just don’t love it.

White rice is served with virtually every meal here. And sometimes white rice freaks me out…I am ashamed to say that the words “white rice is my worst enemy” may have come out of my mouth at one point in time, unrealizing. But I have seen brown rice in the market but I think that cooking rice at home will not happen often because I will get my fill of rice at every other Korean meal I eat this year…

As for things I am excited about eating. Tofu! Eggs! Eggplant! Sweet potatoes! Soondubu (soft tofu stew)! Pajeon (green onion pancake)!  I know this list will grow day by day!

On the plus side, there are TONS ice cream parlors and coffee shops! (There has got to be some kind of coffee shop record here…) I know I’ll be just fine.

I know you want to hear about MORE food (and I definitely want to talk about it,) so stayed tuned for the next post.

Tuna Kimbap

Haemul Pajeon (savory green onion pancake with seafood)

Typhoon Day

Kind of like a Snow Day.

Yesterday, my third day in Korea, what was supposed to be the biggest typhoon of a decade hit.  School was canceled (apparently this never happens!) because the kids said they were not going to show up.  There would be no observing classes for us today so Bethany and I each headed out on our own.  I was very nervous about exploring Seoul for my first time alone, jittery even, though that could have been the coffee.  Despite amazing technology here and lightening-fast internet speeds, the dumbphone I am temporarily using is archaic.  I can barely send a text message, and my recipients should not expect any sort of punctuation.  Plus, the phone Bethany had actually didn’t work, so I would have trouble contacting her anyway.  However, most Korean signs have English translations and if worst came to worst, I could hop in a cab (which is fairly inexpensive) and say “Mokdong Yeok” meaning Mokdong Station, from where I know how to get home.

The weather wasn’t optimal, after all, we were in the middle of a typhoon, but it didn’t seem unsafe to be outside.  If the Koreans thought it was okay, then there was no way I was going to sit around my apartment all day.  And I think in the end, the typhoon ended up being over-hyped.  I headed out for what became a long day of exploring and window shopping.  I think the weather left a fair amount of shopkeepers at home, but plenty still opened.  My day started off at a 10-story mall called D-Cube City, then to the Hongdae area which during the day has cute boutique shopping, and finally to Itaewon, the international district, where all things Western can be found.  It was exhausting, but I successfully managed the subway by myself and dodged as many rain showers as possible.  I have two new purchases to show for the day, one of which is a pair of wedge sandals.  I stared at them for so long in the shop, I can’t even tell if they are cute anymore.  But I’m ecstatic to say that I can fit into the largest size offered in Korean footwear, meaning I will hopefully acquire many a cute pairs of shoes this year!

Bethany does not want delay meeting new people outside of work, so we reunited at a couch-surfing meet-up event at a place called Hollywood Grill.  About 30 people met up, travelers from Europe, English teachers from the US, and a few Koreans hoping to make some new friends and practice their English.  It was a wide mix of people, but I was struck but how friendly EVERYONE was.  And talk about easy icebreakers “What brings you to Korea? How long are you here for? Where are you from?”  The several people that I exchanged numbers with I could definitely see myself meeting up again.  Most had been there longer than I had and also gave me great advice on things to do, see, and eat.  So, overall and fun and useful evening!

Big typhoon damage

First Email Home

In the spirit of streamlining my updates, here is the email I wrote 8/26/12, my first morning.

“Good morning! Here is a very much still sleep-deprived, informal update!  I guess I'll catch up on sleep when I can, because it’s not going to be this morning. Didn’t get to bed until 3am and still woke up at 7am.  Bethany said this happened to her so I guess I'm not as surprised.  Between nervous excitement upon departure and 24 hours of traveling, I’d say I’m a few hours behind, to say the least.

I landed around 4am your time and after immigration, baggage claim, and customs, the school president’s son picked me up (cool kid with a British accent studying at St. Andrew's in Scotland) and took me to the apartment that Bethany and I will be staying at until we get our own apartments.  This was about 7pm our time.

Immediately upon arriving, I was informed the WILS teacher group was going out tonight.  In a thirty minute turn around, I put my stuff down and got ready to hit the town.  I definitely didn't want to stay in and get freaked out by being by myself...

Two teachers, married, who are finishing their last week, came over and then we picked up a few a few more teachers from “The Tower” which is the apartment building that almost all the other non-married teachers live in and hopefully where Bethany and I will live.  They may not be as nice as where we are now, which is modest but comfortable, but I think Bethany saw a picture and said they looked decent.  Socially, it’s where I want to be.  I'm a little concerned with the heating/AC situation there, though.  So many things to figure out.  WILS is definitely taking care of us, but we have certainly have our independence.  It's busy for them finishing up this term, so I get the slight sense that getting us settled is not their main priority, but no doubt that everything will work out just fine.

We walked to the Hongdae area (aka “the magical world'”) which has a good nightlife and fun university influences.  It was a long walk (they usually cab but wanted to enjoy the city on their last weekend) so I had good opportunity to get to know a few people and ask questions about EVERYTHING.  We went to a Korean BBQ place and Bethany and I tried a few different vegetarian things. I think I was (maybe still am) a little too freaked out to have my full appetite  (That and my several encounters with Korean food so far haven't been too great...on the plane I ended up eating plain white rice. It seems they eat a lot of red meat here).

After dinner, headed to a bar/club with live music called FF.  Possibly a Japanese band playing, kind of heavy metal, which was…loud. But it was cocktail hour so free drinks between 11-12! Afterward met up with the rest of the WILS teacher group.  They are a very close-knit group and they seem to have a really good time (hope I can keep up!)  Drank some cocktails-in-a-bag type thing (almost like Capri-sun but custom made) and we hung outside on the sidewalk for a bit.  The drinking culture is pretty intense here and the lack of open-container laws will lead to nights of grabbing a cheap beer for the walk to the bars.

Finally, I decided maybe I should head home and Bethany was more than willing to come home with me, even though I figure she'd probably rather stay out longer. Having recently being jet-lagged herself, she understood, and I appreciated her offer.

A fellow teacher, Michael, will show us around some today and take us to Insa-dong and a palace.  Glad there is another newbie to do all these first-time activities with. I really like everything I know of Bethany so far.

Teacher training looks like it will consist of observing the last three days of the term, pretty informal.  Thursday and Friday are days off (maybe also to wrap things up) and Monday starts the new term...and I'll be teaching.  The first term can be difficult, some have said, as you figure out how to do things. It’s on the job training.  Everything is a little overwhelming! But I know that adjusting takes more than…12 hours :)”

And it begins...

Alright, I’m giving in.  I got a blog.  I wasn’t sure I would be able to commit to it, but I’m gonna give it a whirl.  I’ve only been in Korea four days and the email and facebook updating system is already weighing me down.

A travel blog.  I already don’t like the sound of this.  Very few I’ve found worth reading (shout out to Miriam!)  I’d love nothing more than to entertain you, but I’m not sure that is gonna happen.  Blog title, case and point.