You Know You're in Korea When....

you know you're in korea when you are eating a homemade salad at work and you take out your tupperware, ready to get some fresh greens and as you are poised to chomp down on a luscious piece of lettuce, you see a snail slink across it's habitat, ie your meal. this happened to sam today.

you know you're in korea when the only oven you have is the equivalent to an easy-bake in both size and ability. tonight i am trying to "cook" a "chocolate cake". i have a small tin to make a bread, so i loaded it up with half the batter thinking that would be pefect and not flow over the edges. little did i anticipate, the "cake" would cook on the first half inch and then quickly begin to burn at about minute seven. we'll see how this works out. i just scooped out most of the batter and put it back in to cook about an inch thick. in the process i've already consumed my fair share of liquid cake. yum.

you know you're in korea when you are walking down the street and you see the above sign advertising how you should change your face.


i don't have any more 'you know you're in koreas whens' right now, but i do have a beginning list of items i've found in my basket at the front of my sweet bicycle. for the fall season i have decorated it with fake sunflowers and then a secret admirer put some fall leaves in the bouquet. it is quite festive! but what is not festive is what i find in it at my 2:15pm weekday departure to work.

1) various soda cans
2) chip wrappers
3) 1 dirty kleenex
4) a cigarette butt

i just want to say thank you to everyone who keeps me entertained on my midday walk from my apartment to my bike when i wonder what present i will have today. i am thinking of fashioning a 'NOT YOUR TRASHCAN' sign in korean to put in my basket. but i think that just may solicit more unwelcomed gifts.

last night we went out for one of our coworker's birthdays. we went to the local irish pub called dublin's. i usually hate that place as i've had a few negative run-ins with idiot foreigners but last night there seemed to be enough fresh meat foreign teachers that it wasn't too annoying. everyone else seemed to be concentrating on whom they could take home with them for the evening. [if anyone could shed some light, could you please tell me when to use 'who' and when to use 'whom'? thanks. this is much appreciated as it is an area i feel sheepish in front of my students.) while we were there i introduced a new kanuk coworker, mike, to sam, my boi. mike has only been here 1 week and arrived the day after n. korea did they nuclear bomb test. welcome to s. korea buddy! anyhow, he then says to sam that he looks really familiar and does her have a blog. we concluded that mike has maybe seen my blog. so we go home that night and google s. korea + bundang + avalon (school) and the first thing that pops up is the "Turbulent Twenties". HAHAHAHhahaahah it makes me feel famous but at the same time... violated? is that weird? but it's crazy how available information is on the web. it just goes to show you.

another thing that popped up was one of sam's coworker's blogs and a friend of mine. you can see her stuff at http://kerrithelinguist.vox.com/ i like her.

kerri and i went shopping on sunday and ate a late schmacy breakfast at a sidewalk cafe in jeongja. 11 bucks for a nicely prepared waffle, real syrup, sausage (in korea that usually means a HOT DOG!), undercooked bacon, two eggs, and coffee. it was a fun day.

the day before i rearranged my apartment. it feels much more open and creative. i should take a photo when i clean it (again) and post that. i can't imagine what a place like this with a great view like i have would cost in let's say... NYC. strange. we are very fortunate here. i spent the rest of last saturday watching sex in the city, gilmore girls, and some reality show about trainers in LA headed by a lesbian trainer. it also focused on her relationship with a jealous girlfriend. i ended the night by eating a $5 dollar pizza and watching a chick flick with ashton crutcher. sam spent the weekend in sokcho and seoraksan. it's supposed to be the most beautiful area b/c it's mountains right by the ocean. i think he will have photos up soon at www.samaugustgray.com

p.s. for those of you that are wondering... since my three month stay here at avalon,, we've had 2 scheduled vacations. the first we spent on the southwest part of s. korea in mokpo and islands. the second vacation was chuesok and we went to the south east area of south korea, namely busan. and then came inland to gyeongju and dageu. those were our big trips, but we often take weekend outings, esp for hiking. you see, s. korea is the size of indiana and has the most fabulous transportation system. you seriously have NO NEED for a car here. that will be a hard adjustment to make getting back to the states. IF, i ever come back! maybe that will be kim jong il's say, not mine

but i am talking about this because some people are confused how we can travel so much. a trip to the other end of the country takes about 3-4 hours by train. and 2 hours to the middle of the country. i do work too ya know! i work from 3-10 pm m-f. yep, so there ya go natalie.
:)