Aloha!

Sorry that I haven't posted for a while! Things were pretty busy over here as I was gearing up for my family vacation. A quick update of my goings on before the vacation: Lots of festivals! Spring has arrived and I have taken every opportunity to get outside in the nice weather. I went to the Cherry Blossom Festival in Yeouido, an island in the Han River, and spent a lovely day walking amongst mobs of Koreans looking at thousands of cherry blossoms. I went to a Wine and Spirits expo at COEX, a gigantic underground mall/entertainment complex, where my friends and I got in for free on the good fortune of being foreigners and had a blast trying wine, beer, and spirits from all over the world. The next weekend I went to the Seoul Friendship Fair at City Hall where a hundred or so countries performed music/dances and sold amazing national dishes. So to sum up, lots of festivals, crowds, sunshine, food, and friends.

Cherry Blossom Festival

Wine and Spirit Expo

Friendship Fair with some fair friends!

I spent the last 9 days with my family in Hawaii! Hawaii is pretty much halfway between Virginia and Korea, which makes it the perfect reunion spot (not to mention the beaches...). We started in Honolulu where, with all the time/date changes, I had a 43 hour Friday. We stayed in Waikiki, which was really nice, if not overly congested. I took a much anticipated trip to Target and went insanely slightly overboard buying shorts, dresses, and toiletries. We spent the next day driving around the island and visiting the North Shore, which was again wonderful expect for the traffic. Sunday morning was a trip to Pearl Harbor, some pool time, and then off to the airport to head to Maui.

Maui was much more our speed and we had a great time relaxing at the resort. There was a great reef right off our beach which meant we could snorkel anytime. Some highlights from the trip include watching the sunrise at the top of the volcano followed by a bike trip down to the base, watching a sunset cliff diving ceremony and then proceeding to jump off said cliff the following day, and visiting multiple scenic overlooks such as a blowhole and "Dragon's Teeth". I also ate some AMAZING food, pretty much gorging myself on seafood and fruit. We went to a nice luau with food from Hawaii, New Zealand, Samoa, and Tahiti. A sunset cruise was also a great time spent looking at rainbows and taking family photos.

Sunrise over Haleakala

Ready for the ride!

Switchbacks above the clouds.

Sunset cliff dive. Kim and I jumped off it the next day (she took a lot of persuading...)

So happy to see them!

The whole family!

I'm so happy I had the chance to see my family. Nearly 8 months was far too long, no matter how often the skype dates are. It was great to relax and enjoy each others company (and some time off work). Speaking of work, I have been swamped the past few weeks! We franchised, yay!, and are planning on opening a new center in June. This means that I've been crazed writing lesson plans, setting up interviews, and teaching a bunch of new classes. Despite the workload, I'm really excited to have more responsibility at work and start having a more administrative role in the centers!

xo Julie

Amurica

I realize my absence from blogging has coincided with Kim Jong Un's latest tantrum, so let me reassure you that I'm doing fine over here. Its really easy to forget what is going on up in North Korea because most South Koreans barely seem to acknowledge its existence. Then I read the US news where most events are completely over-sensationalized. The truth is somewhere in between. Most foreigners are slightly more concerned then South Koreans, but we realize that if something were to happen, it would be a small border skirmish like we've seen in the past. I, like other expats, have registered with the embassy and they are great about keeping you updated on any cause for concern. If you're interested, Eat Your Kimchi did a great job explaining the situation in their TL:DR video. 

As my boss says: "Don't worry. America will defend us."

I've been lucky enough to have some beautiful weekends the past few weeks, and have attempted to spend as much time outside as possible. I went back to Busan for a friend's birthday a few weeks ago and had another amazing trip. Beautiful weather, a Motown dance party, and good friends made for an excellent weekend!

I had a few America-filled days this past weekend. Friday I went to fundraiser for a friend's soccer team, which was a flip-pong tournament. The rules were crazy complicated but it was lots of American-college-fun. On Saturday I finally got over to Costco and signed up for a membership! I had been once before with one of my kiddo's Mom, but now I can go on my own. Its great for finding decently priced Western goods, but I struggle with the idea of buying in bulk! I cannot fathom going through two 32 ounce peanut butter jars within 6 months.

Work has been going really well lately. I have been spending a lot more time in the upstairs office proofing and writing English and Math curriculum. I work well under pressure, so its nice to be busy!

This was a math flash-card I was proofing. Needless to say we had them change the girls to trees to avoid any future eating disorders/body dysmorphia.

The cherry blossoms started blooming in my neighborhood! It starting to finally feel like spring with sunshine, flowers, and (slightly) warmer weather!

Flower lined sidewalk on a beautiful Spring day!

T-minus 25 days until family fun times in Hawaii!!

xo Julie

Beautiful Busan

This past weekend has been one full of both reminiscing over old memories and creating new ones. A freshman hall mate of mine who currently lives in Thailand came to visit Korea and stayed with me for part of her time here. It was great to see someone from home and moan about how much we missed William and Mary. Plus it gave me a chance to act like a guide book and pretend I know a lot more Korean than I actually do.

Since Ryann was here for a while, I suggested we use the weekend to visit another city in Korea. Where else would you want to go but the next largest city in Korea that happens to be 20 degrees warmer than Seoul and right on the ocean? So bright and early Saturday morning, Ryann, her cousin Sierra, and I boarded a KTX to Busan.

Since our hostel was located in a neighborhood further from the train station and we couldn't check in until 2:00, we decided to explore the downtown area and have lunch before heading north. Our first stop was the Jalgachi fish market, the largest fish market in Korea. Seafood is a staple in the Korean diet (and given the fact that the country is a peninsula, your seafood is always fresh), and Busan is known for having some of the best seafood in the country. The fish market was really huge and so much fun to walk around and look at all the strange shellfish. We spent the whole morning wandering from booth to booth looking at all of the oceans bounty (including sting ray!).

All kinds of shellfish: gooey duck, abalone, mussles, clams, scallops, crabs, lobsters, and more

This is just the front of the market. It went on for about a mile or so.

The three of us are pretty adventurous girls, and we all wanted to try the Korean specialty sannakji. While you can get it all over the peninsula, it is most fresh in Busan. Sannakji is basically a young octopus that is killed and quickly chopped into very small pieces, dressed with sesame and laver, and served still squirming around on the plate. Don't worry, the octopus is definitely dead, its just (as Anthony Bourdain says) "too stupid to know its dead". The key to eating sannakji is to chew quickly and vigorously before you swallow, otherwise you risk the cups suctioning onto your throat/cheek. Its such a strange sensation but you can easily pull it off and keep chewing. It actually tastes pretty good, like the ocean, and overall was an enjoyable experience. Here is a delightful video for your amusement. It actually looks a bit worse in the video than it did in person.

After that appetizer, we grabbed some real lunch of whole broiled fish that was delicious! I wasn't quite adventurous enough to eat the eye, but Sierra went for it! After the market, we headed toward BIFF square, a huge shopping area where the international film festival is held. We also went to the top of Busan tower to get a great panoramic of the city. The park below was full of families out enjoying the sunshine (did I mention it was almost 65 degrees and sunny!).

Busan Tower on a sunny day.

We headed up to Haeundae next, which is where our hostel was located. Haeundae is the main beach/restaurant/party area and was so cool to explore. We went down to the beach just after sunset and everyone was out listening to street performers and shooting off fireworks. After dinner, we headed to an Irish pub to celebrate St. Paddy's day with Irish Car Bombs and green beer!

So excited for a beach and new friends!

The girls out for St Patrick's Day. I forgot something green...

We woke up early the next day to head to Haedong Yonggung Temple. This is an absolutely beautiful temple situated right on the cliffs with great views of the ocean. It was super crowded but still so cool to explore. It also had a cool little market out front where I got a dress and a bracelet. After a delicious mandu lunch we headed to the aquarium to play with starfish and see sharks. Then we headed to the station and somehow got tickets on one of the last open trains back to Seoul that night.

This was actually a tank at the aquarium to celebrate White Day (March 14th, where the boys buy gifts for the girls). The teddy bears are IN the water with the (lonely?) fish.

Dolphin Baloon headband. Enough said.

Great view of the temple right on the water.

Just get rid of the industrial ships spewing black smoke in the background and you've got heavan!

All in all it was an excellent Busan weekend. I can't wait to go back later in the year for some beach chilling and seafood feasts!

xo Julie

Here Comes the Bride...

Well, I've officially done the most absurd thing Korea has to offer. I've mentioned before the plethora of coffee shops in Korea. They are especially fond of themed cafes. There are animal cafes (cat, dog, and even sheep), where you can play with furry friends whilst sipping a latte. There are Hello Kitty cafes, where all your drinks are topped with coco Hello Kitty faces. But the mother of all cafes is the Princess Diary Cafe, more fondly known as "Wedding Dress" cafe. So this weekend, a few friends and I went to check it out.

The idea is that you go to the cafe, buy a drink, and then choose a wedding gown to wear for an hour. The dresses range from 10,000-30,000 won per hour, and come complete with a variety of accessories to chose from. Most of the dresses were ridiculous looking, and its best to go in to the whole process with a sense of humor. After picking out your (preferably over the top poofy) gown, you were lead into a dressing room to be pinned into the dress. They even had "Up Bras" to help you look good in those strapless dresses (however, they were all the exact same size and they put one over top my own bra, which was absolutely pointless and ridiculous looking). After some pinning and strategic bow placement, you're ready to pose away around the cafe.

While we were busy hamming it up for the camera (I donned a pirate hat at one point), the rest of the cafe was full of Korean couples, taking the whole process very seriously. The girls brought giant make up bags and the boyfriends were giving lots of direction for the pictures. I have to say I was impressed by how involved the boyfriends were (whether willingly or coerced). They were dressing up in tuxedos to pose alongside their girlfriends. I felt a little bad for the poor guys...

Our angelic bride pose

Doing the "Korean" primp

Attitude at the Princess Diary cafe

The whole experience was crazy and bizarre and hilarious and definitely made me realize it will be quite sometime before I am ready to put on one of those dresses for real. But it was still fun to feel like a princess for a day.

In other news, we got a teaser of spring weather this weekend! Saturday it was a balmy 70 degrees! Unfortunately it dropped back to the low 40s the next day, but just that one day was enough to get me excited for warmer days to come!

xo Julie

Transience and K-Pop

Well it has been a week of goodbyes in Korea. Most schools finish up their semesters in February, so now is the time many teachers are leaving (as well as new ones coming in). This weekend alone I said goodbye to 4 friends. A constant flux of friends is inherent in the lifestyle I live, but it doesn't  make it any easier. I end up meeting these amazing and interesting people right as they are about to leave. I had the same experience senior year, where I wish I had more time to spend with the awesome people I was meeting at the end of my time at William and Mary. At least there is no shortage of goodbye dinners and celebrations to attend.

With the worldwide popularity of Gangnam style, I thought I might as well do a post on some of the more interesting (read- absurd) Korean music I have been hearing over here. Most teachers learn about Koren pop culture through their students, but as mine average around 3 years old, I mostly hear about Pororo and Friends.

You don't even want to hear the theme song.

I have managed, however, to pick up on a few songs via coffee shops. My current favorite is this gem. Why the world needs a sexual song about ice cream accompanied by Psy awkwardly eating an ice cream cone is lost on me.

I actually have really been liking Lee Hi, especially her song "1,2,3,4". She has a pretty soulful sound, which is much more pleasing than the standard-high-pitched-girly-noise-making most songs are full of. Plus, she is like 16 years old, which is crazy for how talented she is.

But hands down, my favorite crazy Korean music story comes from my pilates class. We listen to a wide range of music in class: plinky-plonky yoga stuff, the Bangles, 90s love ballads, etc. However, for the past two weeks we have been doing a crunch track to this house/electronica song. The idea is that you crunch to the beat of the song, and when the music breaks, you hold your crunch. So, the first time we do this I'm focusing pretty intensely on the workout when the beat pauses (aka hold the crunch), and the song goes "Why Don't We Just F***", resume beat/crunches. My mind goes "WHAT?!?!" as I look around the room. No one else has any kind of reaction at all. I guess between the crunches and the English no one really realized how ridiculously inaprops the song is, but I was left speechless. I related to story to my Korean coworkers the next day, which they found both inappropriate and hilarious.

xo Julie

Dear Korea

Dear Korea,

I love you. I truly do. I enjoy my life here in so many ways. But sometimes, Korea, you drive me absolutely crazy. Here are some pros and cons of life in Korea (from my admittedly limited viewpoint).

PRO: You have an excellent public transportation system. Because your country is small, things are relatively close together and easily walkable.
CON: I cannot understand how no one has figured out how to walk in a straight line. Walking diagonally across a crowded sidewalk: not okay. Stopping in the middle of a staircase: not okay. Not looking up from your cell phone while walking backwards: not okay. How much more efficient would your daily commute be if everyone just walked on the right hand side (or left, if your country chooses)? Come on Korea, get it together
PRO: No one judges you for giving yourself a quick once-over in any reflective surface. In fact, it is quite normal. Sometimes I just need to check that my hair has not been whipped into a frenzy by the wind or that my mouth is free of any gochujang.
CON: In such an image driven society, no one hesitates to comment on your appearance. "Oh, don't you like the way you look with make up? Don't you want to look that way everyday? Its better, no?" I know its not said from a place of ill intent, but I really don't want to hear about how you like my hair one specific way, implying that all other hairstyles are bad.
PRO: Korean's are obsessed with giant, cozy sweater dresses and fleece lined tights. They are the greatest. I love looking put together but feeling like I'm in my pajamas.
CON: I have never in my life seen shorter skirts. Apparently legs are not considered "sexual" in Korean culture, so there is no taboo regarding how short skirts/dresses/shorts are. But honestly, if your hip length puffy coat is covering the bottom of your plaid schoolgirl skirt, then it might be too short. How do you walk up stairs?? And the biggest transgressors of this crime are middle-high school aged girls, which just disturbs me so much.
PRO: Respect and hospitality are deeply rooted in Korean culture. People use the most formal form of a word (such as thank you) in everyday transactions to convey the up most respect to those around them.
CON: For some reason, this respect doesn't translate into an "excuse me". You will be jostled and shoved and pushed aside quite often on public transportation. If you're lucky, you might get a chamshi manyo as a heads up that someone needs to get by.
PRO: Cheap and easily accessible health care. I can swing by the doctor in the building next door, explain my issue (in English nonetheless) and head to the pharmacy downstairs to get my prescription filled, all for less than $5 and in under 20 minutes.
CON: A government that highly regulates many aspects of life leads to a lot of daily frustrations. Superstores are forced to close twice a month to give mom and pop stores less competition (which, in my case, happens to fall on the one day a week that is most convenient for me to shop). Hagwon's (or private academies) have a maximum amount they can charge per minute a child is in a facility.
PRO: The coffee shops. No where in the world have I ever seen so many cafes. My block at work alone boasts a conservative number of 5 shops. There are giant chains (Starbucks, Cafe Bene, Holly's) and independent, self-roasting shops.
CON: For some ridiculous reason, most coffee shops don't open until 10:30 or later. Sometimes, I need that latte at 9 AM, not 3 PM. Coffee coffee everywhere and not a drop to drink.

But the biggest PRO of all: you let me live and work here, having an amazing time, learning so much, and saving a ton of money.

So what have I been up to in my almost month-long absence from blogging?
1. I've celebrated no less than 7 birthdays, with a few more to come. I wouldn't dare share some of those stories via the internet (where nothing can truly be kept secret), but its safe to say they included some delicious food, drinks, and late nights.
2. I enjoyed a Korean cultural weekend during Seolal (Lunar New Year), doing all sorts of Korean-y things. I visited Nami Island, a winter wonderland that has declared itself a micronation and its own republic, where I promptly got bitten by an ostrich. I walked around Insadong and went to an adorable, traditional Korean tea house.
3. I've gotten my life together a bit more. I finally got some things for my apartment that were not needed but make it much more homey (a bedside table is a great thing- I no longer have a "storage side" of my bed). I'm into a good routine with work, extracurriculars, and friends.
4. I'm planning fun trips to places in Korea and HAWAII WITH MY FAMILY!! So excited for that, mostly because of all the American shopping I will do. But also because I love my family.

Traditional Tea House in Insadong

Playing some kind of Korean see-saw game on Nami Island. I was terrified.

Yup, he is chomping down on my thumb while I was blissfully unaware. If only we had a picture of my reaction...

Ahh Maui. 3 months and I will be laying on your beaches. Its still freezing here so any thought of warm places provide some much needed hope that things will not always be this cold.

xo Julie

Food

A lot of things in Korea revolve around food, including for me, this past weekend. As an amateur foodie, I love to cook and try new foods. While I haven't posted much about food on here (except for the ode to the hamburger), I have been indulging in some delicious Korean food. During the week, I generally cook lunch/dinner for myself to save money and eat healthier (plus, cooking is relaxing and a bit like therapy for me). Barely a day goes by when I am not gifted with some delicious morsel of food from a student, be it kul (clementines), dakk (rice cakes), or yogurt. However, galbi (barbecued meat), bimbimbap (rice with mixed vegetables and gochujang-red pepper paste), mandu (dumplings), and soondubu jjiage (soft tofu soup) are generally in my weekend rotation.

Soondubu jjigae, my favorite Korean food.

I was finally able to get to the monthly Seoul Vegan Potluck this weekend with Allie. After having a decidedly un-vegan breakfast, I got to making a fiesta quinoa salad full of fresh veggies. While it was missing avocados (which are ridiculously expensive here) and the beans might not have been cooked at all (I don't eat them...), the flavours were really nice and everyone ate it! I also sampled some truly amazing vegan food. I love meat, and will never go vegetarian or vegan, but good food is good food. I had a delicious veggie burger with homemade bread and onion jam, vegan queso, tofu buffalo wings, and cookies!

My fiesta quinoa salad at the potluck.

After the potluck, my friend Jacque and I headed to High Street Market, where you can get foreign food. I splurged on a bag of Lay's Salt & Vinegar Chips. At 7,000 won for 5 servings, you best believe I am slowly making my way through them. We rounded out the food marathon with bubble tea and ginormous freshly baked cookies (yummmmm). I headed home to fall into a food induced coma (or maybe it was staying out until 5:00 AM at the noraebong....who knows...).

Yup, $7 for chips. They are my favorite though...

The food adventures continued the next day with a Korean lunch of tofu soup and haemul pajeon (seafood pizza/pancake type thing), tacos for dinner, and FROYO (in my best valley girl accent) for dessert. Oh froyo, how I have missed you. Lets just say I'm really glad I joined a gym and can work off some of the gluttony of the weekend. But as the lovely Ms. Shepherd would say, "Marie and I ate our way through Korea". I'm only now understanding how true that statement can be.

xo Julie