The view from our apartment - the sunset is nice!

Dan and I continue to settle into our new teaching lifestyle, and are beginning to enjoy our jobs more everyday. We understand a little more "KorEnglish" and classes are becoming easier. However, we still have quite a ways to go! I started learning the Korean alphabet (not that difficult) and will hopefully begin reading it soon (very difficult). Dan is helping me learn Korean with his profound words of encouragement. He cannot wait until I get the hang of it.

Now for an interesting fact: Many of you may not know that Korea is not the hairiest of nations. Simply put, they do not have much hair on their arms or legs. Now, as many of you do know, Dan is quite the opposite, and this is extremely interesting and fascinating to many of the students - particularly the boys. Yesterday, Dan was in the library with students and received two sneaky, yet gentle strokes on the arm from a boy named Brad and the comment to follow: "Ah, you are very hairy!" Hilarious.

Before arriving, Dan and I often talked about making Korean friends. We were worried that we would not be able to bridge the language gap and that we would be doomed to only speak to each other for the entire year. Our worries were cast away last week when we were in E-Mart (a grocery store across the street). We sometimes sit in the air conditioned E-Mart with our fellow Koreans trying to escape the heat of our scorching apartment - it's like a big party. Normally, we get the blatant, body-turning stare, or the point and giggle, something we are still getting used to. However, one night, while drinking iced coffees and chatting about our day, a young girl (about 8 years old) came to our table bearing gifts - two vanilla McDonald's ice cream cones. As everyone knows, McDonald's is the ultimate symbol of acceptance :). She spoke fairly good English and told us that she wanted to give us the gifts. We were very thankful for our ice cream, and her actions showed us the truly welcoming nature of Koreans. We haven't seen her again, but I'm sure we will soon.


An artistic shot by Dan. And there I am with a small face and a big nose. I feel it getting bigger every day.

And finally, I would like to showcase a new game for the blog called: "What Doesn't Belong?". This weekend, Dan and I went to the "new downtown" of Gunsan - a place that we will be frequenting. Here are some photos from Naun-dong, please try to distinguish the places that do not belong:


Dunkin' Donuts is alright, but I am going to speak with the urban planners and developers to franchise a McKenzie's over here.


Surprised? I definitely was amazed when I saw this. Go figure that this city has the very restaurant that is the foundation of every New Orleanian's diet. I do not particularly like Popeyes (I know, crazy right?), but will have to eat it while here at least once, just based on principle alone. I dedicate this picture to Kory Zimmermann.

We love you all. Stay tuned for more exciting adventures in the future.

New Adventures and new food

I have many updates - we have been busy so haven't had a chance to write, so this one might be a bit longer than usual! School is going well, but still adjusting to the Korean culture and the extreme language barrier. We have picked up a few new words, but at times still struggle with simple tasks - like buying food. I am sure it will get easier!

This past weekend was eventful and was a nice introduction to Korea. Dan and I wanted to go to dinner after classes, so we took a taxi to the new part of downtown (nicer, cleaner and more modern than the other downtown I wrote about last time - people were actually out and there were cafes and restaurants!). We wandered into a pizza restaurant - typical, right? - and enjoyed a delicious pizza that made us a little ill. We either ate too much, or it was loaded with MSG. We're blaming it on the MSG and not our inability to control ourselves when food is involved. Afterwards, we needed a walk, so we took a side street that was loaded with bars and places to eat. We noticed a western bar - and ventured inside. It was embarrassingly hilarious. Loud rap music, lots of military men (there is a base nearby), and Korean bartenders blowing up balloon animals. Seriously - it was like they were monkeys dressed up to dance and entertain the Westerners. It was like Reggie's or Jimmy's in Korea. They even did a fire show with alcohol and a blow torch.

Anyway - we actually met some really nice men from the military, who took us under their care and bought us drinks and brought us around the area until about 5 AM. We had a great time! It is such a small world - one of them was from New Orleans! He grew up in Old Metairie, went to St. Catherine, etc...we reminisced about the days of old, the Who Dat Nation, and all things that are New Orleans. They took us to an area called A-Town, a disgusting and Westernized part of Gunsan that is constructed for the guys in the military. But more on that later. We were just excited to speak with other people in English about their experiences in Korea - and I am sure we will be meeting up with them again soon!

And finally - last night...we went to a restaurant at the bottom of our apartment complex. It is a traditional Korea restaurant where you cook your own meat in the middle of your table and get loads of sauces and vegetables to put with it. You also sit on the floor and only eat with chopsticks. Only when we sat down, the woman gave us a fork as well. I guess we looked pathetic. It was very delicious...except for the maggot looking potato chips they gave to us. I have attached a picture. What are they? Your guess is as good as mine...but they were not pleasant. I won't be having those again. The pictures will do it more justice than my words.

I hope all is well in America and in England. We love you all and miss you!


The full meal from last night. The pan is in the middle. Lots of little bowls of food to enjoy with your meat. After it is cooked, you wrap up everything in a lettuce leaf and enjoy.


Bugs? Maggots? Looks like a meal for Timon and Pumba if you ask me. I ate one and almost gagged. Dan ate one...and then ate another one...I guess he couldn't make up his mind. They leave a bad aftertaste though.


This is an example of what happens in A-Town. We are at a "Juicy Bar" and this woman is called "Mama". She takes unsuspecting men into her claws and tries to give them kisses and forces herself onto their laps. As you can see, Dan is the unsuspecting male. He is not impressed. She then demands that you owe her 10,000 won. Unbelievable.


Our friend from New Orleans! We are in a Korean bar with a very bizarre green neon light. Each of the tables was refrigerated and had cup holders to keep your beer cold. Delicious, icy beer.


The group of the guys we met. We are at a bar in A-Town.

Gunsan

We have not had a great deal of time to explore Gunsan, mainly because school gets in the way (kidding!), but this past weekend we were able to venture (by taxi) into the Downtown area. Our taxi driver was extremely helpful and was very excited to spreak* English and share the details of his life with us. We were privy to the videos of his children and then offered Korean lessons. Okay...now everyone close their eyes and imagine what you think a normal downtown would look like...crowded streets filled with people frolicking about with shopping bags - all ready and willing to spend money, perhaps a cafe filled with those drinking coffees and reading books, and maybe even a street entertainer or two twisting their lyrical tunes through the busy streets.

Well. The Gunsan Downtown area has one main street with many shops that are designed to be westernized. I think this is why visiting downtown was so highly suggested to us. Dan and I think that our boss, and maybe even all Koreans for that matter, believe all Westerners to like things like McDonald's and shop in only familiar places that have English names. But then again, we haven't told her/them otherwise. Anyway, Downtown was bare and there were no places to eat or drink. Simply a row of shops on one street - pretty boring. But, once we left that main street, the stores became more and more Korean. And that is what we were looking for. All of them are crammed to the brim with the most random things and there is barely any walking space between the aisles. So we bought some cups. The designs that are on Korean paraphernalia is also very interesting. There is a lot of color and a lot of strange figures and animals, often times with hysterical and nonsensical English phrases. I have posted a few pictures to show you examples. All in all - we had a great time downtown!

Another note...we have noticed a strange smell that emanates from certain parts of the city. At first I thought it was Dan. (HA!) But we have boiled it down to rotting vegetables or something like that. Many of the stores smell too...you know the aroma - when you enter a place and it smells...old. Like old mothballs or something old-ish. I can't put my finger on it. But when you smell it...you know. Other than that, all is well and we have been "super mega busy" (a phrase from one of my students) writing up lesson plans, learning Korean, trying to cook and enduring the heat.

Oh yeah, our favorite solution for cooking is just adding soy sauce to everything. Typical, eh? It's been fun. We love you all and miss you!

*misspell intended :)


Crazy colors and crazy animals enjoying a frosty treat. Despite what the box looks like though, these Rinky popsicles are pretty good. Flavors available: Strawberry, chocolate and chocolate mint (we think). We cannot really tell the difference between them.


We bought these cups downtown. Not sure what they mean, but he was so happy when he knew that friend. Hilarious.


Trying to read a Korean menu. This is a posed shot, obviously. It was a real scenario, though, just minutes before.


The main street Downtown. Bustling with people, right?


Perhaps this is where the smell is coming from? One can only guess. But there is a great deal of random stuff lying around on the streets like these dried out fish.

First Day

Our first full day in Gunsan has been a busy one. After arriving Thursday night, we quickly settled into our apartment and learned that we would be working the next day. First about our apartment - please view pictures. You will notice that the shower and toilet are situated quite near each other. Awkward to move around at first (everyone hates wet toilet paper), but it may prove to be advantageous as I can essentially go to the bathroom and shower at the same time. Gross. I digress.

This morning, the apartment was sweatingly hot. If you can imagine the typical hot day in New Orleans and multiply that by 10 and subtract 2, that is how hot the apartment was. Even after two morning showers (Dan had 3) I still could not feel refreshed. Little did I know that many homes/apartments in Korea contain floor heating devices. So...naturally when we turned on the "A/C unit" (don't make me laugh) we turned on the heat in the floor unit. A stifling 35 degrees Celsius - and for all you American readers out there...that is a legitimate temperature of 95 degrees Fahrenheit.

Our day at school was fun, but busy. Meeting the students, answering questions and playing Hangman was the basic lesson plan for all classes on Friday. Dan and I have classes of different learning levels and different ages from about 8-16. We shall see how it progresses throughout the year! I will continue to write funny/new experiences and will definitely post pictures! Enjoy our Chronicles. Love, Rach


Leaving New Orleans :( I have a lot of stuff.


Our first real Korean meal. We pointed to the menu, said a few words that we knew and got this and 2 beers. Worked out, I suppose. This meal is called kimchi and is the most traditional Korean dish - it's basically spicy, fermented cabbage. Pretty tasty, regardless.


Dan in front of our school sign holding up a peace sign - typically seen in all Korean photographs, donned by adults and children alike.


Our bathroom. Sorry if this grosses anyone out. But check out the proximity of the shower and toilet.


The kitchen area.