Korea Week 1

Wed. 7/3  Doeji, Dinos, and Kebobs – Oh my!

Here is Gyeongwon High School in Gimhae where I will be spending most of my time!  

Gyeongwon High School

Gyeongwon High School

This morning at school while the students and teachers were doing their final exams, I had some more time to work on lessons and presentations for next week.  Here is a picture of the teacher workroom where I am stationed.  

And here is my work space!  

The teachers who have desks in this workroom are the teachers who do not serve as homeroom teachers.  Homeroom teachers have a different workroom.  In Korean high schools, rather than the students moving from class to class, the students remain in their homeroom classroom all day and the subject teachers rotate in and out.  A student’s homeroom teacher is there to greet them in the mornings at 7:50 until 8:40 when their first class begins.  The homeroom teacher is also in charge of managing students’ behavior and providing discipline if necessary.

For lunch, some of the English teachers took me to a restaurant that serves doeji kalbi (grilled pork ribs).  My gracious hosts were of course worried that some of the food may be too spicy for me.  I assured them that, no, Korean food is not to spicy for me and that I love eating food such as kimchi!  They also wondered if I have had the experience of trying soju yet, which is a distilled, vodka-like rice liquor and the most popular drink of choice.  I said, yes, I have had soju before, but politely declined in partaking in shots of it during lunch J.     

After lunch we grabbed some coffee and then were invited by another English teacher, Yeongjoo, and her husband, Andrew, to see Jurassic Park 3D at Gimhae’s cinema.  Yes, Andrew is American J.  He is originally from San Diego.  He has been living and teaching English in Korea for five years now.  It has been a while since I’ve seen Jurassic Park, and watching it in 3D definitely provided for a whole new way of experiencing the movie! 

After the movie we headed to a part of town that is known for its wide selection of “foreign” food.  There are a growing number of immigrants here from various East and Central Asian countries drawn to Korea in part by the factory jobs available in the car industry here.  This particular section of town hosts restaurants ranging from Indian, Uzbek, and Moroccan to Mongolian, Vietnamese, and Thai food.  Our original plan was to try out the Mongolian restaurant.  I was anxious to see how Mongolian food in Korea compares to traditional Mongolian food but sadly the restaurant was closed for the evening so we chose Uzbek instead.  We had a delicious variety of bread and meats served in the style of what we know as kebobs. 

The kindness and generosity of the Korean people continues to amaze me.  What a great day!

Thurs. 7/4  Pa jeon and Makkeolli

Pa jeon

Happy Independence Day!  While I did not eat any burgers or hot dogs or see any fireworks today, it was still a fun day!  After exams were finished, a few of the teachers took me out for lunch for some pa jeon – looks like a giant, circular pancake consisting of vegetables and commonly seafood – and some makkeolli - a rice wine that is milky in color and a little sweet in flavor.  I’ve added a picture (once again courtesy of Google images) to give you a visual.  According to the Koreans, if it is a rainy day, pa jeon and makkeolli are the food and drink of choice to pass the day!  And rainy it was!

Hotduk

After lunch headed to Nampodong (outside of Busan) with another English teacher and her family.  Nampodong is her hometown, so she wanted to show me around.  Even though it was still raining, we walked through the street markets and shopping areas there.  Bought some cute souvenir gifts at a teeny-bopper shop and ate some yummy street food – fish on a stick, blood sausage, and hotduk (see Google pic), which are fried pancakes filled with brown sugar, cinnamon, and nuts.  Delicious! 

Another great day of good food and good company!      

Fri. 7/5  Gyeongju

Today we spent the day in Gyeongju with our teacher hosts as well as a few staff members from the Office of Education.  Since Gyeongju is such a highly valued and popular travel destination among Koreans, the Office of Education planned and hosted this trip for us.  Gyeongju was the capital of the ancient kingdom of Silla, under which Korea was first unified.  The kingdom of Silla ruled for almost 1,000 years from 57 BC – 935 AD.  Gyeongju is often referred to as “the museum without walls” because it hosts so many famous and historical sites.  If you are interested in reading more about Gyeongju, check out this site:  http://www.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_6.jsp?cid=255885

We had the chance to visit the Gyeongju National Museum, Bulguksa Temple, and Seokguram Grotto.  Here are a few of the pictures from today:

Gyeongju National Museum-

The Gyeongju National Museum hosts artifacts from the Silla Kingdom.

Divine Bell of King Seongdeok (a Korean National Treasure)

Bulguksa Temple-

Bulguksa was constructed from 751-774 to serve as the center of Silla Buddhism.  Though some of the temples were burned by Japanese invaders in 1593, some of the main buildings were reconstructed and restored from 1969-1973. 

Rub the golden pig for good luck!

Seokguram Grotto-

The Seokguram Grotto is a Buddhist stone temple located on Mt. Tohamsan and was built around the same time as Bulguksa Temple.  The Seokguram Grotto is considered to be one of Korea’s national treasures and was chosen as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site in 1995.

Drinking from the mountain spring brings youth!

Samgyetang (stuffed chicken soup)

For dinner we had samgyetang – stuffed chicken soup with ginseng.  It was literally a whole chicken stuffed with rice, dates, and ginseng in each bowl!  The flavor was amazing.  Here’s another Google image:

Definitely had the chance to learn and see a lot today!  We called it an early night.  Heading to Busan for the weekend in the morning.