Korean Grocery Haul??

This was a very spur-of-the-moment shopping trip and video. I got done teaching at 9:10 on Monday night when I remembered that I needed more groceries.  Most of the things I got are probably unexciting or plain but perhaps some of you are interested in how much some basic items cost.



My camera's memory card was very full so it stopped recording while I was talking and I didn't notice until editing time that two items were missing: oreos and cereal. So pretty much the two best things I bought. It's a bummer but I'm publishing this video anyway!

For the Beauty of the Earth

After a Sunday afternoon nap yesterday, I ventured outside to explore the natural beauty of my city. My location is ideal because my apartment is a half hour walk from downtown and a 40 minute walk from the base of Mount Mudeung--a lovely mountain with several trails, a handful of waterfalls, and a few Buddhist temples. Yesterday was the first (of many, I'm sure) time wandering the trails. It is so beautiful and green on Mount Mudeung. Many people do not find nature landscape pictures to be the most exciting pictures, but I have a few to share. As with most things, pictures cannot do such a gorgeous place justice.

I remember seeing pictures of places like Mount Mudeung throughout my life and wondering what it would be like to see a place like that in real life--or if I ever would. I remember wishing the pictures could capture the whole experience of witnessing such a beautiful place on Earth, so different from the natural beauties I had the honor of admiring in Colorado.

On the way to Mudeung

Not sure what this is but thought it was lovely.

I brought my trusty GPS with me! I really wished my dad could be there with me geocaching.

Not sure what these trees are called but for now I shall call them Truffula trees!

Of course I brought my trusty CamelBak as well!

You can see the city in the distance. So much air pollution. Boo.

Temple

Saturday Afternoon Fun Times

Friday night, Casey and I had every intention of waking up early Saturday to get ourselves better established in the city of Gwangju. In actuality, those intentions were masterfully disguised false hopes and laziness. Even though our day didn't start until the afternoon--when we finally decided it was time to get out of our apartments--we did everything we had set out to do!

Casey and I at last had the chance to visit the Gwangju International Center (GIC). They provide Korean classes, foreigner counseling services, a library, monthly culture tours around Korea, and more for $40 a year. We read on the website that there were also volunteer opportunities, which is the main thing we were looking for when we went. Alas, it was not very well organized. It looks as if Casey and I will need to look elsewhere for volunteer opportunities.

Although the GIC was a little bit of a disappointment, Casey and I were pleased to come across a youth festival happening downtown.

A fun little thing to observe!

When we finished people-watching, we explored shops downtown. I could go to this mall area downtown one hundred times while I'm here and still find new things. There is so much to see! Especially since everything is vertical here--you see shops and business all around and the you look up and see three or four more stacked on each. 

There is a stationary store we go to every time we are downtown called Art Box. I call it a stationary store but it has some other strange and random wares. We always find several things that catch our attention. Like the romantic(?) quote on this sketchbook:

We also saw some divine-looking pastries at a bakery.

 

And found where a new bowling alley is opening! 

I was dying over the name. I will be bowling here when it opens. It better be as enchanting and endearing as the name implies! Also, the 4F means it will be on the fourth floor. I feel bad for the business right below it!

Then dinner happened. 

Mmmm dak galbi!

Finally, Casey and I saw a play put on by the Gwangju Performance Project. It was started by foreign teachers some years ago and they mostly do plays. The play we saw is Rumors. Neither of us had seem it before and I thought it was just okay. It wasn't as funny as I had hoped. But I have no regrets about going! I am happy to support a small, foreign-based theater.

Well, although we didn't go anywhere until mid-afternoon, the day was full and overall delightful!

Questions and Answers

Hello friends and family! This is my first Korea Q&A video and I am excited to share it with all of you. Unfortunately there were so many great questions and such little time with which to answer! I'm also sad I couldn't answer every question--please don't feel rejected if I didn't answer yours!

1. What is one thing you didn't bring that you wish you had?
Ah, I knew the answer to this one right away--my tennis shoes! I have no idea what I was thinking but I totally didn't bring tennis shoes or hiking boots. I live at the base of a mountain with lots of trails and a temple but I haven't been yet because I don't have the proper shoes for that kind of exploring! Super lame.

2.What do you admire most about the culture
This is such a difficult question to answer and I did not answer sufficiently in the video. People here seem very sweet, kind, and loving. Friends are affectionate which, as someone who has always been known as not being very touchy, I find exceptionally endearing! Ladies at church will just grab my hand when they are talking to me. I see two guy friends or two girl friends walking around linking arms, holding hands, etc. My students do this too and no one thinks twice about it.

3. Have you seen any cool animals
Mostly I've seen stray cats. There's really not much wildlife where I live. Although I live at the base of a lovely mountain, I'm very close to "the city." I haven't even seen many birds. It's quite sad because I love seeing wildlife.

4. Can you speak fluently yet
Heh. No. Definitely not. Many Koreans have been very kind and encouraging when it comes to me learning phrases. Unfortunately, I don't have tons of spare time to dedicate to learning a language that is quite opposite to my native tongue. I can read okayish but I would love to understand what I am reading!

5. Have you seen or tried American fast food restaurants there
There are several that exist but I've only been to one: Burger King. I can't remember the last time I had Burger King but the burger I had here was much tastier than I ever remember Burger King being. Fries are just okay. The people I went with got traditional BK food but I went for the Korea specific menu item that is the bulgogi burger. Which was pretty delicious!

6. What's the funniest thing that's happened so far
I have a hard time thinking of a funny story that I can tell to people back home that they would actually think is funny. A lot of funny things that have happened stem from culture or language misunderstandings and aren't as funny if you weren't there.
However, my students really crack me up sometimes! I am so amazed and impressed by how clever they can be in their second language. One of my fourth grade boys, Jin Woo, is so monotone when speaking English and he says some goofy stuff like "Teacher, you give me a pizza." Or "Teacher, I will build a dream machine to play while you sleep and it will say 'Teacher, Teacher, Teacher, Teacher, Teacher, Teacher, Teacher' while you try and sleep." No joke, this is a real thing he said to me today. He's also for whatever reason obsessed with beggars. "Teacher, this pen look like beggar." "Richman take care of his beggars." "Teacher, you are beggar." What??

7. What is trendy or stylish there
So I will have to get some pictures of the everyday style here (without creepily taking pictures of strangers) because it's hard to describe. Overall, people just look nice. And anything cute is stylish. Girls dress very feminine. Oh and guys kind of do to haha. They just always look so nice! Girls wear skirts and blouses a lot. Their makeup and hair looks natural but well-done. Most girls seem to have long hair and bangs--no crazy colors. I see guys wearing nice pants and shirts. Not lots of jeans. But old people dress pretty tacky!

8. What do their eggs look like and what color are they
They taste good and they are brown.

9. What did you bring that you wish you hadn't
I brought a frisbee because it was something I thought wouldn't be common in Korea so it would be fun for getting together with other foreigners or playing with new Korean friends. However I haven't found a park or any open space yet! So I haven't had any use for it yet.

10. What do you miss about the States the most
THE AIR QUALITY. It's terrible here. I've never lived somewhere that you could so clearly see the pollution any given day. It's not nearly as sunny either, which is killing me!

11. What food would you like that you can't get there
I would love to have a Bonsai Burger at Red Robin. I intended to get one before leaving the US but didn't. Mmmm so good. As for things that I miss which people can mail to me *cough*subtle hint *cough* I really miss Flamin' Hot Fries or Flamin' Hot Munchies.

12. Do you miss any music
I have my iTunes! No Pandora in Korea though. They have a version here called Jango but it doesn't have much variety. I will be very behind on the music scene when I get home but I think I'll survive.

13. Do you miss hearing English on the streets
Yes, actually. I've found that I spend a lot of time just tuning out because I can't understand anyone around me which is sad but there's not much else to do. This especially happens at church. Trying to understand people all the time gets exhausting.

14. Do you miss American TV
Not yet but I know I will in a couple of months! We can get Netflix through the Hola extension. I haven't done this yet but my coworker has. I don't have a Netflix account anyway. But yes, only having youtube and Korean TV will get tiresome.

Pizza is a Gift, My Friends

After a long week of work, Casey and I indulged ourselves in delicious, cheesy, gooey, good old, Pizza Hut. It was so, so delicious and worth the wait (we knew like three days ago we were getting pizza today so we were practically dreaming about it the whole time).

When we got to PH, they man taking the orders saw us and immediately fetched the worker with the best English. He was so sweet and friendly and adorable! Casey and I loved him.  He offered to play Maroon 5 for us while we ate. And when we needed to pay, he was unsure how to tell us that it was time to pay. There was an awkward pause as he thought and as we tried to figure out what he needed to tell us. All he could say was, "Uh, give me the money." We practically died because it was so funny. And then we were revived by this glorious box of heaven placed so delicately in front of us:

It comes tied with an adorable bow! How perfectly Korean is that?

*Hallelujah Chorus*

Casey and I realized immediately that we must order a large instead of medium on future pizza trips. In America, this would definitely be a personal pan pizza. Regardless, what we did get was absolutely amazing! This medium sized half cheese, half pineapple pizza was about 15,000 won (a little under $15). So worth it.

Chloes and Carols vlog

Carol (one of my best friends ever) and I are channeling our inner Vlogbrothers by communicating via vlogs while I am in Korea! We have yet to set an actual schedule for when we will release videos for each other--so far it's been rather spontaneous and Carol is way ahead of me in vlog quantity. I'm not sure how exciting our videos will be to other people but a couple of our friends have watched and enjoyed them so I figured I'd share the link to our playlist just in case. It is, after all, yet another facet of my Korea adventure!

Click here for the Chloes and Carols Vlog playlist!

Just Another Lovely Wednesday

Do you ever have simple, average days where you realize how content you are with life? Not everything was perfect but nothing was a monstrous disaster. I have had these thoughts before in the States several times throughout college and thereafter. Life is good in the eternal perspective. Sometimes this little beautiful nugget of truth is brought to our consciousness on the most seemingly unexceptional days of our earthly existence.

Pondering this today, my consciousness wandered to the realities of my life. Mainly this one: I am living South Korea. How amazing is it that I can feel so simply content as if my life is unextraordinary? Well I am content! I am working towards becoming the kind of person I have always wanted to be--I am currently living one of my huge Rapunzel-and-the-lanterns status dreams! The author John Green recently said that living your dream and being happy all the time do not go hand-in-hand. I know there will be days where I feel so lonely and lost but onward I go! I must remember that I am in Korea and why I am in Korea. I also want to encourage anyone who is not at least content with life to work towards achieving something amazing in your eyes--anything!

Here are a few pictures of my average Korea life Wednesday:

Setting up my camera for a Q&A video

Realizing how much footage I have to edit from said Q&A video

Breaking for lunch with my lovely coworker at one of our favorite local restaurants

We aren't sure what we ordered--we just pointed at a picture. This dish was so, so spicy but very delicious

After such a spicy meal, I needed to cool my mouth off with an ice cream treat. The flavor was "French Cheese" which I found humorous for some reason

  

Quality Street Food

For whatever reason, pizza in a cup is a common street food in downtown Gwangju. I'm not complaining, though! It only costs 1,000 Won (about 97 cents) and I was kind of hungry so it worked out well for me. Despite the flavor-tainting sausage that for whatever reason plagues the pizza industry, the pizza really wasn't that bad! Is pizza served like this in any other cities of the world? It's so...tacky. Which means I totally love it.

Pictures I Shared on Facebook but Not on My Blog!

Dedicated to my dad, who does not have Facebook. My bad, dad!

Some old guy in my town just sleeping on a random table

Downtown Gwangju

Found this in a stationary shop downtown. Hmm

We don't know why this big red pig is in the middle of a park but we like it!

My coworker Casey, a friend of ours, and I

Nice little park in the middle of downtown

At a cat cafe!

My Independence Day burger!

Two of my Korean co workers. The one on the left is leaving this month and the one on the right left a couple weeks ago

Casey and I wearing fun socks

Okay I think that's it!