(Almost) a Week of School Meals

School lunches here in Korea are very different from any school lunch I had growing up in the U.S. Last week, I took my phone with me to lunch so I could share with you all what I typically eat for lunch, with the exception of Wednesday because I forgot my phone that day...

You can always count on a Korean school lunch (or any meal, really) to have kimchi and rice. 98% of the time there is soup as well. I don't know what to call everything but I'll try my best to describe it.

Steamed sweet potato, kimchi, braised soybeans, udon noodles with veggies and squid, soup. The soup had a great flavor but surprised me with a chunk of fish--bones and skin and all. Usually the fish is smaller and has been cooked to the point where bones are soft enough to eat but I can't do it...I still try to pick them out.

Pork? Apples, kimchi, sautéed zucchini, soup, rice with beans

Kkul tteok (rice cake filled with a Korean syrup), zucchini, kimchi, pork, seaweed soup (one of my favorite soups), rice with sauce

Acorn jelly, kimchi, asian pear (apple pear), lettuce (clearly haha), dumpling soup, pork. The red paste is bean paste--it's not as spicy as it looks! Next to my kimchi is also tiny salted shrimp. The shrimp and bean paste are for the pork. You wrap the pork in a lettuce leaf.

I enjoy my Korean school lunches. They are usually very delicious--especially the soups! These meals are hearty and healthful. I'm always excited to see what's for lunch.

Apartment Tour

Wow! It's already been a little over a month since I returned to Korea. Time is going by ridiculously fast. I predict, however, things will really slow down in the winter. I teach at three elementary schools and so far so good. I enjoy working with my students and coteachers.

I've also finally edited and uploaded my apartment tour! I filmed it a couple days after moving in but had technical difficulties.

Enjoy!

The name of my building is Happy Dream--how perfect is that?

Next blog post I hope to share more details about my teaching job. Stay tuned!

24th Birthday Extravaganza

If I could spend one more year being 23, I would be super happy about it. But alas, time marches on and I am ready to embrace 24. My new friends in Gunsan were really sweet and celebrated with me on the day of my birthday with fried chicken and Baskin Robbins ice cream cake.

On the weekend, I headed down to my old city, Gwangju, to celebrate more! We had one of my favorite meals Saturday night: shabu shabu.

Dinner was delicious and super filling. Afterwards, we went to a photo booth to do sticker pictures. The guys sat out for this activity haha.

Inside the photo booth

The hardest part of doing sticker pictures is choosing which ones you want

 Ready for dessert, we headed to Korean Dessert Cafe for bingsu and cake.

Of course, no good birthday is complete without norebang (singing room)!

Singing "Allstar" by Smash Mouth

Big thanks to all my Gunsan and Gwangju friends for making my birthday so incredible. I really am touched by how selfless everyone was. I'm grateful to have friends to be goofy with!

Bonus picture of my view from a bus stop near one of my schools:

Also I have a fun anecdote to share:

Embarrassing moment in Korea #127: my coteacher had to tell me this morning that I was wearing the office secretary's slippers and she wanted them back pronto.

In Korea we wear "slippers" inside the school. We call them slippers but they probably aren't what you'd expect when someone says "slippers."

I really need to buy my own...I've been using the guest slippers at my three schools for the past few weeks. At two schools, it's no problem at all. But at my third school I am reminded how large my feet are every time I take a step, my heels trying their very best not to hang out the back of the slipper.