(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.

Update! Part 1: Teaching

Well, well, well. I have once again been slacking a little with blog updates. I know I need to post more about Thailand but I have so many other things to talk about too! So here are some various updates on teaching in Korea!

• In Korea, Valentine's day is when girls give boys chocolates and such. Then on March 14th, boys return the favor. But last month for Valentine's day, my lovely mother sent conversation hearts for me to give my students. Since I left for Thailand the day after I handed them out, I didn't get around to posting the pictures on my blog. My students had no idea what these candies were but they really like them!

  

  5th graders

Jisol didn't want her picture taken so she took this selfie haha

SeoRyoung!

Jungju and Jiwon

Seohye and Hasung

3rd grade

Yul!

2nd grade

4th grade

Card from my dad

Card from my grandparents

• Speaking of belated holiday pictures...I came across some pictures from the Kindergarten Halloween party. I was supposed to be a pumpkin hahah

Mystery box game

Feeling for spaghetti brains

• Aaaand speaking of Kindergarten, the week after I got back from Thailand, we had our Kindergarten festival! My students did so well! I took several videos of their adorableness but this is the only one I can get to work now. 

• Kindy class pictures arrived! We look like a little family haha
  
  
  
  
• Those pictures turned out nicely but, the picture for my school's advertisement is another story...I had no warning that my picture would be taken :(.

But hey, what can you do. At least I'm wearing my dinosaur shirt.

February Fun Times

February may be the shortest month of the year, but in 2015 it sure is making up for its lack of days by being very eventful! To kick off my February 2015, I received a package from my wonderful mother. It was full of my favorite candies as well as Valentine's Day candies for my students. Here is a video of me opening up the box:

In Korea, kids are preparing for a new school year, starting next month. This means two of my kindergarten kids are graduating and will start elementary school soon! So this week, we did class pictures. It was nothing like the way I remember school pictures ever being done--then again, this is the only Korean school I've worked at so I don't know if it was unusual by Korean standards either. Although it should be noted that "kindergarten" here is actually equivalent to our preschool. Some kids start when they are 3 or even 2 years old and it's not a public school, it's a private business. So technically it's compulsory I guess but I would be surprised to find a Korean child who did not attend Kindergarten for a few years.

Anyway in my schooling, I remember LifeTouch (really, is there any other company that does school pictures--maybe it was just my county) would bring their equipment to the school and set up camp in the gym for the whole day. Then class by class, they would file kids through a queue, snap a quick picture of each one in front of an ugly background, then send the kid on their merry way.

For these pictures, we went to an actual photo studio. We changed into coordinating shirts and took some group pictures. Then the two graduates got some special individual pictures taken in new dresses their parents bought for them in honor of their graduation. The other five kids had nothing to do during this time except run amok and play with all of the props in the studio. The other English teacher and I had a rare chance to just play with the kids, which was fun. I felt like a babysitter haha.

Seo-Young

Gah! She's so cute!

Yu-Seul noticed Seo-Young and I were taking pictures so she joined in

Everyone, meet Ha-Eun. She's a goof

Ra-Hee is so sweet!

Ha-Eun causing mischief!

Ye-Young is one of the girls who is graduating. She is one smart cookie

Taking some selfies with Ye-Young...

...when suddenly...

...Ha-Eun appears out of nowhere

Shout out to my mom, who is a birthday girl today! Well, it isn't her birthday in Colorado quite yet but it is in Korea!

Another shout out to my dad who I get to see in about a week!! Eeeeeee!!! Thanks for the Valentine's Day card!

One last shout out to the country of Thailand. Thanks for existing and for being warm and sunny this time of year. I look forward to experiencing it this month!

Happy February, everyone! If you haven't got around to buying Valentine cards yet, just print this one off and give it to all your friends:

Okay love you all, bye!

City of Light

I should really write a post about my stay in Seoul at the beginning of the month...buuuut I'm going to procrastinate doing that once again.

The dreaded month-long Winter camp is now over--students have been on vacation from public school so we teach extra classes during the day in addition to normal afternoon classes. Camp happens twice a year, once in August and once in January. The next big event at the school is the Kindergarten English Festival. My 7 kindy students will do various musical performances and skits in English for their families at this festival. My students have been working hard to prepare. I'm excited for my heart to be melted by their adorableness during the festival. And I'm excited that the Kindy English Festival does not put a lot of pressure and extra work on the foreign teachers, unlike the camps and open classes.

Lately, my favorite thing to do after work is to find a random cafe close by, order a cup of hot choco and work on my computer or read. I've been spending a lot of time in my apartment this month because, winter. And because camp is exhausting. But going to a cafe makes me feel less like a bum. I may not be getting enough direct social interaction lately but at a cafe, it's nice to sit and hear people around me enjoying each other's company. I'm realizing now that's probably one of the most introverted thoughts I've ever had.

Overall, everything is going well for me here in Gwangju. I love the city and I love all the new and interesting people I have met. I'm also making a fair amount of progress with the language. I still have so much to learn. But, I understand a little more every day. I'm grateful I can take classes at the Gwangju International Center downtown. The GIC is such a wonderful place to live nearby. It's the hub of Gwangju's foreigner community. They publish a monthly magazine, have a library, provide various classes, and hold a variety of events for the community. Today I attended a "GIC Talk," which takes place every Saturday. An English teacher talked about his experience serving in the Peace Corps in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. It was inspiring--I really need to do more service!

I don't have any daring tales to tell you today, unfortunately. But, since I'm already talking about the foreigner community in Gwangju, I would like to share a video that a fellow foreigner made and shared with me today. It's beautiful. Enjoy!

Hello, Nice to See You Again

I recently made the decision to update my blog at least once a week...aaaand then I go and miss last week. Oops. Consequently, I have a lot to talk about in this week's blog post!

First of all, I just want to mention that it has been one year since I graduated from the University of Northern Colorado and I received my Interdisciplinary Studies with an Emphasis in Earth Science degree. Thank you to everyone who supported and encouraged me throughout my 4 1/2 years as a university student. Having the opportunity to attend a university and study things that are important to me has been such a great blessing.

Thanks to my degree, I am experiencing another incredible opportunity--teaching abroad. Here are some things that have happened over the past few weeks:

• I got a haircut! I've never been nervous about haircuts before...until I moved to a foreign country where natives have hair that is quite different from mine. Luckily, there is a hair stylist in my city who cuts a lot of foreigner hair. I took this picture right after it was cut and it hasn't been styled this beautifully since then haha. 

• My lovely coworker and I went out to eat together a couple times, where she introduced me to more delicious Korean food.

쭈꾸미 (jjukkumi), small octopus

Close up!

The menu is handwritten on cardboard--which I thought was cool. Also, instructions for how to eat the 쭈꾸미 are underneath

Not my best picture... but this is how you eat it! You wrap it up in the sesame leaf and stuff your face! 

볶음밥 (bokkumbap), fried rice

Looking for a place to keep your coat and bag? Just open the lid of your chair.

Boom.

• We also had 해정국 (haejangguk), "hangover soup" 

Of course I am not hungover haha. I loved this soup!

That's a chunk of a pig's back in there.

• My students are often fairly camera-shy but my second graders let me take a video of them enjoying a math game. This math concept of this game is "less than" and "greater than." Listen closely, they use those two expressions many times in the video.

These two girls preferred a quieter version of the game

•  I found this "Colorado State" hoodie at a clothing shop but I didn't buy it.

The best state!

•  Christmas lights downtown!

• Speaking of Christmas decorations, I set up my little tree back in November.

•  I sent a Christmas package home! Hopefully my family gets it before Christmas.

•  My third grade students write journal entries once a week and I correct them. This one, man. "HW" is a girl in this boy's class.

Apparently the writer is not wishing HW to "go to hell" but equating his pain with going to hell. I was confused at first haha

•  I made Christmas treats for friends! I'm so happy I bought a convection oven recently. I am putting it to good use.

Peppermint chocolate chip cookies!

I tried to make peanut brittle but totally failed...so instead I made these cute star-shaped peanut butter cookies!

Fudge!

•  Church is still awesome. I've made a lot of friends and everyone is so kind and welcoming. 

Sanghyeok (Spencer), Elder Woods, Elder Ha, and I

Today we met together to teach each other English and Korean

• I've been making progress with the Korean language! I've been attending a weekly class at the Gwangju International Center and studying with a new Korean friend. 

At a cafe, getting ready to study Korean!

Mmm hot chocolate

•  I found these old pictures from a holiday in October (Hangul day, I think). We had a ward picnic. Ahh these picture make me miss warm weather!

My Frisbee got played with! Sadly, Koreans are not familiar with Ultimate Frisbee 

Sister 이예지 (Yea Ji Lee)! She goes home tomorrow. I met her one of my first few weeks here in Korea. I'm sad to see her go!

Just me derping

Mushroom home!

On our way to the picnic! On the far right is 박유진 (Yu Jin Park). She recently left for a mission on Temple Square in Utah

• No pictures to prove it, but I booked the tickets for my Thailand trip in February! I am absolutely ecstatic. I cannot wait!

Whew. Okay that's about it for today. Work is good, church is good, life overall is splendid. Christmas is such a special time of the year. I love, love summer but I also love, love Christmas. I can't help but feel happy when I think about Christmas--the meaning behind it as well as all the beloved traditions. Enjoy the holiday season, wherever you are!

Music I listened to while writing this post: the Pentatonix Christmas album. Click here to listen to the most powerful version of "Mary Did you Know" that I have ever heard.