Beautiful Busan

~Photo collection of a weekend in Busan~

Haeundae Beach

APEC Summit Building

[APEC: inlaid mother-of-pearl art piece]

Haedong Yonggung Temple

[stone wishing pyramids]

Gimhae Hanok Accommodation

[our home for the night]

[kimchi jars]

[hanok by night]

[korean breakfast]

[Forest::Garden]

Gimhae ClayArch Museum

[Gimhae kiln]

[kiln interior]

[modern korean tea set]

[traditional korean ceramic/paper dolls]

"Cann......i.... WHAT????"

Cute as a button Ryan showed up to school today with a unique wardrobe choice.

"Cannibalism" was boldly sprawled across this 5 year olds shirt, not once, but twice. Korean translations never cease to amaze me. I wonder if his Mom knows what this means? If a student in the States went to school wearing this it would probably make quite a scene. I watched him all day for signs of attack on the other students, but the most barbaric thing he did was scream and swing his head back and forth so his cheeks slapped around a bit and drool sprayed the others. But most of my students are doing that these days~~ ^^

[no, I did not teach them that]

Kimbap 101

Brooke and I tried to simulate a Korean kitchen and produce our own kimbap.

[kimbap is the Korean equivalent of sushi, minus the raw fish and plus a load of fermented veggies.] We've studied the adjumma's method at Kimbap Heaven for weeks now, we thought we were prepared. Then we realized we weren't even sure how to cook rice, or how we could go about buying the ingredients at the grocery store. Lucky for us, and our kimbap craving, our Korean friend lead the way in kimbap making. (and he taught us the secrets to making perfect rice!)

Ingredients:

Rice

Seaweed

Sesame Oil

Carrots

Sweet Potato Roots (the brown colored bit)

Radish (yellow, and sweet in taste)

Cucumbers (nearing the state of pickles, but actually not quite there) ^.~

Blanched Spinach

Ham

Egg

First, brush a light coat of sesame oil on the seaweed and flip (we always forgot the flip and had trouble with sealing the roll upon completion)

A fistful of rice should be spread evenly on the seaweed leaving an inch at the top and bottom for bonding~

Lay out the veggies, just one of each

Next is the technical part. You must use a fluid combination of rolling, squeezing, and rolling again until the cylinder is formed. Unwrap the bamboo to unveil your completed kimbap roll. Slice and enjoy!

We weren't armed with a sharp enough knife, so we chowed down our kimbap taco style. I will splurge for a proper knife next time. And when the rice ran low I devised an "Atkins Diet" kimbap, which was highly unsuccessful and just confirms my strong belief in carbs! ^.~

Language || Barrier

I awoke this morning to a leaky faucet in the bathroom, actually more like a full force hot water blow out~ moisture covered every surface, including the ceiling. I rounded up the land lady and she bantered some Korean at me, and had only one English word for the situation "Broken!" My reply ~ "jin-ja???" [just kidding] Then she grabbed my keys and fled the scene.

Meanwhile I had to be to work in 15 minutes, and it's about a 20 minute walk from my apartment. The kids are only calm for so long before their rowdy ways would draw the director to my classroom and she would discovery my tardiness. Tracking down the adjumma with my Korean speaking friend on the phone, we made a plan for the sink repair and I made it to school before chaos broke out in England Class.

After this eventful morning I deemed a double shot latte more than necessary. I asked for a little sugar, and was instead treated to a pinch of salt~~~ I was too dumbfounded to react quickly enough and just added it to the list of happenings for the day. Oh yea, besides the spraying sink and salty coffee, I shut my finger in the door, forgot my umbrella while it was raining, and tried to push the "pull" door, TWICE! :P

Okay, okay, okay ~~ but the story has a happy ending. When I returned to my apartment I discovered not only a shiny new faucet and shower head, but a clean bathroom, scrubbed down door, repainted wall, AND the adjumma removed the black mold that had been spreading in the outdoor area!! (something that I'd been meaning to do for the past month)

I ran upstairs with endless gratitude and a gift of oranges and bananas. She resisted at first but I force them on her adjumma style; only to then, twenty minutes later, find her outside my door with a gift of pears, yogurt, and mountain water!!

"ai-goo" ~ don't worry adjumma, now I know where your apartment is, every time I think about the daunting task of black mold I will be bringing you a gift!! ^.^

New Faces of England Class~

March brought in a new group of students to England Class. These little guys are 4 to 6 years old western age and we mostly communicate through charades.

They are just beginning to realize I cannot understand their Korean, although a few continue to tell me elaborate tales in Korea. Which i suppose is fair, as I flood them with English all day. ^^

Through song, dance, and high-five rewards their English is growing at rapid speed, as well as our relationship. This week they've started this new thing when I leave the classroom they all start screaming "NOOOO!!!!" as if someone is tearing off their right limb. Charming, really~!

This group could play duck duck goose for hours, and find mixing phrases together to be the funniest thing the in the world. More often then not you can hear them asking "May I have have some bathroom, please?" and "May I go to the water, please?"

Cherry Blossom Fantasy Land

Photo diary from a cycling weekend in Gyeong-ju.

Korea's capital city during the ancient Silla Kingdom (7th-9th Century) holds much history and is covered with mystical cherry blossoms this time of year. The trees and blossoms combined with the traditional architecture made for endless photo ops.

We cycled a one lane country road between two mountains on Saturday. The scenery and scent was more country than expected. After the sun set we chowed down on some Gyeong-ju style bulgogi and tasty barley pancakes the area is famous for. On day two we took a route back into town that meandered through the rice paddies. The view was amazing because there wasn't a building over three stories in sight. ^^

Anapji Pond was illuminated and a night time tour of the area was straight out of a child's fantasy. The traditional buildings, water, trees, blossoms, reflections, and lighting creating a magical feel. We ended the night with some pink cotton candy from the street vendor and my mind was convinced after an hour strolling the mystical pond that we were special beings that buzzed around on two wheels under soft, pink trees, and ate wispy sweetness for energy.

On Sunday we rose early to see the famous Seokguram Grotto. Buddha was carved into the granite mountain overlooking the Sea of Japan in the 7oo's.

Bulguksa is a well know temple from the Silla period and is home to many national treasures. It is considered a masterpiece of the golden age of Buddhist art from the Silla kingdom. I enjoyed the beautiful cherry blossoms setting over the traditional architecture and the stone wish pyramids the visitors built.

Tombs of valued rulers and scholars are scattered throughout the city. One King has a sweet spot nestled back into the woods we discovered on our ride back into town. The pine trees wiggle there way up to the sky and purple flowers dance below. About 100 meters into the enchanted forest is a large tomb. The best spot in Gyeong-ju, in my opinion, and this King only ruled for one year ^.~

adjumma selling local goods~

our hotel~

cherry blossoms by night~