Adventures in Korea - learning to subway!

Yes, I know subway isn't a verb, but I am making it one lol. Anywho, I had a nice outing with Marti, who was kind enough to show me around the basics of using the subway. I didn't actually go anywhere, but at least I now know how to get into and out of the subway as well as some of the basics on how to get where I want to go.
We also took a turn through the many many many floors of D-Cube department store. I checked out one of the basement floors which is a food court in heaven. I found some places with macaroons. Oh my...this could be really bad for the diet. I also picked up a super cute headband and a couple stones (don't ask...they were just pretty).
Separate from my outing with Marti, I did my first dirty clothes wash today using this so called drying washer. It really doesn't dry. The clothes aren't dripping wet though, just need a little air drying, so hopefully it won't take too long. I would rather not having laundry hanging when Kendra gets here. Worst part is that I washed black pants and shirt with 3 white wash cloths. Now I know it generally isn't a good idea to wash clothes with towels and whatnot, but I have never had issues with it before. So, now I have a pair of pants and a shirt full of white specks. Ick. At least it's only two items, I can see the positive here since it could have been a whole wash load of clothes ruined, but it still kinda annoys me.
Well, tomorrow is my trip back to the airport to meet/pickup Kendra. I will be going early so I can look around at some of the stuff that is in that massive airport. Then more adventures to proceed from there.
So, here are some pictures from D-Cube (nothing too fancy): fish from the cute little water display in the floor and a pretty Christmas scene.

My Blogger is in Korean, and...T-money!

Well, I am not sure how to change it, but my blogger is all in Korean (minus what I type). That is slightly annoying. It wouldn't be an issue if I was highly familiar with Blogger, but I am not so it is problematic. Anywho, moving on. Today was another little adventure. I went out and bought a T-money charm so I can use public transportation. I haven't actually attempted to use the subway yet, but baby steps. I felt pretty good though because I finally got to use some of the Korean I have learned. So far, up till purchasing the t-money charm, I had only managed to say simple things like Hello and Thank you. Today, I got to say, "sago sipoyo" (I butchered that romanized spelling, I'm sure) when explaining that I wanted to buy the t-money card. That felt good, and the woman at the counter l ooked infinitely more relieved that she didn't have to try to work it out in English.
After, I went for some tofu stew with ddeok (rice cake). It was really good. I am pretty much working my way down the menu at this one particular tofu stew place. First I had kimchi, then mandu (dumpling), and now the rice cake. Next I want to have the ham (looks like spam). I also went grocery shopping. It was a small haul of items; nothing too big, bulky, or that I really have to cook just yet, but I did pick up a few tasty things for dinner and a snack or two. While there, I spotted another foreigner. I guess he could be a native, who just so happens to have a white parent so he doesn't look Korean, but I don't think so. I didn't quite get up the guts to say hello, but it was nice not feeling like I was the only foreigner in the store (E-mart in Sindorim Techno Mart). On my walk back home, I saw yet another foreigner. I didn't talk to him either (damn my shyness!!). It was just odd. I have been here all week and I hadn't seen a single foreigner at all, and all in one day I spot 2. I guess it is likely because it is Saturday, and they are out doing their weekend thing (where they would have otherwise been teaching classes or working while I was out previously in the week).
Well, that's been my day so far. Perhaps there will be more to happen, but I will save that for another post.

Snow in Korea

Yep. It is snowing in Seoul. This is only cool because I haven't really ever seen real snow before. Closest thing I have seen to snow before has been more slush and ice. I might not go out in it, but I might have to for dinner. I don't know how long the snow will last, but I will enjoy it while it is so pretty. Also below I have included a photo of some Christmas decorations from D-Cube department store here in Sindorim.

Korea...I have arrived

I finally made it to South Korea. It has been a rough couple days as i try to adjust to this new place, new people, and new weather (I am used to weather that rarely goes below 40°f on its coldest days). I am doing.fairly well though. So far so good. My friend Kendra will join me in about a week, so i look forward to having someone to bum around Seoul with for a couple weeks.

Heading to Korea!

Well it has been quite a while. I haven't really had a whole lot to talk about, though I have been taking 3 Korean classes and having many a Korean meal and snack through the last couple of months.
BUT now I have something to talk about. I'm going to Korea! Like, literally, tomorrow I leave from Los Angeles heading for Seoul, South Korea on Korean Air. I will be there for a month as a tourist, doing the typical tourist stuff, then I return again in February to stay for a year as a student (study abroad at Konkuk University). I am very excited, and I plan to document my trip (both vacation and study trips).

So let me give you a quick rundown on what's happened so far:

At the end of November I finished my Korean language class. I retook level 1 (I'd done quite well last semester with level 1, but I wanted to retake it to lock in the information) and took level 2 as well. Additionally, I took level 3, but that was far too advanced for me to fully take in so I mostly just picked up additional vocabulary. I finished level 2 with high scores, so I was quite proud. I am still very nervous using my Korean though. It is almost like it all just flies out of my head the moment I am around any Korean speaking people. It is sad really. I can completely relate to Korean students trying to learn English and why they may be nervous when having to speak English.

I started my TESOL/TEFL certification class. It is a 100 hour certification, with 60 of those hours being in-class/hands-on training. So far I have completed the in-class portion. Now I have about 3 months (little less now) to complete the online component. I learned quite a bit so far, and I plan to take an additional 40 hour component (specifically geared toward teaching small children) once I am done with this initial online portion. When I actually take that additional portion will depend on how busy I am through the Spring with my classes in Korea.

I applied and was accepted into the ISA study abroad program in Seoul (as mentioned above). I still need to get my visa, but the ISA rep seemed confident that I would be able to get it once I was back in the US from my vacation. I will be living in (actually on the outskirts I believe) of Gangnam. My place is really cute (according to the pictures) and decorated with Hello Kitty things. I am a big Hello Kitty fan, so that's why I chose that particular place to spend my year. It's very close to the subway line that goes directly to the school, and it is supposedly only about 15 to 20 minutes to the school by subway. I am close, but not surrounded my school 24/7. I also have my apartment/flat all to myself, so no roommates to be underfoot. If I had been younger, and a little less accustomed to living by myself, I might have lived on campus in the dorm, but I really wanted a kitchen and no roommate, so off-campus it was for me.

There have been a number of other things happening since my last post, but these are the only Korea-related things. Look forward to future postings, as I post about the place I am staying for my vacation and lots of pictures and stuff of stuff I do while I am there. First step is tomorrow, when I leave at 11am on Korean Air (prestige class)!

Another H Mart Shopping Trip - Yay Korean Food!

I am being lazy, but let me tell you about my recent H Mart purchases.

First, these rice cookie things - yum!

 

Yeah, they were really yummy. It's a light sweetness and just the perfect amount of crunch. 

Second was something rather simple - pomegranate hard candies:

They ended up being rather yummy too. I really love pomegranate flavored things though, so I assumed that would be the case. There are a whole lot of them in the package too, so I don't think I will run out any time soon.

Lastly, I got a rainbow rice cake, and well... it was gross.

Now, to be fair, I think I left it too long (in the heat for a little while too) and it just got hard. If I'd eaten it when I bought it, perhaps my opinion of it would have been different. I think I will try again another time to test this theory. There are other little rice cake things that I've had that are really tasty, so I have faith!

So that's it for this week. If you have any suggestions of things I should try, let me know!

Adventures in Korean Cooking plus more language learning.

So I wanted to post my pictures of my wonderful adventures in cooking ddeokbokki (떡볶이). This was an adventure indeed, but it still came out pretty good - in my opinion. Let's start with the set-up:

So I had the ddeokbokki, gochujang paste and powder, fish cakes (that had onion and carrots in it), green onions, carrots, mushrooms (just because I love mushrooms), salt, pepper, soy sauce, and some sugar. It was all cooked in a shallow pot/pan using instructions from Simon and Martina's cooking demonstration of the same meal. And the final result was:

Overall it was a success though there are some changes I might make next time. First, I think I cooked the sauce down too much, so as you see it wasn't very saucy. I also think it could have cooked a little longer because some of the ddeokbokki wasn't quite done. I would also most likely make less of the fish cakes or slice them up smaller. The taste was pretty good. I haven't ever had it by actual Korean cooks though, so I could have been way off without even knowing it. It wasn't too spicy but I put a heaping spoonful and a half of the paste, so I don't think I would put any more than that. I did learn that substituting almond milk instead of regular milk (to reduce the spicy burn) is a TERRIBLE idea, not to mention completely pointless since apparently it's the lactic acid in milk that gets rid of the burn.... almond milk is lactose-free. >.> Yeah, you live and you learn.

Up next on the cooking schedule is either going to be kimchi stew or kimchi fried rice. Either way, I have to cook that when everyone else is asleep so they won't complain about the smell of the kimchi. As it is, I can't eat it in a small portion when people are around. I can only imagine how it'll be when making a meal where it is a huge portion of the meal itself.

Ah yes, and to the second part of this post - Korean Language Learning!

Below is a white board I have that I put a different word, verb, and phrase up in Korean every day - or every other day if I don't feel I have mastered those completely. 

This idea is thanks to MrJaeGun on youtube, who has been so kind to post up various videos of his lessons as he teaches in S. Korea (among other interesting and informational videos). I don't want to stick the board to the wall, so it is precariously standing with the aid of a full coke can and a bottle of powerade - flanked by a squad of Hello Kitty stuffed dolls and my XBOX 360, but it's in good view of my desk and seems to be helping me a great deal. Along with my other study aids and class videos, it brings be one step closer to my goal each day. 

Yep, that's it. Later!