Life continues like normal

First I want to say that I'm sorry it has been so long since my last blog entry!  I guess in one way it means that a lot of life here has become normal to the point that I don't feel the need to blog about it, but on the other hand I should be better at sharing the random treasures in Korea!  So here's what has been happening lately and some general musings...

Lately I have been loving the food I have in Korea.  Whether it's galbi, which is pork that is soaked in this soy sauce mixture and barbequed, or samgyeopsal, which is more like bacon that is cooked in a similar fashion to galbi... I am a happy girl!  With galbi and samgyeopsal you take the pieces of cooked meat that you cook on a little bbq in the table and wrap it with lettuce, seasonings and whatever else you want to add into your little lettuce wrap.  I also like to use the sesame leaf to wrap it.  It's a really lovely way to eat food!  And the meat is hot and just so tasty.  And it is true... Korean food is just better in Korea.

Last Friday night, my co-teacher Jenny and I took a student out for dinner that did well in an English competition for samgyeopsal.  I definitely let Jenny take control of cooking the meat... I'm not quite used to that part yet.  But it was definitely fun to hang out with one of my students out of class!  This girl, whose name is also Jenny, is in 5th grade and quite good at English.  We were able to basically have a conversation!  Of course, with help from teacher Jenny for translation at times.  I just find student Jenny to be a lovely girl.  She's smart, always trying in class, and just has a great sense of humour.  We had a great time hanging outside of school!

 Student Jenny and Teacher Jenny waiting for the galbi to cook and doing the classic Asian "v" for photos!

 The fire pit is just in the centre of the table!  Makes for a fun, interactive meal as well as really freshly cooked food.  You cook the meat with other things that you can wrap with it, like garlic and mushrooms.  And that red paste is awesome!  I can't remember the name of it, but I seriously could eat it every day (and sometimes do).  I put it on vegetables, rice, meat, eggs, anything really...

 I wanted to get in the picture too... and you can see the plate of lettuce and sesame leafs ready to be used for wrapping.  The wrap you can eat by hand, but you build it with chopsticks which you use to eat everything else.  Using chopsticks has become second nature to me now.  My vice principal even complimented me on how well I handle the chopsticks!  This is a big compliment from a Korean and also a big compliment from my vice principal who has very high standards.  Felt good!

 Student Jenny

 We're doing pretty good damage on all the side dishes too.  We had rice, salad, sweet potato, kimchi and then a bunch of things that I'm sure when I try to name anyone who actually knows the name of Korean dishes will laugh at me... but we had this black jelly thing, white kimchi-ish soup, egg something, and so on.  At the end of a lot of meals in Korea they also serve this plumb juice, tea drink that is to die for!  It's super sweet but just so satisfying!

Oh kimchi.  Yes, I do like kimchi, maybe not as much as Koreans do.  But I like it when going for Korean bbq because you can add it to the grill with the meat and to me it just tastes better cooked.  Or cooked in things like a kimchi pancake or in kimchi jigae (which is a kind of soup/stew).  Friends of mine in Boeun, Simon and Laura, who are from the UK stumbled upon the best quote about kimchi I have ever heard.  Simon said there was a section at the back of his grade 3 textbook which had what he refers to as "kimchi propaganda" and found the most brilliant comment:

"I often hear my friends say they don't like kimchi.  But that's unbelievable.  Remember, kimchi is our traditional food.  And it's a key to maintaining good health. If we Koreans don't like to eat kimchi, who will?  No one will.  Then kimchi will die away.  Would you be pleased with that?  It's time we stopped throwing away our traditional pride.  So let's say to ourselves 'There's nothing I like more than kimchi' and eat kimchi every day.  Thank you."

Brilliant!  Thanks Simon for the find!

I started to attend a church in Cheongju, which is about an hour outside of Boeun and the capital city of the province I'm in.  The church I started going to is called Sangdang Presbyterian Church, which has over 5000 attendees.  I go to the English ministry which has a church similar size to the one I had attended in Edmonton.  It's so cool to go to church with other internationals as well as so many Koreans who speak English.  I feel so connected in just the short time I have been going there.  Everyone has been super welcoming and it's nice to be apart of a church community again.

This past weekend I went on a little excursion to the Sangdang Sanseong Fortress with a few people I had met through church... Ann, Natalie and Jason.  Basically Cheongju used to be placed within these walls for protection.  Now there is a little village within the walls and Cheongju is actually outside of where the fortress is.  It was a fun hike on top of the wall that was more on top of a mountainous area with a great view of the city of Cheongju.  Nice to get out of civilization a bit, not to mention nice to spend time with some great people.  Parts of the trek were more difficult, or steep, so there were even spots where you had to use a rope to help yourself climb up.  It was also nice to see so many other Koreans enjoying the place and to hear the occasional "hello" as you walk past.  No matter where I go, whether I run into my students or just people who are studying English, I hear resounding "hello teacher"... sometimes students just like to run through the Korean they remember at the moment "hello teacher, how are you, I am so so, goodbye", all in one breath.

 Part of the wall... Ann thought this area just yearned to have people flying a kite on it or playing field games

 Korea really is so beautiful.  I feel so blessed to see this part of the world.

 The fortress... or rather part of the wall

 Ann and Jason

 Koreans seem big on hiking!  There are a ton of stores with hiking equipment, clothing, shoes, etc.   I didn't want to very obviously take a picture of other Koreans hiking, but I caught him and his very serious hiking stick.

 Beautiful landscape

 Parts of it was quite steep... and made me think of the Great Wall of China (which I've never been to and really the only comparison I can make is that it's a wall, in Asia... so maybe not like the Great Wall at all)

 You can see parts of Cheongju below.  The air has been so thick and moist lately.  It's not necessarily smog, but more of a fog due to the humidity and the elevation.

 Makes it hard to actually see Cheongju

 I just think the mountains are gorgeous

 Ann and Jason walking toward another structure along the wall

 Ann was exploring

Natalie standing along the wall

After we walked the wall, we went to the little village that is inside the wall and had some food.  Again, good Korean food.  When you do not speak Korean fluently and you can maybe read the symbols but do not necessarily understand the meaning, means you end up ordering some food that is not as good as others.  But I guess it's all part of the adventure.  And in the end we all had fun, and that's really the most important part anyway.

My Korean language ability is getting a bit better.  But it's definitely something I still need to work on.  I love how hilarious my students find my attempts at saying certain phrases.  It's nice to take turns teaching each other sometimes.  I teach them pronouns, they teach me how to say the number 8.  It's fun!  This past weekend I also hailed a cab in Cheongju all by myself, told him where I wanted to go in Korean, and arrived at my destination safe and sound with the correct fare in hand.  There are just some things that I never have to do in Boeun because my town is so small!  I was so proud of myself.  It's good to celebrate the little things.

I think that's enough for now.  As I said, I'm sorry it's been so long since my last post.  I want to make sure I keep everyone updated on my life, so don't be afraid to ask what's going on whenever you want.  Next post I'll include more about some of my students and what it's like to teach.  And of course, more pictures.  Maybe I'll even be in more of them!  Haha... that's the trouble with being the one with the camera.

Thanks for the prayers, thoughts, emails, and everything!  Till next time!