korean lunch box

deery-lou.
nothing much happening this week. school. sleep. taekwondo. sleep. etc. although i am having the worst sleep know to mankind this week. not sure if its allergies or not. i'm all stuffed up and usually around 4am i'm waking up and can't breathe. hopefully this will pass soon. i did manage to try a new restaurant near my hood. it was guite good. then again i really haven't had a bad meal here yet. some strange meals but not bad. knock on fake wood. the food was served in these tin containers. not so much now, but awhile ago children used these tin containers as lunch boxes. moms would pack it with rice and a fried egg. that's what we had. plus kimchi, pork [that tasted like pot roast], seaweed soup, and some sidedishes. when they brought out the lunch boxes with our rice and egg i was the unlucky one and got the plain sliver one. the girls on the other hand had cute characters on theirs. so unfair. the meal was really delicious. the kimchi tasted like sauerkraut. yummy. it was spicy too. my new mission now is to find some of these containers. i want a korean lunch box. christine said they sell them at the markets. i'm so there. the inside of the restaurant was pretty cool. there is a lot of graffiti/writing on the walls from customers. there's also a section of the menu where you can write comments. overall the decor was very earthy with lots of antiques here and there. here are some shots of the place:

twins

door to the outside

sidedishes

steamy seaweed soup

interior

ancient scripture

my name is seoung ah

3 devils

dancing bear

be well…

an all nighter…

vickie and i, 3 alley bar

deery-lou.
last night was vickie's going away dinner and drinking night. the evening started out at namaste restaurant in seoul at 9pm. as vickie would say "it was gorgeous". i must agree with her. it was by far the best indian i've ever had. we started out with some samosas. they were heavenly. the only odd thing was that they were served with ketchup. ketchup seems to be the international dressing in korea. even dipped in ketchup they tasted good. for my entry i had chicken butter curry which was a red curry that was both spicey and sweet and garlic nan. "it was freakin gorgeous." i woke up this morning craving more of it. too bad its an hour away. after dinner we headed into itaewon to go to the 3 alley bar or all western bar. i think the only koreans in the place were working there. we stayed there for a few drinks then went on to bar nana. we spent the majority of the night there. drinking, dancing, talking, drinking, drinking, and more drinking. some girl from south carolina started talking to me while i was sitting at the bar. she told me that she thought i was hot. which is funny because i would never describe myself as that. i thanked her. we chatted for a bit. she asked my age and when i told her she was like "no way. i thought you were 22." apparently i must look really good in low light settings. or perhaps she had one too many and everyone in the bar looked 22 to her. she was cool. i regret not getting her number or email since its so rare i run into cool people. perhaps i'll see her again. after my conversation with miss south carolina i went outside to look for the others. they were sitting in some chairs in the alley in front of the bar. we sat out there talking and drinking. then a fight broke out. don't really know much details expect some guy kicked and hit this girl. he boyfriend got involved. the two guys started fighting. the boyfriend got cut and punched several times. i think his jaw was broken. the police came. everyone was up in arms about the guy kicking the girl starting it. the kicker's sister was preaching about peace. the police took them all away. and then we left. we went to some crazy russian disco bar and last all of two seconds. the we wondered up hooker hill. yes, its actually called that. and yes, there are looks of brothels and hookers on the street. we stumbled in yet another bar called oldtown. they were playing the worst american music ever. soon after we found ourselves sitting on a bench on the sidewalk. some of us had gotten food, others were just hanging around talking. jessie, justin, and john decided to head home. damion, andy, and vickie were going to see if the breakfast place was open yet. and i…well seeing that a headache was fast approaching i decided to head home. food was the last thing on my mind. i said my final farewell to vickie and gave her a hug. then i descended the stairs to the subway station and made my way to the subway. after two trains, a coke, a bag of manjoo, and an hour trip i was home. it was now sunday, september 11 at 8:30 am. i slept until 3pm.

i saw these this morning while waiting for the the train:


apparently they are in case of an emergency, like a terrorist attack or something. according to the picture it looks like you place the bag over your head and pull the strings. i don't know about you but don't you think placing a plastic bag over your head would suffocate you. maybe these are magic air bags. i wanted to take one; however, the case they were in was locked.


bye-bye vickie. i'll miss you. have a great time in thailand. smooches.

vickie, 3 alley bar

be well…

the magic kingdom

deery-lou.
once upon a time there was some land across from my school. it was government owned but people used the land for public gardens. i spent my first year watching them grow various vegetables until winter came and everything died. in spring they started again. the old women would be out there daily working on that perfect garden. then one day in teh middle of summer a bunch of stuff was dumped in the back of the space. upon closer inspection it looked liked remanents from a circus or something. it appeared as if they were going to build something but the days passed and nothing happened. months passed and still the old women were out in numbers and the circus fixtures lay motionless in their dusty new beds. almost as if they had been abandoned. there was a sign posted in front of the land. i asked a teacher what it said. the translation got muffled but it said something like, "this is government land. stop gardening" or something like that. but still nothing happened. and then i went on vacation. when i returned a white fence made of banners and poles stretched across the entire perimeter of the land. a mutation was in progress. my public gardens were no more. this is what i saw:

week 1

week 2

week 3

week 4

week 5

the mutation was now complete. on september 2 it would be opened to the public. this is how it looked at night from the outside:


it's been open for six days and i have yet to go inside the magic kingdom. although reports from my students all say its boring. alas, i'll be the judge of that. hopefully my expectations won't be shattered.

be well…

sad…

deery-lou.
today i'm sad. i've been spending days trying to avoid the news of new orleans but eventually one can hide no longer. and things catch up to you. on saturday night eugene and i spent some time talking about all the crap that was happening there and how sad and disappointing it was. then today i listened to the mayors broadcast. i was even more saddened. i read a few more articles here and there, watch some more videos, and wondered "why". there are times that i'm ashamed to say i'm american and these are one of those times. at a time of need people should be coming together not tearing each other apart. and the fact that our own government has responded poorly is even more sad. you have newscaster referring to people of color as "looters" while white people are "just trying to survive". haven't we gotten past the whole color/economic issues. obviously not and its sad. because i don't think we ever will. why are we so concerned with other countries and when our own is in need we take our time. is it because "they" have nothing to gain from what's in our own backyard? it would be very easy for me to get into the whole war business right now but i don't want too. having lived outside the u.s. for the past year you start to get a new insight. especially when you see how other countries deal with issues. i'm living in a country where i'm a minority and i have yet to experience anything as harsh as what some of my asian friends experienced while living in america. this attitude of ours has got to change. our government has got to change. the more i think about it, i'd probably be better off serving bush's term in korea. i'm beginning to think people have forgotten what america was founded on. maybe this simple reminder of what's carved on the statue of liberty will help us remember. please take note mr. president.

“The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles.
From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!"” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

perhaps what we really need is a woman in charge. i'm usually not one to go on ranks but felt like i needed to say something. hopefully as americans we can all come together and help each other out.

be well…

mountain dining to club hopping

deery-lou.
saturday started off with hyun-sik and i heading off to go eat at san ma eul boribap which is located at the bottom of gwanak mountain. we took the 4 line to beomgye station which is only seven stops from my station. from the station we set out on foot for what seemed like an hour. the book said it was only a 20 minute walk. LIES!!! the walk wouldn't have been too bad had it not been so hot. eventually our efforts paid off as we found the restaurant. san ma eul boribap is a traditional korean tradition. and the best part is that it's in the hills. translation: no giant buildings, noisey cars, or neon signs. instead you have birds, water running, and fresh air. smeb even has a traditional decor. the roof is straw and the building is make of logs. inside there are various tradition knick knacks likes tools, masks, lanterns, etc. the food was amazing. the main meal was purple rice with various vegetables on the side to make your own bibambap. there were also tons of side dishes too. i was amazed at all the food they brought for two people. we had torti [acorn] jelly with quail eggs, yellow seaweed [at least i think it was seaweed. hs thought it was some kind of ocean worm], eggplant, sweet potato noodles, bulgogi, fish [i actually tried both of them], pumpkin, soybeans, and various types of kimchi. it was all delicious. after the eating we had a sweet tea drink which has become my new favorite thing. they have it in cans at the market near my house so i always keep some in the fridge. after all this food we just relax for a bit then started to head back. we caught a bus to the train station. we were now off to seoul, more precisely insadong. hs's friend chen lie, who's not asian but australian, was having her second solo exhibition at galerie gaia. we got to the gallery around 7pm. thats when the opening party was starting. there was lots of food and endless amounts of red wine. i don't even like wine but found myself drinking glass after glass. chen's artwork was great. she takes a photograph that she took and transfers onto paper. then mounts the transfer to a canvas and paints it. my description doesn't really do it justice. take my word for it though. her stuff rocks and so does she. here's a sample, its called sweet respik:


there was a really good turnout for the exhibition. a lot of foreigners. i ended up meeting alot of really cool people. we hung around until chen was ready to close up. i think that was around 11pm. then a group of us went off to hongdae to continue to celebrate her exhibit. i actually bought one of her pieces too. i can't wait to get it. so excited. our first stop in hongdae was u.s route 66. packed with foreignors too. go figure. we had long island teas which were a bit too sweet. although that didn't stop me from drinking it. i had a really great chat with chen. she told how she was inspired to paint the picture i purchased. it was cool getting some background info on the piece. from there we went to tinpan. i had been there once before. its the place that has a mr. big poster on the wall. not sure how long we were there. after tinpan we went to maryjane's an 80's bar. LOVED IT! i got to hear some smiths, rem, depeche mode, etc. you could request songs. although there were two non-eighties song thrown into the mix. i'll let it slide this time. maryjane's will definitely be getting a return visit from me. we ended the night at ska club for more dancing. a couple of people had got hotel rooms in insadong so we crashed there. i believe we got back to the room around 4am. it was definitely a long day. today i got back to ansan around 3:30. watched a movie then made some soup.

be well…

snaps from san ma eul boribap

links

• san ma eul boribap
  

happy anniversary to me!

deery-lou.
can you believe it? i have officially been in korea for one year. where did the time go? it only seems like yesterday that i was packing my superhero toys and taking them to a storage unit. but on the other hand it seems like ages since i've been in san francisco. its kind of like the glass is half empty/full. depending on my mood is how i feel. i can honestly say though that i'm still enjoying my time here. reflecting on the year gone by, here's what i've learned:

1. its never what you think [ex: noodles are often fish]
2. there's no understanding kl [korean logic]
3. socks and sandals go hand and hand
4. manual labor is done wearing sandals
5. its ok to nap on the job
6. cellphones are actually necklaces
7. if your cellphone doesn't have a camera, you're a loser
8. red lights don't mean stop
9. scooters always have the right of way
10. you can get by for a whole year with knowing only "hi, goodbye, and thankyou"
11. strangers are kind
12. you must hold on tight while riding the bus
13. middle school girls like to giggle alot
14. the korean wave is taking over
15. korean dramas rule
16. the same goes for korean game shows
17. all the foreigners on tv are d.u.m.b.
18. being unhip is hip
19. koreans t-shirts say the darnest things
20. kimchi is eaten at every meal
21. fried squid is a midnight snack
22. kalbi rules
23. i like kimbab
24. dalki and her friends are better than the shortcake gang
25. tvs are a must in every store
26. acupuncture is the best thing ever
27. chinese medicine really works
28. koreans will cut your hair however they want
29. sugar coated things are a staple
30. you can take the boy out of san francisco but you can't take sf out of the boy
31. starbucks is everywhere [as is dunkin donuts and mcdonalds]
32. family and friends are important
33. i still manage to watch too much tv
34. procrastination follows you
35. i have a thing for asians
36. the coke and pepsi is always semi flat
37. pineapple sodas are the new best thing
38. banana milk [need i say more]
39. vcds are a cheap and easy way to watch korean movies
40. teaching is hard work
41. too much soju is a bad thing
42. noraebangs are F.U.N
43. subways can be clean
44. one can o.d. on too many temples
45. ajumas love me
46. taekwondo takes discipline and hard training
47. one must always carry toilet tissue with them
48. koreans like to look at themselves
49. saunas are a great place to spend a hour or two
50. smiling makes all the difference
51. you can eat noodles with chopsticks
52. and the list goes on and on and on…

last night i met up with the sisterhood cult. they took me to a seafood restaurant for seafood soup. there were things in that soup that i don't even want to know what they were. i did try everything except the intestines of some fish. that was a definite no-no. i did try some kind of sea creature eggs that was a giant lump and tasted kind of dry and gritty. there wqas something else i ate that i thought was a potato but it wasn't. there was also the chewy thing with a suction cup that was neither a squid nor an octopus. and lets not forget the little round thing that when you bit into it some hot liquid squirted out and then it got kind of crunchy. it's amazing how daring i've become with food. all in all the soup was actually good. after dinner me and two of the cult members went to see a live band. AWFUL! they played mostly covers and i thought i was going to rip my hair out. the worst part was that i had to pretend i liked it. the people with me were digging it. i think i promised one of them i'd go again. oops! i munched on dried squid and peanuts pretending i was somewhere else.

be well…