Staying Healthy

I'm not one to be overly concerned with a flu outbreak, but as the world is becoming more and more worried, I too have been making sure I take the necessary precautions. However, I live in a country that does not believe in sick days and people go to work, school, out in public while they are sick. My kids don't miss school because they are ill, they miss if they are on vacation or busy with something else. The Korea Times reported Korea's first possible case of the swine flu earlier today. This person was on an airplane from Mexico so who knows how many people are infected. Koreans will undoubtedly begin donning the face masks, but this can only prevent them so much. Without proper hand washing (which, let me tell you, antibacterial hand soap isn't easy to come by) and other precautions the spread of disease is inevitable. I think about how many times I've taken public transportation and "high-fived" the hundreds of students I teach and I cringe knowing that I haven't been as germ-free as I generally like to be. The good news here is that I think my immune system is much better than it ever has been, but the people who have died so far aren't old people or children. I know that my students can and will come to school if they are sick, thus running the risk of infecting others. I also know that if I do get sick (with this virus or something else) I am not allowed to take the 2 sick days in my contract. It's a waiting game and we are all waiting to see if this blows over or becomes something huge. Stay healthy everyone!

Picnic in the Park

On Saturday morning I met Megan and Kay for a lovely picnic at Yeouido park. Spring has sprung in Seoul and the park was blooming and blossoming with flowers and activity. We got to the park rather early, but we had decided on a breakfast picnic anyway. We found a nice grove of trees and settled in for a morning of chit chat, people watching and soaking up the sun. A lot of people were out riding bikes, walking and jogging. It was fun to watch people fall of their bikes.

Here is a picture of our early morning feast. I made banana bread and mini quiches.

Later in the day, I went to Xanadu Travel to get my visa for China. I am leaving May 2nd and returning May 5th and right now the plan is Beijing-Great Wall-Xi'an-Beijing. I might just stay in Beijing, but I'm still not sure what I want to do. Finally, I met up with Ashley for lunch at On the Border and then we headed out to Itaewon for a night out with friends and finished the evening with a batch of chocolate chip cookies at 3am.

Jeonju

This weekend Ashley, Mikel, Dani and I went to Jeonju for a cultural experience. We decided to do a tour rather than venture out on our own because it was only 40,000W for the entire weekend. After a longer than expected bus ride (due to traffic) we arrived in Jeonju around noon. Let me start off by saying that this weekend was absolutely gorgeous. Clear blue skies, sunshine and temperatures in the low to mid 70s. Once we arrived we climbed a bit of a steep trail and ended up overlooking the Hannok (traditional Korean) Villages. We were greeted by beautiful cherry blossom trees and a gaggle of volunteer guides. The guides helped us through the activities of the day, shared meals with us and practiced their English. Most of them were college students, but a few elementary students joined the bunch. One girl in particular, Jenna, took a keen liking to me and we ended up being buddies by the end of the day.

After we took in the view and snapped photos of the cherry blossoms we headed to our cooking class. We learned how to make traditional Jeonju bibimbap, which is a bit different from bibimbap in other parts of Korea and Jeonju claims to be the birthplace of the mixed rice and vegetable dish. We watched our instructor first and then we had a go of it. It was quite easy, but I realized a need for better chopping skills. I never knew how labor intensive bibimbap is, but the end result is quite tasty. We had quite a good time making our dishes and enjoying the fruits of our labor. After lunch we got a glimpse at a traditional wedding ceremony and the got the chance to walk around part of the village. Once our leisure time was finished we headed to Korean etiquette class where we got to dress up in traditional Korean hanboks. We learned that you should wrap it clockwise otherwise it could mean that you are a prostitute. We also learned the correct hairstyles for married and unmarried women. After dressing, we learned the proper bowing technique while wearing a hanbok and the two different bows used. When bowing to elders a more formal bow is used, but when bowing to peers the bow is modified a bit. I found this to be very interesting, but overall, the bibimbap making experience was the best! Once dinner rolled around we were treated to bean sprout and rice soup, it was quite delicious, but not as filling as we had hoped. After dinner we settled into our rooms in a traditional Hannok Village and we had a bit of free time before the musical performance. Once night fell we were treated to traditional Korean music courtesy of stringed instruments, a flute and a beautiful vocal performance. At intermission, we had green tea, rice cakes and various Korean snacks. It was a great way to spend an evening.

Sunday was a bit shorter, but we still managed to pack a lot of things into a short amount of time. We started the morning at a wine museum and then headed to a few souvenir shops. Jeonju is famous for it's paper products and I was tempted to buy a ton of paper, but refrained. After the shops we played a few games (tossing sticks into a bucket and the hoop thing where you have to keep it going without it falling over). At 11, we were escorted to a tea tent and shown how to properly prepare tea and how to behave during a ceremony. Mikel took the lead after our hostess showed us the ropes. The tea itself was delicious, but the experience was amazing. After we had tea we made flower rice cakes. Again, we had a gracious hostess who let me turn the second batch in the pan. These cakes are made from rice powder mixed with water, to create a dough, and then they are pan fried in sunflower oil. We added fresh flowers while they were frying and then they were dipped into a simple syrup. The end result was amazing! After this we had lunch (steamed pork, rice and a million side dishes) and then a few hours of free time which we used to check out a little arts and crafts market and enjoy the afternoon sun. This experience was truly the best I've had in a long time, possibly ever. I had the chance to partake in traditional Korean culture and I have never been so amazed by the people of Korea and Korea itself. I want to learn more and I feel like my last few months here are going to be jam packed with learning and more experiences.

The DMZ

A few weekends ago Lauren, Chris and I ventured to the demilitarized zone. This is the area between North and South Korea and it is heavily fortified. On the drive north barbed wire fences and camouflaged outposts lined the road. Some of the outposts were even maned with soldiers. Our first stop was the bridge at Imjingak, this is where the North returned some South Koreans and also where the families met after years of separation. At the furthest end (in South Korea) there was an altar filled with hopes, wishes and memories for those still in the North. The bridge was in the same area as a Peace Bell, a few monuments and a collection of rocks from battlefields around the world. Oddly enough, the rock from the Civil War was taken from the state of Nevada. Nevada became a state in 1864, near the end of the Civil War and as far as I know, no battles were fought there. The rocks were pretty cool though. Our second stop was the Reunification Village where we had lunch and Lauren and I got a bit adventurous as we ate tiny fish, eyes and all. After lunch we headed to the 3rd Infiltration Tunnel where we were able to trek through the long, musty tunnel. The climb up afterwards was not so fun, but it was quite interesting nonetheless. After the tunnel we headed to the Observation area where were were able to look into North Korea. We had to stand behind a line to take pictures of North Korea, but we were able to look into binoculars. Both Koreas have propaganda villages in the DMZ and North Korea flies a gigantic flag from atop their flagpole. The flag is so big and heavy that it doesn't really flap in the wind like a flag should. I heard that it cost around $100,000 to make that flag, not sure if that is correct, but I wouldn't doubt it. After the observation area we went to the Dorasan train station where trains leave weekly for Pyongyang. The station was very modern, brand new in fact, and it is the last stop in South Korea before hitting the North. We were able to stamp out passports and buy a ticket for the platform.