Sam Teacher - Baby?

No, I am NOT pregnant!!!  Just throwing that out there in case you had ANY question in your mind....!!!

This week marks 10 months of us being in Korea.  And, for those 10 months, we have had the same students in class.  Sure, new students have come and some have left but for the most part, we have had the same students.  That's why I'm still amazed when the students ask if I'm married and their jaws nearly hits the floor after they learn the answer - for the 4th time.

This is usually how the conversation goes:

Student:  Teacher, how old are you?
Me:  I'm 24.
Student:  Boyfriend?
Me:  I'm married....to Zach Teacher.
Students:  Awwwww??!!!! (It's mass confusion by this time.)

Some students will go as far as to ask if we kiss, but I usually divert the conversation to something else.  The very next question is usually:

Student: Teacher, baby?!
Me:  No, I do not have a baby (and I put my arms in front of my chest and cross them - a sign of 'no').

Today, this 'baby' question confused my youngest students immensely!  First off, they know VERY little English.  They know, "My name is..." and "It's a .....".  Korea, as far as I can tell, is still pretty "old fashioned" about marriage and children.  Once you get married, you have kids.  The end.  So, my young students couldn't believe that Zach and I don't have a baby.  They just didn't believe me!  I finally had to draw a picture of me and a picture of Zach on the board.  Then I drew a baby and crossed it out.  Then one girl asked about moms and dads.  I told her they were in the United States.  One of the boys said, "baby in United States?"  They just didn't get it!  haha!

I'm sure this conversation will come up at least a couple more times before we leave and it will be just as confusing to them then as it is now.  :)

Some of our Korean counterparts also don't understand why we don't have children.  We tell them just as we tell everyone else who asks us, "We don't want kids now, but maybe in the future - maybe not."  Yes, I know, babies are wonderful gifts.  However, we want to be selfish for the moment (and maybe forever) and not bring kids into this world.  We are having too much fun!  --Just in case you were wondering!  :)

Eating Dog Meat

Reader Discretion Is Advised


So, we finally did it!  Zach and I finally ate dog meat for the first time.  We decided two days ago that we would go with some Korean friends so they could tell us all about it.  I'm not going to lie, I have wanted to try dog meat the entire ten months we've been here.

When I first heard about people eating dogs, I was repulsed.  But the more I thought about it, the more appealing it was.  We eat cattle, pigs, chicken, and a variety of other animals. Why not dog?  This dog was not raised as a pet but raised to be consumed.  So, why not?!

Koreans call dog meat 'gaegogi'.  It is mainly eaten in the summer months because it is thought to cool the body.  The guys we went with also said it is good for stamina.....  I guess we'll have to wait and see...  :)

I was really excited that I was going to try dog meat!  I kept telling myself to think of it as another animal.  I'm sure it can't be that bad.  A friend of ours tried it for the first time last week and he said it was ok but that it was chewy.  I knew I could handle it.

So, tonight we went!  Here are the pictures.

This is dog skin.  I was a little scared to try it, but it doesn't really have a taste. 

This is "premium" dog meat.  It apparently comes from the mid-section of the dog - from around the rib area. 

You eat it by putting it on lettuce and adding sauces and other garnishes. 

This is dog soup - not made with "premium" meat.

I ate two pieces of the "premium" meat on lettuce.  It was pretty good except that it was chewy.  When I tried the soup, my first thought was, "this tastes like turkey".  The more I ate though, the tougher it was for me to put in my mouth.  I tried not to think that I was eating dog, but not thinking about it didn't work so well. I ate what I could and left the rest.  I felt really bad about wasting it, but I just couldn't stomach it any more.

I'm glad I tried it even if I didn't particularly care for it!  Zach liked it and would probably eat it again if he had the chance.  Honestly, I would recommend it if you would like to try it....

Soju - Korea's Vodka

Just the other day, Rachel (my sister) asked me about Korean alcohol.  First of all, after 9 months of being here, I can't believe this topic has never been discussed.  Secondly, I thought that I might as well write about it on here to share it with all of you.  Drinking is such a huge part of Korean culture.


Soju is native to Korea and pretty comparable to Vodka.  I am pretty lazy and don't really want to get into the history and all that with you so I am providing a link to Wikipedia (shhh...don't tell my college professors!).  Here's a short little summary of Soju:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soju

From first-hand accounts (not my hand), I know that Soju can be "deadly".  It will definitely sneak up on you when you least expect it - around 6am when you are just leaving the bars (yes, the bars are still open at 6am) or a noraebang (a karaoke room).  I hear that the hangover is just terrible!

 There are many brands of Soju

 You can mix Soju with Coca-Cola

 You can mix Soju with bear.

"somaek"

Soju - Maekju (bear)

You can mix Soju with orange juice.

My personal favorite is Soju mixed with a fruity drink.  Anyway you drink it, you are sure to have a good time!  :)

Air-Raid Sirens

On August 17th, I received an e-mail from the U.S. Embassy in Seoul entitled: Civil Defense Drill on August 18, 2011.  Here is part of the e-mail:

The U.S. Embassy in Seoul is transmitting the following information as a public service to all U.S. citizens in the Republic of Korea.

Seoul Metropolitan Police authorities advised the Embassy that on Thursday, August 18, at approximately 2:00 p.m. an air-raid siren will sound for one minute to signal the start of a nationwide civil defense drill.  Pedestrians in open and public areas should seek shelter in nearby buildings or subway stations.  All drivers/vehicles on the road must pull over and come to a complete stop. At approximately 2:15 p.m. a second siren will sound, signaling the conclusion of the drill.  Local authorities will give further instructions if necessary.

This has happened several times since we've been here, but this is the first time I have gotten an e-mail about it.  The first time we experienced it was our very first full day in Korea.  We were a little worried, to say the least.  Now, it's not so concerning.

I uploaded a 30-second video on YouTube.com which has the siren.  Sorry for the poor quality -- I was walking to work.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGwsUF7FNmw

Language Fail

Background
Zach and I know very little (I mean VERY little) Spanish even though we both took it in college.  However, we occasionally break out into Spanish with one- or two-word phrases.  Instead of 'thank you' I say 'gracias'.  If I want to say 'yes' sometimes I will say 'si'.

After being in Korea for only a few days and not knowing any Korean, I would fall back on Spanish words knowing full well that 99% of Koreans probably have no knowledge of the Spanish language.  Instead of saying 'sorry' in Korean, I would want to say 'lo siento'.  I still don't know the word for 'sorry' in Korean and continue to want to use 'lo siento'.

Story
Zach and I were waiting for the metro in Seoul last week and a guy who obviously wasn't Korean approached us.  I don't remember if he said 'hola' but he started to speak to us in Spanish and asked us if we spoke Spanish.  I replied (in Spanish) 'just a little'.  I was soooo excited to speak Spanish while being in Korea.  He went on to tell us (in Spanish) that he was a missionary from Peru.  We had a small conversation.  We understood what he was saying just fine.  I (being our spokesperson) had a slightly harder time responding but I managed just fine.  Needless to say, I was very impressed with myself and just so excited to be speaking Spanish to this man!

Right before he left, he asked us one more question (I don't even remember what it was) that required a yes or no answer.  That's easy, right?  You either say 'si' or 'no'.  In my total cockiness of talking to this guy, I reply 'nay' which is 'yes' in Korean.  FAIL!  haha.  I caught myself right away and replied 'si'.

So, I'm speaking Spanish to Koreans and Korean to Peruvians.  ahhhhh!

Juk (Korean Porridge)

Juk, or Korean porridge, is a food that I have come to love when I'm not really in the mood for anything in particular.  I was first introduced to juk by my boss when I had bronchitis a few months ago.  I was told that Juk is great to eat when you are sick.  It's very similar to the idea of chicken noodle soup in the States.

According to Wikipedia (I know, I know....Wikipedia....), Juk is made with plain white rice and can include varieties of different ingredients including milk, vegetables, seafood, nuts, and other grains.  From my experience, it isn't very flavorful.  However, I really like the taste of the tuna juk that I regularly get.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congee#Korea)

 My tuna juk.

The take-out bag.

The portion is really big and is usually enough for two full meals.  Then, after the container is washed, it is great to use as a left-over container.  Our cabinet is full of juk containers!  Who needs Rubbermaid?  lol

Loose Teeth

Before we came to South Korea, we had to meet with the South Korea Consulate in Chicago.  There, we met several other people who doing the same thing we were doing.  We exchanged contact information with two of the people we met: Doug and Sara.  (By the way Doug and Sara, if you are reading this, we need to meet up sometime and catch up.)

Anyway, Sara has a blog that I read.  About two weeks ago, she wrote a post and the title of it was "I'm not just a teacher, I'm also the tooth fairy!!"  In her story, she stated that she helped pull out one of her student's teeth.  I thought it was a cute story.  Here is the link to her story if you are interested: http://sara-avadarian.blogspot.com/2011/07/im-not-just-teacher-im-also-tooth-fairy.html

Well, earlier this week, I had my own run-in with a student having a loose tooth.  His name is Si-Woo and he is in my phonics class.  Si-Woo had his hand in his mouth the entire class.  He was wiggling and pulling on that tooth trying to get it to come out.  That's when I thought of Sara's story.  However, unlike Sara, I was not about to pull out Si-Woo's tooth.  In fact, I got weak in the knees and had to sit down.  All of the kids were laughing at me because it was making me dizzy seeing him trying to pull out his own tooth.

That is not like me - getting dizzy and weak over something so small!  I mean, I am a blood donor.  I love watching medical shows where you see blood and guts.  But something about him messing with his tooth just did not settle with me.

I was worried about the next day in class.  But as luck would have it, he pulled it out that night!  Ever since that tooth incident, my students (some of whom were not even in that phonics class) come up to me pretending they are pulling out teeth.

I hope there are no more teeth incidents.  And, I would like to commend Sara for pulling out her student's tooth!  You are a braver person than I!  :)