Meeting Our Bosses

So there always comes a time when you are required to dress up.  In this case, it was the day that we finally met our POE's.  This person is not only our  boss for the duration of our contracts, but they're pretty much our lifelines once we get to our provinces and elementary schools.

 Cheesy mirror pic of the final product.

Teacher Evelina and I. 

Teacher Fatima.

Some of the girls on my floor.  Irene, Evelina, Courtney, and Kim.

Home Plus > Walmart

First trip to the big local grocery store.  I had to take two pictures because it's so massive.  Interesting note: Walmart unsuccessfully came to Korea a few years back.  Apparently Koreans were very loyal to their local stores and Walmart failed. 

 Home Plus is four stories; three above ground and one below.  Parking is hard to facilitate in Korea because of the lack of space.  Behind Home plus is a parking garage that also goes underground.  Nothing is in the front of the store blocking it from the road.

 Koreans are slightly obsessed with weight control and diet.  Found lots of these in the children's toy section lol.

 Korean culture isn't obsessed like we are about cheese.  Slowly it's being incorporated into everyday life with things like fast food chains and foreign bakeries.  This pack of string cheese however is almost $4.  There's only six sticks in there.  A tad expensive.  I almost gave it and bought it.  Soon enough I'll cave, however. 

 Soooooo, the carts at Home Plus have calorie counters... Just in case you're keeping up with that.

Their carts also have magnets around the wheels to attach themselves to the escalators that take you from floor to floor.  Walmart < Home Plus. 

 Loteria is Korea's McDonald's.

The Most Traditional Meal I've Had So Far!

AFTER our meal my coordinator tells us: "Wow, I didn't want to admit this to you guys, but this is definitely way more adventurous than I wanted to go with you guys.  This food is definitely traditional and completely different than anything you've ever tried.  I'm so proud of you guys for digging in."

 This is the spread: Spicy as hell octopus, intestine sausage, fried cabbage and potatoes, grass shoots, potato patties, potato in mayonnaise, kimchi, white rice, soy tofu, fish eggs on leaves, and chili pig skins.  We ate it up.

 Octopus. It was raw.. and then cooked at our table.

 First time eating whole octopus!!!

You MIGHT be getting homesick IF...

We went on a Western food binge today... We're so weak!!!

 This is us at Loteria.  Korea's version of McDonald's. We were dying for a cheeseburger and fries!!!

Dunkin Donuts.  We did some damage here.

Jochiwon Peach Festival

 Yeah, I'm not kidding.  It's an entire festival celebrating peaches.

 1st Place!!

 Lots to do...

 FREE Ice Cream!

 Festival food!

 I convinced other people to eat BUGS.

Korean version of the Mexican piñata :)

I'm NO Artist!

 So I walk into my lecture and see this.  Initial thought... Uhhhhhh?

 This old man and his wife hand out these paintings.  He then tells us that he painted each one of these by hand and would like us to have one to take home. The symbols on the left are both Japanese and Korean.  They signify the date, season, and his signature. 

 His cute wife instructing us on how it's done.

 My attempt at Korean art.  It's harder than it looks!!!!

Final product! I'm no artist lol.

Work Hard... Party Harder?

 This is us heading to class at 8:00am after breakfast.

 I have class from 8:00am to 5:40pm Monday-Friday with a one hour lunch break.  We're so exhausted by the end of the day.... So we resort to certain forms of entertainment.  & just in case you didn't know, Korean society in general is one of a lot of drinking. 

 Sunday Night 8/5/2012: First night out partying in Korea.

Half Afghan/half Polish Canadian born Evelina is one of the most fun people I've met here.  She stuck her tongue out in this picture and I knew we were meant to be.

 Long story short: We met some random Korean natives on the street and somehow were directed into this hidden karaoke bar.  After two minutes in this private room that they supplied for us, they brought out this tray of free beers and beverages.  One of the most random, fun nights of my life.  Totally unexpected and FREE!  It pays to be a foreigner sometimes!  Here's how our Sunday night went: 

 Your future teachers.

ROUND TWO: Wednesday Night

Random, Random, Random.

Teachers who are already in Korea with our program came to say HELLO!... As I mentioned before, Korea is a drinking society. When in Korea, do as the Koreans.