Korean Food Innovations

There's a lot of street food vendors in Busan, and you can find some pretty tasty and creative treats. I'm not sure if these clever concoctions have made it to America yet but they really make eating fun!

First up is the corn dog/french fries combo on a stick. It's really quite brilliant. Why order a corn dog and a side of french fries when you can just fry them up together and eat it all in one bite? I've enjoyed this snack a time or two myself.

There's also the "Col-Pop." It's a way to eat your chicken and drink your soda all with one hand. Here's a review from a food buyers and suppliers website:

"Proving yet again that South Korea is light years ahead of everyone else in fast food technology is The Col-Pop. The nation that brought the world the spiral-cut potato on a stick and hot-dog-stuffed pizza ushers in a new era of snack portability with this mash-up of drink cup and food container that holds popcorn chicken up top and a cold drink in the bottom."

I'm not sure if I'm brave enough to sample the hot-dog-stuffed pizza!

***Bob & Lindsey***

Next Stop, Thailand!

We'll be back home in a little more than 7 weeks (July 8 at 7:20pm to be exact). But before we head back to Omaha we're making a trip to Thailand for a week-long vacation.We're very anxious to get home but we wanted to take advantage of being on this side of the world. Who knows if or when we'll ever be back!

From June 30-July 7 we'll be on the beaches of Phuket, Thailand. We're still researching and planning activities, and our wish list is getting longer and longer. On the proposed schedule:

-elephant safari ride
-SCUBA diving (mostly Bob's request)
-snorkeling
-jet-skiing
-para sailing
-sea cave canoeing
-shopping (me)
-relaxing on the beach

We can't wait!

***Bob & Lindsey***

Koreans Eating McDonalds

Koreans are very communal eaters. When eating traditional Korean cuisine, large portions of food are set in the middle of the table and everyone grabs a pair of chopsticks and picks away at it. This is why we had hepatitis shots before we left to come here.

Koreans put these practices to use even when food comes in individual servings, such as at McDonald's. French fries come in single serving cardboard holders, just like anywhere else, but the Koreans still like to make it a group thing. Look around the restaurant and you'll see everyone has dumped all of their fries in a big pile on the tray and are sharing them.

On the tray in the background of this picture you can see how it's done. It's interesting to see their collectivist mentality apparent even in the way they eat McDonald's.

***Bob & Lindsey***

Have You Ever Seen the Rain?

It's rained here every day for the past week! The rain's best friend is the wind, and the two never seem to go anywhere without each other. Check out what a recent wind/rain storm did to my umbrella!

Luckily the weather forecast is showing sun and warm temperatures for the next few days. Today especially is a gorgeous day.

***Bob & Lindsey***

The Start of Our Second Year...

Sorry it's been so long! A lot has happened in the six weeks since I last posted. The most significant thing was that Bob and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary on April 9, 2011. It's hard to believe a year has already come and gone!

The real celebration started (at least for me) the day before, on April 8. During his lunch break that day, Bob surprised me by cleaning the apartment (scrubbed the bathroom, washed dishes, did laundry and swept the floors). To top it off there was a bouquet of red roses waiting for me on the desk!

Our anniversary was on a Saturday, and it also coincided with the arrival of the cherry blossoms in Korea. We made it a cherry blossom weekend! On our actual anniversary we went to an area called Dalmaji Hill. The hill overlooks the ocean and there are lots of little cafes and coffee shops lining the streets, along with thousands of pale pink cherry blossom trees. It was gorgeous!

Then on Sunday we attended a cherry blossom festival in nearby Jinhae, which is about an hour away by bus. The other teachers from our school came along too. There was more romance that day as our co-worker Will announced that he and his girlfriend Anastasia are engaged! They are planning on a wedding this summer, but aren't sure if they'll get married in Korea, her native Russia or perhaps somewhere else all together. (My vote is for a tropical destination wedding!)

There were some carnival games, music, food and shopping at the cherry blossom festival. It was a beautiful sunny day, so mostly we just took in the scenery and relaxed.

So now it's on to year two!

***Bob & Lindsey***

VIP Movie Club and Climbing Mt. Everest

One of the things I enjoy and admire most about the Korean friends I've made here is their generous and welcoming spontaneity. They are always eager to include you in plans and are so direct and sincere in their delivery. They make you feel like a part of something special.

Our English academy shares the building with a math academy and yesterday one of the math teachers, Suin (Soo-in) invited me to see a movie with her. She explained that she'd just become a VIP member at the movie theater and had free tickets to see any movie we wanted. I happily accepted and we agreed to meet later that night at school.

Suin pulled up to the school in her little red car, which she endearingly dubbed "my BMW." She also promised that after the movie she'd be happy to "carry me back home." I loved her thoughtfulness! I complimented her on her English, (it is certainly better than my Korean) and in typical Korean fashion, she insisted that it is not very good.

Blogger's Note: That's the thing about Koreans - they never give themselves enough credit for how well they speak English. I think I've gotten the same response from anyone I've complimented on their abilities. I met a man on the subway the other day who struck up a conversation with me. The man was 60 years old and said he learned English in high school. He spoke so well, especially for having learned so long ago! He shook his head and waved his hand away when I told him this. Another time we went out with our Korean friend Christine (who will also inaccurately describe her English as poor). We somehow got to talking about the first rap song ever recorded and she responded, "Wow, so this song was really a sensation!" Poor English my ass : )

After we got our FREE tickets (and Suin pointed out the $0 price printed on the ticket with a friendly grin) it was on to the concession stand where I weakly protested against her buying me popcorn and a drink (I think we all know I will NEVER pass on movie popcorn). But she insisted - of course smiling all the while - and whispered "it's OK, I have the VIP points." Her cheerfulness and upbeat personality are infectious, to say the least.

We sat down with our snacks and waited for Suin's boyfriend, Sean, to join us. Sean is an American (mee-gook) from Boston and has been in Korea for about 5 years. He teaches English at a university in Busan. They are celebrating their 3rd anniversary together this weekend with a trip to the hot springs baths.

While we waited, Suin and I chatted about work, our families, hobbies and interests. We got around to our ages eventually and Suin told me she is "Baskin Robbins age" with a laugh. I had to laugh too and then gave her a friendly hug. We also made plans to go to SpaLand together, which is a public bath/spa/sauna at the World's Largest Department Store, Shinsegae. She pulled out a coupon to SpaLand and pressed it into my hand.

Then she also offered to help us book a hotel room for our 1st wedding anniversary next week. Bob and I want to spend a night at a hotel near the beach, just to get away and make the day special. But a lot of the hotels with an ocean view are very expensive. Suin told me she can get a discount with her credit card and would be happy to help us get a better deal on a room. (Our other friend/co-worker Kate also offered to help us with this venture. I'm telling you, Koreans are some of the most friendly and helpful people in the world.)

At the end of the night, I shouldn't have been surprised when Suin refused to drop me off at the entrance to our neighborhood. "I want to take you to your front door," she said.

I'm reading a book all about the Korean people and culture right now. The author says "if you were stuck on Mount Everest in a prolonged storm, there would be no more reliable and courageous a companion than a Korean."

I couldn't agree more.

***Bob & Lindsey***

This Just In...

My Journalism 101 teacher used to open current events discussions with this phrase. It seems appropriate for our latest new from South Korea too.

Many of you probably know that we've been planning on a 2nd year in South Korea. Our plan was to come home this summer for 6-8 weeks and then come back around late August or September for another year of teaching. This past weekend Bob and I rather suddenly decided that when we come home in 15 weeks it will be for good.

We even surprised ourselves a little bit with our decision, but we both feel it's the best one. We thought when we didn't feel much homesickness or culture shock after 4 months that we'd bypassed all that and never would experience those feelings. It seemed to take us 7 or 8 months for those feelings to finally come. Lately we've been feeling a bit down and are anxious to go home and feel more comfortable. I think neither of us wanted to be the first to admit that we wanted to "throw in the towel."

We feel so blessed and grateful to have had this cultural experience and we've been able to save a lot more money here than we could at home. But in the end we decided those things don't outweigh the benefits of being at home. We miss having more than one room to live in, or going to the grocery store and being able to read the food labels!

When we finally said it out loud that we wanted to go home for good, we both felt a huge wave of relief wash over us. I think that means it's the right choice. That's not to say we regret coming here. If we could go back in time we'd absolutely do it all over again. And we'd still recommend it to anyone who's thinking of doing the same thing. It's just that we realize our callings in life don't involve teaching . Our entire lives here revolve around teaching and it's not something either of us is particularly passionate about (or frankly good at!) And a year is a good amount of time. Two would be too much.

So we're extremely happy to be heading home in 3 1/2 months, but now we have so much we still want to do in so little time! I think it will make everything here a little more enjoyable. We still want to see the sea cliffs at Tajeondae, take a ferry ride to one of the hundreds of islands dotting the coast, climb the mountains behind our apartment, take another weekend trip (or two) to Seoul and so much more. We also have a lot of souvenirs left to buy!

We also plan to visit Japan for 5 or 6 days on our way home. Since we might never be on this side of the world again, we'd like to do some more traveling in Asia if we can...

...so, that's the breaking news on our end. We'll see you all in about 15 weeks!

***Bob and Lindsey***