Korea

I decided to do this blog to keep everyone who is interested up-dated on what is happening here. Note this blog is probably really random because I have been in Korea for 2 1/2 month and just writing about all of it. Possibly in no order. Well, this blog is about me and what I have done so far in South Korea. I am currently working at the school 4 days a week. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Even thought I do have to attend a "fun day" every 3rd Wednesday. So technically some weeks I do have to work 5 times a week. I am located in Bundang. Also, this blog is just my understanding of korea so far...i may be wrong about some things..

• My school is really nice, and so far everyone seems really friendly.

I also have a Korean lunch everyday at school. Which sometimes its really good and some days not so much. But I guess that's every cafeteria.

• My apartment is really big for Korea, so i am very happy about that.
• The weather has been crazy, it has now snowed every single Wednesday for 3 weeks.
  

Overall I really enjoy Bundang more than Daegu. It is pretty close to Seoul(about 20-1 hour) depending on where you want to go by Metro or Bus. A bus costs about 1$ and so does the metro. (More or less). You can always go out to dinner to a Korean Restaurant and order a meal under 6$. The wiered part of Korean restaurants is that there is usually no more than 5-6 options. So you go to a specific restaurant for a specific dish. There is no such thing as a big or a medium menu. It is what it is, take it or leave it.

The other strange thing about the food is that you eat pretty similar dishes for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Soup(Flavors:fish,sea food, bean paste, picked radish or anchovies), rice, kimchi, and side dish with pork or fish in hot garlic sauce. There may be other vegetable side. (probably slices of sweet pickle)....

You can also have a cheap meal ranging from $1-3 from the street vendors.(Pojangmacha) What that means is: it's a cart parked in the middle of the side walk with people just stopping and eating standing up around the cart. You can eat eomuk(skewered fish cake) which is pureed fish combines with minced vegetables and flour, which is then rolled onto long skewers and deep fried in oil. You can usually also find deep fried hot dogs there. (A hot dog that is wrapped in pastry dough and deep fried.) Sometimes they also have chicken with a spicy-sweet sauce.

You can also get TTEOKPPOKKI there. It is a spicy rice cake . A rice cake is a dish made from gridded up rice and made into little rolls. Almost looks like pasta, but not. Then put into a soup like combination of that and hot sauce. You are usually given a tooth pick and you eat it.

At restaurants Ive had a lot of dishes but here are just some examples:

• Bulgogi: Sliced thin Marinated Beef or Pork(Mostly everywhere pork) in soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, onion and chili paste.

• Bibimbap: Many vegetables(bean sprouts, radish, spinach, mushrooms, carrots), a little beef, an egg, rice, sea weed all in one bowl. You mix it all up and eat it. Bibim means mix bap mean rice.

• Juk: is porridge. It is very thick and comes in many varieties: green tea, pumpkin, sweet potato. The main ingredient is rice. It is usually given when you are sick.

• Samgyetang is my favorite. It is called Ginseng and Chicken soup. It has a whole chicken in it, ginseng, rice and broth.

• Seolleongtang is beef bone soup. They take knee or leg bones out of a cow and boil it for a long time. After the cartilage falls off the bone they slice the meat and place it back in the soup and eat.

That is all for the food section for today.
Last weekend i visit Little Russia in Seoul. Wow, every sign is in Russian! I even got a flyer haha that said you can get a cell phone with out a visa!! HAHAHA. I eat at the restaurant called Gostiniy Dvor. Unfortunately, it was not my mom's so It was just okie. The town it self was kind of what could have been expected. There was tons of Russians and not the super kind ones.

I have also been to Itaewon. Itaewon is like little America, UK, and Australia. It has all the food from when you miss home for three times the mark-up. ($8 mac-and-cheese anyone?) All the bars and clubs are all in English and tons of English speaking people. I had a great time and of course there are tons of American soldiers. I believe honestly that at least 15% of our military is here. There is a base at every city. Big or small

Well i am tiered of writing. I will up date soon. Probably tomorrow.

mvah