Pepero My Love
The biggest Pepero Day is coming up this Friday!! It will be 11/11/11 the first and only one ever, well not until 2111 I guess. I wrote about Pepero Day last year and talked about it some. You can click here if you want to know more about the holiday. I’m really excited this year because they added a new flavor STRAWBERRY! So here’s my two favorite ones.
Mama Letty’s Korean Adventure: Day 1
Day 1: Today we took Mama to Korean class with us in Gangnam. She really enjoyed it and got to meet our CLS friends. Afterwards we took the bus to COEX mall and of all things ate at On The Border. We roamed around the mall and then went to the COEX Aquarium. It was fun going there again and because it was in the evening (around 5pm) we gt in at a discounted price. We took Mama to galbi in Anam-dong and chai tea at Saru our favorite Indian/Nepalese resturant. Overall a great day. I’m so glad Mama is here. 🙂
Jamie, Kyle, me and Mama
31 Photos in 31 Days: Day 16
Day 16: Ate at Sandwich House tonight and like always it was amazing! Best sandwiches in Seoul.
31 Photos in 31 Days: Day 11
Day 11: Cool off with an amazing fruit bingsu (과일빙수). This is my favorite Korean food I think. For now. Next I guess, I’ll give halo-halo one more chance.
Street Food
I don’t know a lot about street food. Frankly I’ve been scared to try much because my Korean skills suck pretty bad. And I don’t know what is fish and what isn’t. When I actually do some street eating I’ll let ya know.
This is with the pop art Art Filter in my camera. Right outside Yongsan Station and the iPark Mall.
My Funny Valentine
For Valentine’s Day Chad took me on the most romantic adventure. We went on a dinner cruise on the Han River.
It was at night as you can see in the picture and we had an all you can eat buffet which was this gourmet fancy dinner. It was the first time I ate caviar, which tasted like eating dirty seawater so I have no clue what the big deal is.
Seoul is a sparkling gem at night. It was amazing. I have the best boyfriend!
A Christmas Feast
The Table
We had a great Christmas party at Sara’s apartment. Moriah and I ordered a giant turkey and ham dinner from a catering place on the US Army Base. We all hosted it and it was a great success. Lots of our co-teachers and friends and their friends came. Everyone brought some food or drinks and it was a great feast! We ate and drank and had a wonderful time!
Merry Christmas!
K-League Championship
Fighting! FC Seoul!
“On Sunday, despite near- zero-degree weather, over 56,000 fans turned up at the Seoul World Cup stadium, setting a record for FC Seoul’s home attendance of more than 546,000 people in the 2010 season.” – Korea Herald
It’s cool to think we were one of those 56,000 fans! Chad, some co-teacher friends, and myself went to the K-League Championship on Sunday. We cheered for FC Seoul cause they’re the home team here and they were the underdog (I think). Chad and I have a soft spot for the underdogs. The game wasn’t as thrilling as most soccer matches, pretty sloppy at times but the spectacle of the event was cool. There was plenty of fireworks when a goal was scored and at the ending trophy ceremony. And it was at the World Cup Stadium which was pretty cool. Surprising to think that this stadium only seats 8,000 more than Boone Pickens Stadium. “The Boone” seats 60,218 while Seoul’s World Cup Stadium seats 68,476.
The events outside the stadium were cool, outdoor concert, tons of food and souvenir vendors and moon jumps and rock walls for kids.
The biggest let down was the food. This was the first sporting event I’d ever been to where you buy your food outside and bring it into the stadium. All they had to buy in the stadium was hot chocolate, hotdog things on a stick, dried squid and beer. So if you don’t like dried squid or beer you could stand in a line about a kilometer long and get a hotdog thing. Yeah no thanks. Next time I’m packing a lunch!
Orange-ya glad you’re a teacher!!
A Giant Bowl of Tangerines
So one of my co-teachers Makala had a blog about Teaching Perk: Food and this blog is no understatement on food we get. It’s true we get random food most of the time, especially holidays!
Today one of my afternoon students brought two crates of tiny tangerines. Apparently his grandma owns a tangerine farm on Jeju Island and SURPRISE! Here are some tangerines. These are organic too, not chemicals or pesticides! So one crate for each teacher, me and my partner teacher Elle. We gave as much away as we could, not because we didn’t want them, but how is ONE person going to eat a CRATE of tangerines. We gave them away to students, teachers, passer-bys on the street (well not really, but I was planning on giving some to the homeless guy I sometimes see on the subway stairs, sadly he wasn’t there today, it was too cold) I still left with a big heavy bag full even after giving lots away.
So, no way I’m getting scurvy! Now hopefully these will clear up the cold I have (the cold, another present from the kids….)
Impromptu Thanksgiving Dinner
Some fried chicken and cheese!
Our impromptu Korean style “Thanksgiving Dinner” I’ve been saving a box of Kraft mac and cheese for such an occasion. We also have some fried chicken and these Korean style chicken balls on a stick from the Lotte Super and grilled cheese sandwiches! Butter and cheese are REALLY over priced in Korea. I do most of my cooking with butter and cheese!! I didn’t feel like going out to eat cause it was so cold and so we thought “lets get a ton of food from the super market deli” and then we realize OH it’s Thursday so that means its Thanksgiving!
So hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving!!
PS yes that is a donut pillow in the background, and it’s from Dunken Donuts!
Happy Pepero Day!
All the Pepero from my students
Like many holidays consumed by commercialize Pepero Day is a holiday in Korea which its Seoul purpose (forgive the pun) is to give Pepero (or cookie sticks dipped in chocolate) to friends. Pepero Day 11-11 because it looks like 4 Pepero sticks. Also you give out Pepero in hopes that the recipient will grow to be tall and slender like Pepero. I got a ton from my students, one of the perks of being a teacher. Sorry kids, you hopes are in-vain because Charlet teacher will never grow to be tall like a Pepero and if I eat all this pepero I will not remain slender. Well anyway Happy Pepero Day!
And to my American friends Happy Veterans’ Day.
An Evening with Sunny
At "The Island" in Ilsan
So last night Sunny, our Korean friend, took Chad and I to one of the fanciest places we’d ever been! It’s this restaurant and bar in Ilsan called “The Island.” Which is owned by a former Korean actress who married some rich guy. They have these outdoor rooms on the patio that have huge benches that are filled with pillows. It was great cause it was pouring down rain and everything on the patio was so pretty. We had some Italian sparkling wine called Gancia and some great food. The restaurant is pretty famous I guess, they have filmed some Korean dramas there. We had a blast, Sunny is SUPER SUPER FUNNY! We laughed pretty much the whole time.
Chad and Sunny
Crabs!
CRABS!
So one of the streets that leads to my school from the subway I take to meet Chad (which is Line 6) there are tons of these shops that sell fresh seafood! If I liked seafood this would be amazing. I think it’s still pretty cool. I took this photo for my mom. These are GIANT king crabs. I’ve never seen crabs this big before, well that I can remember. I’m sure I’ve seen giant crabs in the Philippines. The guy that owns the shop is always sitting on a little wall smoking. And of course staring at me. People stare at me and Chad a lot here. I think it’s cause we’re foreign and I think they’re trying to figure out what I am. 🙂 haha
Korean barbecue or gogi gui
charcoal grill that is built into the center of the table
Chad and I ate gogi gui all weekend long! It was so good and so fun!! Sunny, my Korean friend, took Chad, Jamie and me to a Korean barbecue place too. It was a fancy had tons of different lettuce to wrap the meat. They also had capsule toys machines there and I got some! I love Korea there are toys everywhere!! This is my kind of place 🙂 Chad and I went to a place called “Cow Luck” 3 times! Cow Luck, cows have awful luck! How morbid…. Sunny also took us to a coffee shop and I had what I assume is patbingsu. It was very refreshing and so tasty!!
A Photo A Day When You're Far Away 