so, about the weather. yeah… it's monsoon season here. that means humidity out the wazoo. it doesn't even really get below 80 at night. my zircon is usually set to 77. sometimes i turn it on just to take care of the humidity which is usually above 60%.
and then they keep telling us, "it is good that you came in the summer. we hope you can enjoy these warm weathers."
gross.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Korean Cultural Activity 2: Korean Folk Village
so yesterday we were going to go to a korean folk village, but the whole thing was outside and it POURED, so instead, we went on an impromptu trip to an indoor folk museum… at Lotte World!
Lotte is one of those super-massive asian companies, really prominent in Korea. if it isn't Samsung, it's Lotte. samsung is more high-tech. originally a snack company, Lotte is more domestic. Lotte theme parks, super markets, department stores, food courts, and so much more. i've actually been to Loote Mart.
anyway, Lotte World is literally the korean knock-off of Disney World. they have a giant disney-esc castle, the storybook pages, even tinkerbelle sparkles. it's kind of funny. it's no where as big though and most of it is indoors, which is why we could go when it's pouring.
also, one should know that the concept of a theme park is different in asia. in japan and korea a "theme park" (yuuenchi in japanese) is a daytrip, something high schoolers go to on the weekend, or even a date spot. our ticket, including admission to the folk museum, was 20,000 korean won (KRW), or a little less than 20 USD. (that conversion's pretty easy, but after being in japan, a little unsettling and takes some getting used to.)
the folk museum was interesting. it went all the way back to like stone age type stuff. it was interesting because i'm so used to seeing such things with caucasian figures. the model and animatronics were really good too. the figures kept getting to me though. i kept thinking i was being attacked by clingons. it sounds bad, but look:
ok, so maybe not on second thought, but warf was always looming in the corner of my eye.
on our way out, we stopped by a gift shop and got attacked by a trilingual (at least) sales lady. we got some pretty cool fans though.
the park was huge. the lines were long, so we really only went on one ride. Miranda and i went on the Giant Loop. you can probably guess what that is. other names were less descriptive. we spent the rest of the time just sort of wandering around looking at stuff. at one point, we had to find the mexican restaurant. it wasn't very mexican but it had one taco meal and one burrito meal. upon more wandering, we found the "magic donkey," so miranda got magic donkey poop. lol.
There was also a parade in Brazillian carnival style. they had a bunch of international dancers all dressed up like vegas. it was pretty cool.
after getting back, Miranda and i eventually went looking for dinner. we wandered around for a while until we meandered into a restaurant called "Rice Story." it was my first time in a restaurant here. i was kind of waiting to go with a korean speaker first, but oh well. it had pictures, so we pointed around and got some noodles and rice to share.
the noodles were a mongolian something, and the noodles themselves would be called "kishimen" in japanese, but i'm used to them in a soup. the rice was just teriyaki fried rice. we figured something adventurous and something familiar was a good balance. the meal came with a slightly spicy broth soup. i liked it, but miranda didn't seem to. the rest of it was pretty good, but i had to protect Miranda from the egg on top of the rice. ^.^
when we left we got a stamp card for free stuff after ordering so many dishes. Miranda doesn't like free stuff in korea. she keeps getting stuff that comes with free stuff without knowing it. then the cashier yaps at us in korean and gets mad when we don't understand. she hates free stuff.
this morning, i slept in till like 10. it was awesome.
Lotte is one of those super-massive asian companies, really prominent in Korea. if it isn't Samsung, it's Lotte. samsung is more high-tech. originally a snack company, Lotte is more domestic. Lotte theme parks, super markets, department stores, food courts, and so much more. i've actually been to Loote Mart.
anyway, Lotte World is literally the korean knock-off of Disney World. they have a giant disney-esc castle, the storybook pages, even tinkerbelle sparkles. it's kind of funny. it's no where as big though and most of it is indoors, which is why we could go when it's pouring.
also, one should know that the concept of a theme park is different in asia. in japan and korea a "theme park" (yuuenchi in japanese) is a daytrip, something high schoolers go to on the weekend, or even a date spot. our ticket, including admission to the folk museum, was 20,000 korean won (KRW), or a little less than 20 USD. (that conversion's pretty easy, but after being in japan, a little unsettling and takes some getting used to.)
the folk museum was interesting. it went all the way back to like stone age type stuff. it was interesting because i'm so used to seeing such things with caucasian figures. the model and animatronics were really good too. the figures kept getting to me though. i kept thinking i was being attacked by clingons. it sounds bad, but look:
ok, so maybe not on second thought, but warf was always looming in the corner of my eye.
on our way out, we stopped by a gift shop and got attacked by a trilingual (at least) sales lady. we got some pretty cool fans though.
the park was huge. the lines were long, so we really only went on one ride. Miranda and i went on the Giant Loop. you can probably guess what that is. other names were less descriptive. we spent the rest of the time just sort of wandering around looking at stuff. at one point, we had to find the mexican restaurant. it wasn't very mexican but it had one taco meal and one burrito meal. upon more wandering, we found the "magic donkey," so miranda got magic donkey poop. lol.
There was also a parade in Brazillian carnival style. they had a bunch of international dancers all dressed up like vegas. it was pretty cool.
after getting back, Miranda and i eventually went looking for dinner. we wandered around for a while until we meandered into a restaurant called "Rice Story." it was my first time in a restaurant here. i was kind of waiting to go with a korean speaker first, but oh well. it had pictures, so we pointed around and got some noodles and rice to share.
the noodles were a mongolian something, and the noodles themselves would be called "kishimen" in japanese, but i'm used to them in a soup. the rice was just teriyaki fried rice. we figured something adventurous and something familiar was a good balance. the meal came with a slightly spicy broth soup. i liked it, but miranda didn't seem to. the rest of it was pretty good, but i had to protect Miranda from the egg on top of the rice. ^.^
when we left we got a stamp card for free stuff after ordering so many dishes. Miranda doesn't like free stuff in korea. she keeps getting stuff that comes with free stuff without knowing it. then the cashier yaps at us in korean and gets mad when we don't understand. she hates free stuff.
this morning, i slept in till like 10. it was awesome.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Korean Culture Activity 1: Korean Tea Ceremony
So the "tea ceremony" was less of a tea ceremony and more of a cultural presentation. there were some documentaries on Korean history as well as modern Korea-- all boasting, but it was fun. It seems Koreans feel they have to talk their country up. they kind of do, or they might get missed or underestimated.
we saw documentaries on the craftsmanship of an ancient buddhist reliquary and a set of wood printing blocks of an ancient sutra. the first is smaller than a human hand, the latter is so massive it requires an entire library to hold it. then we saw the development of Hangul, the written Korean language. very linguistic. then they talked about korean technology being "sci-fi brought to life," and how korean companies build some of the tallest or most complicated buldings in the world, including the tallest, located in Dubai.
we also got a presentation of a new year's tradition of greeting one's elder family members. we got some chances to participate. i was in one of the groups:
the children bow to their elders like grandparents, all dressed in hanbok, traditional korean dress.
then the elders give good wishes, encouragement, and advice to the children... then money.
then we were shown how bow.
Here's some pictures of us in Hanbok, Korean traditional dress:
we also got to try some homemade tea sweets. my favorite a walnut and persimmon sweet. i also learned that most koreans foods are naturally fermented for some period of time.
when all was said and done i went home and got to enjoy my champaghetti (i found instant champaghetti!) and korean nori.
we saw documentaries on the craftsmanship of an ancient buddhist reliquary and a set of wood printing blocks of an ancient sutra. the first is smaller than a human hand, the latter is so massive it requires an entire library to hold it. then we saw the development of Hangul, the written Korean language. very linguistic. then they talked about korean technology being "sci-fi brought to life," and how korean companies build some of the tallest or most complicated buldings in the world, including the tallest, located in Dubai.
we also got a presentation of a new year's tradition of greeting one's elder family members. we got some chances to participate. i was in one of the groups:
the children bow to their elders like grandparents, all dressed in hanbok, traditional korean dress.
then the elders give good wishes, encouragement, and advice to the children... then money.
then we were shown how bow.
Here's some pictures of us in Hanbok, Korean traditional dress:
we also got to try some homemade tea sweets. my favorite a walnut and persimmon sweet. i also learned that most koreans foods are naturally fermented for some period of time.
when all was said and done i went home and got to enjoy my champaghetti (i found instant champaghetti!) and korean nori.
Kat has failed to make ramen... again
What is it with Asia and my ramen? this is the second time i have grievously failed to make ramen the first time in an asian country. to be fair, it was more technical difficulties, not really my cooking abilities.
to recap: i previously failed to make ramen my first few days in japan because i couldn't get the hotplate to work. we assumed it was because it was in japanese, but it turned out that it was a magnetic hotplate and we didn't have the right kind of pot. you can read the posts here and here.
this time there was an equipment failure. i brought my rice cooker to Korea so i can cook rice and boil water for noodles etc. but, despite being a glorified hot-plate, and an asian one at that, it is only 120v. a little piece of trivia: Korea's electrical outlets output 240v. you may be groaning at this point, but i would like to point out that i knew this and took it into account. if you're reading these in chronological order, you might recall that i asked my roommate if i could use her voltage converter this morning. having recieved this permission, i went grocery shopping. Miranda and i were going to have 'instant' ramen (so we could use the bowls for curry later). i set up my rice cooker to boil some water using my roommate's converter.
some time later we heard a loud pop. i went to inspect the cooker only to find that the converter was smoking! of course i unplugged both ends (the wall socket and the cooker) immediately. then i swore a little and proceeded to contemplate what to do next.
well... my roommate was nowhere to be found, so first things first: dinner. After leaving a note explaingin what had happened to the converter, not to use it, and that there was a replacement in the near future, we left to find something to microwave water in; turns out there's a microwave in the basement.
So, i actually did get my ramen, but only after destroying my roommate's converter. when she asked me to explain further, she was actually quite concerned about my safety and the fact that the converter had basically exploded rather than the actual piece of equipment. that hadn't even occurred to me. so i'm glad she was understanding.
but now i have to find a replacement. when i had tried to find my own, no one had really understood what i was talking about. the people who were "helping" me find one started almost making fun of me because i kept saying what they were showing me wasn't heavy enough. i think they thought i actually wanted it to be heavier, rather than what i wanted happened to be heavier. i ended up with an adapter, not a converter. but now i have a broken one to carry around and show people, so maybe i won't be misunderstood.
i've turned over said adapter to my roommate. as it turns out, her computer is dual voltage, she just didn't know it. and my hair straightener is as well, so the two major appliances i seen her use are taken care of.
why do all of my brilliant ideas end up this way? every time i come up with something cool like this, the whole thing has to flop at every conceivable juncture. isn't technology great?
to recap: i previously failed to make ramen my first few days in japan because i couldn't get the hotplate to work. we assumed it was because it was in japanese, but it turned out that it was a magnetic hotplate and we didn't have the right kind of pot. you can read the posts here and here.
this time there was an equipment failure. i brought my rice cooker to Korea so i can cook rice and boil water for noodles etc. but, despite being a glorified hot-plate, and an asian one at that, it is only 120v. a little piece of trivia: Korea's electrical outlets output 240v. you may be groaning at this point, but i would like to point out that i knew this and took it into account. if you're reading these in chronological order, you might recall that i asked my roommate if i could use her voltage converter this morning. having recieved this permission, i went grocery shopping. Miranda and i were going to have 'instant' ramen (so we could use the bowls for curry later). i set up my rice cooker to boil some water using my roommate's converter.
some time later we heard a loud pop. i went to inspect the cooker only to find that the converter was smoking! of course i unplugged both ends (the wall socket and the cooker) immediately. then i swore a little and proceeded to contemplate what to do next.
well... my roommate was nowhere to be found, so first things first: dinner. After leaving a note explaingin what had happened to the converter, not to use it, and that there was a replacement in the near future, we left to find something to microwave water in; turns out there's a microwave in the basement.
So, i actually did get my ramen, but only after destroying my roommate's converter. when she asked me to explain further, she was actually quite concerned about my safety and the fact that the converter had basically exploded rather than the actual piece of equipment. that hadn't even occurred to me. so i'm glad she was understanding.
but now i have to find a replacement. when i had tried to find my own, no one had really understood what i was talking about. the people who were "helping" me find one started almost making fun of me because i kept saying what they were showing me wasn't heavy enough. i think they thought i actually wanted it to be heavier, rather than what i wanted happened to be heavier. i ended up with an adapter, not a converter. but now i have a broken one to carry around and show people, so maybe i won't be misunderstood.
i've turned over said adapter to my roommate. as it turns out, her computer is dual voltage, she just didn't know it. and my hair straightener is as well, so the two major appliances i seen her use are taken care of.
why do all of my brilliant ideas end up this way? every time i come up with something cool like this, the whole thing has to flop at every conceivable juncture. isn't technology great?
Letters from Korea 2: classes
"Letters from Korea" are emails that I wrote to people and i have chosen to post (possibly cleaned/edited) here. Some days are busy and these are the only record of them for the time being. they may have a personal feel or content that is not directly relevant or even understandable outside the original audience, but not so personal that it can't see the net.
i sent this to my parents after the second day of classes:
i sent this to my parents after the second day of classes:
what to say? i started classes yesterday. korean and green growth.
korean class is coming along. the first class i got a compliment on my pronunciation. the teacher thought i had studied before. our teacher makes funny faces in class trying to teach us pronunciation. there is a story about the development of the written korean language. it says that a king wanted to further the literacy of the country, so he devloped the phonetic alphabet based on the shape of the mouth. so the mouth shape is very important here, like stroke order was in japanese. there are something like 11 pure vowels, 10 mixed vowels, 10 consonants, 9 or 10 modified consonants. so many vowels!
i'm also talking to a lot of the japanese students. between them and my roommate, my japanese is getting quite a workout. miranda and i are the only two from america. most of the students are from japan and china. there are a few men from canada and europe. but the comon language is, oddly enough, still english. it feels a bit wieird. this crowd is also in the 3-6 language range, even without the korean classes. i kind of feel like i've lost a bit of my distiction, but at the same time, it's nice to not be so alone. and i'm still distictive in the sense that i'm a tri-lingual american. they just don't expect that. my english has degraded too. i've reverted to my simple translating pseudo-asian english. it's fun, but i think it sounds weird, maybe. lol. i'm even writing in it now.
the green growth class is really bringing out my argumentative side. should i have expected otherwise? there is one student in the class, from germany; we butt heads a lot. it could have something to do with the fact that the class is taught in english and we are the two most proficient english speakers in the class. we are also both westerners so more open and agressive. it's fun though, and engaging. i just think it's a bit difficult topic to discuss in a foreign language.
i forgot how much i missed onigiri (rice balls). korean onigiri (i don't know what koreans call them) are really good. most of the ones i've had are spicy. i think they have that hot sauce i like in them. they also use korean nori. so delicious. i can't read any of them though, so i usually end up just smelling them checking for kimchee, and choosing one at random. I've started keeping sort of an onigiri journal. i keep the lables off of them and take notes on when i had it, where i got it, and what was in it as well as how i liked it. i'm pretty much going for a different one every time so i can find some that i like. i've only had one bad one so far. and even then it wasn't so bad. they seem to put the flavor and ingredients on the outside, so i can just scrape it off.
i finally asked my roommate if i could use her power converter, so now i can use my rice cooker. i think i'm going to go grocery shopping later on. i've been living off of korean rice balls and my food stockpile. i've also been taking my vitamins, so don't worry too much.
i met jeehee's mom yesterday! it turns out she works at a pharmacy just down the street from my dorm. no, i did not need to go to the pharmacy-- Jeehee told me where it was and it happened to be even closer than expected. it's also right accross the street from the bank where miranda and i exchanged our money. she was sooooo happy to meet us. she took pictures and even tried to call jeehee, but it seems Jeehee was busy witht the baby at that particular moment. they invited me to dinner at her parents' house on sunday, the 22nd. so i will be able to meet the whole family. i'm really excited. maybe try to send some recent pictures of the boys and the family, so i can show her. i'm sure that would make her happy. it turns out i left my picture thing that i made up for japan at home, so i don't even have that.
i also want to start working on my blog again soon. i think i'm just going to start by posting versions of these emails. we have our first cultural fieldtrip on friday. something about costumes and tea. it sounds really interesting. something to look forward to.
much love,
-kat
Monday, August 9, 2010
Letters from Korea 1: Arrival
"Letters from Korea" are emails i sent to my parents and/or other well wishers. They have a bit of a personal tone and might have some boring things that count as more "business" or even have some content that may not make much sense to anyone it wasn't originally written to but i was really tired and settling my first few days, so these might be my only record at some times. they may or may not be cleaned or edited for our viewing audience, but i didn't leave anything so personal that it shouldn't be on the net.
this letter was to my parents on the first night:
this letter was to my parents on the first night:
I'm in my room at Sookmyung now. Had dinner. really tired. I haven't met my roommate yet, but she does exist. i'm pretty sure airport security took my laundry detergent. suck.
Miranda is now living in the international house. she said they moved her because of something to do with the monsoon season. I live two doors down though and they didn't move me, so i can't fathom why. but she gets a kitchen and a lounge now, so i guess i should be happy for her. we live on top of a giant hill, so even though our building has an elevator (and i'm on the top floor), i'll get my exercise. threre's also like twelve convenience stores/markets in sight of our front doors. i guess i won't starve after all. and they all have a distinct "ramen section." It's also REALLY humid. aircon FTW.
I think i'm gonna need a voltage converter after all. my rice cooker is only 120v. gonna need to find an electronics store.
net connection might be iffy. there's ethernet in the room, but i don't know how to make it connect. right now i'm on three-bar wireless, which is pretty good, but it seems to have similar stability issues to the connection at home, though perhaps more reliable. i guess it's only randomly gone out in one instance so far. i think it's also a bit slow, so we'll have to see how it handles skype. there's an orientation tomorrow. i hope they tell us how to get the ethernet to work.
i'm also thinking of adding this to my nagoya blog. we'll see.
i don't know what else to say. i'm almost falling asleep here. i think it's nap time.
later,
-kat
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