Korea Life Blog - At the Hagwon (4) - Halloween


Well, tomorrow is Halloween. Our school doesn't do anything special for it, thank God. At the nightmare Wonderland school I first worked at in Geoje-do, we spent weeks (mostly in our break time) making decorations, costumes, a cheesy haunted house in a classroom, and planning real trick-or-treating at the parents' high rise apartments. Here I take it upon myself as yet another chance to have the kids draw and color while I sit back, relax, write in my journal or read the newspaper secretly tucked inside my "lessons" folder. First I passed out a sheet of Halloween monsters and then had them draw what they wanted. Let's have a look at what Class 2 from today came up with. (Sorry about the poor picture quality again...not sure what happened).



This one is pretty cute. I love the red and blue theme and smeared (drunk ajumma?) lipstick. Is it me or does it look like the witch was stabbed with the broom instead of riding on it?



Here's the Grim Reaper. I love the blue face and green sickle. Best yet, his evil? smile. If the Grim Reaper exists, I hope he looks like this.



Here's what Fiona drew. That's supposed to be me there hanging out in the graveyard, I guess, as I normally do on Halloween. I look pretty terrified of that angry ghost - and with good reason! In the next scene I've been reduced to 3 bleeding body parts! Thanks a lot, Fiona. (Note the Korean style graves. Those aren't tombstones, they are mounds of earth and grass.)



Hmm, I've yet to see a vampire that looks like this. I've yet to see a yellow pumpkin wearing an orange dress either.




Not a bad looking Zombie. I'm not sure if it's vomiting or if its insides are showing. Pretty gruesome either way.



If this were America, this kid would be taking a trip to the school psychologist. I'm not exactly sure what's going on in this scene, but it's pretty bloody. Apparently, while the helicopter pilot sprays water on the ghosts, a superhero? swoops down, takes off his clothes and throws a gernade on a grave, causing blood to erupt like a volcano and a severed head to appear.

Korea Life Blog - Strange Conglomerations (3)



Things that I can see in this conglomeration are:

1. a 24 hour spa/sauna on the top floor
2. a wedding hall below the sauna
3. a "Mi-shee-gan" language school, I guess referring to Michigan?
4. some kind of Lego center (hard to see but that's the Lego symbol beneath the wedding hall)
5. a dentist clinic
6. a bank
7. a couple of restaurants
8. a 24 hour convenient store in between two handphone stores.
9. a bakery
10. a bunch of other places I can't make out

The funniest part about this building in my opinion is the wedding hall. Can you imagine having your $25,000 Korean wedding in this place, right under a 24 hour Spa/Sauna and right above a Lego center?



Here's Homeplus. I guess Samsung and Tesco are also in on the deal. It's basically another shopping center like a Walmart Super Center back home but with more groceries. There's also a KFC, Lotteria, and Korean food court in this one. I like the electronics floor. They have everything from electric stoves on up to high-end flat-screen TVs (mostly Samsung go-figure) and notebook computers (Samsung, of course). I bought a couple of shirts and some boxer shorts. I don't like going in these places because they are usually very noisy, jammed pack with people and you have to wait 10 minutes to check-out. The upside is the salespeople leave you alone a lot more than in a small shop. I actually had to go find somebody when I had a question.

Korea Life Blog - Ode to Chongak


Chongak: the name I gave to an orange and white cat with half a tail, one blind eye, a dirty, scruffy face and a loud, yearning meow that called out to anyone who would listen for a little kindness, a few minutes of attention and a scrap of food. Despite his obviously rough life and handicaps, he had a wonderful little spirit. For months I spotted him trotting all over town, biting through garbage bags for scraps of fish, meowing at the wind, chasing insects in the weeds, ducking rocks thrown by heartless kids, rolling around playfully in the dirt, and chasing after a cat called Agashi, who consistently rejected him, hissed and scratched at him. To see his face when she went into one of these rants always made me laugh. It was if he were thinking, "Oh no! not this routine again. Give it up and let's make a little Chongak." Eventually, poor thing, she had a kitten with another cat.

Along with the others, he grew to enjoy hanging around my backyard, a small, quiet safe-haven where the sun shines all morning and afternoon. That's when I started to give him tuna. At first, when I went out, he would hide until I had gone. But one night I went out late and he came out of the bushes meowing so happily, surprising me. I figured he was just extremely hungry, but when I dumped the tuna on a plate, he ignored it and jumped on my lap. Unlike the other strays around who are afraid of people and will take a scrap of food but claw your hand if you get too close, Chongak began to trust me. He had a very loud and affectionate purr and kneaded my leg with his paws. After a while he got up to eat the tuna. The mosquitos were biting, so I started back inside, but Chongak followed me - once again potentially giving up a delicious tuna dinner in return for more attention. When I went inside he meowed in the hallway for five minutes as if to say, "Hey come back, please, hey come on!" before eventually returning to the food. That's when I knew he was a special cat, and that's why I flew into a rage when I saw some kids taunting him outside my hagwon as he meowed for the kind Chinese food ajushi. If you could have seen the way he approached those students with his loveable meow, his little trot, his half a tail, his blind eye - you would have felt the same. If they had been my age, I would have been deported for throwing punches.

Well, as you know Chongak came back to my house that night and I let him in, fed him a delicious meal, brushed him for 20 minutes and let him sleep under my bed on the warm floor for an hour before he meowed to be let out. A part of me contemplated keeping the little guy, but my place is much too small, the nearest cat supplies are an hour away, and I have no idea where a veterinarian is. Also, it wouldn't be fair to pent up a little cat who is used to wandering about - especially when I don't know how long I'll be here.

As you may have guessed by now, Chongak died today. He was run over by a car. I was walking back to my apartment from my hagwon and saw his dead body in the road, a flat black spot with orange and white fur and the outline of a stumpy tail. While I had feared it would happen, it shocked me nonetheless. I wish I hadn't seen it. After a few days or weeks I could have thought he had been taken in or run off to some other part of town for the winter. But now I know he's gone.

For me, the little guy made Nowhere-dong a little more cozy and familiar. His presence gave me something to look forward to each day and night and I will truly miss him. The only comfort I can find is that for once in his miserable life, somebody really cared about him, gave him a little love and a few good meals. Briefly he experienced that and his purr showed me he appreciated it and was happy for that short time.

I'm sorry Chongak. I wish I could have done more for you little guy, and you will truly be missed. Rest in peace in cat heaven. I hope there you have fresh fish everyday, a new girlfriend, two good eyes and a full tail.


Sadly, I don't have any new pictures to show you. I kept thinking that sooner or later I'd take more. I wish you could see his dirty yet adorable face. For now I will go on feeding Agashi and the kitten, even though they don't let me pet them and don't have anywhere near the personality of Chongak.

Korea Life Blog - Wonderland


Yet one more reason not to work at Wonderland. Read this article:


Koreans jail Canadian on dubious ground


You can also read the discussion thread here: ESL Cafe Thread


This article reminds me of the time my friend John quit his job at Megaton hagwon in Ulsan (don't ever work there!). The owner was outraged and I believe spiteful (they never got on well because they treated John differently as he was Australian - paid him less, made him work more hours, and encouraged him to speak American English). The boss claimed he found drugs at John's apartment while cleaning it and called the police. I'm not sure what he found, but my friend John did not take drugs and if he did, he was far too smart to leave anything behind like that. Luckily for John, he had already left the country for Thailand. However, when I informed him online of the situation he realized he could never come back to Korea for fear of being arrested and locked up. He ended up staying in Thailand and becoming a professor there. As for me, I ended up getting tested for drugs by the police for the simple reason I was his good friend. Needless to say I passed, but I was sweating bullets for the entire way through realizing how easy it would be for them to frame me.

OK, I just got a referral to this article:


Canadians caught in drug crackdown, not job scam


No matter what the outcome is, I advise anyone not to work at Wonderland (especially in Geoje-do) and more importantly I advise everyone not to even think about doing drugs in Korea. Nothing has changed about that.

Korea Life Blog - Summer and Winter


In Korea there are four seasons - technically. However, having lived here for several years, I can attest that there are really two seasons: summer and winter. Just about a month ago I was coming home in sweat, wearing a T-shirt. Fall came and just as quickly fall went. There were about 4 weeks of ideal weather. Starting last week the temperature has dropped day by day. Tonight I'm wearing a heavy sweater and a jacket, the wind is whipping, it's plain cold.



I snapped this picture outside my window today. Actually, that's a total lie. I stole this picture off the net. It hasn't started snowing. And when it does, it won't be anything like back in New York. But it gets equally as cold here. Good thing my apartment is warm. However, we only have space heaters in the school which is a real drag and my boss is a stickler about not using them until it's absolutely necessary. It was cold all day.

Korea Life Blog - Adultery





When I was looking for the article in the paper today about 10 more foreign teachers here being arrested on drug charges, I came across an EFL Korea law website. One of the specific crimes to be aware of is adultery:


Korea is one of the few countries on earth that has adultery laws on the books that are enforced. I have only known of foreign men to be prosecuted for this, not women. If you are caught sleeping with someone's wife, you may have to pay the outraged husband thousands of dollars to prevent him from taking you to court. If he does choose to prosecute, article 241 of Korean law states you can face a jail term of up to two years.
Under Korean law, adultery is a serious criminal act and carries a serious consequences. If one spouse is caught having an adulterous affair with let's say an unmarried 25-year, single person, the other spouse can press a criminal charge against the adulterous spouse and put the spouse in jail, in addition to seeking civil damages. In addition, the spouse can press criminal charge against the person who knowingly had an affair with the adulterous spouse. (Therefore, if you are a single, you should avoid sexual relations with a married person at all costs.) A majority of Korean women favor keeping this law on adultery precisely because they perceive that this law could be used as a weapon against their husbands in divorce


I guess I'm doing the right thing avoiding the ajumma who misses the touch of warm hands and a hard body.

I'm not exactly sure how foreigners have gotten caught doing this? Are they caught red handed in the act? I wonder if one can get arrested based on accusation alone. It's best to avoid getting in any trouble in a foreign country. Based on what my friend told me about being in jail here, that's the last place on Earth anyone wants to be. My advice for the day: don't get overly friendly with any married women in Korea...and don't even think about taking drugs.

Korea Life Blog - Decorative Tissue Box (1)


I just love the artwork on some of the tissue boxes here. You can buy American Kleenex here as well, but why would you want to.


A pretty scene of a small country cottage decorates this tissue box. There's something about it that makes me long to have a runny nose.

That reminds me of the joke:

Me: Is your nose running?

Victim: Yes, it is.

Me: (cackling with insane laughter) Well you'd better catch it before it runs out the door.

Korea Life Blog - At the Store (1)


After posting the grocery ad, I got the idea to take my camera to the store when I go. This time I got off a measly five shots before running out of room on the memory card once again. That's becoming very annoying. I'm running out of old pictures that I feel OK about deleting. Pretty soon I'll be back to stealing pics off the internet or begging readers for more send-ins. In the meantime, enjoy this first post in the exciting new series: At the Store.



Well, if you didn't believe me before, here it is: SPAM. A whole heap of it too - with quite a lot already sold. The cans go 3 for 8,800 won. That's about $7.50...comparable to back home? I have no idea. I've never actually tried this stuff. There's something about meat packed in a can that's a turn off. However, I used to love Dinty Moore Beef Stew in can. Now where can I get some of that? I think I've seen it in Seoul before, but I can't remember.



Here's Tony the Tiger and his frosted corn flakes on sale in Nowhere-dong Korea. I just noticed that the Korean name is not Corn Flakes, it Corn Frost. Huk!



In the back of the store are several more American cereals. There's a few kinds here I've never seen before. Now that I've become like a Korean ajushi and eat rice and kimchi for breakfast, I don't buy cereals. Chocolate Chex looks pretty good, although I'd prefer to see the original kind. One cereal I just thought about and really would like to eat again is Cinnamon Life. That kid Mikey liked it and so do I.



Not the best picture, but here it is nonetheless. No. 1 Spirits in the World: Soju! And now available in lunchbox packable container! The only thing that's missing is the plastic straw to go with it. I often wonder who buys soju in a box. I've never actually seen anyone drinking from one. I placed it tantalizingly in front of the glass bottles and stood around for awhile ready to sneak a photo from the shadows of an unsuspecting alcoholic. But while bottle after bottle flew off the shelf, unfortunately nobody took the box. Dang!



Also flying off the shelves is Cass beer in a can. The Hite, while tasting pretty similar, just can't keep up. Usually cans are sold individually in this manner and they're not cheap. One small can like this is 1,800 Won, or about $1.50. However, you can get a slight discount if you can find a six pack.


Well that's it for now. I'll get more pics for this series sooner or later. Stay tuned...

Korea Life Blog - A Hearty Meal


The students and I went out for bulgogi last night. They had just gotten a fresh cow in that day and gave us extra "service" in the form of raw cow heart and liver. It grossed me out. Harry gobbled down the liver but it wasn't long before the other students put him to the ultimate test: eating a piece of the heart. At first he refused but eventually caved under mounting pressure.



In disbelief, I made him wait while I got out my camera. I didn't have enough space left to shoot a video, but I managed to snap the sequence and "gif" them together. It actually came out pretty good. Here it goes: first he picks up a piece and examines it, then he sets it in the salt sauce. After a preparatory shot of soju he gobbles down the red and bloody chunk. The ensuing expression on his face says it all: "Mmm, now that's damn good cow heart."

Here are a few more mouth watering pictures from the dinner:



This is called bulgogi jeon gol. Basically it means bulgogi boiled in water, spices, and vegetables. I prefer regular ole bulgogi, but this was pretty delicious too. There was a bit of an argument during dinner as to whether this style is traditional or modern.



The ajumma volunteered to have her picture taken while tending the meal. I'm not sure she would have volunteered so eagerly had she known she would end up on this website, however. I feel bad for these ajummas that have to bend over like this all day. Their backs must really feel awful by closing time.



Here are the side dishes. There certainly is no shortage of food in this country. In front of the lettuce salad on the left is stingray and go chu jang (thick soypaste mixed with red pepper). I felt a little disgusted after trying the yellow dish. I found out those are jelly fish. Yuck!




Another shot of the side dishes. The flat green things are bu chim gae, which some people call Korean pizza, although it has absolutely no resemblance in any form to pizza. It tastes delicious though and I ate most of it. That salad has entirely too much mayonnaise on it. I ate a lot of the two kimchis, coleslaw, and greens. All in all, a hearty meal indeed.

Korea Life Blog - Eyesore (1)


No matter which city you live in the world, you have the good, the bad, and the plain ugly. Korea, of course, is no exception.



An example of a real eyesore sent in by one of my field reporters. It's not uncommon to see sites such as these. There's not a lot of space to work when taking down a building and clean-up is sometimes left unfinished until the next building goes up. Not a lot to look at outside those windows. This kind of view on a daily basis would make me a little depressed. And when the new building goes up, the neighbors will be subjected to construction noises all day and night for the next few months. Looking again at this picture, I can't help but think how dangerous it is to have so many gas tanks clustered about like that. They are sitting right next to central air-conditioning units and an assortment of other electrical wires. Perhaps a few "no smoking" and "danger" signs would be useful here. Yikes!

Korea Life Blog - Grocery Store Ad


An ad for the local grocery store came in my mailbox box today. I thought I'd share it with you. It may be interesting for people thinking about coming here to see it, or for Koreans living in America to compare the prices of their favorite items. Shopping in Korea is still difficult for me as I don't know exactly what to cook. I should invest in a Korean cookbook in English, or print out some recipes from online. If any of my Korean readers have some good recipes for simple Korean dishes, send them along. I plan on making a lot of Korean meals now that I have my new rice cooker. Today I bought kimchi, dwen jang paste, soy sauce, ko chu jang, kim, garlic, tofu, onion, sam gyeop sal, mi yuk guk, and a bunch of canned fish for "my" cats. I really felt Korean checking out with that assortment of goods. When in Rome do as they do.



There's quite a lot of stuff going on sale this week. The store is pretty small...it looks like there's a sale on pretty much everything. There's a few American things here: Del Monte Orange juice, Coke (of course), Maxwell House coffee, and Kellog's Frosted Flakes. There's also Spam but it's hard to see. Believe it or not, Spam is very popular here. They even sell huge Spam gift sets (a must get photo for a future post.) Sorry about the glare on these pics. I didn't notice it until now. Other things here are rice, cooking oils, mayonnaise, eggs (brown eggs are just as good as white eggs don't worry) ramyon, cold coffee drinks, dry cream, milk, yogurt drink (yum!) etc....



Another part of the ad. Dove Soap and Pringles are the only American products on this page. Korean versions of what you need are just as good and sometimes better. I remember how stupid I was when I first got here. I had my family send me soap and toothpaste for awhile. Now I think Korean soap is actually better and I found a great LG made toothpaste that has some kind of gritty substance in it that makes my teeth clean and bright. However, I have yet to see any razor or shaving cream that even remotely compares to Gillette. You can find Mach 3 and Gillette shaving cream pretty much anywhere here at equally outrageous prices as back home.



There's no shortage of vegetables or meat here, don't worry. Vegetables are abundant but meat is just not in the same shape and form you would find at home and is understandably more expensive. Don't fret - bulgogi and sam gyeop sal are reasonable and wonderfully delicious. You won't see T-bone, NYS prime rib, or Filet Mingion so forget it. On a real down side, you can't buy fresh deli meats in Korea and I have yet to come across a turkey. Now that I think about it, I really miss cold cut sandwiches and deli pickles. Good thing there are several Subway franchises in Seoul! Now, what cracks me up is the middle section of this page. I'm not sure why, but the fish and fruit are listed side by side. Nothing goes better with an apple than some fish. Also, notice the tomatoes there in the same row. In Korea tomatoes are considered a fruit.


Tonight when I went shopping, they were having some kind of no rae bang contest in the store. Right next to the vegetables people were lined up to sing their favorite song. An ajumma, carrying a full basket of groceries, sang Korean country music so passionately that other ajummas applauded loudly and practically broke into tears. I wish I had my camera with me.

Korea Life Blog - KLB Stats


Page views today: 751
This week: 3036
This month: 10827


I hit a record high of 751 hits today. That's far beyond what I ever imagined. I remember being happy when I got 20 hits for the first time. I'm not sure though how many hits are from individual readers and how many are coming from people checking back for updates frequently. Blogger stats doesn't keep track of that and I'm too lazy to sign up for another sitemeter. Anyway, thanks everyone for reading my blog. More updates to come soon.

Korea Life Blog - Sushi


Another delightful food I never once even considered trying back in the states is sushi. Now I love it. It's a little expensive even here. Luckily I've never actually paid anything the times I've had it. My bosses have taken me out before and two of my adult students took me to have it on Friday. A new restaurant just opened up across the street from my home (next to the new stationery store in a quickly built but functional building). Here are a few pictures I took. Unfortunately I ran out of room on my camera's memory card (must get computer soon) before the main sushi dish came out. These are just the side dishes:




I tried everything here except the one that is most to the front. I'm not exactly sure what it was, but it was still moving! I tried to take a video of it with my camera, but there was not enough space left on the memory card, drat! In the back to the far left is a sushi salad. That was one of my favorites. You can also see the two raw shrimp. Those tasted pretty good too.



Within a few minutes the waitress came back with yet more side dishes. Keep in mind I thought all this was the main meal, but it wasn't. On the left is a bowl of clam soup. The clams were cooked and the soup hot. You can see the mandu next to that. Next to the mandu is some breaded sushi, raw salmon. That was delicious. I forgot the name of that cooked fish there. Regardless, the site of that thing would have grossed me out a few years ago, but now I eat things like that without flinching. It tastes absolutely delicious - just be careful of the bones. Meanwhile those dark red things in the front are still squirming. To my disgust, one of the students ate a bunch.



Another shot now a little to the right. Notice the corn - it's sizzling on a hot plate. Mmmm...There's some raw salmon in front of that, sliced a little thick, but it tasted great. It's probably my favorite raw fish. To the front are the sauces. I've heard people say that the sauce can make or break a sushi meal. They tasted fine to me. The dark one is ordinary soy sauce. More cooked fish can be seen to the right. You're not going to believe this, but I are two of those whole. Yum! Again, I forgot the name. A bit later the waitress brought out caviar dor sot bim im bap (rice and vegetables served sizzling in a hot bowl). It was the first time I have tried caviar...not bad, but I'm not sure what all the fuss is about.



Another angle. I'm not sure why I'm including this...just to show you how much food there is...and these are just the side dishes! Whoa!


Well, I'm disappointed I was unable to take a picture of the main course. I should have deleted the picture above instead. Oh well...I wasn't thinking straight after awhile. The three of us went through 5 bottles of soju and I was clearly off my rocker.


The two students:



Harry. He has a brand new Tusconi or Tiburon as it's known elsewhere. It's a really nice little sports car that is quite popular here. All the female Korean teachers fancy him. He's 32 and still living single with his family. Where is his perfect bride? he wonders. After a lot of soju he confesses he's a little lonely.



Harvey. He's my oldest student, close to 50. At first I was nervous when he joined the class. But he is very nice and speaks English quite well. He lives in Nowhere-dong but his wife and kids live in Pusan. He goes home every weekend. In tonight's class he told me how his son and daughter, high school students, go to various private schools and receive private tutoring until 12 AM, after which time they go to a study room until 2 AM and finally return home at 2:30 AM. He pays 1,300,000 won a month, or about $1,050 for their combined after-school studies. Not only that, but I was surprised to find out Korean parents have to pay 500,000 won, quarterly for public high school education as well. No wonder families are shipping off to other countries by the thousands. Anyway, in the photo he's gearing up for another piece of that dark red seafood that's still moving. Notice the omnipresent bottle of Coca-Cola. Yes, it's everywhere - even at this small sushi restaurant in Nowhere-dong, Korea.



Well, the main dish came out, one gigantic dish full of more sushi. The meal and soju came to a total of about 100,000 won, or nearly 85 dollars. I tried to chip in, but they seemed almost insulted by the idea. We all got wonderful? free gifts: a dish towel and a lighter with the restaurant's name and phone number on them. I took a bag of leftovers for Chongak and Gang, including the fish carcass - all of which was gone by the morning.

Poor Harvey. After paying, he discovered his shoes were gone. (In sit-on-the-floor restaurants you take off your shoes near the entrance). The owner gave him a pair of sandals to wear home, but offered no discount or resolution beyond a business card and telling him to call back in a few days. After spending 100,000 won on dinner we all found this ridiculous. I guess we won't be going back...

Korea Life Blog - Peeping Wangs



I accidentally deleted this post. Here are a bunch of guys in China oggling at a promotion girl. One of my reader's found this and sent it to me. Before I had commented that while Korea also has promotion girls like this, you don't see people staring at them as obviously as in this picture. I said some other things too, wonderfully amazing, hilarious things that I have now forgotten...fate is sometimes cruel.

Korea Life Blog - Bap Sot



Well, here it is. My brand new Cuckoo rice cooker. It cost me a mere 50,000 won at E-mart. (Is it me, or does E-mart sound quite similar to K-mart?) It really is a wise investment and sure to save me money from eating out all the time. I cooked up a batch (right word?) of rice the same night I got it. These things are amazing. They cook the rice to a perfect texture and then keep it warm and moist with steam for almost 2 days. When the batch I made started to get a little hard I mixed up the remainder with some tuna and put it out for the cats in a big bowl. The next day it was all gone. Now I'm eating rice for breakfast, something a few years ago would have sounded preposterous to me. The other morning I made mi yuk guk (sea weed soup) and ate it with kimchi and tomatoes. A wonderfully healthy breakfast. Again, the thought of eating sea weed soup and rice for breakfast would have made me laugh before...but now it seems, well, quite natural. Skeptics may cringe, but it's true.

I'm excited at all the new dishes I can now cook up. Last night I made sam gyeop sal, and tonight I made plain rice and ate it with processed seaweed, kimchi, spicy leaves, and tater tots. Tomorrow or the next day I may make some kimchi chigae of dwen jang chigae.



As for kimchi, I've become highly addicted. For the past 3 months, I've been consuming about 1 KG per week, which doesn't include what I munch down at the restaurants. (By the way, I also find myself thinking in the metric system more and more. It just makes better sense.) Until I got the rice machine I was eating the red delight with french fries, ramyon noodles, mandu, eggs, or whatever else was in the fridge. I even put it on my hamburgers in place of cheese. It goes well with everything, in my opinion. I eat it with breakfast, lunch and dinner. I've even woken up in the middle of the night to gobble down a few pieces. It's absolutely delicious. Yes, you may think I've been in Korea too long, but it sure beats everything else I used to consider appealing in terms of healthiness. The only thing I worry about is whether I'm consuming too much salt now.