Art & Culture

This week, as the title says, I got exposed to some art and culture.  Some was better than others as you'll see.  The first bit happened in the classroom.

Some Korean recipes and my drawing in pictionary

I work at an academy teaching kids, however once a month I have a class with adult students.  It's a nice break from the kids.  It allows me to have some real conversations, and also I can usually walk away having learned something.  Our theme this month was "eating out vs. home cooking."  After our discussion I had the students give me a few recipes for some simple Korean dishes that I could make at home.  As you saw in the previous post, I'm pretty special in the kitchen, so these three recipes shouldn't be a challenge.  One recipe is a fried rice dish, another is for soup, and the third really isn't very Korean, as it's really just a glorified fried egg, ham, and cheese sandwich.  I haven't tried cooking them yet, but I'm excited to give them a try.

The fourth picture is from the kids class I taught.  I usually play pictionary with them to help reinforce vocabulary.  This piece of art is titled "listening," and was drawn by yours truly.

Of course the aforementioned culture and art wasn't all I was talking about.  This weekend Seongeun and I had a museum date.  I've never been a big fan of going to museums, but as I'm getting older I am learning to appreciate them more.

Seoul Museum of Art - Nordic Architecture Exhibit

There were no pictures allowed inside, which was ok.  There was nothing Earth-shattering that I felt I needed a picture of.  But it was an interesting look at some Northern European homes, schools, furniture, and even some winter clothing.  Koreans are very fascinated with Nordic architecture, it's a bit of a craze here now.

Though there were no pictures inside, there were some artistic ones taken outside.  You can decide who the more artistic photographer is between Seongeun and myself.

But as you can see, it's not much of a competition (side note: I instructed her to pose like that). 

The last bit of "art" just happens to be me modeling some outdoor clothing.  I didn't know it beforehand, but I ended up in a full-page newspaper advertisement.  It was in one of the big three national newspapers, and Seongeun's mom happened to see it and kept the papers.  I appeared in consecutive weeks about three and four weeks ago.  Now those papers are hanging in my home...I'm not vain at all.

Choseon Newspaper ad

Did any of my readers have an artistic week?  I'm talking to you Bri and Seongeun ;)

밥 먹어요 (bap moe-go-yo)

This weeks title, 밥 먹어요 (bap moe-go-yo), translates to "eating a meal."  So as you can guess, I'll be discussing the political ambiguity of North Korea and the residual effects it has on South Korea.

Ok, how many people stopped reading?  For those of you still with me, I'll get back on topic with this weeks theme of eating.  I don't know if you've noticed, but posting pictures of food is pretty popular lately.  Because I'm hip and trendy and know what the kids like these days, I'm gonna post some food pics of my own.  

This gem is a mere 50 yards from my home

So this first picture is one of the reasons I chose to post about food this week.  Hayley's Cafe is located very close to my home.  I've walked past it many times, but never popped in until recently.  There is an over abundance of cafe's in Seoul, no way to try them all.  Within a 100 yard radius of my home, there are at least 10 cafes, probably more.  Now that I've found this cafe, with it's wide array of desserts, I am hooked.  I never had cocaine, but I imagine these cookies are equally as addicting.  Recently I also tasted their dark red velvet cake.  This cake is so moist, so sumptuous, it took all my energy and taekwondo focus to continue eating it classy, with a fork.  This is the kind of cake that should be eaten at home...alone...in the dark.  That way you feel no shame as you shove it down your gullet.

(Seongeun was supposed to give me a picture of the cake, but failed to do so. She is no longer working for this blog, and is now jobless, homeless, penny-less, etc.  You get the point).

Clockwise from top: Chicken fondu; Mr. Pizza; Thai food

One thing about my eating habits that I'd like to change is the amount in which I eat out.  This has become habitual.  Now I could blame this on the low price of meals here in Korea.  Or I could blame it on my schedule not allowing time to cook.  Or I could even blame it on my lack of an oven and other cooking essentials (note: Koreans don't have or use ovens for cooking).  But instead I'll take the high road and blame it on a combination of all these factors.

My kitchen & brunch made in said kitchen

Speaking of my kitchen, here is a picture of it now.  The expression "less is more" does not apply here. But sometimes I do use this lame excuse for a kitchen to cook.  And when I do cook, it can get downright cute, teeheeheehee.

However, don't be fooled by those dreamy ketchup eyes and killer egg smile.  I've been called a renegade bad-ass of the kitchen, and for good reason.  Some people crack skulls, I crack eggs.  Some people break ribs, I prefer to bake 'em.  That may sound violent, but my cooking is more closely related to a symphony.  I realize you may now be up out of your seat in anticipation of my next analogy, but I recommend you sit back down and prepare to have your mind blown.  I'm done talking about cooking, here's a little taste:

Now that my best Guy Fieri impersonation is over, I'll wrap up this weeks food post.  Feel free to take this video recipe and try it yourself.

친구 (chin-gu)

What's that title mean you ask?  친구, or romanized chin-gu, is the Korean word for friend (there's no reason this blog can't be educational as well as informative).  In this weeks post I'll share with you some of the closer friends I've made here in Korea.  And without further ado:

David, Brian, Mark, me

I met this group of guys through the acting work I've done here in Korea.  We're all veterans of the TV show "Surprise" that I've done.  This group of friends spans the English speaking world.  David is from England, and has Australian citizenship as well. Brian is from Ireland, and just recently (the day after this photo) moved back to England with his wife and kids to live.  And Mark is from Canada, though been in Korea 10-11 years.  We all come from different walks of life and have interesting stories, but Brian and Mark are quite the characters with very interesting life stories.  Brian is clearly the oldest, but definitely the youngest at heart (if you look closely at the picture, he is holding 2 pool balls in each hand conveniently located near David & Mark's pool sticks).

The photo was taken a couple weeks ago in Itaewon.  Itaewon is a district in Seoul where many foreigners live and gather for night life.  Actually it had been about 4 or 5 months since I had last hung out with these guys.  And since Brian was moving away it gave us a good reason to get together. Working abroad as an English teacher you expect to make friends who come and go, whether they move back home or to another country.  But I've been pretty fortunate that the friends I get along with the most, have been mainstays in Korea.

Blog Challenge

After talking to Bri recently, she mentioned in 2014 she would be adding a picture a day to her blog. She challenged me to do the same. I'm realistic, and said maybe a post a week would be more feasible for me. So here goes, my 2014 blog challenge of a post a week starts now.  

I haven't posted much about teaching on here, so I'll sneak in a quick one. Lately I have been teaching many different types of classes. Private academies, jobs at students homes, and at office buildings. This includes elementary students, a business executive, and a doctor. I didn't get pictures of all my students, just the students whose homes I go to.

Clockwise from top left: Ethan, Audrey, Jenna and Junie.
Note these are not their real names, just names for English learning.

Ethan and Audrey are brother and sister, age 4 and 2 I believe.  I work mostly with Ethan, and I 'm still amazed kids this young are learning their second language.  Ethan already does so well, his vocabulary amazes me, and he can put together simple sentences.  I don't work as much with Audrey, but she already has a small vocabulary and can count to 10.  Ethan has also begun taking violin lessons.  One of the busiest 4 year olds I know.  This is in addition to the English kindergarten he attends.

Junie and Jenna are school friends; they are about 6 years old. Side note, I'm unsure of the kids actual ages because Koreans count age different than we do. Everyone adds a year to their age on January 1. And thus everyone is 1 or 2 years older than the way we count it, depending when you're actual birthday is. For example, I am actually 30 years old, but in Korean age I am 32. A 2 year difference until June 25 when I turn 31, and it goes down to a 1 year difference. I know, it's confusing.  

Anyway, these two girls are at a lower English level than Ethan. It is very challenging working with these two girls due to the lack of communication. If I want them to do something I have to physically act it out so they can follow my instructions.

My current schedule is nice because it allows me to work with individuals and small groups.  It's easier to make a difference and see the progress the students make.  Also it's nice to get a mix of kids and adults.  Each class has different needs, and different goals.  So while it keeps me busy making so many different plans, the variety is nice.