May 27th - Wednesday

Metal spoons and chopsticks scrape, peck and tap against metal lunch trays and slurping can be heard over hushed conversations. I sit quietly with a tray filled with rice, cucumber kimchi, stir fried pork belly, rice cake/seafood soup and three different colored rice balls, in the company of my peers. I gingerly pick up a pink rice ball with my chopsticks and pop it in my mouth and I'm pleasantly surprised by the cool sweet syrup and soft bean paste. With delight I utter an "MMMMM" sound and the slurping and scraping come to a sudden halt with ten pairs of eyes gazing in my direction. I look up and see the filled table of lunching staffers looking at me and they then just as quickly look back down at their trays and continue eating. I smile from ear to ear...
The head principal knows that I'm adopted and raised in an American family but he appears very satisfied that I like Korean food. When I suggest to him through broad smiles and exaggerated nods (he doesn't speak English) that I very much love Korean food and that it's not too spicy, he tells my co-teacher-Mr. Joe, "It's in her blood" That makes me feel very happy!

May is quickly coming to a close and the hot weather is creeping upon us. The summer highs can reach the upper 80's but the humidity is thick and sticky! During the spring time Korea and other East Asian countries experience what's called "Yellow Dust" coming from mainland China and it blankets the country with yellow particles. The dust can get thick enough to close the school for the day. Since I arrived at the end of spring I didn't experience the full impact of Yellow Dust but there were a few days it was fairly thick.

This past weekend I went on another excursion with Global Campus and met 4 new English teachers (1-Louisiana, 2-Seattle, 1-Canada--that would explain why he kept saying "eh?") 8 of us crammed into a rented van (a rented van in Korea is not your typical full size Econoline but a slightly bigger version of a compact Kia) and headed out on the express way. Because we were running behind schedule we only had time for a quick potty/snack break and exited the van like the A-Team; sliding both van doors open, jumping out and sprinting in 8 different directions. The DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) observatory closes to all vehicles at 4:00pm and by the time we rolled into the main gate it was exactly 3:59pm! (Good thing I pushed that old Korean lady down at the rest stop restroom because that just bought us 2 extra minutes!)
The Korean Demilitarized Zone is a strip of land running across the Korean Peninsula that serves as a buffer zone between North and South Korea. Our observatory was at the East Sea (Sea of Japan--don't say that to a Korean because he will quickly correct you that it's NOT the Sea of Japan but the East Sea) and it was beautiful! We hiked a few sets of stairs and at the top we peered across and saw the mountains of N. Korea. From our observatory location there were no N. Korea soldiers looking back at us but only S. Korean guards dutifully watching. After touring the observatory and exhibition/museum we hopped back into the van-ette and drove to the hostel at the base of Seoraksan National Park. Once we dropped off our bags at the hostel we walked around looking for dinner. A woman came out of her small and humble restaurant trying to persuade us to turn around and our translator (Baker) asked if she had bbq pork belly (that's what we all wanted) and she gleefully offered whatever we wanted, she could cook. Quickly our table was filled with side dishes (banchan-are about 10 different side dishes that accompany the main course) and two burners to cook/grill the thick slices of pork belly (glorified bacon.) After grilling the greasy pork it is wrapped in lettuce leaves with grilled garlic and kimchi. There is a technique to properly wrap all the tasty morsels without it dripping red greasy juice down your arm. As we were talking and savoring our amazing dinner, one of the English teachers-Wu, let out a loud cry of pain and jumped up from the table, which scared all of us to stop our conversations. Apparently, Wu got hit by flying pork fat shrapnel!

The next morning we continued south east to Seoraksan National Park to hike and take in the gorgeous geological formations and deep green backdrop. We couldn't have asked for better hiking weather; sunny and cool. We split off into two different directions because one group wanted to hike a higher peak and the other group (that would include me) wanted to take a more leisurely hike throughout the park. My group took lots of photos and found snacks on the trail; one woman was selling a very gooey, caramel looking candy. She would take a spoonful and wind it around a small wooden stick to look like a caramel lollipop. For 500 won (equivalent to .50 cents) I had to try the sticky treat, which we found out later that was made of squash. I thought it was made out of "Karo" syrup and slow cooked to a caramel but that would have been way too simple for the Korean palate...squash? Who knew! After spending 4 hours strolling and hiking we reconvened at the van-ette in order to beat the Sunday traffic into Seoul. Every Sunday, all the expressways are congested with weekender cars coming back from excursions. There are parts of the expressway that come to a snail pace and vendors are out selling snacks along side the road and sometimes even in the middle of the freeway. It's like when you're driving into a concert parking lot and vendors are selling t-shirts and glow sticks but these guys are in the middle of the expressway. I made it to Seoul just in time to catch the last bus to Tae-pyang-Ri, where I then have to hail a cab to take me back to my apartment.

I had another fun filled weekend of meeting new teachers, seeing beautiful sights and eating amazing and delicious (Koreans love to say delicious) food!
Next month, I'll be attending a major league baseball game and an overnight excursion to Busan (the southern most part of Korea-infamous for their fish market!)

Here are a few more observations I've come across:

--Korean are very clean! Children are required to wash their hands before lunch and brush their teeth after lunch. All of the children and teachers keep a mug, toothbrush and toothpaste. It's common that Koreans visit a spa 3-4x a month
--Korean children carry two items to school: backpack and a tote bag, which contain their inside "slippers"
--Students attend Saturday school 2x a month. As of 2011, Saturday school will no longer be required.
--Always carry tissue or toilet paper because most public restrooms do not supply such necessity (both men and women)
--Koreans don't use flat sheets for bedding. Only a comforter/blanket
--Rice is served on the left side of the lunch tray and soup is served on the right side

Thanks for joining me on this amazing journey!
Teacher Jana