Korea 706

Yogurt

What is it about Korean yogurt? It is so much more delicious in Korea than in America. It’s much lighter and more flavorful—I can’t help but stock up on them for meals and snacks.

My personal favorite is one classified as 야쿠르트 (pronounced Yakoorootu) or a Korean Yogurt drink. It’s name is 쾌변 (Kwehbyeon), and it’s supposed to help your bowel movements. 

Do you notice the little man and the barcode next to him? Each flavor of Kwehbyeon has that little man doing a different Kwehbyeon exercise (this one’s #3, Golden Pineapple Flavor), and if you use your smart phone to scan that barcode you can “Do the Kwehbyeon Jjook Jjook Dance made for our nation’s digestive health.”

I was introduced to this drink at my cousin’s house this past weekend, when we picked up the daily Yakoorutu delivery on our way into the house. Most Korean homes have a little insulated bag hanging by their door where a Yakoorutu lady pushing a yellow Yakoorutu cart will deliver daily the Yakoorutu you ordered. We put a bottle of Kwehbeyon on the counter and somehow began discussing it. My cousin the giant asked the question “How would you translate Kwehbyeon into English?” After throwing around a few not so appetizing suggestions, he came up with this: “Bowell” Get it?? Bowel as in bowel but pronounced bow well? As in your bowel movements are going well? Hahahahahahaha (If you don’t think this is the most genius thing ever… excuse me) 

On a more appetizing note, one of my ewha friends took us to eat 찜닭 or Jjim dak(chicken). It’s chicken with japchae/cellophane noodles, carrots, and potatoes all stewed in a spicy and savory soy sauce marinade. Warm and delightfully flavorful it was definitely a good meal. 

Here’s their logo cause I thought it was cute :)

Korea 705

Another beautiful day! The weather was almost reminiscent of a California summer.

It was a perfect day to sit at a cafe with friends and enjoy each other’s company. One of my friends led us to Migo Bakery where we shared sandwiches, soft cream cheese bread, and sipped cups of espresso. The story behind the second picture is that I was just holding my camera loosely in my right hand, talking with a friend in front of me, until my other friend said STOP IT LOOKS ARTSY and tried to snap a picture. Who knows, maybe I have potential to be a mentally unstable hand model? 

During today’s afternoon Korean class we read and discussed two famous Korean poems. One is <꽃> Flower and the other is a parody of it <라디오와 같이 사랑을 끄고 켤 수 있다면> If Love Could Be Turned On and Off Like a Radio. The first describes a hopeful longing to have a special, meaningful relationship with another—providing sweet color and fragrance to one another when called by name (a rose by any other name would not  smell as sweet). The second describes how heartless and fickle love has become with the passing of time—I am a radio and you are the radio waves that create life in me or leave me empty, depending on a simple push of a button.

However love and relationships have changed since the latter poem was written in the 80’s, I consider myself very fortunate whenever I have the opportunity to spend time with friends, such as tonight! Dinner today was a definite highlight of this week. Along with one of my usual Korean-American friends, I joined a couple Swedish students for dinner at a restaurant my mom recommended. They were looking to try good, authentic Korean food, so we decided to head to Kami Bunshik Restaurant. One of the best meals I’ve had so far on this trip. As my mother recommended I had the 냉면 (naengmyun) cold noodle soup and 주먹밥 (jumeokbab, onigiri) rice ball. The noodles in the naengmyun were perfectly chewy without being clumped together, and the rice in the rice ball was well-seasoned and tasty. Our Swedish friends thoroughly enjoyed their kimchijjigae and ddeokbokki as well, and we ended our meal talking about television shows and the Skarsgard (read: Von Trapp) family. 

(sorry the lady cut it up before i took the picture. nonetheless best naengmyun i’ve had yet!)

Korea 704

HELLO EVERYONE I HAVE FRIENDZ + THE WEATHER WAS BEAUTIFUL = HANGING OUT IN FRONT OF EWHA

But first things first—my coil pots had CRACKS in them… there goes my dream of making something good enough for my mom to use, I guess I have to go buy dishes now.

Fast forward to dinnertime; I went out to eat with some friends I made at Ewha. I tried to take them to eat at Original Bunshik Restaurant, but when we found it it was closed for renovations :( So we ended up eating at BaB instead, a traditional Korean restaurant with a slightly modern twist. It was recommended by a couple “Ewhaians,” and it was pretty good, no complaints.

Afterward we had dessert at Waffle Plus, where they sandwich ice cream in between two warm waffle quarters. Somehow we split girls and guys and while the girls had girl talk the guys’ conversation proceeded to StarCraft II shortcuts.

The gender division would continue for the rest of the night as the girls ditched the guys for some shopping. The streets in front of Ewha University are famous for its stores, for it caters to the largest woman’s university in the world. We stopped by Kosney, a veritable hipster’s paradise filled with jewelry, clothes, bags, scarves, umbrellas, cameras, journals, shoes, blankets, pillows, aprons, lamps, bags, and cosmetics all so fun and interesting. Certainly a bit on the pricier side (I only went eye shopping) compared to other parts of Korea (i.e. Dongdaemun)—but by no means is it ridiculously expensive and certain items might be considered reasonably priced considering how interesting they are.

In the end we explored the shops in the alleyways, and found fun vintage stores filled with maxi dresses, denim vests, and sheer blouses. After it got dark we returned to my dorm room where we laughed and shared stories as if we were having a sleepover. I know I’ll have more adventures with these girls (next Friday we’re planning to go to Caribbean Bay) this summer and in the future!

Korea 702

대학로 Daehakro

Since yesterday night I was at my aunt’s house again, and today my cousin took me to Daehakro, the theater district of Seoul. As soon as you walk up from the subway station exit you get mobbed by professional, organized scalpers who try and sell you theater tickets. My cousin and I decided to explore the neighborhood for a little bit before deciding which show to watch.

We walked past theaters, museums, and art galleries aplenty as ballerina-coiffed art high school students ran around in posses. Around four we watched a comedy called Bling Bling in a tiny theater—a play set in a psychiatrist’s office rife with misunderstandings, cross-dressing, and slammed doors. It was pretty funny; I almost missed it though because I was locked in a bathroom for a couple minutes -___-. First of all, I had to figure out how to use the complicated washing and drying toilet in the absence of toilet paper. And then the door wouldn’t unlock so I knocked on a door for a good while before someone came and saved me. A man came to feed me instructions through the door “Okay now try and turn it again. Okay now lock it. Now try it again.” Goodness I was so glad to be out. 

The highlight of the day was stopping by to see a musical comedy duo perform on the street. My cousin saw them 5 years ago and was hoping to see them again. Almost a sassier Korean version of Flight of the Conchords, their act consists of two guys, two guitars, and a mangled snare drum. They’re musically talented of course, but they were freaking hilarious—I haven’t laughed this hard in a long time. What I also give props to is their life view— “We are rich!” they said, “And we live to bring joy to all of you.”  I certainly received that joy tonight, cracking up, swaying to their tunes, and translating for some Australian dudes who didn’t get their jokes. 

Korea 701

닭백숙 & 누룽지 Chicken Baeksook and Browned Rice

My grandparents usually eat at home because my grandfather has difficulty walking around due to an old injury. But when I visited on Friday my grandparents decided to go out to eat with me for lunch, and we all had a good time. My grandpa was glad to be out, my grandma was glad not to have to cook for once, and I was happy to eat with them.

We went to a restaurant in Seongbookgu that specializes in chicken baeksook, Korean stewed chicken, and nooreunji or browned rice. The place was clean, modern, and bustling during lunchtime—I came to realize why after my first bite of the chicken. They served the chicken on a plate on top of a pot of nooreunji and every bite was hearty and satisfying. Steamy, thick, and delicious on a rainy day.

Korea 630

Was in a wireless part of town for a day or two (:

June 30th was the rainiest day by far. It rained so hard it was scary. I thought my umbrella was going to get holey. 

Good news is I made an acceptable coil pot! The professor said it looked okay! Woot!

Korea 629

Remember how it was sunny yesterday? Remember? Remember?

Well today it was raining cats and dogs. My Korean Language Professor said that the past few weeks were raining because of a typhoon. That’s why it’s been cold and windy and rainy. Today’s the real start of the monsoon—nonstop bucketfuls of water pouring down on you. There’s no way you can stay dry; today I walked through ankle-deep puddles to get to my ceramics class in the morning. My feet were so soaked that the dye from my gladiator sandals decorated my feet. [If you get grossed out by pictures of feet I would skip the following picture:]

No pictures from my ceramics class (I know, I know I’m sorry). But not that it would be very exciting—I’m starting to realize I do not have a gift for it. My friend makes these beautifully even and creatively decorated pots (with giraffes and trees) and all the fifteen Singaporean girls in the class decorate their pots elegantly with flowers and apples, but when our ceramics professor walks by me, she always stops and looks at my dry, lumpy pile of clay before proceeding to fix it. lol. A lesson I’ve learned in my efforts to shape clay is that every little amount of pressure counts. You would think that little bitty pinches would do nothing to shape a thick lump of clay, but if you do it consistently enough it turns into a beautiful bowl. My problem is I touch it too strongly without finesse and it just gets lumpy. Patience, I must learn.

My highlight of the day, however, was meeting two Australian girls in my ceramics class. I mentioned to one of them that it was my dream to live and work for a year on an Australian ranch and she said, “Oh yeah? Well actually my friend’s mom owns a farm.” What? “My mom owns 18 horses,” her friend said, “and she’s always looking for workers. People from Germany and other parts of Europe come all the time to work.” AHHHHHHH!!! You don’t know how much I’ve looked at online Gap Year sites wondering how the heck I would actually go about being a Jillaroo, but I’ll save you the details on that since you’re probably not as excited about it as I am. 

BACK TO EWHA

For dinner my friends were busy so I struck out on my own to eat at one of the various places recommended by my mom and my aunt. I picked one place my mom recommended and one place my aunt recommended, and decided that I would eat at the one that I could find. If you don’t know me, I can be pretty man-like about navigation. I look at a map once and keep an internal map in my head and never ask for directions. Often it works, sometimes it doesn’t—like today. Sort of.

I looked up 이화앞 맛집 지도 Map of Restaurants (Local Favorites) in front of Ewha and walked out of Ewha into the busy student scene right outside the front gates. 이화 Ewha means pear blossom, and the entrance structure was decorated with ceramic pear-blossoms recently kissed with rain drops.

What happened though, was I made this 2-3 block circuit a couple of times before I could find a restaurant. I was getting more tired and hungrier and considering just stopping by any old restaurant to eat. The only creepy thing that happened today was being stopped by a girl who wanted to talk to me about 운 or luck/fortune. Some of the 언니s, other Ewha students warned me of scary people who try to talk to you about religion or demons or other things. This girl said she noticed me because I looked like I had good fortune (“have you heard that before?” she asked), but that right now things weren’t going my way because of a stint of bad luck. I told her I didn’t understand, and she let me go, saying that when I learn more Korean I can come back to her to talk about luck (like I’ll ever see her again!) 

But bad luck, my eye. I finally found a restaurant after my third circuit of walking and that restaurant was one recommended by my aunt (sorry mommy I need better navigational skills to find Original House 오리지날 분식으로 이름을 밖은거 같아요. I will find it soon!) It was called Modern Soban, and my aunt said that their rice cake soup or 떡국 ddeokguk was delicious. It’s one of my favorite dishes and I think it was appropriate that I found that restaurant today because the hot and delicious broth was exactly what I needed on a rainy day. 

Now guess what? It’s homework time. Gotta go write it up in Korean!

Korea 628

GORGEOUS day today. The rain stopped for today and the sun came out. 

Ceramics in the morning—this time we made pinch pots. My hands were too messy to take pictures so maybe I’ll take pictures tomorrow and let you see what I made.

Korean in the afternoon—I’m starting to think this is the perfect level for me. We’re basically learning how to communicate and express our ideas and opinions in Korean using more sophisticated phrases. Loving it. 

And perhaps the most interesting part of my day was seeing this complimentary nail polish station next to me while I was waiting for an open teller at Shinhan Bank on the Ewha campus. I wasn’t sure if I should be concerned with how sexist this is or think it’s a cute idea and paint my nails while waiting…

Anywho, I beg your pardon for my short post today, I am dog tired from walking around all these darned hills! Good news is that I got a lot of errands done today and that it will hopefully be sunny again tomorrow!

Korea 627

I’m really drowning in God’s grace. I really am. 

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything about my walk with God, but today He reminded me how He’s still there. 

Today was the first day of classes at Ewha and I returned to the dorms this morning with my aunt who had work here. On the way we talked about many things—success, courage, doing the right thing. I know this is something some people don’t struggle with, but after a year at college I’m starting to see a little bit of how the nice people don’t seem to win. Few care and few pay you to be honest and pure and sincere. I’m not crying about it—I know it’s the reality of the world we live in, but sometimes it’s discouraging to value purity when those around you are tearing it apart to get what they want. You find yourself asking sometimes what’s the point?

In our conversation my aunt brought up Isaiah 41:12: you will search for your enemies but you will not find them. What she observed after having had a career for years was that in the end, the faithful somehow seem to end up ahead. Perhaps in the moment it seems like the exploiters and the robots and the beezys are rocketing ahead of you, but if stick to your guns, your honest guns, and if you wait (and by wait I mean the Christian definition of wait: actively praying and endeavoring in the day-to-day, not just sitting around) then eventually your enemies will not be found and you’ll find that God has been faithful to take care of you this whole time.  

So. um. Ewha right? haha sorry I needed to process the above before I wrote about the following:

For Ewha’s summer session I am taking one Korean Ceramics class in the morning and one Korean language class in the afternoon.

Leave it to me to lose my card key this morning—I was 30 minutes late to class trying to arrange for a replacement and trying to find the art building in the rain. But that was a little chance for God to prove He was taking care of me like what my aunt mentioned this morning. The timing was insane—I walked in right as the professor was taking roll. And I came back to realize I didn’t lose the card key at all… wish I knew that before I went through all the trouble. 

I’m really excited about this Ceramics class—I’ll definitely keep you posted on what we’re doing. For today, we were given a tour of the Ceramics building with the clay-making room, kiln rooms, and studios. At the end we were able to browse through a display room of all the Korean Ceramic techniques we will be learning—there was stunning traditional celadon and porcelain pieces as well as funky teapots and figurines. Can’t wait to get my hands muddy!

I had lunch with a few friends at the Main Dish—a mini-food court style establishment on campus. I had a delicious fried tonkatsu and refreshing soba combo washed down with corn tea. In the afternoon I ran some errands before heading to my Korean class—there are only five of us and the professor is very warm and friendly. Nothing more to report about that except I have homework again now hehe. 

I slipped back into my college student role today and bought a quick 김밥 kimbap dinner to eat as I did my homework. Apparently the kimbap at an on-campus site called Ewha Sarang is famous, so I decided I would give it a try. The kimbap was indeed quite satisfying, filled with rice tuna, spiced spam (or perhaps ham?), pickled radish, egg, imitation crab meat, and lettuce—all wrapped in seaweed. Sounds nasty in English, I know, but trust me it’s delicious. 

Got a full day ahead of me tomorrow so it’s off to bed I go!

Korea 626

Today my Seochodong cousin Heyon and I decided to meet up with a third cousin (Jiwon 지원언니) at 가로수길 Garosugil and hang out in the afternoon.  Before I left for Korea one of my friends told me I must visit Garosugil because it had a lot of cute shops and cafes. After a quick bus and subway ride we were there, and I was able to just take in the sights while we were waiting for the third member of our party. Garosugil is a tree-lined road with huge open cafes, cute restaurants, and stylish stores reminiscent of Anthropologie. 

After a little while we met up with our cousin to find that our party of three was actually going to be a party of four! Jiwon’s younger brother tagged along (Jaeyong) today to hang out with us, and while we tried on some clothes he had fun trying on some stunna shadez:

After a bit of shopping we sat down in Deux Creme to eat some of their famous tarts. We had one slice of cheese tart and one slice of citrus tart while playing word games and thumb war with Jaeyong. Once our sweet tooth was satisfied, it was time for a long overdue trip to sing karaoke at a norehbang 노래방. We took a taxi to Rodeo 거리 in Apgujeongdong 압구정동 and stopped by at a hair accessory store called Farmer’s before going to the Norehbang. If you know me, you’ll know I wear a lot of headbands (:

The rain stopped while we were there and I was reminded of the times the three of us girl cousins (we’re born one year after another, Jiwon first, then me, then Heyon) would hang out together as kids in Korea, in America, even in Thailand. It was weird to think that we’re now college-age and heading off to do our own things.

At the end of the day the Apgujeong party (Jiwon and Jaeyong) and the Seochodong party (Heyon and I) said our goodbyes and headed home. On the way home, however, Heyon and I stopped by Kangnam Underground Market which was under construction and took some creepy pictures. Empty, dark, broken down, and riddled with red drippy paint the construction site looked like a scene from a horror film where something would pop out to eat our flesh. That didn’t stop us from having a little photo fun however.

For dinner we had a meat fest, finished off with Korean cold noodles, naengmyeon (냉면). I’m so full and tired from our adventure I’m having a hard time staying awake to write this post! Haha goodnight! See you tomorrow!