The quest for pineapple soju

A large part of this weekend was spent searching for pineapple soju. One of my friends mentioned it one night and ever since then the thought was stuck in my head and I had to have pineapple soju! Before my quest began, I got a tour of Myeonkuk-dong -- just another nearby neighborhood. The best view in the area is from the top of a mountain. You have to climb a bunch of wooden steps to get to the top, but its worth all the exhaustion to get to the top and see this.These are the wooden steps that lead to the top. Although, my friend Nolan and I did not just stop where the wooden steps ended. We ventured further into the unknown. We saw another trail, which we assumed would lead us to a better view, so we decided to follow it.These are the signs we kept seeing throughout the trail. They probably say danger do not go deeper into the trail because the mosquitos will eat you alive -- which was what was happening to us by this point. We went pretty far into the trail only to find a mini farm of sorts, where something unknown was being grown, there were a lot of buckets with green water and a bunch of frogs in the water. We never found a better view but going beyond the wooden steps was exciting.

After dinner, we slowly started our search for our pineapple soju. We went to a bar where we were certain pineapple soju was available. We got there and found the shutters bolted down. This was one of the many disappointments to come throughout the night. We went to a myriad of other Korean bars and kept getting turned down for pineapple soju. We decided we would not rest until we had some, and we weren't going to cave and just buy soju and pineapple juice to make ourselves. We wanted the thing made for us! After trying a bunch of convenient stores and E-mart our dreams of pineapple soju were slowly being crushed. My friend Lindsay joined in on the quest and we decided we were each going to get plastic flasks of regular soju and walk the streets of Changwon to continue our search.
I don't know how long or how far we walked that night. What made it worse was that we kept making circles from one part of town to another. We took a cab at one point and the cab driver said there are places called soju-bongs. So for awhile our search widened to not just the pineapple soju, but for a soju-bong. The driver said they existed all over the place but failed to point us to one specific location. We bumped into some of Lindsay's friends who knew of a place that served flavored soju. The closest thing we got the our pineapple soju that night was the lemon flavored one. At that point we were so tired from walking around, we made ourselves think that the lemon flavored soju was indeed the best pineapple soju we've ever had.

Field Trip!

This past Tuesday I went on a field trip with all the teachers from my school. We went to Sang Neem Forest in Hamyan. It took roughly two hours to get there -- well worth the crazy bus trip. Our first stop brought us to a garden filled with lotus flowers as far as the eye could see. I really wish the pictures did more justice to how breath-takingly beautiful it was. There were big ones, tiny ones, red ones, white ones, and pink ones, it was all just absolutely lovely.
We went into the forest, after we were done walking through the lotus flower garden. I came across a random resting place, where people were eating their meal.
Our meal was waiting for us at a restaurant not to far from the forest. They served us four different grains of rice. The rice was prepared using the big leaves from the lotus flower garden. They wrap the rice in leaves and steam it.

Above is a picture of my co-teacher Soon-Young, taking a sip of whatever is in that cup -- probably tea. This meal was probably the best meal I've had in Korea thus far. Our table was covered with food, the main dish was a spicy soup concoction with a bunch of seafood. The side dishes were great too, my favorite is this thing called paa-jhong. It's like pan fried potatoes with vegetables mixed in, kind of looks like a pancake. I got the recipe from a Korean coworker of mine, and this weekend I'm going to try my hand at making paa-jhong.

We headed up to the mountains after our huge lunch. And yet another site, where the pictures just don't seem to capture it all.

This was actually a rice patty that was on our way to the restaurant.
These kids looked like they were having a blast. The one that is trying to get back on the raft kept falling off.

Okay, so this last picture is to show how serious Koreans really are about their Karaoke. After dinner and a good bit of soju our bus was turned into a Noraebong -- with colorful lights, a big screen up front, and a mic. Some of the teachers got up and started dancing. I was just so surprised at how even the older teachers were really into putting on their best performance. Just to reiterate, this all happened on a bus! Yeah the kind you're supposed to sit and travel in from one destination to another.

The Expat bar and Noraebang 노래방

My voice feels hoarse this morning. Probably because we were at the Noraebang till 4:30 in the morning singing such classics as: Oasis', Wonderwall; Radiohead's, Creep; Flaming Lip's, The Spark that Bled; and many other crowd pleasers.

I went to O'Brien's which is one of the expat bars in Changwon. I met up with Lindsay and Nolan there. After a while it seemed like I wasn't in Korea anymore.

The bar owner is this nice Irish guy. He came up to me and jokingly said I should leave Korea before I get sucked into all this. I can see how people would wind up staying longer than they expected. Although, I really don't see myself doing that -- I'd miss my parents and friends way too much. There were a couple of bands playing and then Lindsay got to read her poetry, which everyone that was actually listening ended up loving.

I stayed at O'Brien's for a while and met a bunch of new people. Our group expanded to a good nine or ten people. The bar was packed with people and ridiculously hot inside. The crew moved over to the Bunny Bar to escape the heat. The Bunny Bar is a Korean bar and there were five people in there -- until we showed up. It was pretty nice since the bar was empty expect for 3 Koreans sitting at the bar chatting with the two bartenders, and then there was us.

We started playing darts. The first round Lindsay and I partnered up and we pretty much dominated. We won and then started playing another game with darts that required my aim to be accurate and consistent. Things were not looking good, we barely got our score up on the board. Nolan was my partner afterwards and the last game was absolutely devastating. We lost by two points. We were so close!
Once we’d exhausted the Bunny Bar we decided it was time to hit up the Noraebong. If Noraebong doesn't scream Korea, then I don't know what does (I mean I guess kimchee, but Koreans get real serious about their karaoke here). It was a fun night and long night, and now I'm off to go meet this new girl Zoe that just got to Korea a couple of days ago.

Korean bus drivers are insane.

I wanted to learn the bus routes as quickly as possible, since buses and my two legs are my only mode of transportation. I guess there are taxis too, but I'm paranoid that I am going to get abducted by a Korean cab driver. I think I've already committed several faux pas in using the bus.

First, your not supposed to get off the bus using the front door. I've done that several times, not knowing of course. Everyone just stared. People stare at me all the time, and I assumed it was because I was a foreigner. I'm just happy that the bus driver didn't start yelling at me in Korean, because I've heard that's happened.

Second, I made the bus driver open the door as he was stopped at a red light. I missed my stop the first time I was on the bus alone, coming back home. Really, this is not my fault, everything in Korea just happens to look exactly the same! Every time the bus nears a Baskin-Robbins and Dunkin' Donuts I feel that I am approaching my neighborhood, when in reality I'm probably on the other side of town.

I've started taking the 212 frequently into the center of town. And I always end up with the same bus driver. I think he has a lot of pent up aggression, because he seems to take it out on the roads. He drives like a mad man. Oh and don't ever assume buses will stop, just because your at a bus stop. In Changwon you have to flag them down sometimes, or they'll drive right past you, even though they see you standing right there.

Last night, I was on the 212 again, going to Lotte-Mart, and my crazy bus driver almost ran over a kid. I'm not even exaggerating.

Getting off is really scary for me. I've heard that the door has been shut on people. And it's not like I can yell out in Korean, open the door. I should probably learn that expression. You have to get on really fast and get off really fast. Needless to say, I always get real apprehensive when I take the bus, and I use them a lot now.

But, riding around does have its perks. I'm surrounded by mountains. This is just a little of what I get to see.

Patbingsu

This is patbingsu (paat-beeng-sue) in all its glory. I didn't get what all the hoopla was about the first time I had it. It was just shaved ice with a bunch of fruit to me.

But today, the patbingsu was a welcomed treat. It was so humid the entire day. Everyone loves this stuff over here in the summer because it cools you off. One student's mom had several bowls of patbingsu delivered to all the teachers on the fourth floor.

It's made up of a bowl full of shaved ice, and you mix in an assortment of fruits -- kiwis, strawberries, oranges, and whatever else they throw in there -- they'll put little rice cake chunks in there as well, and of course the sweet red beans. We pour milk over our patbingsu, but people have different ways of eating it. I've seen some pretty elaborate bowls topped of with ice cream. They serve them at the fast food joints too. So, going to McDonald's and ordering patbingsu is always an option

I've been hanging out with my Korean co-teachers a lot. One of the older teachers invited me over for dinner and to stay over at her house for the night next weekend. This should be interesting considering she doesn't know any English, other than hello and good. But, we have a weird way of communicating, and through some miracle we always end up figuring out what we're trying to say to each other. Definitely looking forward to next Thursday, that's when she's planning to have me over.

Soju on a rock and Russian gypsies

Considering I didn't know how I was going to get home, because I have no idea where my neighborhood is, I'd say my first real night out in Changwon was spectacular. I took a cab to go meet Lindsay over in her neck of the woods -- the center of Changwon. We picked up Ryan before heading to this restaurant that serves good bibimbap.

At dinner, I learned about Korean's irrational fear of the number 4. Something to do with the Chinese word for death sounding similar to the number four in Korean. This finally explained why my elevator has an F in place of a four, for the fourth floor. Also, as luck would have it my apartment just happens to be on the fourth floor! I also found out about "Korean age". My co-teacher first told me about this, when she was like "my Korean age is 25 but my American age is 24". I was really confused, but turns out in Korea new borns are automatically a year old once they are born -- so on their first birthday they turn two. It's kind of weird and depends on what time of the year you were born and such, but it was certainly interesting.

After dinner and some shopping at E-mart we waited for a bus to head over to Masan. This was the small protest taking place right next to the bus stop. We couldn't figure out whether it was for the beef upheavel that's been taking this country by storm, or for the woman that was recently shot in North Korea. The longer we stood there the more we leaned towards a beef protest of some sort.

We ended up in a bar in Masan called All that Jazz. But to my disappointment, the bar did not serve any Soju. This was quickly fixed once Ryan called his Korean friend Kevin. The place we went to served up a lot of stuff along with our Soju. I think my favorite thing was the dukboki (ricecakes and fish soaked in this hot chilli sauce). I learned a lot of Korean drinking games that night. It was hard work, their games involve a lot of math -- not so great when you're intoxicated with Soju -- but definitely gets everyone laughing because you're bound to mess up and screw up the numbers. We walked around the streets of Masan after our late night snack. Kevin suggested that we go chill out at Kyungnam University. We bought some more soju and salty snacks and ended up sitting on this huge rock looking up at the few stars that were visible. I don't think the night could have ended more perfectly than that.

Sunday was spent walking through City 7, this huge maze of a mall looking for an adapter. I ended up seeing the most random thing. They were like Russian gypsies. There were magicians, acrobats, and an opera singer. It was all so completely out of place. The entire time I was like what are these Russians doing performing in a mall in South Korea?

I chatted with the manager of the troupe after the show. He was this big Russian man that looked like he belonged in the mafia. He was nice though, I asked him about what the heck they are doing in South Korea, and he told me they go from country to country to perform random shows. They've been to France, Germany, and a bunch of other countries in Europe. He said they were going to be in South Korea for another month. I definitely plan on going back and watching them again. I didn't get a chance to talk to the performers, but next time I'm going to try to chat with them after they finish doing their thing. My trip to the confusing Korean mall made me really happy. Especially when I met this Korean guy at the bookstore, who seemed to know a bit of English. He told me I could find my adapter for my computer at Lotte-Mart. This pretty much made my day. So now I'm hooked up to the rest of the world again, and boy does it feel good! I've been feeling so out of the loop since I wasn't getting any news, and had no idea what was going on in the world outside of Changwon -- well, really I have no idea what the heck is going on in Changwon either.

Thank God for PC Cafes

So I'm in Korea without a phone and a laptop that does not work because the stupid adaptor I bought is a peice of shit. I'm never going to Best Buy again -- once I return to the states that is. Other than that my experience here so far has been quite an adventure. The first day a Korean girl showed up at my door and took me to the Minsitry of Education. You'd think they would send someone that knew a little English, but no. We played charades in the car the entire time. She was very nice and after about five minutes we discovered a common thread -- Grey's Anatomy. I was so jetlagged on Thursday, but being at the school was awesome. All the kids are eager to speak the little bit of English that they know. Even if that means asking me "Do you like spring?" My co-teacher Soon-Euh informed me, that was just a new expression they learned. It's kind of crazy getting mobbed be a gaggle of Korean kids throwing Hi, Hellos, and Nice to Meet You every time you walk through the hallways. Eating lunch has become a bit of a spectacle too -- they either come up and talk, or stare.

I chatted with a group of kids yesterday after class and they were the best of the bunch. They wanted me to memorize their names, which at this point is impossible. Maybe, with some time I'll start to remember them, but they all sound the same to me. There was one boy who desperatley wanted me to remember his name. I couldn't so I started calling him handsom boy,
which made him blush and all the girls giggled. Korean girls giggle a lot, I always thought I did but they've got me beat.

Aside from all the school stuff, I've been exploring my town after school. Yesterday I went searching for a PC cafe and had to ask a man in broken Korean where to find one. I'm sure he thought I was crazy. I finally found one after walking for a good bit. There are a tons of resturants everywhere I turn. I'm supposed to call my new friend Lindsay in a bit so we can make dinner plans for tonight. Giving her directions to my place is going to be a challenge since I have no idea where the heck I live in relation to anything else.

Anyways, as soon as I get an adaptor and my internet up and running I will post pictures. Lots of pictures.