Passing the Freetime

As you may have guessed by now, I really enjoy cooking up new creations as well as the good ol' classics. I am the type of person who needs a creative outlet - whether it's cooking in the kitchen or even water coloring in the kitchen.

I have been getting fancy with my sushi skills.

Homemade pesto pizza, thanks to yet another great care package from Nick's parents.

Inspiration stuck and the next thing I knew I was turning butter into caramel. The only problem was that my tinsy oven could barely hold this large batch.

With a little finess, I made this recipe into a tasty success.

Now I know what you may be thinking... 1) why are there briefs on the toaster oven? and 2) what does this have to do with cooking? Well, this has less to do with cooking and more to do with the fact that when in a pinch and without a clothes drier, this is the best alternative to Nick wearing wet briefs to work. Unconventional, sure - brilliantly effective, you bet!

 

 

 

The kitchen also double as my art studio. It's a little cramped but I make the best of it and Nick doesn't complain about a little India Ink in his food.

In preparation for spring, I cleared out my flower press. These are what I picked from our house in Minneapolis just before moving to Korea.

Complete a 10K: Check

Without having my road or mountain bike to get my butt in motion, I have had no other choice but to follow the bandwagon and take up running like many other foreigners here. Running is not my first choice but I feel it is better exercise than no exercise at all.

Having knees that aren't in the best of shape makes things a bit more challenging but I have little to complain about next to Nick. Between us (both 25 years old) we have had four knee surgeries - one right knee ACL for me and three left knee Meniscus for Nick. We have accepted the fate of our future children.

All that aside and with about a month worth of 'training' under my belt, I set out to complete my first 10K (6.2mile) run. Official time 1:04:16.

Attempting to tie my timer chip onto my laces. Being the rookie that I am, it was more difficult than one my expect. The temperature dropped into the 40's this day, so I didn't hesitate to bundle up!

Let the race begin!

World Cup Stadium Gwangju, South Korea.

My running partner, Shanna Howse, and me post-race. Metals in one hand and flying the V with the other.

My reward. The first burger I'd eaten since January. Delicious.

My second reward. Nick knows how to treat his lady well.

On May 1st I will complete my second 10K run in the Boseong Green Tea Marathon. Wish me luck!

Our Academy

I thought it seemed appropriate to finally give a small tour of our Hagwon, Han's Academy, or 한상희어학원. We have not been inside another academy so it is difficult to know how our set-up compares to others. I do know that our academy is one of the largest and is the most respected Hagwon in our city. Our director, Han, who you can see pictured below, has had our school open for 9 years. This is an impressive feat as many academies, and businesses in general, do not make the cut and close quickly after the ribbon has been snipped.

 

I never would have guessed there to be so many Korean/English language books. If it's out there, I almost guarantee it is on the wall of our Teacher's Room. My chair is the one on the right (back to the camera) and Nick sits across from me. This is ideal for making love eyes to each other while we prep for classes.

The standard classroom. This is about the average size, seating about 10-12. We have 7 classrooms in total, the largest seating 40. I thoughtfully took this photo to hide the graffiti on the walls. Every room has an assortment of random writing, but you will be sure to find <3 BIG BANG ^^, Nick-Teacher is so handsome!!!!, or the like.

This one dates back to January when we worked our intensive schedule. Each day lunch was provided and this is what the spread usually consisted of (plus rice of course!).

One by one, my ET1 (low level/beginner) students sat down and took out their phones while waiting for classes to begin. These girls are about 8 years old - most every student, even the 6 year old's, come equipped with a phone. Pictured from the left: Tiffany, Jessica, Lea, and Sunny.

Ah, the random gifts from our student, Stella. These are a special type of brown eggs. We aren't entirely sure the story behind them as Stella was unable to articulate how they are prepared...

... what I can say is that mine left a strange taste in my mouth and Nick wasn't brave enough to eat his.

 

This is Jack. Jack is smart.

Jack is so cooool.

Spring Brings Motivation

Although it has been quite the duration since our last posting, I intend to move along and act as though it was just yesterday that I shared the latest adventure.

But first I will digress. To be honest, life has definitely settled down into the normal daily grind for Nick and me. Monday morning comes - wake up, eat breakfast, do a round of internet exploration/email check, most days spend a bit of time Skyping with family or friends, get ready for the day, eat lunch, and head to work by 3:00.

Then we put in our time at work, which usually goes by in a flash. From 3:40 to 9:40 we have back to back 50 minute classes. Our students range from 6 year old kids who are just learning English to 16 year old students who can speak rather articulately when they choose to. Just to clarify, we teach at a Hogwan or 학원. Hogwans are private academies that specialize in a particular subject; anything from English to Science to Tae Kwon Do and this is extra schooling outside of their regular day school. In a future post I will go into more detail comparing being a foreign teacher at a Hogwans and Public Schools.

So, after work, we make the 10 minute walk back to our apartment, cook dinner, kick our feet up, maybe watch a flick and then make it to bed by some wee hour of the morning. The rest of the week follows in suit with an alteration here or a dinner out there. Come the weekend, we had been lying low through most of February and into March. The last of our snow melted at the end of February, but the cool air stuck around long enough to keep us hunkered indoors on weekends.

Now, over the last few weeks, spring has sprung and we are finally getting our butts out to enjoy what Korea has to offer us. The following posts will highlight the recent moments worth sharing and I will do my best to keep the motivation going. Enjoy!

Baking - The Only Way Possible

As soon as I opened the care packages from my mom (see previous post), and photographed their contents, I wasted no time getting to work on my first baking project. In anticipation, I had my recipe picked out and 'pantry' stocked with all necessary ingredients. So away I went baking Half-way to Heaven Peanut Butter Cookies. Nick loves peanut butter.

Baking in Korea is not quite the same as baking in the States. Most sweet treats involve rice as the main ingredient and for an extra slash of flavor, red bean is often added in the mix - they get pretty wild over here (I will go into more details on that in a later post). That said, most things necessary for baking are pretty easy to come by but they are packaged into tiny portions. In the above image starting from the lower left, you can see powdered sugar, flour and baking soda. The cost of these items aren't too outrageous but the powdered sugar gets a little pricey at about $1.50 per bag. All and all, the cost is well enough to support the occasional baker like me.

The first thing I realized was that I did not have any measuring spoons... so the palm just had to do. I have since acquired a set of ml spoons that are a slightly better replacement than my hand.

brown sugar, lots of chunky peanut butter, raw sugar, egg, butter.

If I would have let him, Nick would have just eaten this.

Now this is the true test of baking... only 4 cookies at a time!

So I cranked my little Electrolux to 200° C and away I went.

The filling: creamy peanut butter and powdered sugar.

Not so easy to 'whip' with a fork. I have since also acquired a whisk.

Success. The first four cookies are cooling on my makeshift cooling rack on top of the dishes rack... I desperately lack counter-top space.

Luckily the cookies only need to cook for 8 minutes but to kill time I was surfing Pinterest on the IPad.

Adding the creamy topping.

Delicious. An afternoon of hard work produced 7 peanut butter sandwiches. Well worth it in my mind.

In true form of my mother, after a day of baking I needed something salty and savory. So I cracked open some Garlic Tricuits, added some cheese, pesto, tomato, onion and baked until hot and melty. Mmm-mmm.

Rations From Home

Nick and I are quickly approaching our three month mark here in South Korea. During this time we have been fortunate enough for receive a steady supply of care packages from our parents and aunties. Recently we hit the jackpot when my mom sent us three large boxes FILLED to the brim with cravings from home.

Roughly 30 pounds of goods that needed to be carried home from our academy 15 minutes away. Luckily the boxes fit nicely into my awesome Envirosax bags! I have the Origami Pouch Set - use them most everyday.

The inventory:
dry roasted almonds
dry roasted peanuts
spicy peanut mix
sour gummy worms x2
beef jerky x2
Triscuits x3
old fashion oatmeal
Oreos - Double Stuf, naturally
valentine heart candy
Greek salad dressing!!
salt and vinegar Pringles x2 - for sharing at work
Flavor Blasted Goldfish x2
peanut butter cups
face wash x2
deodorant
deck of Uno cards - my middle school students desperately wanted to play this game
my art supplies!! ranging from pens and pencils for sketching, watercolors, paper, brushes, India ink, illustration markers, acrylic primary colors, and two design books - let the fun begin
last but not least, a cute Valentine's Day card sending lots of love

Now it is a matter of will power to not devour every last crumb in one sitting.

New Years in Seoul - Amazing City, Amazing Company

Approximate Date: December 31, 2010 - January 2, 2011
Location: Seoul, South Korea
Details: Nick and Becky ventured to Seoul for a New Year's celebration with East Coasters, Amanda and Andrew.

The day before leaving for Seoul. Snowy Mokpo fountain.

The building next to our bank has country flags hung across the sidewalk. It was easy to spot this one, but we weren't too sure why it has English written on it.

At the train station at the weeeeeee hours of the morning. With the crazy amount of snow we had, we were ill advised to leave the apartment about two hours prior of our 6am train to Seoul. Our director thought for sure that it would be nearly impossible to catch a cab in the bad weather, so we left at 4am only to walk outside and instantly see three cabs driving by. Needless to say, it was a long day.

Breakfast on the train.

First good view of Seoul as we crossed the Han River.

Snow covered shrubbery near our hotel.

A place called Texas Bar. As much as I enjoyed Seoul, the only drawback was how pricey food and drinks were. At bars in Korea, it is expected that you purchase food, like an appetizer, with your drinks. This isn't such a bad thing when you are hungry like we were - expect that a small plate of nachos or chicken ran around ₩17,000 - ₩20,00. Ouch.

The lights around Boshingak, a historic pavilion in central Seoul, where they had a bell ringing to mark the beginning of the New Year - the year of the Tiger. This was a little less dramatic than we were anticipating. The bell was a large gong that you had to stretch to hear over the millions of people who gathered. As soon as the bell stopped ringing, everyone who pushed their way past us was now quickly pushing their way to get back out. All and all Nick and I enjoyed the experience but the best part was that with all the people gathered so closely, we stayed nice and warn! The video below is a group of traditional dancers prior to the New Year.

I don't think I have ever seen so many policemen in one place before. Luckily we didn't get to see them in action.

Amanda and I holding on tight so we wouldn't loose each other in the crowd.

Nick and I cuddling for warmth.

Amanda and Andrew blending in with the locals.

This is Boshingak pavillion where all the action was taking place. I am not current of my K-Pop stars (don't tell my middle school girls this!) but I guess this is a big Korean hunk. If only I knew who it was, then I would have some serious bragging rights.

'11. Koreans will use most any surface for advertising.

The Texas Bar from above had a troop of carriages. The best part we noticed was that the driver had a button to push that made the sound of a strange, electronic neighing horse... Maybe intended to draw in some clientele? It only accomplished in freaking me out.

This was a dog we stumbled upon living in a scooter dog house that has an empty wine glass perched on top. His name is Il Shami. Please, do not touch.

A nice photo opp at Cheonggyecheon.

Something about the holiday season says 'umbrella' to Koreans. I don't get it.

An interesting bench we stumbled upon walking through the historic Bukchon neighborhood.

We found this great pizzeria called, Pizzette, for lunch on our last day. Cutest little place filled with a great vibe and lots of love. The owners had some amazing photography of their two Golden Retriever's as wall decor.

Oh, pup pups. I miss Bauer :(

Half cheese (cheddar, mozzarella, parmesan, and gorgonzolla) half black olives and pesto. Delicious.  

Changdeokgung Palace.

Changdeokgung Palace.

Nick standing with a sundial at Changdeokgung Palace.

 

Changdeokgung Palace.

An interesting wall we came across walking from Changdeokgung Palace.

More wall art.

We found the American Embassy. As we walked by I saw a McDonald's delivery enter the gates. I had to laugh.

View towards Namsan Mountain.

A wall of Hangul (Korean writing) in the King Sejong underground museum.

These are two traditional tea cups Nick and I treated ourselves to in Seoul. The award winning designer is named Yong Cheol Yu.

Each piece is hand stamped in white clay. This pattern was one of our favorites (within our price range) but much of this man's work was simply amazing.