What Did You Do During Chuseok?

… is the question I will ask every class this week as we return to school from the "Korean Thanksgiving" holiday.

What's that you say, Dear Reader? What did I do during Chuseok? Well, I'll tell you:

On Thursday I went to Gocheok Stadium with pal Adam to watch the Heroes Vs LG Twins.


It was a relatively even game, and the Heroes won 3 - 2 when the Twins pitcher walked the bases loaded, then walked in the winning run on the last pitch, described by Adam as (if you listen carefully to the video)"... in the dirt!"


Below the team is lining up to bow to the fans; afterwards, we sat outside a convenience store in the shadow of the skeleton baseball and shot the bull for a while.


Next, I met up with The Stumbler for some sidewalk beers before having lamb skewers (galbi this time, a new addition to the menu) at Sinjeongnaegeori. Bottle U, our occasional sam-cha, has been renamed "Oh-la-la".


On Sunday, I met up with the usual suspects for an FC Seoul game at Seoul World Cup Stadium in Sangam-dong.


The opponents were Incheon United, and though FCS outplayed them, they managed little penetration until the second half. Here's the PK to give our side the win at 2 - 1, though the team scored a third goal about two minutes into added time.


Finally, the scene while exiting the stadium is quite dramatic, even more so with flashing colors:


So, what did you do during Chuseok?

Seoul Food

A few (!?) more photos taken by Tanner during his stay, capturing some of the food we ate.  Thanks old chum!

뼈해장국, hangover soup, at 청진동, a popular restaurant chain

These three photos show seafood awaiting a gastronomic fate in Guro-gu

My French coffee at Gecko's Terrace, Itaewon

영고치, Chinese style lamb skewers in Bongcheon

The manager of preceding lamb restaurant

삼겹살, samgyupsal at 찌개마을 or Stew Village, in Insadong

Some 반찬, banchan, to go with our samgyupsal: seasoned bean sprouts

소금구이, sogeumgui, or salt pork, at 새마을식당, New Village Restaurant in Gangseo-gu cheong

More banchan, pickled onions: Tanner had three bowls

Cow's liver, stomach lining and kidney (?) , meant to be eaten raw

곱창,gopchang, cow offal, for which the preceding two banchan were provided. The restaurant is named 한우곱창전문, Hanu (or Korean Beef) Gopchang Specialists

볶음밥, fried rice, being prepared in the griddle used to cook our gopchang.  Crispy and delicious, though I personally can do without the added seaweed

Korean comfort food, 부대찌개, budae jjigae literally means army base stew . This is the Heungbu variety as served at the Nolboo chain

So, those are the culinary highlights of Tanner's Seoul experience.  We didn't have time to try everything, and he wanted a couple of dishes repeated (the haejangguk and yang gochi in particular).  No boshintang, nor beef galbi, and no hong-eo, haha.  I did try to tempt him with sundaeguk, but once I had to tell him what "headcheese" is, he shied away ...  Still, we covered most of the highlights, ate well, and left him wanting for more.  Come on back, TB, the city has refilled its soju stocks.

Oddly, I've come over all peckish.

School Notes

1) I have 9 more days of winter camp; the last day is Feb. 3, but we have Saturday class on the 30th. Attendance continues to be abysmal.

2) During the break between periods, I watch from my window as about a dozen students, in twos and threes, climb over the fence and make a run for it. Occasionally, I yell out for them to be careful, as the fence is a good eight or nine feet high. Some of them turn and flash me a smile: "Hi, Teacher!"

3) Curiously, the touchscreen function of my classroom big screen decided to stop working this week; no idea why. Supposedly, some bloke was to come out this afternoon and have a look, but it's not in my job description to wait around for him. Not me, I paid my bills (you do this at the bank), then went to 마당집 and had galbitang for lunch.

4) This week in camp, I did a "unit" on advertising. It began with some activities from a good PBS website: pbskids.org/dontbuyit/ and a Canadian site: www.media-awareness.ca/english/games/coco/index.cfm. While I'm doing links, Adforum.com is a great source for current worldwide ads to discuss. Later on, we analyzed the US Presidential TV ad campaign "Eisenhower Answers America", using material from this website: www.pbs.org/30secondcandidate/. I thought the issue of involvement in the Korean War would interest them.

But their favorite thing was this pair of videos:




The culmination of the unit was to design and present an ad campaign for some product--either made up or real. They were mostly poor, though a couple actually met the requirements I set.

Then there was one boy who did a suicide-prevention public service announcement--challenging material, to say the least. I thought his slogan was really good:

You are an actor or actress in a happy-ending play ... called life.

A Few Tidbits of Today

1) I found out today, about an hour in advance (why am I still surprised by this kind of thing?) that a film crew would come into my classroom to shoot footage for a promotional video for the school. Could I please do something interesting?

Well, no one actually said that, but you get the feeling. Could you please tell me a little bit in advance? I'd answer, if they did. I could have worn a tie. I bought a new tie in New Zealand that I only wore once, a fetching bright yellow, but not so bright that it would strobe on film.

So it came to pass during 4th period that four or five twenty-somethings carrying a lot of equipment came in and tried to catch in the act of learning a group of second graders whose concentration skills are tenuous at the best of times. I don't know how the footage came out as I wasn't invited to lushes, but I am not hopeful. They did get a good shot up my right nostril as wrote "famous" on the whiteboard.

2) Lunch today--mind you, lunch is almost always good at Young-il HS--was an orgy of meat, which Jay Lee pointed out was the Mr Campbell Special. The main course was beef bulgogi; the soup was budae jjigae in guk form, essentially a soup loaded with SPAM chunks, hot dog slices, bacon, baked beans and kimchi; and pork meatballs.

3) I got approval to spend a little money on some toys. No, that's not code for computer equipment or something, I mean toys. My next crazy lesson plan for turning the English Only Zone inside out is going to be ... a Toy Convention, come Oct 19. So I'll spend around W 100,000 buying some toys for the manufacturer's "booths" (a pair of desks and some laminated signage) to show to the store buyers. The format will be generally as described in the Young-il Job Fair.

I wanted to make it cheap and easy, so I want to use simple, old-fashioned toys: bag o' marbles, cup-and-ball, wind-up pin-organ, etc. And I finally hit on the right idea: toys which don't use batteries! Here's the first draft of a logo for the Young-il ToyCon, made in MS Paint:


I've put together the conversation exchange and the worksheet templates, but still to come are the logos for the toy manufacturers, the displays, and the unique names of the stores and store buyers, enough for about 30 students.

If it sounds like a lot of work, it is. The first time. However, I always work under the principle that if I do it correctly from the start, I can reuse it over and over, thus saving effort in the long run. OTOH, I'm not planning to stay in Korea all that long.

Isu is Cool

The news from the ROK tonight, or at least the Seoul Patch, is perhaps unexciting. Today was a national exam practice day at school, which means I didn't have any classes, but still had to go in to work--until 11:00 anyway. I mostly surfed the web and slept. God forbid I save myself the walk to school and do that at home...

Which actually was a bit of an issue, the napping part at least, since I met up with a group of fellow waygookin at Isu for food and drinks last night. The ostensible purpose was to welcome back to Korea a guy named Jerry who is a friend of Andy. I didn't know this bloke, but never having been to Isu (line 4 or 7, just north of Sadang), it sounded good to me. We ended up with quite a crew, and I stayed much later than intended. No, I didn't get kicked off at Sindorim, but I did miss the last bus at Hapjong and had to take a taxi.

I met some new faces, which is always nice, and ate some delicious chee-tato-dalk-galbi, spicy chicken stir fry with cheese and potatoes, for the first time. I'll definitely be having that again! After a brief stint at Jijimi Bar, the entire crew was assembled at Garten Bier. I have mentioned this awesome place before: it's a chain which has refrigerated wells in the tables to hold your beer--which comes in single, double or triple sized beer vases.

So, in essence, Isu is a more refined Sillim, and another locale to add to my list of party districts in Seoul--this city lives for the night-time.

Tonight was the final night of Asian World Cup qualifying on the Korean side, and the Reds hosted Iran--the country with the contested election a few days ago--across the river from my place, at Sangam World Cup Stadium. I didn't go because it looked like rain and I had some sleeping to get in. Besides, Korea is already assured of a spot in South Africa.

So, I watched the game in my chicken hof, where I was the sole customer inside (there were a few tables on the front patio outside) at the beginning. By halftime, two-thirds of the tables were occupied, cheering on the squad. I like the feeling this gives me, of sharing something in common with the Koreans around me. They came from one down to tie it up on a goal by Pak Ji-seong, the Man U winger and National Team captain, and the crowd went wild.

It ended with the 1 - 1 score, so Korea goes to South Africa without a single loss in WC qualifying--the kind of thing Italy and Brazil do. Still, I doubt they'll make the Final Four, as they did in 2002.

And yes, I did go to the gym today before daring to eat fried chicken!

Tuttle News Wrap

1) I tucked my heavier coats into a suitcase under the stairs, based on the observation that today's temperature reached about 72 F. I bought a light spring-type coat a few weeks ago, but if it stays warm like this, I will hardly use it.

2) The lesson plans are going swimmingly, but for some reason they have been very tiring this week. Mind you, first period Tuesday, the cellphone conversation thing, the kids spent their conversation time goofing off, and the co-teacher sat at the back reading a book.

I made it clear to both that this was not acceptable, and I would see a different pattern of behavior next week, or they would see a very different me! I don't actually lose my temper anymore, but I can act like it pretty well. Stay tuned.

3) That was Tuesday. For lunch, delightful older Mr Lee asked me to accompany him to lunch off-campus and eat 갈비탕 galbi-tang, or (beef) short rib soup. I had not eaten this before, but it certainly goes on my list! The restaurant was named 마당집 mah dang jib, which means courtyard house. Several tables were in a pretty, old-fashioned courtyard, and there were also several private rooms inside. Mr Lee told me this is a popular spot for dinner among Young-il teachers who have to work the late shift supervising the study rooms. Sorry, no pictures, as it was kind of ad hoc.

4) The native teacher blogosphere is up in arms about an opinion piece in yesterday's Korea Times titled "Korea's English Pandemic" bemoaning both the state of Korean English education and the influx of low-quality pasty-faced native speakers.

Frankly, it is a quandary to me how this even got published. The author is Jessica Kim, who hates English education so much she uses an English name and goes to school at the University of Virginia. Sounds to me like a case of I got mine, you can't have yours. You hear the same thing in America, from the anti-immigration people. She claims:

Recently, a lot of people have been calling me and emailing me, to the point where I just had to shut down my phone. Some even identify themselves as a friend of a friend of a friend of mine. That's a long social chain.
These random "friends" who don't have a job or got fired recently have been trying to get in touch with me to ask me about teaching English in Korea.

Puh-leeze. She shut down her phone, there were so many calls? She continues:

Sadly, I do not have a solution and my intention was only to point out my observation of today's society. I do not know if anyone will ever have a solution. Is it even possible?

Gosh, thanks for that. But most egregiously, and without a shred of evidence, she ends with a comment that the influx of native teachers "leads to many indirect social problems that we have in Korea right now." Though she may mean it indirectly leads to the problems, either way, it is malarkey. Shame on you, Jessica (if that is your real name), for writing such hate-filled twaddle, and shame on you, Korea Times, for publishing it!

English Dept Faculty Meeting II

Before I come to the event of the day, I have to talk about the other event of the day. Mr Hwang and I both forgot he couldn't go to lunch with me during 4th period, so I ended up going alone. Well, I looked at the offering provided by Dongwon, our new food service, and decided it sucked. I've mentioned before my ambivalence about their menu. The main dish today (well, other than rice) was tofu cubes cooked in doenjang with veg. I'll admit the new potatoes fried in oil and seasoning looked edible. The only meat was the same bony stewed fish we get four days out of five.

Now here's a question I've been longing to ask: Can someone explain to me why Koreans, with their deep love of seafood, including incredibly bony fish, as well as their lauded historical ingenuity, have not managed to devise a means of mechanically boning their fish? What is up wi' dat?

Anyway ...

Knowing there is a Hansot (quickie diner) a block from school, I literally turned around and walked out of the cafeteria--something I'd never done before. As I arrived at the crosswalk, who should be next to me but Yi Cheonggi, my friend the art teacher. He asked me if I have had lunch yet. I said I hadn't. He said, "Come with me, we will lunch-ee together." I said, "Okay."

Five minutes later I was sitting with Cheonggi and his friend in a tiny--I mean tiny--restaurant whose name I sussed out from the menu board was Gwangju Guk Bap 광주국밥, Gwangju-style soup and rice. I'm kicking myself I did not bring my cellphone along for the camera, because what we ate deserved recording.

It is called sun-dae guk bap 순대국밥, a soup or stew made of pig's intestines and brains, served with rice. It was peppery, savory, slightly salty and very tasty. I ate up every single bit of it--the adjumma even brought us extra sun-dae, and we polished that off, too. Like most peasant folk cuisine, the Korean version doesn't let any nutritive part of the animal go to waste, and serves it up filling, delicious and cheap.

The meal was 5,000 W--not that I had any chance of paying, since I was with two Korean men older than myself. In fact, Cheonggi grumbled throughout the coffee-drinking that his friend was "berry trickery" for sneaking off to pay the bill without letting on. He is endearing as hell.

After lunch, I taught two sections of 2nd grade our first lesson on "the future"--utopia, dystopia, Zager & Evans, what is your life like in 2025, etc--then went to the post office to mail in my US bills. After I returned to school, Mr Lee #5 took me to his car, we drove 1 minute 45 seconds and got to the restaurant where the English Dept was having its meeting to welcome the new faculty. I underwent this initiation my first week at Young-il and it remains one my fondest memories here. I felt truly welcomed, and I wanted to make sure the new faculty got the same treatment.

In place of samgyupsal, we ate galbi and other beef at a restaurant called Bloomhanwoo--literally, flowering Korean beef. It was really good, as it always is at these places. We drank beer and soju but not very much, so I was quite pleased when a move to second round was announced.

Once more, I kick myself that I didn't take any photos, for the atmosphere was really cool. We gathered at two long, split-trunk tables in a subterranean room whose joists and beams were clearly recycled from a much older building. It had an atmosphere a bit like the Sam-il patriots or the Leninist crowd must have experienced as they plotted the downfall of the Imperialists.

"So, we must determine how we are going to begin the revolution," I said in my best bad Russian accent, looking around conspiratorially.

Mr Oh caught on. "First, we must dispose of the Principal," he said.

"No more haircuts!" I said. That got a big laugh. The first week of school, students were rounded up each morning and made to do push ups and squats and so forth for, among other things, long hair.

The revolutionary meme was vogue for the rest of the evening. Around 8:30, things seemed to be winding down, and we left the cute little bar (which I must find again). Ostensibly to go home. But I reminded the old-time faculty that when *I* was a newbie, we went to noraebang for third round! Well, Mr Lee #5 and Mr Oh seemed game, so we took the three new faculty--Mr Hu and Miss Lee (both my co-teachers who you will probably hear more about) and Miss Kim, whose English name is Cherie--about three doors down to a singing room.

I wowed them with a few songs (of course) but then sat back and watched as they overcame their shyness, spread their wings and sang like, like, well, Koreans singing in a noraebang or larks or something.

By the time we left, nearly 10 PM, we had definitely bonded. I hope the experience of their first Eng Dept Mtg was as good for them as mine was for me!

Korean Baseball Championship Series

Not a very interesting title, I realize, but it has the benefit of clarity to recommend itself.

In brief, Andrew was able to obtain a pair of tickets to Game 4 of the Korean League's championship series (just barely, as they were sold out moments later!) between the Doosan Bears and the SK Wyverns. Here we are before the action on the field begins:


We were rooting for the Bears, mainly because they are the Seoul team (SK is in Incheon), and in my case, because I live in a Doosan officetel. Not that one needs rational reasons to support a particular team. In fact, 'fan' is short for fanatic, which means filled with excessive & mistaken enthusiasm, according to my trusty concise Oxford.

Well, the game started plus ungood, as the catcher misthrew while trying to pick off a runner at second, and it went, slowly, downhill from there. However, the Doosan fans remained enthusiastic throughout the game. Here's a partial explanation: the guy in the green shirt at the center of this photo is selling beer from a pony keg on his back:


I mentioned we got the practically the last available seats, which means general admission. We were close to the field, but in the left field bleachers; not a lot of action came our way. The photo below is a Wyvern player fielding a single--it's the only clear action shot I got:


What's a wyvern? you're wondering. Glad you asked. I didn't know either. Turns out, it's a mythical, heraldic creature, a winged serpent along the lines of a dragon. It's also the mascot of the best team in the Korean League--they dominated this season, not-so-closely followed by Doosan, rather in the manner that Chris Evert-Lloyd was second place to Martina Navrotilova, back in the day.

Still, it was only 2 - 1 to SK at the sixth inning stretch. Yes, that's right: sixth inning stretch. The other big thing they get wrong from American baseball is the count: strikes and balls, instead of balls and strikes. A full count is 2 and 3, which makes the mind boggle momentarily before you remember, Welcome to Korea! Below is a video of the stretch activities, led by some famous Korean pop singer who is a big Bears fan:


The final score was 4 - 1, and afterward, Andy and I met up with his girlfriend at a beef galbi restaurant near Seoul National University. The food was really excellent.

Oh, did I mention it was extremely late and I was fairly tipsy? Well, it was about 1 AM by the time we finished eating, and I was two-and-a-half sheets to the wind. Sure signs of a good time!

Tapgol Park, Changdeokgung and Insa-dong

On Saturday, I met up with my friend Steve at Exit #1 of Jongno-sam-ga Station; it was our intention to explore the artsy area called Insa-dong. The first place we came to was Tapgol Park, where I recognized the ten-tiered pagoda that is Korea's National Treasure #2.



The park is small, and marks the site of a 15th century Buddhist temple. It is famous as the site of the March 1st Movement, or Sam-il (meaning 3 - 1), an important impetus for the Korean independence movement during the Japanese occupation. There is a series of bas relief sculptures around the park documenting moments during the independence movement.



It was also the terminus of the Great Peace March in 1986, which led to dictator Chun Doo-whan stepping down in favor of democratic elections for the first time in the country's history. Because of all this background, Tapgol Park remains a common gathering place for protests and marches (such as the beef protests earlier this year). We couldn't find out what was in the offing, but it looks as if the police were ready for something:


Next, we made our way to Changdeokgung Palace, rich in history as the second palace built by the royal family in 1405, during the Joseon dynasty. Few of the buildings from that time are extant, as the palace has been destroyed and rebuilt throughout South Korea's various occupations. First, a picture of Injeongjeon Hall, and its throne room, the site of the palace's formal functions such as weddings, receptions for foreign envoys and the like. It was built in 1405, and reconstructed after a fire in 1609. If you look at the 10,000 Won note, you can see the same image of five mountains that are painted on the panel behind the throne!


One of my favorite things about Seoul is the juxtaposition of ancient and modern. In this picture, you can see Injeongmun (Injeong Gate) to my right, and the modern city outside the palace walls on my left.


Below are a few more photos of our Changdeokgung Palace tour. Hover your mouse over the photo for a description:





After the tour concluded, Steve and I were both thirsty, so we went looking for a hof before dinner. Amazingly, we walked several blocks before finding anything at all--apparently we had wandered into the one neighborhood in Seoul that was teetotal! Neither of us is fluent in Korean, so the snack we ordered in this tiny seafood restaurant (the cheapest thing on the menu) turned out to be fried eggs and carrots. With dried tiny sardines on the side.

So we quenched our thirst, and took the edge off our hunger, and wandered back toward the main area of Insa-dong, looking for a galbi restaurant. Turns out, Insa-dong is loaded with artsy coffee shops and panini bistros with names like Cafe du Coin and Ma Ma, but not much in the way of serious Korean food. Okay, we did pass up a Chinese noodle house and a samgyupsal place, as we were in the mood for beef. Finally, we found it! And it was worth the walking--besides we saw all of Insa-dong during our stroll. Now I know where the chicken art museum is located. I will so be back for that.

The galbi was outstanding--it always is--and the bill came to 53,000 W including beer, about $25 each. Which is what you'd pay at Ruby Tuesday's, and infinitely superior.

On the way home, we stopped briefly in Itaewon--about 4 stops away on line #6--as Steve needed a new phone card. We dropped in at Nashville, three doors down from Seoul Bar, and much mellower. A pleasant ending to a pleasant day!

What I Did On My First Day

1) Woke up about 8:00 in my new, very sweet flat, watched Korean TV for a while. The program appeared to be similar to Star Search. They need to keep looking.

2) Fielded blog responses, added a couple of pics to "Here I Am" post, using my webcam.

3) About noon, tried to walk to my school, but wasn't sure how many blocks to go before turning west, so I ended up wandering the neighborhood for a few hours. I am two blocks away from Korean Air headquarters. The most common stuff in my neighborhood includes car mechanics, pork or seafood restaurants, retail shops of every variety, and huge apartment complexes. Mok-dong is pretty cool.

4) I came home around 16:00 to relax and shower and shave before going to dinner with my boss, Mr. Hwang.

5) Promptly at 18:00, Mr. Hwang appeared at my door. We went to dinner at the "galbi" restaurant in my building (he lives within a five minute walk). The waitstaff set out about ten side dishes--panchan--followed by a heavy metal pot of coals that goes in a hole in the middle of the table. A grill is put on top, and strips of beef put on to cook.

You grab a piece of lettuce or other leafy green, use chopsticks to put two or three grilled beef strips (this is also done with pork) in it, add some of the panchan, wrap it up, and eat it. Not only is it delicious, the chiggae (soup) that comes with it is awesome.

We ate and talked for nearly two hours, sitting on the floor in stocking feet; I feel very positive about it. He will pick me up at 7:30 tomorrow and show me the route to Young-il High School.

6) I went upstairs and changed, then went to one of the three "hofs" downstairs for a draft. In addition to the usual Korean version of beer nuts (see photo below), this one gave me a small plate of sauteed corn and red bell peppers. More deliciousness.

7) I came upstairs, using the stairs, and began this blog post.