Rice Paddies Hike Part 2

Lots of spider webs on the trail.

The Buddhist temple. It was inside a little compound which we didn't go into.

On the way back, we walked around a lake where these guys were fishing. The weather became really foggy, but I loved it. Perfect for hiking near the water and on trails.

Part of the irrigation system for the rice fields.

A canal/ bridge.

The terraced fields.

Computer

Hey friends.

My computer is having some issues, so the posts may be a little slower in coming now. I hope all is well where you are. More later. Please pray that my computer stops making melting smells when I use it (and yes, I have a converter. The problem is something else, I think).

Sarah

Rice Paddies/ Temple Hike part 1

After church last Sunday, one of the professors (an American linguist teaching English) here at the university had a few of us over for lunch (that's him in the front of the line of the first picture). I do want to say that one of the things I have appreciated the most about being here is having the chance to worship with so many people from so many different countries. But that's probably a whole other post. Anyway, after lunch we decided to hike to a small Buddhist temple behind the school. Someone said that it was mostly road, so I didn't change my clothes -- I was just wearing my Sunday dress and my Chacos. It had just rained, so things were pretty muddy, but I didn't think it would be too bad.

The start of the trail, a little (6 inch wide) ridge between fields.

I tripped and fell after taking this self picture.

But then the trail became noticeably overgrown.

And then steep. Poor Lisa (in front of the camera) was wearing flip flop shower shoes.

Then we got to the top of the ridge, where we saw some old gravestones.

More on this hike later. I just wanted to post a few pictures.
To answer Courtney's question about more food description... I can say that Korean food is almost never mushy or soft. Except for greens, everything has a little bit of a crunch. It has lots of salt, garlic, and loads of vinegar. Chilies are in a lot of the foods. Almost nothing is oily. There are not many sweet flavors, either. Occasionally, a meat will have a honey or rice vinegar type sweetness to it, but that's really it.
I am enjoying it a lot, and there have only been a few nights when I thought, "well, I guess I'll just go to bed hungry," but even on those nights, we manage to scrounge up some food.
Tonight most of the teachers are going to go eat at a Western style restaurant downtown (the camp is paying. I probably wouldn't seek that out normally, though after two weeks, I don't feel guilty about maybe wanting a hamburger. Or a salad.) and then we're going to watch some fireworks from the beach. I'll let you know how that goes.

Korean Food...

... has been an adventure.

A typical looking Korean lunch, dinner, and, yes, breakfast. Except this soup was Japanese style. The lunch lady looked shocked when I said, "Miso?" Yes, it was miso.

This is a less appetizing picture, but it was on a feast night when we met the counselors who were paired with our class. We never really have two kinds of meat. On the left is "bulgogi" which is some sort of chopped meat, on the right is a piece of fried chicken. Front left is some sort of pinwheel shaped root vegetable coated in sweet sauce and peanuts and about the same texture as a pencil eraser. Front right is spicy, fermented cabbage called kimchi, which they call Korea's national dish. Even that description, though, is a vast understatement. Not a meal goes by without accompanying kimchi, mounds of it on every plate. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Korean style barbecue: we had skillets in the middle to cook pork and garlic, which we then wrapped in lettuce leaves and topped with rice, peppers, an amazing fermented soybean chili sauce, and, yes, kimchi. Community style dining that has been my favorite meal so far.

The resulting wrap.

When we ate at the Jukdo market, this was the corn/squash pudding that we ordered and ate as a group. I can't say that I was a huge fan, though I was a fan of trying something new, if that counts for anything.

You can see a knee in this picture. We sat at a table where we sat on the floor. We only ordered some gimbop (Korean style sushi roll) and the bowl of squash pudding, but the stall manager brought us water, sprouts, and kimchi. Then some older Korean women drinking soju (alcohol) got really worked up and kept feeding us things, trying to mime what they were and laughing hysterically. One of the things they gave us were these leaves which you wrap around a garlic clove and then eat. We found out very quickly that the cloves were raw. They also gave one of us (not me) the same leaf but then it had some sort of raw mystery meat inside. We were at a fish market, but it could have been liver; we definitely saw veins. She said it tasted good. I didn't risk it, though.

Here's a Korean classic, from Pizza Hut: shrimp pizza. If you blow up the picture, you can see all sorts of seafood on top. Those of you worried about my shellfish allergy will be comforted to know that I did not partake.

Some of the best conversations I have with students are about food. One went like this:
Jun: teacher, can you get kimchi in Tennesee?
Sarah: only some places.
Jun: Oh. Everybody have kimchi here.
a little later...
Jun: teacher, does your husband like Korean food?
Sarah: He has never had Korean food, but I'm sure he would because he likes spicy food.
Jun: What kind of food does he like?
Sarah: Well, he likes Chinese food.
Jun: Oh! Chinese kimchi so bad, is not delicious.

today, this little boy stood about four inches from my face while I finished my lunch watching me intently.
Jun: You like this? (we were having what I think is called bimbibop... about 8 kids answered in unison when I asked what it was, so it was hard to hear exactly)
Sarah: yes, it's very good.
Jun: Not too spicy?
Sarah: No, just right.
Jun: You should tell your husband, come here, and try the Korean food.
Sarah: he would like that.

Pictures from the Juk-Do Market

Where we ate dinner

Q: What's in that sushi roll?
A:

At an enormous dried fruit stand with the friendliest, most joyful keeper.

Cookies

Dumplings

Dried fish

Full of people

In town

The first day after I arrived, some of us went into town to get some supplies and iced coffee. These are just a few pictures of the town to help you picture it. Mark asked for "help picturing it" type photos, and I'm happy to share with you too.

It's bright, hot, and humid here. More humid than Florida, if you can believe it.

We did our shopping on a pedestrian only street. As you can see, there are some English signs, but everything is pretty much completely unreadable.

Korean pine tree.

A few pictures of the bus ride in

My roommate managed to take some pictures of the bus ride from Seoul to Pohang:

friendly faces

As I mentioned in the last post, I've been so struck by how friendly and hospitable people are here. Two young men who are students here at the university picked me up at the bus stop. Though I had been awake for most of my travel time, it was easy enough to have an easygoing conversation with them. I asked them about their studies. They asked me about the election in America. I told them that we weren't getting too much advertising in Tennessee since it's not a swing state, and then I explained how it probably didn't matter too much who I voted for since Tenn always goes republican. And that's how I found myself trying to explain the electoral college to two Korean university students in the middle of the night driving through the city of Pohang. I talked for a few minutes until one of them said, very politely, "Yeah, I watch the West Wing."

When I finally got into my room, my roommate was already asleep. I tried to get the sheets on my bed quietly and it worked at first, but she finally rolled over and smiled to say hello. What I saw was this girl (on the left, the girl on the right is a terrific South African teacher):

wearing this shirt:And that's how I ended up meeting a graduate of a school of not quite 1,000 students on a mountain top in northern Georgia when I was on the other side of the world. How about that?

Greetings from Pohang

Hi all -- as I'm sure most of you know, this month I'm in Pohang, South Korea, teaching at an English camp. I'm hoping to update the blog occasionally with pictures and stories, but this will just be a quick one...

I left Chattanooga at 6 am on Saturday morning, and after a shuttle van ride to Atlanta, a direct flight to the other side of the world (Seoul), and a bus ride halfway across the country to Pohang, and a quick drive to campus, I arrived at Handong University not quite 30 hours after I left home. Needless to say, I was exhausted.

Once I got out of Seoul, the drive became really beautiful. 70% of Korea is mountainous, and the mountains are close together and rolling, a lot like West Virgina (Hi Duncans), except pointy on top, and tucked into the valleys are vineyards of some sort and rice fields. I didn't take any pictures, but I did find these on the web:



A nice drive, really. There was a little bit of a worry for me at the bus station, as there was a mix up about the time somebody was supposed to pick me up. I only waited for about half an hour, but I got pretty nervous standing around in a foreign bus station, the only one around who was clearly not Korean and clearly lost, late at night. I guess I didn't need to be worried, as everyone I approached (to borrow a cell phone to call someone) or who noticed me confused wanted to stop and help me. Korea seems to be a country of hospitality to say the least. Two people from the camp came and found me, though, and they were so friendly too.

I have to run to dinner now, so I can't post any more, but I have plenty more pictures where these came from. Oh, I guess that would mean the internet. What I mean is I have plenty of pictures that I've been taking.

Sarah

Dancing

I promise a real post soon, but this made me so happy, I just had to share it. It's making its round on the internet, but what's one more blog? Watch it with the sound on and "in high quality" (if you can).



And here's the accompanying article that gives the story. "A Private Dance? Four Million Web Fans Say No."