IT'S CHRISTMAS!!

Yesterday was Christmas day here in Korea and like small children we woke up nice and early to see what Santa had brought us. Surprisingly, we seemed to have recieved more presents being here than we would have done at home, and it was really lovely to have so many to open! We started on the stockings, where we both had bought each other animal inspired head gear, Ed received angry bird ear muffs and Nina a panda hat. All the other presents followed including lots of English festive food and quite an impressive array of DVDs (including two copies of Zulu)!

After playing with our new presents for a couple of hours and Ed winning a few games of Trivial Pursuit, we started making Christmas Dinner. Unfortunately, due to our lack of oven we weren't able to have roast chicken/turkey but we managed to find a chopped up chicken carcas (for want of a better way to describe it).....
note Ed's face.

We managed to roast some potatoes in the portable oven we have, pan fried the chicken, boiled some brocolli and carrots and made sweet potato mash! All in all it was quite a successful attempt at an English Christmas dinner..... apart from the gravy. Ed found a recipe online which suggested making gravy from corn starch, water and beef stock but perhaps Ed overdid it on the corn starch and the gravy turned into a sort of mixture between apple sauce and jelly. Here are photos of our Christmas dinner:

After dinner we prepared some mulled wine and sat down to watch Elf filling us with lots of Christmas spirit! This was followed by a Christmas cake which we had bought from our snazzy local bakery. We then managed to skype everyone in our family before playing a few more games of Trivial Pursuit- Nina FINALLY winning, and watching some of our new DVDs. All in all in was a very memorable and enjoyable Christmas day!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

x

Making Kimchi

A couple of weeks ago, our director Glen invited us to her house to take part in the annual event of making Kimchi. Kimchi is the korean national dish which is made from cabbage immersed in a spicy paste and pickled. Koreans eat Kimchi with pretty much every meal, everyday and we were to make enough to last Glen's family a year! They even had seperate fridges to keep it in dotted all over their apartment.
So, together with Glen, her husband, her sister in law, and mother in law we all sat in the living room on special mats and started the process. We each had a bowl and with plastic gloves we would scoop a huge bit of red paste into our bowl, grab a cabbage and proceed to cover each individual leaf. Sitting cross-legged on the floor while doing this soon became very hard work, but while Nina coped with the pressure easily, Ed found the pins and needles too much and was demoted to playing with the children. They were introduced to a camera, which seemed to absolutely amaze them.

Our finished product was 18 boxes and as a thank you (to Nina) for helping out, we were given our very own box of Kimchi which we think will last us the year too!

Busan and other updates

These past few weeks have been a bit more chilled out as we've settled into living and working here. Saying that, last weekend we made a trip into the second largest city in Korea: Busan. We tested out the metro system and went into Busan from our neighbouring city of Gimhae. Our guidebook recommended a temple called Beomeo-sa which was situated on the northern tip of Mount Geumjeong in the north of Busan. We decided to get a cable car to the southern tip and attempt to hike to the temple. As we stepped off the cable car, the route we had so carefully planned became void due to the complex korean signposting. However a hero in the shape of a fashionably dressed small korean man came to our rescue and offered to guide us to the South gate of the Guemjeong fortress. Although the term 'fortress' sounds like something to behold, it was merely a big wall with four gates that outlined the mountain. We made our way from the South gate to the North gate and then down to Beomeo-sa. The route included several steep stretches and we were once again very lucky with the weather.
Here are some pictures:

And finally this weekend we decided to get into the christmas spirit early! After seeing Twilight at the cinema we popped into a huge superstore in Gimhae and picked up a christmas tree, decorations, lights and even some stockings. Ed's make shift angel undoubtedly steals the show.....

Tongyeong and Yeonhwa-do

This weekend we had a three day weekend so we took the opportunity to explore some of the coast! Friday morning we hopped on a bus hoping that it went to Masan, we also weren't really sure how much it cost so just put an approximate amount into the glass box next to the driver and went to sit down! When we reached Masan we found that the bus terminal we were in was not the same bus terminal that went down to the coast. We jumped in a taxi and said "nambu bu-so to-mi-nal" (korean for nambu bus terminal) which seemed to do the trick. Our taxi man seemed to have some saliva issues as every time we stopped in traffic he opened his car door and spat onto the road! Anyway, we finally got to the other terminal in Masan and got on a bus to Tongyeong, the coastal city which gave access to all the beautiful islands of the southern coast of Korea. We arrived in Tongyeong at about 1pm and wandered around the market which was mainly dedicated to fish and other marine life including octopus', squid, oysters and other things we couldn't tell you the name of. Here are a few pics of the market:

Then we went about finding a motel for the 1 night that we would be staying in Tongyeong. We stumbled upon "The Windsor" which despite its royal name did not provide such royal amenities. Nina was especially concerned with the hairs on the soap, in the sink and hanging from the "new towels". However, it was conveniently located and provided overnight shelter. Taking all our valuable luggage with us we then set off towards a cable car on the other side of town which would take us to the top of a mountain overlooking Tongyeong on one side and the whole of the Hallyeo National Marine Park on the other. The cable car is apparently the longest in all of Korea! The scenes from the top were absolutely incredible!!

Instead of taking the cable car back down we decided to hike up to the summit and then back down to Tongyeong on the other side of the mountain. It was a little longer (and steeper) than we had anticipated!!! There had been some other Korean tourists at the summit but on the way down it was just us and we got to see some more amazing views. The route was rocky to say the least and by the time we had reached the bottom our legs had turned to jelly! We immediately got some chocolate milk and a twix which made things a little better. Some photos from the way down:

After about half an hour at the bottom hunger struck! We headed into the centre of town in search of a substantial dinner. Being a sea port, raw fish seemed to be the main/only dish on offer to us. Although we're always up for trying new foods, the restaurants provided outdoor tanks in which you select your fish then they chop it up and serve it to you! We didn't think it would satisfy our hunger. Almost at the point of desperation, with Nina saying she might not be able to stand for much longer... we spotted a restaurant that seemed to be serving cooked food! As per usual being the only foreigners around, we had expected to be presented with a Korean menu hopefully with pictures with which to order from. However, this restaurant did not provide menus and there was about a minute stand off between us and the waitress when she came to take our order! Ed being the resourceful type said 1 of the 3 dishes we know in Korean in the hope that it was sold in this establishment. "Samgyupsal?"..... there was a pause.... and then a thumbs up and the waitress went to prepare the meal. It ended up being a barbequed pork feast for two and just what we needed after our long long walk.

Saturday we woke up early to catch the ferry to Yeonhwa-do Island. Expecting to find a comfortable seat for the hours journey, we found that the seating area was the floor. This was occupied by socialable Koreans playing drinking games (it was 9.30am) and all fashioning the latest and most hi-tech hiking gear. With our jeans, t-shirts, leggings and trainers we were a little concerned that we might be out of our depth?! When we reached Yeonhwa-do we went in search of breakfast, coming across the Korean version of pot noodle. Again being the only foreigners we were approached by a group of men having lunch together who offered us a taste of their raw fish dish and a drink of their iron supplement beverage. It wasn't the nicest but we just smiled, put our thumbs up and went on our way! We first came across the Yeonhwa Temple which was very pretty.  

We then went for a nice long walk to explore the whole island. We started off following the one road which headed towards the other side of the island. But by luck we found a small path which led up to many spectacular viewpoints and was completely deserted! Although about 40 people got off at the island with us, we didn't see anyone until we returned to the ferry terminal about 3 hours later. The views were stunning and the weather couldn't have been more perfect. The climax of the hike was seeing "the dragon's head" which is a series of rocks jutting out into the water which apparently resembles a dragons head. En route to this we bumped into a small herd of mountain goats who were our only company for the walk!

After our lovely walk we decided to wait for the ferry in the sunshine by the sea. After about 20 mins of peace and quiet a large party of Koreans set up camp next to us to begin a days fishing. We smiled at them and they generously offered us both a drink, Nina lemonade and Ed a beer- lad. One of the men in particular attempted to chat to us but we apologetically said 'we don't speak Korean!'. He then said the word "Soju!", we both looked at each other as we knew exactly what it meant! Soju is an extremely popular Korean spirit which tastes very similar to vodka. Both of us are really not great at drinking straight spirits so we feared a humiliation coming along! The man beckoned us to join the group and all of them were very friendly and smiley! He poured us both a cup of Soju and looked at us expectantly! Nina took the first sip and managed not to shudder.... it actually didn't taste as bad as vodka as it doesn't have that long horrible after taste as vodka does. Ed followed suit and we both managed to sip and smile! Then came the food...... Korean's are very generous and like to share food together so the group offered us some lunch. The man took out a large box which contained lots of chopped raw fish, we were then encouraged to place the raw fish on a lettuce leaf with some 'spicy cocktail sauce'. You then wrap up the fish in the lettuce leaf and place the whole thing in your mouth. Not being the biggest fans of raw fish we were a little nervous about eating it but it was actually alot nicer than it looked! We were continually offered drinks and Ed took a lemonade for the road home! After about half an hour with the group we had to make our excuses to catch the ferry back to Tongyeong. Once in Tongyeong we hopped on a bus to the terminal and then took our buses home. All in all it was a really great weekend.  

Our first 2 weeks.......

So after two plane trips, many games of monopoly and wondering around airports looking for snacks but only finding sausages on a stick, we finally made it to Jin Yeong! We were welcomed with a huge downpour of rain and checked into our Motel. Alas though it had no windows, which made our jet lag far worse as we had no concept of time whatsoever! Even though the cleaner saw both of us on numerous occasions she still continued to provide us with only one large towel and two hand towels...??.
Anyhows, day 1 we had to be up bright and early to go for a medical health check. All Koreans have to have this if they want to apply for a job. It consisted of a full chest x-ray, blood test, hearing test, eye sight test and a urine test. Everything was operated in a sort of conveyor belt system which was very surreal. Ed's eye sight test could of gone better..... they made him take of his glasses and he failed to see the very first number- the biggest number of the chart. Then came the oh so lovely urine test....... we were both given a small cup and ushered to the toilet, Nina completed the task no problem whatsoever. Ed on the other hand, after being in the toilet for about 5 minutes (bearing in mind we were with our new teaching director and her husband who we had just met), came back empty handed saying 'he had stage fright'. After 40 minutes and 3 litres of water, Ed still claimed it was impossible for him to go as he was too nervous. We began to worry that our director might think that Ed had a serious drug problem and therefore couldn't go through with the test! However, help was on hand in the shape of Luke our director's husband...  Ed and Luke coincidently went into the toilet at the same time and Ed miraculously returned with a full cup! Medical test done and passed.
The first weekend we met Andrew and Amanda the previous teaching couple at the school, they immediately showed us the delights of Korean barbeque, which is delicious. Then we travelled 5 minutes outside Jin Yeong to President Roh-Moo-Hyun's house, as he sadly commited suicide it is a popular place to visit for Koreans. The landscape (actually the Korean landscape in general) is very beautiful with a constant skyline of mountain peaks. Rather morbidly the climax of the visit is hiking up to the point of the mountain where he committed suicide.. however, it was a really great introduction to Korea's history and scenery. Here are a few photos from our visit;

Then began our week of training at school under the guidance of Andrew and Amanda who were very very helpful and patient with us! The school is only a year old so it's very smart and modern. More detailed information to follow in future posts.

The second weekend saw us move into our new snazzy apartment about a 2 minute walk from the school. It came complete with pink flowery wallpaper, only on one wall, which contrasted beautifully with the 1980s-esque lime green kitchen tiling! However, it is much bigger than we thought it would be and we have managed to make it pretty cosy! Pictures below:

The same day we walked up the road to Jinyeong Market. The market pretty much contained fish, fish, more fish, and kimchi. Everything is locally sourced which means everything is so cheap! In general everything here is cheap unless you're buying western food. You can buy packs of beef that will last you a week for half the price of a jar of peanut butter. As we are the only foreigners in Jinyeong, pretty much anyone who can, comes up to us to either practise their English or just say hello. While walking in the market an elderly gentleman approached Ed and said 'Hello, nice to have met you', to which Ed replied 'Yeh, you too mate' without thinking. The man just looked puzzled and repeated his original greeting.

Our first supermarket shopping trip resulted in a massive amount of food for about £35. In korea, you need to buy a specific blue bag to use as your rubbish bag. We had some difficulty with the language barrier managing to get the right one, meaning we ended up carrying our shopping home in a 100 litre bag, with locals looking at us like we were crazy. Regardless, we managed to buy what we think was pork, beef and fish along with seaweed, rice and a variety of fillings to make korean sushi (gimbap) with.

Our latest exploration was hiking our local mountain in Jinyeong today. Everywhere you look here you can see mountains so we thought what better way to experience the scenery than to hike up our own local one. It was a lot steeper than we thought it would be but totally worth it for the views at the top. Hopefully we can try to hike up it once a week for the rest of the year! Following this, we went to the Sweet Persimmon festival in Jinyeong, where two of our students had offered to act as our guides. Sweet Persimmon is a type of fruit which looks like an orange tomato and Jinyeong is apparently famous for it. It was quite a fun experience, we tasted all kinds of food ranging from octopus to deep fried hot dogs (dont worry not real dog), and it was capped off with a terrible korean singer and some awesome fireworks.