...and then the bus broke down!

Me, Kelsey, and Lisa at the Korea Amethyst Festival

"Hide them!" the worker told us upon showing him our loot while exiting the mine area. Our findings WAY surpassed the amount that would fit in the small bags we were given. We had too much fun retrieving amethyst from the stream!...

A 4:30am alarm woke me from a deep sleep. After a moment to get myself oriented, I made a wake-up call to Kelsey, the new teacher (she has yet to get an alarm clock... as her neighbor, I'm acting as one). A mantra to myself not to forget the directions (little as they were) and toilet paper, I prepared for the day trip to the Korea Amethyst Festival. A 1.5 hour subway ride got us to the DongSeoul bus terminal in time for the 7:30am bus to Uljin, a seaside town on Korea's east coast. The bus was surprisingly luxurious... first-class-like seats throughout! Perfect to pull the footrest up, push the seat back, and take a nap! There were only about 8 people on the bus, so there was plenty of room to stretch out and relax.

What a treat to be able to see Korea's countryside. Once you leave Seoul, the land becomes quite mountainous, lush, and green. There were many private farms and small villages tucked into the folds of the mountain valleys. The views were breathtaking. We stopped at a rest stop about 2 hours into the journey, and I was able to snap a shot of the misty mountains. It doesn't even begin to do justice to the beauty of it all, though.

After the rest stop, we started on a trek along a winding mountain road. Many a sign said "Danger!" and a picture of a car falling off a cliff into the water was more common than I'd like to remember! At times, the road was just wide enough for the bus. Other times, there was no road, and we got to try offroading!

I highly recommend this drive for anyone travelling through Korea. Simply amazing! We followed a river as it wound down the mountain. The waterfalls and pathways carved through the rock were so picturesque. Unfortunately, the road was so windy that getting a picture worth anything was simply impossible!

We arrived in Uljin with the greatest need for a bathroom after 3 hours on a winding mountain road! There are 2 bathroom rules in Korea: 1. Bring your own toilet paper, and 2. Be prepared for a urinal!

Following the directions from the Tour2Korea website, we were to take a local bus to Sogwang-ri! Well.... asking around, we finally found that we were to take a bus on the other side of the road. Problem number 1 - the bus runs 2 times a day: 8:30am and 5:00pm. The bus got us in just after 12:00, so we were stuck! Sogwang-ri is not on the map... So, the adventure of trying to communicate to a taxi driver, find out an approximate price, and discover if the man knew where we wanted to go commenced. We tried the free translation service, but the man didn't know what amethyst was. This festival is not well publicized, and most Koreans don't know anything about the mines. We tried the tourist information person, who claimed there is no Korean translation for amethyst or mine (ok... sounds odd to me!). Finally, Lisa called her mom (who lives here in Korea) to talk with the taxi driver. A hilarious back-and-forth ensued that included Lisa's mom trying to haggle with the taxi driver for a better deal, trying to get him to take us to a good JimJilBang (sauna where you can stay for 24 hours) if we missed the last bus back to Seoul, trying to get him to pick us up at a certain time at the mines, and trying to explain why Lisa doesn't speak Korean! We were laughing hysterically already, and the trip had just begun! We stopped in the "town" of Sogwang-ri (which consisted of city hall and about 3 houses), and the taxi driver stopped to speak with an old Ajumma. From what we gathered from the conversation, we were to go to her house when we were finished (if we missed the bus back to Uljin), she would give us dinner and call him to come pick us up! Crazy! He then took us to the mine, where we (of course) had to pose with him for a picture.

I think we were the only foreigners ever to have visited the mine! It was hilarious how well we were treated! The woman who sold us our tickets was tickled and embarassed to use her English! We got a personal guide around the property (which no one else had). He took us to the Amethyst Energy Room, where we drank from a communal pool of water purified by amethyst (from communal cups that were supposedly clean because of the amethyst water...???). We then sat in the cool, damp room and were told to close our eyes and breathe deeply for 10 minutes. We were the only ones doing this, and we had to of the guides making sure we kept our eyes closed! All of the Koreans visiting the room came in, drank some water, and exited! Finally, we were allowed to leave the room!

We were led to a stream in which we could search for amethyst rocks. There are 2 kinds of rocks - the lighter kind that can be used for purifying water and the darker kind for jewelry. There were a handful of people in the stream, so we dropped our bags, removed our shoes, and went into the icy cold water! We trekked up the mountain in this stream, searching for purple sparkles the whole way. How neat this experience was, we all thought! Then, we kept seeing a man on a motorbike riding up and down the path. Eventually, we heard a "plop, plop, plop," and we caught him throwing amethyst into the water! The theory developed that the whole thing is a hoax! The amethyst found in the stream is the reject pile from the amethyst used to make jewelry. This mysterious motorbike man (the amethyst-giver) spent the whole day throwing amethyst in the river for tourists to find! It was a hoot! We continued looking anyway because it was so much fun!

We hiked to the top of the mountain in search of the Purple Pond of Fortune. Instead, we found a nice, older man ready to give us a tour of the mines. Navigating through a low-ceilinged cave, we passed disgusting bugs, mushrooms, and followed a line of amethyst that runs through the mountain.

Our descent of the mountain was accompanied by a short rainstorm. At the bottom, we found the Purple Pond of Fortune (complete with amethyst rocks glued to the fountain), and we all wished on a coin.

From there, we planned to exit and make the trek back to "town" to catch the bus. We were stopped on the way out to see the amethyst we gathered and put it into purple bags. When we showed him our big shopping bag of amethyst, we were told to "Hide it!" Hilarious! We stuffed it into my backpack. The whole staff was outside as we were preparing to leave, and we were encouraged to walk on the amethyst footpath. There are different textures created from amethyst rock that were meant to promote circulation. OUCH!!!! It was like walking on a bed of nails, and it was LONG, too! The girl was laughing at us the whole time... probably because of the faces and noises we were making!

We needed to head out to the bus, but everyone was so kind and wanted pictures with the foreigners! We posed for many pictures and were even given souvenirs of amethyst earrings! The hospitality was amazing! We were also given a ride back to "town" in the mine's truck! Good thing, too, because a downpour began right as we were getting into the truck.

Look for the little white dog running after the truck!

While waiting for the bus, we were entertained by the locals (all 5 of them and their pets!).


We made it to the Uljin bus terminal with 5 minutes to catch the bus to Seoul! Thank goodness!!! We ran to get our tickets and get on the bus (this time there were even fewer people on the bus). I think we were all asleep within 10 minutes of heading back to Seoul. I woke up a a few times on the drive over the windy mountain road, and I forced myself to go back to sleep! It was POURING rain, and we were so close to the edge of the road. It was better to be asleep! A few times, I felt (and heard) the bus skid as the driver pressed the brakes! Yikes!

We stopped at the rest stop on the way back. After waiting for a straggler, the bus driver went to start the bus.... nothing! He tried again.... nothing! He tried several times, and we finally guessed that the battery was dead (at a rest stop somewhere in the middle of Korea). Well, you would think he'd get on the phone to dispatch to let them know what was going on... perhaps call a replacement bus or tow truck. You'd think. Instead, he stood outside in the parking lot under his umbrella. Doing nothing! Staring around the parking lot for a good 30 mintues. Finally, he went over to the gas station to borrow jumper cables and had a truck sitting in the parking lot jump us! By this time, we were over an hour late. Timing transportation in Seoul is important because the subways stop running at midnight or 1am. Well, being late, we took a subway that stopped way before our stop. We had to get a cab home at 1am. What a day!

Shabu-Shabu.... VERY interesting foods!

Top: Me, Sonia (my KT), Christina, Kelly, Allie
Bottom: Vicky, Grace, Lisa (fellow English Teacher)

Picture a long table set for 22 people, 5 steaming pots of seaweed and anchovy broth strategically boiling along the center, mounds off vegetables, raw meat, raw seafood, and noodles piled on plates, bottles and bottles of beer, Soju, and Sansachun, and a large group full of laughter. That is the scene from last night's going away/welcoming dinner hosted by my school.

I don't know if you've heard of the shabu-shabu style of restaurant (and I may be butchering the spelling there). It's a Japanese creation that's somewhat like there version of Korean Barbeque (where the food is cooked right at your table). The big difference is that it's a big pot of extremely hot broth into which you put your food, and you go to a buffet to choose the ingredients for the meal. Also, you cook it yourself! It's a great party atmosphere! I can't even describe the massive amounts of food that were cooked or the vast array of TYPES of food! Let's just say that I saw my share of baby octopus, squid, tentacles, whole shrimp, and many other interesting pieces of seafood laying out.

I am proud to say how adventurous I was last night, though - and this was even BEFORE having anything to drink! I tried sushi for the first time - real sushi with raw tuna.... Yes, RAW TUNA. And, it was delicious! (I think I'm going to go to a restaurant within the next few weeks in which you sit at a bar-like area and they serve all-you-can-eat raw tuna.... don't know about that one, but it would be worth the experience) Also, get ready for it.... I ate jellyfish... yes, JELLYFISH. My new Korean teacher, Sonia, is absolutely wonderful, and she kept putting things on my plate to try! I felt obligated to try them, but I did admit to her that I had to muster the courage! I actually really enjoyed the jellyfish, too - it was mixed with veggies in a vinegar-y sauce.... pretty sour, but yummy! I had fishcakes and ate a clam, too! The clam was after I'd had a few cups (can't really say glasses because they're more like juice-sized cups) of beer (yes, I know I've never been a beer drinker, but this was actually good beer - again, it was poured for me, so I had to drink it at first).

Plate of Jellyfish... a bit blurry, look for the brownish noodle-looking things.

I have been introduced to my new favorite drink: Sansachun! It's almost like wine... I think it's made from rice, and you drink it in small glasses the size of shot glasses, but they look like little rice bowls. If you like wine, you'll like Sansachun! The big bonus is that it's quite inexpensive to purchase in the store - I was told it's about 2000-3000 Won (between $2-3) a bottle. I will keep my eyes peeled for it when I go grocery shopping this week.

Sansachun bottle... took the picture so I can find it in the store!

We had a great time, and I really hope to continue to go out! I learned some new Korean words (which I've forgotten, but I will recall the next time I hear them). AND, I've mastered the chopsticks after banning myself from using a fork at home! No more embarrassing situations in restaurants that include splasing red sauce all over my shirt while trying to eat slippery noodles with chopsticks!

Onto the next adventure.....

A happy dance in Wal-Mart!

There is a god! Hidden in a back aisle, I FOUND PAPER TOWELS!!!!!!!

Relief for the Mexican-food drought!

I think this may be the longest I've gone without Mexican food in my memory! Yesterday, while at the grocery store, I bought flour with the determination to make tortillas! I was taken back to the days in Germany when we couldn't find soft shells for tacos, where we had to make our own tortillas and salsa! Luckily, I have found Pace salsa, so I was just lacking the tortillas. Apparently, they sell them here at Costco, but that's a bus ride away (and who can shop at Costco when you are relying on bus transportation?!!). So, today, I attempted the tortillas.


I found a recipe online.


I rolled out the tortillas on my marble counter with a plastic cup (you have to be McGuyver-like when dealing with limited kitchen utensils). I have no plastic-wrap, so I had to stack them up and hope they didn't stick.


I have few memories of actually cooking the tortillas in Germany, so it was fun to watch them bubble up! They cook quickly - I will definitely do this often!


Ahhh... my stack of tortillas grew :) I will definitely be enjoying dinner tonight!!! I just need to use less salsa than normal, as I tend to over-do it! I'm looking forward to eating!

First Venture into Seoul

Finally feeling like I'm normal again, I chose to spend the day in Seoul today. I was super-excited to get out and explore the area away from Hwajeong. I sat down with a fellow teacher, Ben, last night. He's been here for 3 years and has some wonderful advice! I borrowed his Lonely Planet Korea book, and, with some guidance, planned out an adventure.

My journey began in the subway station here in Hwajeong. There are 2 ways to travel by subway - purchasing individual tickets per trip or using a T-money card. The card is less expensive per trip, but you must purchase the card first. Well.... I wanted a T-money card. So, I went to the ticket counter with confidence and asked for one. He pointed me off in some other direction, and I was completely confused! Taking a moment to gather myself, I decided just to buy a ticket to my destination and figure out the T-money card somewhere in Seoul (where a greater number of people speak English!).

Gyeongbokgung- my first stop. The subway station is lined with large stone lanterns as you walk down long corridors underground.
Upon surfacing, the palace is laid out before you. Getting closer, you can see the spectacular detail and use of color.


Guards dressed in traditional clothing stand at the entrance.


Gyeongbokgung was the palace of the Joseon Dynasy, built in 1395. It was destroyed in 1592, during the Japanese invasion but restored in 1868 after 273 years in ruins.




The grounds are quite extensive, housing many buildings and the National Folk Museum of Korea.


Sot-dae: heads carved upon wooden poles, placed in towns to ward off evil spirits.

Oh yeah - I forgot to mention that it rained ALL day long! I was a trooper and didn't let the rain get me down, though!









After leaving the grounds of Gyeongbokgung, I decided to walk through the surrounding neighborhood. This area of town is known for its art galleries and traditional houses.


It was fabulous! I am definitely going to return to this area on a drier day to poke around in the shops, galleries, and try the restaurants. It's a neat sensation to be in the middle of one of the largest cities in the world yet feel like you're in a small Korean village. Atop the hill, there were spectacular views of the tiled rooftops of this section of town.








Wanting to see more of the city, I decided to walk a bit. I found a spot to have lunch. I don't know how much you know about Korean food, but everyone says it's spicy. I love spicy food, and I really didn't think much of the buckwheat noodles in spicy sauce. HA! My lips were burning, my tongue was burning, my throat was burning, my eyes were watering, and my nose was running! Definitely take heed that "spicy" here is HOT! I must be crazy, though, because I bought a bottle of the sauce at the grocery store tonight!

Feeling a bit like a wet dog, I made my way to my first Korean class. On Saturday afternoons, a group of volunteers hold free Korean classes in Seoul. I have been wanting to try them since I first discovered them back in New York. You can check out the website for the class here. I have missed 3 of the classes since the new session began, but they accept students at any time. I am glad to have made this class, as we learned the number systems here in Korea. There are 2 sets of numbers, one used for counting, age, and telling time, and one used for everything else. I also learned to ask for someone's phone number (so I can pick people up! lol), ask how much something is and barter them down, and tell/ask the time. I'm going to try to put this into practice this week! I purchased a book with cds to help me learn at home, too.

What to do tomorrow? :)

Potato pizza, pickles, and toilet paper!

I just got back home from the first social gathering we've all had since I arrived. One of the teachers leaving in a few weeks, Ben, invited our Korean teachers and the English teachers over for dinner and drinks. Ahh... note on Korean teachers -they care for our kids on the bus, during our breaks, and at lunch. I don't have a steady teacher yet... a new one was hired and will start on Tuesday. They've all been quite kind to me, though their English is not always the best (there is an English-only rule at school for students and staff).

It was very informal and laid-back. I tried Soju for the first time (something like Korean vodka). Wicked! From what I've been told, if you add anything to the drink (which is sacrilige for Koreans, but not for foreigners), you can't even taste the alcohol. We ordered pizza from Pizza Lao. I learned how to say "without cheese" - "cheese-e ob-shi." Unfortunately, it was an odd request for a veggie pizza without cheese, and the restaurant didn't know how to make it. They were too afraid that the veggies would burn... So, I didn't have pizza! Oh well... it smelled good!

Apparently pizza with potatoes (as a topping) is a common occurrence here... it's basically seasoned potato wedges on top of the slices. Everyone seemed to like it. As a side, there were containers that look like to-go marinara sauce at pizza joints back home... Well, they were pickles! Yes, pickles came as a side to the pizza! I was so afraid I was going to see someone put it on top of the pizza, but luckily that didn't happen. If you've been keeping up with the blog, you've read that paper towels are not used here. Well, neither are napkins (by the way). So, everyone uses toilet paper (tissue) in its place. You eat a piece of fruit, you rip toilet paper off the roll for the seeds. You spill something small, you grab the roll of toilet paper. So, you can imagine the scene of 7 people eating greasy pizza and passing around a roll of toilet paper! It's definitely a memory that will stay with me - potato pizza, pickles, and toilet paper!

Teaching Tidbits

So, I've had 2 full days of teaching so far (plus one day of observation). I work with Kindergarten children in the mornings and elementary aged children in the afternoons. The school has the kids broken up into several classes, with 2 teachers working as a team to cover 2 classes. So, I have one group of kids for 2 periods and then switch to another group. It's quite nice, for my first group has a much lower ability level, and I get to have great conversations and participation with the second group. I teach Reading and Phonics to the first group, and I teach Reading and Writing to the second group. I also get to take the second group to gym, computers, and library. They're a pretty interesting bunch of kids, that's for sure. I've had to lay down the law on a couple points, as the man who taught before me was quite a bit more relaxed about classroom management - those of you who know me know that I'm a stickler for making sure my classroom runs smoothly (with as little disruption as possible). It's going to take a while to get them under my control... heh heh heh!

My schedule is as follows:
M, W, and F
9:00-9:50 prep
9:50-12:10 teach 3 40-minute periods with 10 minute breaks in between
1:30-3:00 prep (it seems like I can leave and run errands here as long as everything's planned)
3:00-7:25 teach 6 40-minute elementary classes with 5 minute breaks in between


Tues. and Thurs.
everything's the same until 3
3:00-6:40 teach 5 40-minute periods with 5 minute breaks in between

It's a long day, though the massive prep time in the middle of the day make it not too rough. To top it all off, everything is basically all planned out for me (which is good and bad). There is a system-wide curriculum calendar for each level of classes that dictates exactly which pages of which books need to be completed on which days. It's a bit much, but I understand the need for uniformity and to be sure people with no teaching experience help to maintain standards. The area that will allow me the most creativity is Kindergarten, which will be fun.... once I am able to wrap my mind around the schedules, kids, and books. Actually, the fact that everything is pre-planned makes this transition period quite manageable. Once I'm comfortable with it all, I can start adding Jenn-twists!

Airing out the apartment

Here are the much-asked-after photos of my apartment!

It is Korean custom to remove one's shoes before entering an apartment. Since it is also a custom NOT to clean an aparment before someone moves in, my shoes are still on the floor :) I have a lovely cabinet in which to store them, but it is low on my cleaning-priority list. Paper towels are also unheard of, so I'm using rags that must dry out before moving to other pieces of furniture... makes for a long cleaning process! Tidbit - my students change their shoes when entering the classroom, too!

This is a view from my front door. The bathroom is immediately to your right (after the shoe-spot), and you can see a towel on the floor in front of the door (more about that later). The kitchen is right around the corner on the right (after the small bit of white wall). You can also see the bed and the wall-unit on the wall opposite the bed. The floors are very nice - hardly any marks, since everyone has taken off their shoes! Apparently, the heating system is throughout the floor, so I will have toasty toes come wintertime!

My kitchen! I love it! The close-up on the pots and pans are what the school considers utensils! I am SO glad to have brought my peeler, wine-opener, spatula, etc! Above the sink, there are 2 cabinets for plates and dishes (PLENTY of room, since I was given 2 plates, 2 bowls, and 2 cups!). Below the bar, there are cabinets for food - should be plenty of room for just me. You can see the gas line coming down to the stove. This is due to having concrete walls. Also, there is a safety switch to stop gas from getting to the burners. As you can see, there is just a gas range. Very few people in Korea have ovens in which to bake. I'm not sure why this is. I've inherited a toaster oven from an old teacher, so I'll be set to melt things. Above the range, there is a part that pulls out to create an overhead light and fan. Quite space-saving! The cabinet above the range is a facade - the exhaust system lies behind the door. Under the range is a type of refrigerator used for Kimchi. I've been told I'm getting a regular fridge, but this one suits me fine. There are 2 crisper doors and a small space beneath them. It actually fits a vegan lifestyle quite well, since fruit and veggies are what I eat! The sink's faucet is great - it goes between a regular stream of water and a shower-like stream. Plus, the top pulls out (right off the faucet) to extend with a hose! I love it!


This is the living area of the apartment. I'm planning on getting several big pillows to put against the wall along the bed. This will create a more couch-like environement for watching TV and socializing. It seems pretty plain, but it works! There's more space between the bar and the bed than there looks (about 4 or 5 feet). The large white doors of the wall-unit are wardrobe areas. They're a little shallow, but with 2 of them it works. There is a place to hang clothes on the top, and then several shelves underneath. The rod for hanging actually wheels out a bit, making finding the right item pretty easy. I can't wait to get the shelves filled up. I only have a few books, my cds, and a couple knick-knacks (my red elephant pencil holder that I've had forever) on it right now. I'm sure the emptiness won't last long!

Finally, the bathroom. I actually have a great bathroom according to Korean standards. It's semi-western. In many Korean homes, the shower is simply a hose and nozzle attached to the sink. You have to flip a switch to go between sink and shower, and everything in the bathroom is able to get wet. This is a great space-saver, allowing for more living space, but it makes for an uncomfortable shower. As you can see, my shower is partially separated. I do have an area for the shower that is unique, but there is no complete separation from the rest of the bathroom. This means that I have to remember to remove the toilet paper (located on the wall opposite the toilet) before showering unless I want it to get soggy! I don't mind, though... it's kind of fun to get the entire place wet and not worry about it. However, I can't really keep anything in the bathroom (like clothes or a robe), nor is there a place to dry my feet. So, until I get a real mat, I have a towel outside the door, and I throw my clothes on the floor in front of the bathroom! I'm sure I'll develop another routine. I feel badly for a fellow teacher who doesn't have curtains, as anyone living in the building next door (about 5 feet away) would be able to see in! Yikes!

That's it on the apartment front for now. I'll keep you updated if I add more pictures in the future!