Food

S(e)oul Food

Fresh fish

Cold Noodles. My favourite and they're perfect in summer

Teachers' Dinner

Kimchi

Duck

Overall Korean food is good, it's a bit spicy or bland at times but it's good. 

For most restaurants, you cook the meat yourself, they supply you with raw, seasoned meat but you grill it over a fire, in a pot or over a hot plate like the duck picture. No need for a chef!

Peace and Love

All My Children

One of the naughtiest boys in Grd 6. The fact that he liked Barcelona didn't make me change my opinion of him.

She's 9 years and plays just like Mozart

As you can see the peace sign is a huge trend in Korea. I forgot sometimes that I taught in a 'rural' area, which means my kids are 'rural' but they have access to the internet, TV and Seoul is almost 2 hours away. The school provides them with lunch, they walk home but its a short distance. In the smaller villages (I don't know who else to describe the very small farming areas), you'll find schools with just 9-11 students, but they have the same facilities. Very different to what some rural kids in South Africa have to deal with. 

Nature

Let nature run the show

Rice

Frozen river

Seorak san Mountain Range. Very beautiful

Seaside view from a temple in Yang Yang

Living in the city all my life, I only saw this much nature on the Discovery Channel or something. Gangwon province is really beautiful and serene. So many mountains, rivers and trees; the sea isn't bad either. This is the place where people get computer wallpapers from.  

culture

If on a summer's night a traveller...

Street performers in Kuala Lumpur 

Performers at Buddha's birthday celebration 

Traditional Korean dance performance

Oh, the Places You'll Go!

Johnlyn and Lorna

Random lady who was watching fireworks

Seung-Yeob and Seung-Min

Teacher at my school

30 more days!

Winter

Frozen Waterfall. People actually climb the frozen waterfall

I didn't adjust the colour or anything, it was actually blue that morning. It was beautiful, peaceful and cold.

The walk to town

Winter camp with grades 5 and 6

Winter is almost over but the snow and the cold were wonderful experiences.

1 month countdown

It's all about the little things

Kindergarden graduation day. The kids had to wear traditional Korean clothing. The girls wear Hanboks. 

This was all they way at the beginning. We went to a bug museum with the grade ones. (We missed the bus to go to a theme park with the grade 4s) Me and Jeong Won. 

I spent a lot of time by the Sea of Japan or in Korea the East Sea. ('Japan can't own the ocean')

All the birthdays with my family that I missed, made me really appreciate birthdays more. 

Almost a month left until I come back home. I thought I'd start going down memory lane and choose some of my favourite pics.

Happy New Year

Happy 2012 (for Lulu)

Sunrise festival in Sokcho

It's the year of the Dragon

Crowds of people heading to the beach to see the sunrise 

Me on a frozen lake infront of a frozen waterfall

Korean New Years celebrations are far more moderate and conservative compared to the wild ways of the West. Traditionally, Koreans just go to the beach and watch the first sunrise of the year. Fortunately, because I'm such a lucky person, a cloud covered 2012's sunrise but I can assure you, the sun still looks the same. 

I much prefer the sunrise to a night of partying hard. 

Kimchi

Kimchi 

Soju 

The same way that people don't understand how I eat tripe, I don't understand how Koreans eat kimchi. The dish is made of fermented cabbage with a spicy paste and a sour taste. October/November are the kimchi making months. Families drive to food markets and buy up bushels (bundles or whatever the collective term of cabbages is), then they wash it and coat it with the paste and let it 'rest' otherwise known as ferment. 
The quality of the kimchi depends on how long it's been allowed to ferment and your own tastes bud, fresh kimchi could be 'rested' for a week and old kimchi can be fermented for years! 
I've tasted kimchi, not sure how old it was but it isn't for me. Bless the Koreans, they have stronger stomaches than me and this isn't only with regards to their food, the national drink also takes a lot out of you. 


Soju. The Russians have vodka, the Koreans have Soju. I'm not sure if it's because both these countries happen to be fully embraced by winters' kiss (they're really cold), that they felt the need to consume so much alcohol but vodka has nothing on soju. The amount of alcohol in soju must be the maximum limit allowed for human consumption. We have it at every school dinner and as a sign of respect you take a shot with the boss(es). 


Life can be tough for the foreign stomach. 

Winter Wonderland pt 1

Winter Wonderland

My Church