My Korean Meal at Home

To complete #77 of my 101 Challenge, I prepared a Korean meal at home last month.  I will say, the meal wasn't terribly traditional, but it did have all Korean dishes.  Usually there is a main dish with meat, plain rice, soup, and side dishes and kimchi, but we improvised for our lunch.

We had buddae chiggae (army stew), jjajangmyeon (the black bean noodles), and bokempop (mixed fried rice).  I used what I wanted to from two soup recipes I found online, the jjajangmyeon was purchased from a nearby Chinese restaurant, and the bokempop was made from a  recipe our Korean sister Alice wrote for us in 2008.

My parents, my sister, and her boyfriend all said everything was pretty good!  I would have used less gochujang and less Spam in the stew (to make it less spicy and less salty, respectively), but it was good.  I really liked getting to have Korean foods again!  So yummy!

A very loose bokempop recipe:

Laser Hair Removal: Take Two

This post has been in the editing box for a long time.  It's the second part of my experiences and research with laser hair removal in Korea.  Click here for Part 1.

I almost can't believe I've subjected myself to such extremes, but after not getting the results I'd hoped for at S Deul, I started going to a different place called NOVA Clinic in Gangnam before I had to head back to the States.  Read ahead for all the details!

Korean Beauty Products, Part 2

I started writing a few weeks ago about all of the Korean beauty products I used while over thee, but I quickly realized that everything from The Face Shop was going to be enough for one post in itself.  Here's the rest of my discoveries, all of which I recommend, by the way.

Korean Beauty Product Reviews: The Face Shop

One of my favorite things about Korea was how eager and capable it was in helping me learn how to take care of my skin.  My face has clung to the acne of my youth for a long time, and only last year in Korea did I finally become confident in having it under control.  This is thanks to the many products available at excellent prices (which won't happen now that they have to be imported to me in America) and thanks to how freakin' Many cosmetic shops there were!

The Face Shop, Inisfree, Etude house, Tony Moly, Missha, Skin food, Mizon, Holika Holika, Nature Republic, Too Cool For School, Aritaum, It's Skin... There are a lot, and they are everywhere.  Well, there weren't any in my small neighborhood, but around my church, my friend's house, my dance classes, basically every where else but my neighborhood, you could find more than a couple on every street, it seemed.

A little sister who used to work there took me to The Face Shop to show me around, advise me, and to make sure the cashier gave me lots of samples because I was a foreigner.  After that visit, this was and still is my main cosmetics store.  Here are the products I used.  I really liked them, save the zit zapper.  I liked them so much, I searched for a Stateside store.  I found one, too!  There's one an hour and a half from me in Duluth, Atlanta, in the Mega Mart of the Gwinnett Place Mall!

Halloween at SLP 2012

We're almost halfway through March, and I haven't published anything all month!  And when I was thinking of what to write, I realized there's still plenty I haven't covered from my time in Korea!  The first thing to show you is how adorable Elegance Class was on Halloween last year!

There are no half-assed costumes here in Gangnam SLP.  Go big, or go home.

We took a short field trip to COEX mall where the mothers were waiting to give their darlings treats.

These kids left with their bags heavy with candy, cookies, and toys.  Some of the buckets were overflowing.  I was impressed by the mom's enthusiasm, but also a little weirded out.  I don't think they realize it, but my children are spoiled.

Ruby complained about the weight of her candy bag.

First World Problems

We switched ears.

Don't even try to get all of them to smile at once.

Everyone's pretty tired after our field trips, no thanks to the sugar comas they got.

 Halloween isn't a traditional Korean holiday.  We celebrate it at my school to give the students more exposure to Western culture.  The kids enjoy the celebration and love the candy they get.  When I ask them if they'll go trick or treating later, they say no.  I've never had Halloween as a big holiday in my life, but I'm glad my students got to have fun with it.  And they all looked so cute in their costumes!

One more thing Ruby said

Leftover story!

I never got around to telling it, but it needs to be told.

One day during our morning greeting/homework checking/hugging time at school, Ruby starting looking at my Caucasian face more closely than usual.  Noticing this, I turned to look back at her and cocked my head to ask what she was looking at.  Instead of speaking, she reached up and ran her finger along the bridge of my nose.  She then ran her finger along the bridge of her own nose.

Ruby's adorable nose starts to come away from her face near the end, so she has a flatter area until under her eyes.  My nose has a long straight line coming down from the center of my eyes to the tip.  Maybe this was the first time Ruby had noticed the difference, but I didn't know for sure because she still wasn't saying anything.  That's when I decided to speak up about the richness we can see in the wide spectrum of the human races.

I said, "Our noses are different.  We look different, don't we?"
Ruby agreed.
I continued with what I knew would be the clincher.  A nice, happy everyone-is-beautiful moment.  "But we're both beautiful, right?"
She looked me square in the eyes, squinted with just enough suspicion to make me feel stupid, and then she left.  She just left me there!

Ruby didn't actually say anything in this story.  She just pointed out the differences in our noses and walked away.  All of those opportunities to say, "Yes, Teacher, I am pretty and you are pretty," were just left hanging in the air.  It was a funny moment for me, and I laughed.

We are both beautiful, Ruby.  We ARE!

A picture of our noses together, for comparisonSee how they're both beautiful?

: )

Gwanghwamun Photography Date

My good friend Steph and I, when we were first starting to be friends, found that we had a mutual interest in getting better at photography.  We both have cool looking DSLRs, but we're not the super best at using them just yet.  Therefore, we decided to try and go out together to practice.  We finally had some time in November to have our photography day, and Steph chose the perfect place.  Samcheong-dong in Seoul, including Bukchon, Insadong, and Gwanghwamun.

A peaceful statement at the entrance of one of the many hanok houses in Bukchon

I would love to have these on the top of my own roof.

Elegance Class Goes on a Field Trip: Science Museum

On my last day of work, the preschool classes had a field trip!  Also, my co-teacher, Bridget, was assigned to a different class for the day.  This meant that I had my lovelies all to myself for our last hours together.

They were absolutely wonderful.  I'd never seen them so alive and excited to roam around.  They constantly said, "What's that?"  I said, "I don't know!" and they would pull my hand and run toward the mystery.  I love learning myself, and I am so eager to instill that in my kiddos, too, so I was on cloud nine.  I was with my favorite children in the world, they were happy, we were learning, and everything was perfect.

Here are some pictures.

Waiting outside

Exploring

The girls were taken with the astronaut.

Typical

Min-Sun in the astronaut helmet

Not always the most put together group, but definitely my favorites.

Ryan was taking these pictures for us.  The kids loved getting to use my camera.  They also love putting their scarves on my head.

Yoo-Jin was especially darling today.

Judy was absent this day, but these are my kiddos and I.  Ah, I will never see them again, but I will love them for always. For always.  If I say more, I'll be rambling, but know that I could go on forever about these wonderful children.  

Leaving Korea

I wasn't making it public knowledge that I would be returning to the States on November 26th because it was a secret that I was returning to surprise my boyfriend for his birthday on November 29th.  The surprise went splendidly, and it's wonderful being around Caleb again.

It is important to know that choosing to return to America was choosing to actively invest in my relationship with Caleb.  In Korea, I had many, many things going for me.  I had a job I loved and students who loved me.  I had a home at my church and brothers and sisters to talk and play with.  I had a dance team and lessons available in styles that I enjoyed.  I was living in a vibrant city with so much to offer.  I'm sure that if you caught me on an off day I'd find things to complain about, and I am glad that I just missed the bitter Korean winter.  Beyond the trickiness that came from working with the system of my private school and the cultural differences that made relationships and communication difficult, Korea was wonderful.

Preparing to leave the life I grew in Korea ripped me to shreds.  Two weeks before I left, I was weeping as I thought about leaving my students.  I cried about not getting a solid closure of a good bye with most of my co-workers.  Packing was such a daunting and heartbreaking task, I put it off as long as possible.

A week before I left, everything I did was labeled as "The last time I..."  The last time stepping out of Sinsa station.  The last sermon I'd hear at Jubilee.  The last Monday teaching Elegance Class.  The last Tuesday.  The last...

The last week raged forward with no mercy.  My replacement was at school, there was training to do, future syllabi to write, and loose ends to tie up all over the school.  I was worried that I would feel the time slipping through my fingers.  I was worried I would feel like everything was suddenly ripped out of my arms before I had a chance to say proper good byes and to give proper hugs and kisses.

Therefore, I was amazed, so amazed, when I found myself in the Incheon airport without a tear in my eye.  No sobs.  No freak out moments.  The time was here, and that was okay.

My last week had been insanely busy, yes, but I did have dinner dates set up for every evening of the week.

Monday: David and Sim, my krump buddies
Tuesday: Alice Nam, my Bible study leader and mentor

Wednesday: Nicole, my best girlfriend in Korea
Thursday: "Ann," the lady I tutored (We had Thanksgiving dinner together this night.)

Friday: Staff good bye and welcome party

Saturday: Co-worker Thanksgiving and church Thanksgiving

It's hard for me to believe because, when I put reality up next to what I expected my last week to be, there is no similarity at all.  But talking with each of my dinner dates helped me, little by little, accept and prepare for leaving Korea.  David and Sim told me to not stop dancing and to not let myself slip into a comfortable life.  Alice gave me encouragement and wisdom about returning to America.  Nicole gave me rest and understanding and love in so many areas.  Ann reminded me that I wasn't the only sad about my departure and of how important it is to keep in touch with the people I love whom I'm leaving behind.  Friday's staff party let me relax and have fun after a stressful week.  And being with my church friends one last time reminded me of how much I am loved and how rich I am in friends.

And saying good bye to my students?  On Friday, my last day, the preschool classes had a field trip to a science museum.  I think my supervisor had a hand in this: my co-teacher was assigned to a different class, and I had Elegance Class all to myself.  Six of my most favorite people in the world held onto me every chance they could and ran around pulling my arm and saying "Teacher, what's that?!"
"I don't know!  Let's go find out!"

Three hours of that made me the happiest teacher in the whole world.  I know it sounds cheesy, but the love was all over the place.  We were having the best fun.  No one worried about me leaving, we just enjoyed what was in front of us.  It was beautiful, and I could not have asked for a better last day.

One of my foreign co-teachers, Blake, and I share a class.  He let the 5 students use his entire class period to write notes and letters and to draw good bye pictures for me.  It was so very good and fulfilling to know that I'd made such a difference in these kids' lives.  We were all sad, but this is the kind of situation I think Dr. Seuss was talking about when he said to be happy that things have happened and not upset that they're over.

There's a lot more to the story, but it has to do with the Returning to America part as opposed to the Leaving Korea part.  I still have hard times accepting that I've left Korea.  I've been in America for only 20 days, and the adjustment has been rough in different ways.  If you follow the blog, you can expect many ramblings on the topics of reverse culture shock, the differences between America and Korea, and how my loved ones and I are dealing with the process.

But hey.  Here's this.  I've had a life changing 16 months.  Who knows what the next 16 months will be like? In the near future, I'll be celebrating Advent and Christmas with family and friends.  I'll be going to the Passion Conference in January.  I'll be attending a holiday swing dance next week.  Also, I plan to volunteer at OM Arts for a brief time as I work out the employment situation.

Stick with me, friends.  It's been a bumpy (but blessed, if I can say that without sounding like a total dork) ride.

SLP Gym Day

Every year my school, Gangnam SLP, will hold a family gym day down by the Han River.  It's on a Sunday, and the teachers have to get to school early to take the bus to the River, but we get to hang out with our kids without having to teach and correct their English.  That's super nice, especially since my favorite part of teaching is getting to play with the students.

Gearing up for the start of the day

Morning stretches

A resistance race of sorts

On the sidelines

Three legged race

Parent/Child race

Family shot

Two more little Min-Suns!

Elegance walks to the starting line

Foot race

White Team forever

Seoul Lantern Festival 2012

I went to the Seoul Lantern Festival last year, but my camera was out of commission at the time.  Ironically, it was only at the very end of my walk along the stream of the Cheonggyecheon this year that I fiddled with my settings enough to find the sweet spot.  (Keep an eye out for the fishes at the end.  That's the look I was glad to finally get.)

The Seoul Lantern Festival is held ever year in November.  The official entrance is at the start of the Cheonggyecheon near Gwanghwamun station, but you can bypass the long (though fast-moving) lines by taking the steps down to the stream further along the trail of lights.

Welcome to the lantern festival!

Here we go!

Girls in traditional clothing, the hanbok

A lantern depicting a performance on a traditional Korean melodic percussion instrument (similar to the piano) from the Joseon period

Young attendees and their supervisors
Note the light up headbands the girls are wearing.  They were quite the popular accessory at this event.

Trolls, not dragons

This poor guy didn't make the cut.

Household lanterns for sale

I asked a girl if I could take a picture of her lantern.  She seemed a little weirded out, but obviously not enough to say no.

Lantern wishes on the stream
There were hundreds, and they were so beautiful.
Side note: I'd wanted this picture to be bright and clear, but it looks like a watercolor painting instead, and I think that's just as cool.  Do you think so, too?

I'm on a horse.

The cranes' wings flapped.  That was cool.

Child from North America
Representin'

Here they are!  The beautiful fish I was able to capture the best color of!

They were so magical.  I took very many pictures of these fishes.  There were so many, and they were so bright and pretty.  I wanted to take some home with me.

Pororo was there with all his friends!

And there was Spider-Man!
Batman was there, too, and I tried to take a picture of him, but it wasn't turning out at all.  Then I realized why.  He is the Dark Knight, after all.