cooking class

So I teach these four back-to-back cooking classes on Friday mornings, though I cook the same thing in each one of them so it's really not that big of an ordeal. Basically it's more like a demonstration than a hands-on thing for them, mainly because you can't really trust five and six year olds with anything involving a lot of boiling and chopping. Usually they like what I make for them, though some of them are a little picky when it comes to anything that even remotely resembles traditional American kids' foods. They aren't used to things like Mac & Cheese or pancakes (for shame!) so finding something that all of them will eat can sometimes be a challenge. But wonder of all wonders I hit the jackpot with today's dish, ddeokbokki. At first I thought it might be a little too spicy for them, but they gobbled it up just the same.

Even the other Korean teachers said my ddeokbokki was very delicious. Not bad considering it was my first time making it. I'd even go so far as to say that it rivals some of the ddeokbokki I've eaten from the local street vendors. Maybe I should open up my own stand? And in case you're wondering, today's ddeokbokki consisted of fresh rice cakes or ddeok purchased from the local E-Mart, pre-packaged gochujang sauce (specially made for ddeokbokki), cut-up carrots, chopped onions, and slices of fish cake or odaeng. I also added a little sugar and a bit of ketchup for sweetness which a fellow Korean teacher had recommended I do to offset the spicyness. Overall it was a huge success, and not very difficult at all! I was able to throw the whole thing together in less than fifteen minutes.

So yes, today's cooking class went well. Stay-tuned for next week's recipe, Korean bean sprout salad...yum!
-_-

the beauty of grey

Last night I hiked up Suraksan once again and was awed by how clear the skies were, even though there was some heavy cloud cover just above the horizon. The sky has been much like this for the past few weeks, with the sun peeking out once or twice here and there. And yet, there's something calming and reassuring about the greyness of the atmosphere...because with it comes the continuous rain and its cleansing of all that nasty grime and smog that usually hangs above the city. Below is a picture taken from a mountain peak on Suraksan, and if you look close enough you can see Seoul Tower off in the distance...

this is not a black and white world
to be alive I say the colors must swirl
and I believe that maybe today
we will all get to appreciate
the beauty of grey

--from The Beauty of Grey, by Live

from the classroom

I know I already updated earlier today but I'm bored tonight and wanna post some fun pics I took of my kindy kids. Cause they're just too cute to ignore...

This is Alex. For some reason most of his poses look like this.

This is Clara trying to intimidate me into giving her a sticker.

Here we have Katy posing prettily for her picture.

That's June. I told him to smile and this is what I got.

I love this picture!

Here's Julie from the Tulip A class. Aww...

Kang looking kinda sinister.

Here's Kang again.

Kang about to try sliding across the floor.

Christine & Kang.

Here is Jasmine, with Christine & Katy in the background.

Katy looking kinda blurry.

This is Sean. I tried to take this without him noticing but he looked up just as the camera flashed.

Kang running away yet again.

This is a pic of Woojin mid-laugh.

Why does Kang always give me these scary faces?

This is Irene of the Lily class, hiding behind her coloring of a teddy bear.

This is Alyssa trying to dodge my camera.

Catch me if you can!

the Immigration Office...again

Well, I only have about ten more minutes until I'm finished with my schoolday but since I already did all of my normal Wednesday work I figured I'd take the time to update...even if this is just going to be short and sweet. Today's schoolday actually wasn't the norm as far as schooldays go. I spent much of my morning in the car with my boss's mom and dad who had the honor of carting my sorry self to the Immigration Office in order to get my visa extended for the extra month that I'll be staying here. It was a fairly silent car ride seeing as how neither of them could speak much English...not that I really minded. It was much too early in the morning for me to even attempt coherent thought, much less coherent speech. My boss's mom (also known as Grandma, as we here have affectionately named her) went along inside with me so she could help me muddle through the process. Thank god she was there though cause we did a buncha stuff and filled out a buncha papers that I would not have known otherwise to do had I gone there alone. At one point I think she turned to me and told me that she'll be sad to see me go and that I've been here with her and everyone at this school for a long time...and then she gave me a hug. It's cheesy I know, but it was nice to feel appreciated none the less.

Traffic coming back from there was insanely crazy due to the amount of roads that have been closed because of all the flooding around the area lately (it's been raining here like every day for the past two weeks) so we didn't actually make it back to school until about an hour and a half after we left the Immigration Office. Suffice it to say I'm glad the whole thing is over and done with. It just seems like a lot of trouble just to get some little smearing of ink on the back of my visa ID card that mentions my new departure date. Ah well, it needed to be done I guess.

So as far as everything else, I still need to begin that long tedious process of packing, and at some point I need to go to the Pension Office to apply for my refund...though I think I'll wait to do that during the kindergarten summer vacation that is coming up at the beginning of August. It's kinda cool that I get yet another week-long vacation just for staying an extra month. Yay me.

Anyway, gotta go. Time to go home. Woot.