Eating Korean Dog Meat (Part 2) from Kenneth Major on Vimeo.
Showing posts with label Korean Delights. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Korean Delights. Show all posts
Thursday, 29 July 2010
Saturday, 24 July 2010
Snail Hunt After-Party
Jess and I had a lot plans for this weekend. We were going to go grocery shopping, relax in Pohang, watch the firework festival, go see a movie, and much more… but none of them happened.
The rainy season is really putting a damper on our travels. It can be a beautiful 40oC sunny day outside one minute, and the next minute you’re in a torrential downpour. There’s no way to predict what type of weekend you’re going to have, and the Korean Meteorological Society is far from being accurate (although they did successfully put a weather satellite into space last month… high five Korea!).
Instead of a nice trip to the beach, Jess and I spent another nice night in Andeok (close enough…right?). We watched a movie on the computer, had a superb dinner (homemade poutine!), and then took a nice midnight stroll down to the river. We set ourselves up on the small dam, and talked over the sound of the rushing water around us.
Suddenly, two SUV’s pulled up to the side of the dam, and about a dozen people jumped out. They were all in their thirties and fourties, but they sounded like a bunch of teenagers, giggling and chattering in excitement the whole way down. At the bottom, they approached the water holding spotlights, buckets, nets, and other fishing gear. They said hello to us as they walked by, but our presence didn’t deter them from the fun of their little “midnight excursion.”
They spent most of their time on the far side of the dam where the water wasn’t as deep. One or two people held the spotlights in place, while the third guy wadded through the thigh-deep water, overturning rocks and plucking things off of them. We have no idea what all the others were doing, but we could hear their faint laughter in the distance.
As we later found out, they were hunting for snails. I have seen ajummas collecting snails in the river before, but this was the first time I’ve seen a young, well-dressed group of people rush to the river in SUV’s for a little midnight snail hunt…
We’re still not quite sure why they were hunting them, or what they were planning on doing with their “catch,” but it was it was quite something to watch. If this is the new Andeok after-party scene, count me in!
- Ken
The rainy season is really putting a damper on our travels. It can be a beautiful 40oC sunny day outside one minute, and the next minute you’re in a torrential downpour. There’s no way to predict what type of weekend you’re going to have, and the Korean Meteorological Society is far from being accurate (although they did successfully put a weather satellite into space last month… high five Korea!).
Instead of a nice trip to the beach, Jess and I spent another nice night in Andeok (close enough…right?). We watched a movie on the computer, had a superb dinner (homemade poutine!), and then took a nice midnight stroll down to the river. We set ourselves up on the small dam, and talked over the sound of the rushing water around us.
Suddenly, two SUV’s pulled up to the side of the dam, and about a dozen people jumped out. They were all in their thirties and fourties, but they sounded like a bunch of teenagers, giggling and chattering in excitement the whole way down. At the bottom, they approached the water holding spotlights, buckets, nets, and other fishing gear. They said hello to us as they walked by, but our presence didn’t deter them from the fun of their little “midnight excursion.”
They spent most of their time on the far side of the dam where the water wasn’t as deep. One or two people held the spotlights in place, while the third guy wadded through the thigh-deep water, overturning rocks and plucking things off of them. We have no idea what all the others were doing, but we could hear their faint laughter in the distance.
As we later found out, they were hunting for snails. I have seen ajummas collecting snails in the river before, but this was the first time I’ve seen a young, well-dressed group of people rush to the river in SUV’s for a little midnight snail hunt…
We’re still not quite sure why they were hunting them, or what they were planning on doing with their “catch,” but it was it was quite something to watch. If this is the new Andeok after-party scene, count me in!
- Ken
Thursday, 1 July 2010
The World Cup in Andeok
Saturday, June 12th. It was a tiresome evening in Andeok. Both Ken and I had just finished a Saturday’s worth of English camps, and we were utterly exhausted.
Despite covering hours upon hours of camp activities with our students, we mustered enough energy to attend another of Andeok’s community events – watching the 2010 World Cup, South Korea vs. Greece, live from the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in South Africa.
There were a fair number of Andeok residents sitting on the ground in a field in front of the local police station. They placed themselves on flattened out cardboard boxes and picnic mats. Ken and I both received Red Devils’ (the South Korean soccer mascot) t-shirts and pairs of inflated clappers to cheer on the soccer team representing South Korea.
Moments before the game was projected onto the screen, men with hard, hanging drums, spurred on the crowd with their strong, solid beat. Everyone was shouting “Dae-han-meen-guk!” (The Republic of Korea!) and hitting their clappers together.
Finally, the game began. The first goal was a perfect setup. In mid-flight, one of the soccer players kicked the ball into the net, which turned our little community into an uproar. In the second period, another mighty goal was scored by South Korea. The players of Greece’s team seemed to grow tired. However, South Korea’s Red Devils seemed to maintain their drive until the very last seconds of the game. No matter which direction the game was teetering towards, it was clear that South Korea fully supported its country’s representatives. Every moment of the game was devoted to shouts and screams of encouragement, the banging of the drums, the inflated clappers, and the hypnotizing chant, “Dae-han-meen-guuk!”.
After two hours of “on-the-edge-of-your-seat” soccer action, two praise worthy-goals by Lee Chun Soo and Park Ji-Sung, an overall score of 2-0 favouring South Korea, and over two hundred deflated clappers, everyone was buzzed and must’ve had a good night’s sleep, exhausted from their enthusiastic cheering.
However, the night was not over for me, Ken, and Justin (the Andeok Elementary School English teacher who joined Ken and I during intermission). We stopped by our local convenience store to buy some celebratory ice cream, and found the owner red-faced and beaming with excitement. He told us that he watched the game on his small TV, which was rested at the top of one of his shelves, and downed seven beers while doing so. He continued with his eighth after offering us some beer in celebration.
After spending more time than we had expected in the store and reliving the highlights of the game, the owner urged us to have one drink with him at a bar. Remembering the last time we were supposed to have one drink at the bar (it turned out to be several), we tried to turn him down gently, but he was quite persistent.
***
After the store owner closed up shop, Justin, Ken and I walked down the street with him, while he took our arms in his own and swayed from side to side. We eventually made it to the bar…the owner, slowly rubbed her eyes as she had just been woken up by us.
She welcomed us in, as we apologized for our late entrance, and set us up with anjou (snacks) and beer. From dried seaweed and a medley of fruits, to succulent, marinated beef, we happily filled our stomachs with the delicious late night snack. About an hour after our noisy entrance into the bar, we were completely spent, exhausted from the seat-gripped game that was the South Korea vs. Greece World Cup match.
Dae-han-meen-guk…zzzz…
‘Twas a good night.
- Jess
Wednesday, 23 June 2010
Sunday, 16 May 2010
Thursday, 15 April 2010
Mrs. Jeon’s Birthday!
Mrs. Jeon, my primary co-teacher, signed up for Facebook about six months ago. She had no idea what do with it, but she was curious about what it was for and decided to give it a try. Six months later, she has yet to use the website for anything, but it has proven to be useful for one reason: her birthday.
In Korea, a birthday isn’t nearly as big of a deal as back home. They have a couple big ones (the first and the hundredth), but for the most part, they remain fairly small; even more so for women. One of my coworkers once told me, “In Korea, husbands don’t celebrate birthdays. I’ve never celebrated my wife’s birthday.” When I asked him why not, he simply responded, “We just don’t.”
Last week, I signed onto Facebook and saw a notification that it was her birthday on the following Thursday. I marked it on my calendar, and waited…
On the Wednesday night, Jess decided that she was going to make her a cake from scratch. Keep in mind; we don’t have extensive ingredients, cooking utensils, or even an oven. Yet the double-decker, strawberry jam-filled, milk chocolate-coated vanilla cake that emerged from the kitchen was a true masterpiece. Yes, Jess is just that good…
I carried it to school on Thursday in an inconspicuous box, and set it down on the corner of my desk to tease Mrs. Jeon’s curiosity throughout our morning classes.
Lunch time rolled around, and I followed her to the cafeteria with my box in-hand. I brought up small talk to pull her attention away from the box while we were in-transit and once in the cafeteria, I casually set it down at the end of one table and proceeded to the lunch line.
About three or four minutes into lunch, with the entire school staff in attendance, I stood up and walked to the end of the table. I cleared my throat, and announced, “Excuse me everyone. Can I have your attention for one minute?” Everyone stopped eating and stared at me in confusion. I smiled and continued, “Today is a very special day. It’s Mrs. Jeon’s birthday!” The room immediately erupted into a mixture of chatter and laughter as one by one they understood what was going on. A few of the teachers started clapping, and one shouted, “Song!” I looked at Mrs. Jeon (who had the cutest embarrassed face I’ve ever seen) and started singing “Happy Birthday” for her to the cheers of all our coworkers. At the end of the song, everyone applauded, and one of the teachers got up and gave her a candy from his pocket.
At last, I revealed Jessica’s masterpiece. I had to explain that it wasn’t store-bought, and that it had been made just the night before. Needless to say, it stole the show away from Mrs. Jeon’s red face, and happily lived the rest of its life being snatched up and shared by the Bunam Middle School staff…
I love surprise parties!
- Ken
In Korea, a birthday isn’t nearly as big of a deal as back home. They have a couple big ones (the first and the hundredth), but for the most part, they remain fairly small; even more so for women. One of my coworkers once told me, “In Korea, husbands don’t celebrate birthdays. I’ve never celebrated my wife’s birthday.” When I asked him why not, he simply responded, “We just don’t.”
Last week, I signed onto Facebook and saw a notification that it was her birthday on the following Thursday. I marked it on my calendar, and waited…
On the Wednesday night, Jess decided that she was going to make her a cake from scratch. Keep in mind; we don’t have extensive ingredients, cooking utensils, or even an oven. Yet the double-decker, strawberry jam-filled, milk chocolate-coated vanilla cake that emerged from the kitchen was a true masterpiece. Yes, Jess is just that good…
I carried it to school on Thursday in an inconspicuous box, and set it down on the corner of my desk to tease Mrs. Jeon’s curiosity throughout our morning classes.
Lunch time rolled around, and I followed her to the cafeteria with my box in-hand. I brought up small talk to pull her attention away from the box while we were in-transit and once in the cafeteria, I casually set it down at the end of one table and proceeded to the lunch line.
About three or four minutes into lunch, with the entire school staff in attendance, I stood up and walked to the end of the table. I cleared my throat, and announced, “Excuse me everyone. Can I have your attention for one minute?” Everyone stopped eating and stared at me in confusion. I smiled and continued, “Today is a very special day. It’s Mrs. Jeon’s birthday!” The room immediately erupted into a mixture of chatter and laughter as one by one they understood what was going on. A few of the teachers started clapping, and one shouted, “Song!” I looked at Mrs. Jeon (who had the cutest embarrassed face I’ve ever seen) and started singing “Happy Birthday” for her to the cheers of all our coworkers. At the end of the song, everyone applauded, and one of the teachers got up and gave her a candy from his pocket.
At last, I revealed Jessica’s masterpiece. I had to explain that it wasn’t store-bought, and that it had been made just the night before. Needless to say, it stole the show away from Mrs. Jeon’s red face, and happily lived the rest of its life being snatched up and shared by the Bunam Middle School staff…
I love surprise parties!
- Ken
Wednesday, 14 April 2010
The Worm in Our Bathroom
I had planned to take a pleasant shower this morning. I turned the boiler on, waited ten minutes for the shower water to heat up…and then I saw it - a squiggly little worm with a flat hammer-like head, inching its way along our bathroom wall underneath the window. Not knowing if it was poisonous or not, I debated squishing it with little bits of toilet paper, so I took some baking soda cleaning spray, and doused it with about 20 sprays of the stuff. It slowly curled, and moved as if it was in excruciating pain, and all I could do was debate as to whether I should touch it or not.
My problem was solved with about 3 tissues I folded over (just so I wouldn’t come into contact with it at all), and I slowly squished it into the tissue and disposed of it in the bathroom garbage. Done and done.
Later on in the day, while at school, I curiously searched the internet for the worm that had ruined my morning shower. I found it almost immediately. The worm that was in our bathroom…that little worm…was a hammerhead flatworm – one of the most indestructible worms in the world. You cut it half, and it regenerates…you cut it into ten pieces, and it regenerates into ten worms… Even if you squish it, it’ll regenerate into the number of pieces into which you happened to break it…Ken mentioned to me that a scientist in Europe had managed to divide one worm into 271 pieces…gross. The only way to destroy one of these pests is to dissolve it in some kind of acid.
I’ve decided to burn it. Burn the entire lot of worms…or whatever comes creeping out of our garbage can. That’ll work, right?
Ken’s so fascinated that he wants to keep one as a pet…
- Jess
My problem was solved with about 3 tissues I folded over (just so I wouldn’t come into contact with it at all), and I slowly squished it into the tissue and disposed of it in the bathroom garbage. Done and done.
Later on in the day, while at school, I curiously searched the internet for the worm that had ruined my morning shower. I found it almost immediately. The worm that was in our bathroom…that little worm…was a hammerhead flatworm – one of the most indestructible worms in the world. You cut it half, and it regenerates…you cut it into ten pieces, and it regenerates into ten worms… Even if you squish it, it’ll regenerate into the number of pieces into which you happened to break it…Ken mentioned to me that a scientist in Europe had managed to divide one worm into 271 pieces…gross. The only way to destroy one of these pests is to dissolve it in some kind of acid.
I’ve decided to burn it. Burn the entire lot of worms…or whatever comes creeping out of our garbage can. That’ll work, right?
Ken’s so fascinated that he wants to keep one as a pet…
- Jess
Tuesday, 2 February 2010
Adventure Map for KenandJess2go (version 2)
*Added "Yeongdeok" and "Yeongyang"!
[caption id="attachment_706" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Adventure Map for KenandJess2go (version 2)"]
[/caption]
Saturday, 9 January 2010
Adventure Map for KenandJess2go
[caption id="attachment_663" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Adventure Map for KenandJess2go"]
[/caption]
[/caption]
Saturday, 2 January 2010
Thursday, 17 December 2009
Saturday, 12 December 2009
Friday, 11 December 2009
Tuesday, 17 November 2009
The Bunam Goat
I was walking to Bunam Middle School from the bus terminal, when all of a sudden out of the corner of my eye I saw a large black figure rustling behind a bush. My Canadian instincts took over (where’s the mother bear?!?) and I froze in my tracks. My heart started pounding, and I stared for at least a solid minute before deciding to walk up a bit further to see what it was. When I was about twenty feet away, its head quickly jutted out of the top of the bush, and I found myself staring straight into the eyes of… a goat. He looked at me, snorted, and resumed his delicious meal of weeds on the side of the highway…
I didn’t need my morning coffee today…
- Ken
I didn’t need my morning coffee today…
- Ken
Wednesday, 11 November 2009
Pepero (“BbehBbehro”) Day in Korea
I’ll have to work these chocolate-covered wafers off tonight, the next night, and the night after that…
***
Although today is Remembrance Day in Canada, in Korea it is Peppero Day (Bbehbbehro Day). This day is another one of those little significant days, which tends to brighten everyone’s mood. Bbehbbehro Day is meant to signify the giving of chocolate-covered, wafer-like sticks, resembling the 11-11 represented by November 11th.
Today, in Andeok School, all of the teachers got boxes of these chocolate sticks put on their desks from the school’s head of administration. There was even one teacher, who got a 50-pack of these boxes of Lotte chocolate-sticks, stacked in the shape of a heart, fixed around containers of Ferro Rocher chocolates.
While I was working in the English lab, three of my bright, Grade 9 students anxiously came into the classroom and gave me three boxes of Bbehbbehro sticks – my second dose of snacks for the day. When I thanked them and asked what they were for, they said happily, “Bbehbbehro Day…mahn-nie chocolate (a lot of chocolate)!”
I laughed, and as the bell rang, they scurried away like cutesy mice.
In each of my other classes, I received more Pepero boxes and handmade chocolate-covered sticks from my students (in white and dark chocolate, dusted lightly with pink and red sprinkles…mmm…). I wish I had known about this day in advance. It would have given me an excuse to bake something extra delectable for my students
The more snacks, the merrier. That’s the way I see it. Unfortunately, the Principal snagged some of my boxes from my desk while I was teaching (the teachers tattled on him).
What a great day.
- Jess
***
Although today is Remembrance Day in Canada, in Korea it is Peppero Day (Bbehbbehro Day). This day is another one of those little significant days, which tends to brighten everyone’s mood. Bbehbbehro Day is meant to signify the giving of chocolate-covered, wafer-like sticks, resembling the 11-11 represented by November 11th.
Today, in Andeok School, all of the teachers got boxes of these chocolate sticks put on their desks from the school’s head of administration. There was even one teacher, who got a 50-pack of these boxes of Lotte chocolate-sticks, stacked in the shape of a heart, fixed around containers of Ferro Rocher chocolates.
While I was working in the English lab, three of my bright, Grade 9 students anxiously came into the classroom and gave me three boxes of Bbehbbehro sticks – my second dose of snacks for the day. When I thanked them and asked what they were for, they said happily, “Bbehbbehro Day…mahn-nie chocolate (a lot of chocolate)!”
I laughed, and as the bell rang, they scurried away like cutesy mice.
In each of my other classes, I received more Pepero boxes and handmade chocolate-covered sticks from my students (in white and dark chocolate, dusted lightly with pink and red sprinkles…mmm…). I wish I had known about this day in advance. It would have given me an excuse to bake something extra delectable for my students
The more snacks, the merrier. That’s the way I see it. Unfortunately, the Principal snagged some of my boxes from my desk while I was teaching (the teachers tattled on him).
What a great day.
- Jess
Monday, 2 November 2009
Korean Children
Did you know pregnant Korean women tend to dream about their children’s futures? Today, in one of my teachers’ classes, Young-hee (my Andeok School co-teacher) mentioned that Korean mothers- or fathers-to-be will dream about small fruits or small animals for girls, and large vegetables or large animals for boys. The grander the fruit or animal, the brighter the future looks for their child. All of the female Andeok teachers apparently had that dream. Young-hee said that she dreamt of a large, round, orange pumpkin, and lo and behold, she had a son!
I’ll be surrounded by cream-coloured orange pumpkins, fiery red-hot chilies, and thousands and thousands of Cheongsong apples for one whole year. I think my future children are set.
Oh, and last night Ken had a dream about a T-Rex…
- Jess
I’ll be surrounded by cream-coloured orange pumpkins, fiery red-hot chilies, and thousands and thousands of Cheongsong apples for one whole year. I think my future children are set.
Oh, and last night Ken had a dream about a T-Rex…
- Jess
Wednesday, 23 September 2009
Ken and His Korean Snackies
(Ken – right before we’re going to watch a movie…)
“I eat so healthy, morning, lunch and dinner, so I’m entitled to eat #@*%ing snackies!”
We ate a family pack of snacks that night.
- Jess
“I eat so healthy, morning, lunch and dinner, so I’m entitled to eat #@*%ing snackies!”
We ate a family pack of snacks that night.
- Jess
Friday, 28 August 2009
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