World Cup

This week the country revved up for World Cup game two against Argentina.  After winning the first game against Greece, we were all hopeful that we could give Argentina a run for their money and maybe win? I watched the game with a bunch of Holt adoptees...which was fun.  Alas, Korea lost 4-1.  It was a tough game, the competition was really talented and fast, and if the goal that went off one of the Korean players, and the two offsides goals didn't count...Korea would have tied.  LOL

At any rate, it gave everyone a chance to show their patriotism and wear red shirts, scarves with the soccer logo, horns (team name is the Red Devils) some that light up, wear face tattoos, etc.  It was great to feel the electricity in the air, experience the excitement and team spirit the whole country was wrapped up in, and sadness when they lost.  So, Korea has one more match and the possibility to go into a final round.  They will play Nigeria on Wednesday...i believe in the VERY early morning hours, so I'll probably just go to bed and hope for the best.

This weekend, I'm off to Jeju Island (Jeju-do).  It's called the Hawaii of Korea and a popular tourist destination.  It is the only place that Chinese tourists don't need a visa.  There is a dormant volcano on the island with hiking trails marked out; women dive for oysters and seaweed along the coast...called water women by some. They grow delicious little mandarins, a hybrid of tangerine and orange, and oranges.  They also grow bananas and other subtropical fruit and crops.  It's an island so there's alot of seafood (whoopie).  I'm hoping I'll be able to find some sort of other gogi (meat) and not just seafood.

There is also an orphanage on Jeju that has done only domestic adoptions.  Many of the children that live there remain until they are 20, or 22 if they attend university.  I plan on visiting the orphanage on Sunday.  My house mom loaded me up with towels, soap, and socks (given as gifts at meetings and stockpiled in their household) to take to the orphanage.  So I checked a bag instead of just taking my backpack.  I have a tour scheduled for Saturday and then the orphanage visit on Sunday, and then I fly back to Seoul on Sunday afternoon.  It's just about the beginning or the monsoon season, but I'm hoping for a miracle and for some sunshine while I am there.  Pictures and reports to come.  Everyone have a great weekend.

High Notes

Sunday I met my friends from the Army and we went to dinner at a Catholic church near Itaewon.  On Sunday, they do a real Italian dinner, everything is included in one price.  When we arrived, we found a seat and they brought us bowls of penne pasta in a bolognese sauce with cheese on top.  Very tasty.  Once empty, our bowls were collected and plates were brought to us.  We were served rosemary roasted chicken, rosemary roasted potatoes (they must have cooked those together, what do you think), sauteed spinach with garlic, salad and bread.  Everything was absolutely delicious.  For dessert they brought us some yummy homemade tiramisu.  We were all in heaven.  We got to eat with forks and knives and that was a treat too. 

While we were finishing up our dinner, a lady from a nearby table came over and said she had an extra ticket to a concert on Monday night and wouldn't be able to use it.  We accepted and the ticket was pushed my way.  Sure...why not. 

 
After teaching, I came home, changed into something more appropriate for a concert and went to the Seoul Art Center.  It's many subway stops away from me and a short bus ride.  What a beautiful building.  It not only houses the concert hall, opera house, but the school of design, and a couple of other artsy venues.  The entrance way is lined with restaurants and snack-type shops (ice cream, wine, buffets).  I had to go through the entry way to the other building for the concert hall.  Along the hallway are quotes from awesome musicians.  Then outside, there is a "dancing fountain."  The fountain is choreographed to the music...apparently they publish the music schedule and people come to this plaza with the fountain just to enjoy the music and the water.  It was really beautiful.

The concert was actually the classical soprano recital of Ji Hyun Park.   Her program included Mozart, Elgar, Strauss, Adam, Rachmaninov (I didn't know you could sing Rachmaninov), Leoncavallo, Giordano (thought this was only pizza and clothing stores in Korea), and Donizetti.  She was accompanied by a live orchestra, the venue was absolutely beautiful, and the seats were comfortable...not too crowded.  I was surprised to see children (under the age of 16) fill the row in front of me.  They were with their moms...but actually seemed to be enjoying the program.  The soprano had a beautiful voice...although she makes funny faces when she has to hit the really high notes.  I think that she also "la la la'd" through one of the songs...did she forget the words?  Did it have no words?  And, I couldn't tell what language she was singing in...although I think at least one piece was being sung in Korean. 

Anyway...I enjoyed the live music...but was compelled to leave at intermission.  Besides, the woman next to me had some sort of throat thing going on and she kept tearing pieces of paper, folding them into a cone shape, and then spitting into it.  It was SUPER disgusting.  I was totally grossed out.  Once...it was icky.  Twice, three times, four times...I had to go!

I think I'll enjoy the next World Cup game more.  LOL.  Have a good day!

2

Last week the Holt adoptees in the Homecoming Program gathered together for a going away dinner for Susie who returned to MN.  Her homestay mom gave her a "fusion hanbok" and she wore it...it was so pretty.  While Susie has been here, she has trained for and run in at least two marathons.  Her boyfriend even decided to begin training and he ran in one marathon...incredible.  The dinner was great...we ate galbi...which is grilled meat (nicely seasoned) side dishes of kimchi, lettuce leaves to wrap the meat in, pickled onions, soup, garlic (they eat lots of garlic here...yum).  The meat is grilled on the table in front of us.  The grill is placed over a pan of really hot coals.  There was a little ventilation device in the middle to suck out the smoke from the grill, but it wasn't working very well.  Once the meat is nearly cooked, the server comes over with her utility scissors and cuts the meat into small pieces...so it can be eaten with chopsticks.  Scissors and tongs are almost always available at places where you have to grill your food.  This is very typical of how you eat out. This place also gave the ladies aprons to cover their clothes...the guys just had to try to be neat.

Last night was Korea's first game in the World Cup, so the whole country found places to watch the game.  In Seoul there were several large outdoor venues that had live entertainment before the game and then played the game on a huge screen.  The pre-game coverage showed the crowds there...all wearing rain ponchos, dripping wet...it didn't look like much fun.  I'm glad we chose a restaurant for our viewing pleasure.  I met two adoptees that currently live and volunteer at Ilsan Town...Holt's places for the handicapped orphans.



Before Martin and Melinda arrived, I walked around a bit and the city had a pep rally set up, singing going on, they were giving away these plastic inflatable "sticks" used to beat together for cheering...so I picked up a couple for us.  We definitely used them...they came in handy!  I went out on Friday night looking for a good place and found this one...it was perfect!  It's one of the few places that has TVs in their restaurant and plays sports...some of them have monitors that only play music and music videos. The tables looked like they were made out of wooden crates and they used milk crates as seats...added cushions on top.  There is a little drawer on each side of the table that holds napkins and a box with chopsticks and spoons (there is a box like this at every restaurant you visit...usually on top of the table.)  The cushions came off which  was handy for stashing our umbrellas and purses.  We got there a little early to make sure we could get a good seat for the game and to eat dinner.  It's funny...it was mostly a seafood place (I obviously didn't know that.).  LOL  I ordered the one dish that had beef...it was cabbage, bean sprouts, and beef...delicious. 

The restaurant was completely filled and everyone was dressed in red...the team's colors.  The team is the Red Devils, so some folks were also wearing horns that lit up...very cute!  Korea dominated the game and scored quickly--they won 2-0 against Greece.  The whole restaurant was cheering, chanting, and we LOVED it.  I met a girl from Alabama who is kyobo (Korean parents, grew up somewhere else).  She is here teaching English.  We also met a Holt adoptee from Rochester, NY.  He is here teaching English (18 months so far).  They were the nicest group of people...it was fun sitting with them and getting to know them.  What a small world.

Today I'm going to meet Leora and YiYi, the ladies that I know who work on the Army base.  They are bringing the flat rate boxes for me so I can mail back some of my stuff to make sure I don't go over weight on my luggage.  We're also going to a local church that has a Sunday only authentic Italian dinner.  I heard about this Italian dinner from an Italian who said the food was delicious, homemade pastas and raviolis...I'm excited.

This evening I'll meet the group that helps in the soup kitchen.  Next week I teach, tutor and on the weekend I'm going to Jeju do (do means island).  It is called the "Hawaii of Korea."  They grow a lot of the fruit and vegetables that are eaten in Korea.  There is a dormant volcano there, and who knows what else.  I'm looking forward to a change of scenery for a couple of days.  I will report back!  Have a great week.

3

I'm doing the countdown in weeks...so I'm on week three before I leave.  The weather is now HOT...it went from rainy to really hot...wow.  Some of my classrooms are not air conditioned, so it makes the kids lethargic and cranky...not to mention the teacher.  lol

On Sunday my homestay family had a family party because a niece and her husband were here visiting from Colorado.  So, Angela's sister, husband, son, daughter-in-law, and grandchildren came over, Angela's two brothers came over, two of one of their sons came over, one with his new wife of just 10 months, Angela's son and daughter-in-law came over, and me.  It was a big crowd, I think about 19 people. The picture of the family above is the little girl I tutor and her family.  She is Angela's great niece. Angela and her ajuma started cooking early on Sunday morning and finished as people began arriving.  It was a big spread and she warned me about which things I probably wouldn't want to try.  The niece from Colorado is a vegetarian, so some of the dishes were prepared slightly different to accommodate her.  It was a feast, and the men (as men should), did all the grilling of the galbi outside.  Dinner was finished with a beautiful fruit salad and two different kinds of cake...yum yum.

Today (Wednesday), two of my classes had other things planned (picnics or field trips), so I had only one school, three classes.  I meet MeeHyang and went to the Samsung Leeum Art Museum.  It's near Itaewon and what a gorgeous place.  They made us check our bags, so I was unable to take any pictures of the items inside.  They have beautiful ceramics from the 1200s and 1300s...very unique pieces, beautiful designs.  There was a display of gorgeous metal works...ornate earrings and crowns, incense burners, etc.  One of the floors had beautiful ancient scrolls, screens and others beautiful pieces that were really old.  And finally, the collection also had some very interesting modern art.  There was even a children's display that was more hands on.  One of the pieces I'd actually seen at a display in Italy...it's a large wall of what looks like multi-colored dots from a distance...but as you get closer, you realize it's every kind of pill or capsule you could possibly image...very colorful.

Tomorrow we have a Holt adoptee goodbye dinner...a couple of the participants are finishing their three-month teaching obligation.  The girl from MN will be returning home.  The guy from PA will be staying on and working in Korea.  There are sooo many adoptees who have decided to stay here for one reason or another.  the F4 Visa that I got, and I'm sure they also got, enables us to stay her for up to three years with no problem, and come and go as we please.  A normal tourist visit is limited to 90-days.

This weekend I'm meeting my friends who work on the Army base and will be mailing a box back home (via USPS), so my bags won't be so heavy.  I'm going to send my books ahead and whatever else I can find that I don't need...maybe some winter clothes.

More to come...