School's out!

All the classrooms are flooded because of a rogue sprinkler system on the 12th floor of the building I teach in. We, the other teachers and I, spent about an hour at work and then happily skipped out like a bunch of second graders on a snow day.

I took this weekday free-time opportunity to get myself a new do. I'm getting back to my roots- cherry cola hair.

Korea has finally cute-ified me. Note the bangs and bow.

The most satisfying taco of my life.

Noms!  Photo credit: Michael McCauley

They say people never appreciate what they have until it is gone. This is truer for no other thing than Mexican food. I have spent the past 22 years of my life taking for granted the easy access to inexpensive, delicious Mexican food. Even fabulous Rockford, Illinois has a few authentic Mexican restaurants where you can get corn tortilla tacos and a variety of pickled hot peppers. (There's a very good place downtown on State Street that I frequented during my short but depressing stay in Rockford post-graduation.)

I didn't realize I'd been missing the tastes of marinated meat and guacamole until I took my first bite while shivering next to a truck in front of the Hamilton Hotel in Itaewon. Itaewon is a district in Seoul and probably the least Korean place in Korea. You are much more likely to hear English speakers passing you on the street than Korean speakers, and the whole area is catered toward the comfort and convenience of foreigners, specifically Americans.

Itaewon is a bit of a guilty pleasure for me. As a traveler, as opposed to a tourist, I like to think I'm above taking the easy way out, but the truth is I'm not. I like being able to order a drink without miming and ultimately ending up with something totally different, I like being able to strike up a conversation with the stranger next to me, and above all I like the variety of food available. Itaewon is where I have enjoyed authentic Indian, Turkish Kebabs, French desserts, and good ol’ American fast food.  So, if I were to find an excellent taco cart in Korea it would be in Itaewon.

Business is booming for Taco de Mayo. Lina, Michelle, and I snapped up the last six tacos at 3am, which is not the end of the night in Seoul. I'm sure many Americans longing for familiar "ethnic" tastes stumble upon this truck and gobble up Taco de Mayos' wares like it is Thanksgiving. 

Although, it's not exactly your madre's home cooking, the tacos these gents whipped up really hit the spot. I'm impressed by the Taco de Mayo's ability to replicate a somewhat authentic taste in the middle of Korea. They have to order some of their ingredients online and find suitable alternatives for other ingredients that they can't easily access in Korea. Also, grilling tacos at 4am in the freezing cold for drunk tourists and GI's must take fortitude. Kudos to these dudes. 

The entrepreneurs behind Taco de Mayo are great guys. They happily chatted 20 minutes away with us while we stuffed our faces (with tacos and comped fries and drinks!). We covered our reasons for being in Itaewon that night, the power of social marketing, and of course, I offered suggestions to beef up their menu. I proposed both that they introduce a Mexican hot dog and that they make a beef and potato burrito. Both things I would spend my hard earned won on. 

I'll definitely be stopping back at Taco de Mayo a few times before my tour de Korea is over. I'm anxious to see if their R&D department gives the thumbs up to my suggestions, and I look forward to some good conversation over yummy tacos. 

Adios, amigos.

Old habits die hard

Baking and listening to Ludacris at 3am.

If eye must suffer, so must you.

I have never had an eye infection, that is, until I came to Korea. I have had pink eye, not once but twice, in both eyes in the past two weeks.

Hope you weren't eating anything.

From now on, I'm using hand sanitizer like it's crack.

A request

Hi everyone,

I love reading your insightful and witty comments and I promise to start being more prompt about responding. However, I don't always know who you are by your screen name. This is especially true for you Sarah's out there. I know about 10 Sarah's! It would be most helpful if you could sign your comments with a last name or a descriptive fact about yourself that I will clue me in to who you are.

Thanks!
Sarah (your favorite blogger)

To the country!

I spent last weekend ignoring my latest crisis and enjoying a lovely countryside adventure courtesty of my dear friend Lina and her relatives. Lina's aunt and uncle are 오이(cucumber) farmers and two of the most generous people I have had the pleasure to meet. Unphased by the language barrier they invited me to stay in their home, fed me, fed me, fed me some more, gave a smattering of useful gifts, and took me to my first Korean historical site. Oh... Did I mention the fed me?

The farm is a a long trip from where I live in 외장부 (Uijeongbu), in the northern part of South Korea. We left at 5:30am, so naturally, I stayed up all night baking cookies. We caught the first train through Seoul and then boarded a bus to take us four more hours south to 구 례 (Gurye). 

See map: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=204378762783380085870.000499a252e5ff34c2133&ll=36.148965,127.781982&spn=0.833899,1.766052&z=9&start=0

The green house was so toasty. My glasses and camera lens fogged up 

immediately.

There's a 360 view of mountains from Lina's Uncle's roof. 

The first thing we did after emerging from the sauna-like bus was hit up a large outdoor market that springs up in town once every five days. Every kind of seafood you can imagine (and some you never have), freshly butchered meat, vegetables, herbs, and dry goods are available for purchase from buddled up 아줌마 (ajummas) yelling out their starting offers as you pass by. I bought a hefty bag of 대추 (techu), dried jujubees, for 15,000 won. I'll used them to make a delicious cough soothing tea for the rest of the winter.

These are traditional Korean kitchen tools and shoes.

This cow statue reminded me of home.

The exhaustion caught up with us after lunch and Lina and I napped the afternoon away. After a delicous dinner of 김치찌개 (kimchi stew) we went for a walk to make room for some fresh fried chicken. Lina's uncle called ahead to have our chicken caught, plucked and chopped. As we pulled up in the tiny blue truck our chicken parts were tossed into the oil. The chicken tasted really fresh. Too fresh maybe. The taste was good but almost startling. After a lifetime of chicken purchased at a grocery store, I've gotten used to the taste of old meat. 

Lina's uncle and a chicken foot.

The rest of the evening was passed with a combination of translated chitchat and studying Korean from the phrase book Lina's uncle gave me. 

The next morning we awoke early for our trip to the nearby 절 (temple). 

The 화엄사 절 (Hwaeomsa Temple) site is about 1500 years old but the oldest buildings standing today are 500 years old. They were rebuilt many times after invaders burned them to the ground.

Here we are at the gate to the temple grounds!

This dude was about 15 feet tall.

Beautiful woodwork

Budda

Bowing to Budda

Prayer lanterns hung by people who stay and pray at the temple for 100 days. 
Photo credit: Lina Yim

I love the juxtaposition between the 500 year old temple and the 
soccer ball clock.

We hit the road after a quick, delicious and filling lunch.

Thanks to the generosity of Lina and her family I now have a fridge stocked with:

오이 Pickles (unpickled, so actually cucumbers)

고추장 Gochijang - A sweet and mildly spicy sauce which can be used in as a marinade, in soup, or as a dip. It's great with the pickles.

Soybean paste- Used for soup bases and sauces.

고구마 Sweet potatoes- not your average orange sweet potato. These are white and sweeter than the American variety. 

Fresh plum tea- YUM

Popped black 콩 beans- I'm not a fan of cooked beans because I dislike the texture, but when popped these beans taste like popcorn's sweet and healthier older brother.

I now have a great challenge ahead of me: a thank you note written in Korean. I feel I have mastered the art of the thank you note, in English at least. However, expressing sincere gratitude in Hangul is proving to be a bit difficult. 

Between a rock and a hard place

Things are not going well at work.  The kids are great, I love teaching, but the management is a little shady. We, the other native English-speaking teachers and I, have a growing list of grievances that are really very reasonable even for a bunch of self-entitled Americans. I'll skip over the lesser offenses and share the main problems with you.

Why we grumble

• December 31st was pay day. We each received less than half of our December salary. 
• We have not moved to our new campus. As a result, we work from the tables at the back of the seminar room, without computers or other supplies. 
• The management doesn't think it is necessary to tell us ANYTHING.

We demanded a meeting with the principal for today to discuss our concerns. After an exhausting series of translations, we were offered reasonable explanations and assurance that we will be paid and our jobs are secure at least for this term. However, my cohort's problems are not exactly solved. We have promises from a source that has given us trust issues. 

I know you're all wondering why I don't just get another job at one of the many of Hagwons in Korea seeking English teachers. Here's why. If we are laid off or quit, we lose our job and our right to be in the country. Thanks to the new E-2 visa laws, effective starting this month, I cannot just get a new job. I first have to get a FBI background check, a several month process that comes with a lovely fee. Then I have to go through a bunch of paper work to get my visa's sponsorship switched. By the time my new visa is processed, I'll likely run out of cash or be deported. 

Obviously, not getting paid is the critical issue, but I'm mostly irked by the fact that the no matter how many questions I ask I never get an answer. The lines of communication are about a clear as a phone call from an AT&T cell phone at the corner of Spring Creek St. and Alpine Rd. During the meeting, I tried to impress upon the principal that many of us have invested ourselves financially and emotionally in this venture and to keep us in the dark is not acceptable. I sense that the management has been thinking of us as just "some American teachers" rather than real people. I keep getting the urge to dramatically yell out, "We're people too!" We all have bills and other responsibilities, and do not really have anything to go back to in the States. There is not a whole lot of opportunity for recent graduates in the U.S. right now. That's part of the reason we're in Korea. 

Yesterday, I was about 80% sure would have to cut my Korean adventure short by 10 months. Today, things are looking much better, but I'm still nervous. January 14th is the day that will decide my fate. I have a plan for whatever happens.  Not a good plan but a plan. I really hope things will work out and going home is still a last resort. The looks of disappointment and "I told you so" are sure to silently beat me into depression if I am forced to go home. However, if you see me in the Midwest before the thaw don't be outrageously surprised. 

I have shared my sad story. Now you're up.  Have you ever put all your eggs in one basket and then had some fat guy sit on it? What did you do and how did you rebound? I appreciate any comments of support, advice, or Youtube videos that will make me smile.