Wedding Bells And Honeymoons

• Tonight I got to go to a Korean wedding! It was the owner of the cafe where PIC's Heart of Music service is held, Ye Jin. I don't know her that well but she invited me to drop by if I had time. So I did! (Though I almost got lured to sleep by my bed...I need to stop seeing 5 a.m.) I knew at least one person who was going to be there, and several other people that I've met here ended up being there as well (the foreigner community isn't that big so everyone is kind of interconnected). I didn't get there on time (silly school) so I missed the ceremony, but I got to see the rest and here are my observations:

Similarities:

• the bride wore a white dress
• the groom wore a black suit
• there was a wedding party, made up mostly of the bride and groom's siblings
• mother-of-the-bride was dressed very nicely
• people ate at tables, with chairs
• the food was served buffet-style
• the guests were a mix of ages, though with a lot of middle-aged people
• there were lots of flowers

Differences:

• guests put money in envelopes at the door as a kind of mandatory gift (...I may or may not have slipped past this step...)
• the bride and groom changed out of the white dress/black suit and into traditional hanbok after the ceremony
• then they participated in a traditional Korean ceremony (this was while everyone was seating so I didn't get the specifics), said some hellos (or anyeong-ha-sey-yos) and changed back
• the family of the bride and groom, along with some people from their church were in charge of all the cooking, serving, set-changing, etc. (I've seen this in the US, but I don't think it's the norm)
• the ceremony and reception were held in the bride's cafe and so eating tables were in the main area, on the upper floor and outside
• most people left after eating
• after dinner time, several guests gave performances for the bride and groom
• there were no special dances, cake-cutting (no cake actually), bouquet-tossing, etc. - the simplicity was actually really nice
• there wasn't any alcohol (though the punch had a special kick) and no dance party time
• the reception ended at about 8 p.m.

I'm not sure whether the differences are Korean-based or simply Ye Jin's and her fiance's preferences. I'm going to another wedding in a couple weeks so I'll be able to compare!

The Visit (She Was Here)

• Dr. Koh Day!!! I got to school and was wondering how I would know when she arrives – and when I went to say hello to the vice principal and the head teacher, her and her husband (Dr. Shin) were sitting with the head teacher! I ran over and hugged her. It was really comforting to have someone from home there in my school, who had worked to take care of me and make sure I was in a good situation, and knows the culture and language of the crazy foreign place I live in – it was practically like seeing my own parents. After listening to Dr. Koh, Dr. Shin, my head teacher and, eventually, Winter talk in Korean for a while (it’s so pretty to hear native Koreans speak, especially when I don’t need to be understanding what they are saying), we went to lunch. I told Dr. Koh that my school’s lunch was really good, so she made sure to make time I her schedule to eat with me. And she liked it! She even said that she used to eat one of the dishes all the time as a child, and hadn’t since then. Cute! We (they) talked with some other teachers/staff and then just between us for a while – until we were the last ones in the cafeteria. Oops. After lunch, we had tea/coffee with the principal, met with my mentor teacher (Dr. Koh even thought she was talkative and little strange...ah well), and then went up to class. My grade 1/2 students were surprisingly good today! (When I told Dr. Koh that they were good today, she was like, “Really? Oh...”) Granted, I only had them for 20 minutes because of an earthquake drill, but still. The principal and head teacher came in to watch, along with Dr. Koh and Dr. Shin, and no one threw anything at me (students) or told me to stop teaching and leave (adults) so it must have gone okay :) Dr. Koh and Dr. Shin had to leave quickly after class, to make it to Ashley’s school, but I didn’t have to say goodbye, thankfully. After hanging out at school for a while (no 6th graders means sitting and doing nothing for an hour before I can go home) and several changed plans, I ended up at an Angel-In-Us coffee shop in Idong, to wait for Dr. Koh, Dr. Shin, Ashley and Abby (I had to ride the bus there, Ash and Abby got to ride with the doctors...jelly). I got a lemon tea (DELISH) and sat down to wait for them...and then they showed up haha. We walked around the building, looking for the entrance to Partys Seafood Buffet, and then found it and entered HEAVEN. It was a beautiful restaurant with TONS of dishes that all looked fantastic. Dr. Koh noted that they had a lot of carb and fruit options, along with free beer, to fill you up before you could eat too much actual [expensive] seafood – how tricky – and checked our plates whenever we brought one back to the table. But everything was fantastic. And Abby, Ashley and I ended up impressing her, with both the number of plates we returned with and the types of things we tried. I had pizza (with CHEESE) and a variation of tomato and mozzarella salad (CHEESE), but also SUSHI! Never had it before but I popped my sushi cherry with whelk, squid, eel, crab and scallop (or some kind of shellfish) sushi. They were yummy. Ash, Abby and I have already made plans to go back at least once before leaving Pohang. During dinner, we were able to talk to Dr. Koh and Dr. Shin about lots of things – TaLK, our schools, plans for after July, etc. – and I even talked with them about dating (Korean boys and otherwise) and how they met (used to study at his university’s library, because hers was too far away, and one day he came up to her and talked to her...”I’m so lucky” he told me...SO CUTE!). We stayed at the restaurant for almost 3 hours. After that though, we had to say goodbye :( She has 3 meetings, all over southern Korea tomorrow, starting at 8:30 am! She’s so Korean (works 8 days a week). I gave her a hug and made Ashley promise to give her another one before they parted. I can’t wait to see her when we get back. 
• I wish all of Dr. Koh’s students had the opportunity to understand her in a Korean context. I have known a lot of people who’ve taken her for an intro special ed class at Eastern and have really disliked her. If they knew how hard she works, how much she cares, how professional, protective, forceful, no-nonsense but also flexible she is – and how all of those qualities are related to her life events (she mentioned tonight that she remembered eating those silkworm bugs as a child, because they had no other way to get protein) – they would not dislike her ever. I’m so glad that I had the opportunity to dissolve my first impression of her and replace it with actually knowing/understanding her.

Rice, Rice Baby

I compiled the following recipes for my submission to our province's semi-annual newsletter. I've only tried a few but so far, so good!

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Rice-Cooker? More like, Cake-Baker!

Who simply cooks RICE in their rice cooker? Using an appliance for its original purpose? How boring. And the most important thing I’ve learned in my time in South Korea? You have to be flexible. And you usually have to improvise. And Korean kitchens don’t have ovens. Okay, that’s 3 things. But they all mean the same thing...YOU are going to use one of these recipes to make a delicious dessert in your rice cooker! How exciting!

(P.S. Don’t turn the page if you have allergies – there are dairy-, egg- and nut-free recipes here!)

Recipes gathered from across the internet. Edited by Emily Palmer.

Notes:

• Use the regular rice-cooking settings on your cooker to bake any of these recipes.
• Cooking time for all recipes is dependent on the machine. Just stick a chopstick in the cake once it starts to look done (approximately 2-4 cycles) and if no batter comes out, then it’s done.
• I have substituted difficult ingredients with those I was definitely able to find at HomePlus. You can visit the websites from which I found these recipes for the original versions (provided after each recipe).
• Baking soda is referred to as “Cooking Soda” at HomePlus.
• You can basically use all oils (canola, sunflower, vegetable, olive, grapeseed) interchangeably; I have chosen to use canola oil in all of these recipes.
• Vanilla Powder = ½ the amount of Vanilla Extract needed

Measurement Abbreviations

Cup = c

Gram = g

Milliliter = ml

Ounce = oz

Pound = lb

Tablespoon = tbsp

Teaspoon = tsp

The measurements for grams in all of these recipes are approximate. Try to find a measuring cup with both grams and cups/ounces, just to make the sure the amounts are right. My apartment had one when I moved in, so they sell them somewhere in Korea.

Enjoy!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Banana Bread

(nut-free recipe)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c (360 g) enriched white flour

3/4 c (180 g) white sugar

2 tsp (10 g) baking powder

1/2 tsp (2.5 g) baking soda

1/2 tsp (2.5 g) salt

3-4 mashed overripe bananas

1/3 c (80 g) butter, softened

1/4 c (60 ml) milk

1 egg

*For extra sweetness, substitute a portion (or all) of the white sugar for an equal amount of packed brown sugar OR add 1/2 tsp. (2.5 ml) of vanilla extract.

*You can also add extra ingredients, like nuts, chocolate chips or fruit, to your taste.

Directions:

1. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix well.
2. Add bananas, butter, milk, and egg. Mix well. Soften butter and pre-mash bananas to make this step easier.
3. Grease rice cooker pot.
4. Pour the batter into the rice cooker pot.
5. Cook in rice cooker for 2-4 cooking cycles. Check after each cooking cycle to avoid overcooking.
6. Once cooked, let it cool, and remove the cake by turning the pot upside-down (to leave the cake bottom-up) onto a plate. Dust with powdered sugar, top with glaze (store-bought or homemade) or enjoy plain.

Original recipe: http://www.wideislandview.com/2009/07/recipe-no-fuss-rice-cooker-banana-bread/

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Carrot Cake

(dairy-free recipe)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 c (355 g) flour
1 tsp (5 g) cinnamon

2 tsp (10 g) baking powder
1/2 c (120 g) brown sugar

1/4 c (60 ml) Golden Syrup

*Golden Syrup is a British product and therefore may be available here, at HomePlus. If not, substitute corn syrup (1:1).

3 eggs

1/2 c (120 ml) canola oil

1 1/2 - 2 grated carrots

1 tsp (5 ml) vanilla extract

1/4 c (30 g) walnuts

powdered sugar (for dusting)

Directions:

1. Mix flour, cinnamon and baking powder. Set aside.
2. In a separate bowl, combine sugar, syrup, eggs and oil. Mix well.
3. Add mixtures together. Mix well.
4. Add grated carrot and walnuts. Mix well.
5. Grease rice cooker pot.
6. Pour cake batter into rice cooker pot.
7. Cook in rice cooker for about 90 minutes. Check after each cooking cycle to avoid overcooking.
8. Once cooked, let it cool, and remove the cake by turning the pot upside-down (to leave the cake bottom-up) onto a plate. Dust with powdered sugar or top with cream icing (store-bought or homemade).

Original recipe: http://memoirsofaleisha.blog.com/2012/01/27/carrot-cake-in-a-rice-cooker-recipe/

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Chocolate Cake

(egg-free, nut-free recipe)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c (180 g) flour

3 tbsp (45 g) cocoa powder

1 1/2 tsp (7.5 g) baking soda

3/4 to 1 c (180 to 240 g) sugar

1/2 c (120 g) chocolate chips

1/4 tsp (1.25 g) salt

1/2 tsp (2.5 g) vanilla powder

1/4 c (60 ml) canola oil

1 tbsp (15 ml) vinegar

1 c (120 ml) water

Ingredients for Frosting (optional):

50g butter, melted

10 tbsp icing sugar, sifted

4 tbsp cocoa, sifted

Directions (for cake):

1. Mix flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt and sugar lightly together.
2. Add oil, vanilla and vinegar. Mix well.
3. Add water, bit by bit, until a smooth batter emerges and then gently mix in the chocolate chips. Be careful not to over mix.
4. Grease rice cooker pot.
5. Pour the batter into the rice cooker pot.
6. Cook in rice cooker for 2-4 cooking cycles. Check after each cooking cycle to avoid overcooking.
7. Once cooked, let it cool, and remove the cake by turning the pot upside-down (to leave the cake bottom-up) onto a plate. Enjoy plain, or frost it (either as is, or by cutting it in half horizontally and making a “cake sandwich”).

Directions (for frosting):

Mix all ingredients together.

Original recipe: http://nodesserts.blogspot.com/2011/09/not-your-ordinary-chocolate-cake.html

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Coconut-Pecan Upside-Down Cake

Ingredients:

1/2 c (120 g) butter, softened

1/2 c (120 g) dark brown sugar

1/2 c (120 g) shredded coconut

2/3 c (160 g) chopped pecans

1/2 c (120 g) semisweet chocolate

2 tbsp (30 ml) milk

This recipe calls for a Jiffy Yellow Cake mix...which we don’t have in Korea (unless you can venture to the Costco and happen to find it there). Use the following ingredients to make your own and see directions below to mix:

2 c + 1 tbsp (240 g total) flour

1 tsp (5 g) baking powder

3/4 tsp (4 g) baking soda

1/2 tsp (2.5 g) salt

1/2 c (1/2 lb or 113 g) butter, softened

1 c (200 g) white sugar

1/2 tsp (2.5 g) vanilla powder

1 egg

1 c (240 ml) milk + 1 tbsp (15 ml) lemon juice OR 1 c (240 ml) milk + 1 tbsp (15 ml) white vinegar

Directions:

1. Grease rice cooker pot well with oil.
2. Mix together the brown sugar, coconut, pecans and semi-sweet chocolates with a little milk. Spread mixture over the bottom of the pot.
3. Follow these directions to mix up your yellow cake batter:
1. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
2. Beat butter and sugar with a mixer at medium speed (or a fork…at human speed) until pale and fluffy, then add vanilla powder.
3. Add egg, beating well.
4. Add milk/lemon juice OR milk/vinegar mixture until just combined (will look curdled).
5. Add flour mixture in 2 batches. Mix well.
4. Pour cake batter into rice cooker pot.
5. Cook in rice cooker for 2-4 cooking cycles. Check after each cooking cycle to avoid overcooking.
6. Once cooked, let it cool, and remove the cake by turning the pot upside-down (to leave the cake bottom-up) onto a plate. Dust with powdered sugar or top with glaze (store-bought or homemade).

Original recipe: http://www.food.com/recipe/coconut-pecan-upside-down-cake-rice-cooker-220554

Original yellow cake recipe: http://smittenkitchen.com/2009/07/best-birthday-cake/

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lemon Cake

(dairy-free, nut-free recipe)

Ingredients:

4 eggs

1/2 c (120 g) white sugar

Grated zest of 1 lemon

2 tbsp (30 ml) lemon juice

3/4 c (180 g) flour

1/5 c (50 ml) canola oil

Directions:

1. Beat eggs and sugar together with a fork until fluffy.
2. Zest your lemon: Scrub the fruit with a sponge and warm, soapy water. Rinse it well and dry it with a paper towel. Use a small, sharp knife to carefully peel off a strip of the lemon skin, working top to bottom. Peel only the topmost layers of the skin. If there is any white showing on the underside of your pieces, you've peeled too deep.
3. Add lemon zest and lemon juice to sugar mixture. Fold in flour with a plastic spatula.
4. Pour in canola oil and mix well.
5. Transfer batter into rice cooker pot.
6. Cook in rice cooker for 2-4 cooking cycles. Check after each cooking cycle to avoid overcooking.
7. Once cooked, let it cool, and remove the cake by turning the pot upside-down (to leave the cake bottom-up) onto a plate.

Original recipe: http://eatingpleasure.blogspot.com/2009/10/lemon-cake-baked-in-rice-cooker.html

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Pineapple Cake

(egg-free, nut-free recipe)

Ingredients:

7 oz. (200 g) canned pineapples, chopped

3 tbsp (45 ml) milk

1 tsp (5 ml) lemon juice

2 tbsp (30 ml) canola oil

2/3 c (160 g) flour

1 1/2 tsp (7.5 g) baking powder

1/3 tsp (1.5 g) baking soda

4 tbsp (60 g) sugar

2 pinches salt

Oil to grease the pot

Directions:

1. Mix pineapple, milk, lemon juice and oil.
2. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, add sugar and salt.
3. Add flour and pineapple mixtures and gently stir, until combined (creates a thick batter).
4. Grease rice cooker pot.
5. Pour the batter into the rice cooker pot.
6. Cook in rice cooker for 2-4 cooking cycles. Check after each cooking cycle to avoid overcooking.
7. Once cooked, let it cool, and remove the cake by turning the pot upside-down (to leave the cake bottom-up) onto a plate. Dust with powdered sugar or top with glaze (store-bought or homemade).

Original recipe: http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2011/9/12/lifeliving/9460329&sec=lifeliving

Culture As Given

This post consists of some aspects of Korean culture that are a part of my daily life. I haven't put even close to everything here, but it's a good sample. If you like what you read, research some more :)

Music (Kpop)

• I’m being seduced by KPop...I love it! The music itself is a lot like the BSB/*NSYNC/Spice Girls that I’ve rediscovered that I like. But the boys are dressed so nicely! And the dancing in the music videos is fantastic. Sometimes the outfits don’t make sense, but the videos are just filled with them dancing and singing...no crazy Lady Gaga stuff that has nothing to do with music. Plus, one of my students gave me a bunch of music as a birthday gift today, so I will get to listen to it a lot more. So far, I really like SS501, Super Junior and 2NE1.

Fashion

• I’m amazed by what Koreans can pull off. First, there’s the shorts-over-tights thing that I see tons of girls wearing. I might have to try it before I leave. Then, there is the tights-with-socks-and-athletic-shoes/Converse thing, coupled with a skirt, dress or shorts. How that looks good, I don’t know but it’s totally acceptable to everyone (even me) and everyone does it. Next, the patterns: the other day, I saw a guy wearing 2 kinds of plaid and 1 kind of stripes...and he was totes hip. Finally, there are the boys. A majority of men here dress exquisitely and I love it. Several pieces to every outfit (which is attractive to me for some reason) and the pieces are just a little different from things you'd find at home. This blazer, for example: 

Television (K-Drama)

• I think the fact that I purchased Lee Min Ho socks while in Seoul this weekend adequately portrays how much I love this part of Korean culture.

Food

• I’ve adjusted a lot better and a lot more quickly to Korean food than I expected I would. Before leaving the US, I assumed I would get bored of having rice every meal. But there are several kinds available here (it’s not just white or fried) and it’s often used as a buffer between my taste buds and the spicy flavoring – which my mouth appreciates. (However, despite the spiciness of most of the food here, it doesn’t have a lingering taste. A lot of times, about a half hour after lunch, I don’t even remember that I had something spicy to eat. It’s nice – you know, in case I meet my soulmate here and he needs to kiss me right after I eat.) I also find myself really enjoying and even craving food that I thought was weird when Dr. Koh was feeding it to us – in particular, the dried seaweed sheets. They are so salty and yummy! I like to eat them as a snack, like crackers or chips (even though that’s not  the texture that they have or what they taste like). I also find myself craving Korean food in general; like being really excited for lunch at school (which is always delicious) or preferring traditional Korean food over pizza or fried chicken for dinner. The Office Guy at my school told me today that I "eat Korean food well", that I try everything...I take that as a compliment. However, the downfall to all of this: not only is Korean food (and alcohol) exceedingly cheap here but it’s really expensive back in the States! :( It’s easy to find a full meal here for about $5 or $6 – and side dishes are always free and refillable (and tipping is not a thing that happens here). And soju is about $1 for a 360 mL bottle...it doesn’t sound like a lot but you only need about 1.5 bottles to reach a fun level of inebriation. I’ve heard it’s upwards of $10 for the same amount in the US :/ THAT will not be fun to get used to when I return.

History

• I've really enjoyed learning about the history of Korea, especially the history of the language and the recent history of the culture (post-Korean war to the present). The language is fascinating because King Sejong, who invented it, wanted to make it as easy as possible for people to learn. As such, there are only 24 characters (unlike the thousands of Chinese) and they are very phonetic (they almost always make the same sound). The formation of words with these characters is also very consistent. Words are formed with clusters of characters and each cluster has 2 or 3 (in rare cases, 4). In addition, the symbols of the consonants were assigned based on the shapes one's mouth makes when saying them. The vowel symbols are formed according to the 3 fundamental symbols of Eastern philosophy (Heaven, Earth and Man) and each vowel uses 1-2 of these symbols to make the character. Finally (this is one of the coolest things), all of the vowels conform to the harmony of yin and yang. All of the vowel sounds in a word will be either yin, meaning the dots (Heaven) will be down or to the left of the line (Earth or Man), or yang, meaning the dots with be up or to the right of the line. So awesome! I'm still struggling with the way that these characters make words and sentences but I LOVE the origin of the language.
• The recent rise of Korea, out of the ashes of the Korean war, has become a topic that fascinates and amazes me. It's hard to describe, but take the time to watch following videos. I think you will start to understand why this country is so amazing and why I love it here. 

(watch all of the parts...it's about an hour but very worth it)

Try This At Home

• After I got home from school yesterday, I waited for PP and Anna to get home from Jukdo Market and then we went to Mundeok to meet Liz for dinner. It turned out that we met Liz and a few of the teachers from her school (the youngest ones). It was really fun! We had a spicy-ish dinner and got to know each other a little. Her mentor teacher speaks English really well - he lived in California for 3 years. The boys (her teachers) talked in Korean and the girls (Liz, me, PP and Anna) talked in English with a little bit of cross-conversation, with the help of Liz and her MT. It was really great because Liz was able to explain some Korean culture things to PP and Anna that I hadn’t, or that I just didn’t know. For example, we take shoes off at school because, for children, teachers are considered the next best thing to parents – so going to school is like being at home, where we always leave our shoes at the door. Cool!

Visitor's Day

• PP and Anna are here! It’s going to be weird without them after they leave…it just seems normal that they are here when I get home, and it will be a little lonely when there aren’t people in my apartment when I get home from school Now that they are here, it’s hard to imagine that it’ll be 4 more months until I see anyone from home. I’m so glad I have such good people here to lean on. Until they leave, though, we are going to have a great time!

Rain Delay

• I know it's been more than 2 weeks since I last updated this blog. Poor Korea blog! Everything I've been up to is on my Adventures blog, but in an effort to avoid copy-and-paste posts, I haven't posted anything here in awhile. Stay tuned there until more Korea-related material appears here :)

Language Lesson (Feb 25)

• A random fancy thing about Korea: Elevators actually close when you push the “close door” button. Who woulda thought?
• One of our “lectures” today was 3 hours (!) of learning games. At first, I was annoyed that it was so long, but it was definitely better than being in the lecture room for that time and ended up being pretty fun. I think my favorite game was “Worm” – we were in groups of 8 groups of 6-7, held on to each other’s hands and had to try to catch other groups and add them to our line. It was dangerous (kind of along the lines of Red Rover) but fun for sure.
• Our Head Coordinator’s family came today and we got to play with her kids! They are so adorable and really smart. We taught them the Baby Shark song; they caught on to all of the motions and then remembered it later in the night! So cute. Darryl taught the daughter (age 4) some adorable faces too. It was so fun and such a relief from lectures (and a little taste of what teaching will be like).
• Tonight we learned more Korean! It was stressful (our teacher went fast) but I’m adding to the things I can say. I still don’t know any sentence structure, but I can recognize most of the letters of the Hangul alphabet and I use these phrases:

Kam sa ham ni da - 감사합니다 - thank you

An nyeung ha se yo - 안녕하세요 - hello/how are you

Ne - 네 - yes

Anniyo - 아니오 - no

Ha ji ma - 하지마 - don't do that

Pong chi ji ma - don't lie to me! (slang)

San saeng nim - 선생님 - teacher

Omma - 엄마 - mom

Oppa - 오빠 - literally means "older brother" but is used as a term of endearment from a girl to a boy (who is slightly older than her)

Mambo No. 5

Love from Group 5 :)

I Am The Best

• K-POP DANCING! This week, our post-lecture classes are K-Pop dancing and kite-making. I was so excited to do K-Pop so, even though there were a ton of people signed up, I was going to be there :) We learned 0:22-1:38 of the choreography from 2NE1's "I Am The Best" and it was so much fun! (Plus, it was cool because that's the song we used in our Group 5 video!) I needed the movement after all the sitting we've had to do the last few weeks, and I wanted to dance. It was hard and we/I definitely didn't look like the girls in 2NE1. But one of the guys did say to me, "Someone has a dance background"...I love that :)

Tower Tall (Feb 19)

• Nam San Tower was the order of the day. We all got a nice nap on the bus ride into Seoul - and then basically got dropped off at the bottom of the hill that the tower is on and were told "Go and be back at 2 pm!" We had no idea where we were headed! And there was literally ONE person in our group of 50 who knew which direction to go. Luckily, it was a pretty straightforward walk. And by "straightforward", I mean metaphorically - it was a REALLY steep walk. But we made it.

• Honestly, one of my main reasons for going to the Tower today was to find the place where Jun Pyo waits for Jan Di...#notaddicted. I didn't come across it (I don't even know if they actually filmed it there), but I had fun imagining that GJP waited on the stairs for her thinking about how far Jan Di had to walk to get up there.
• I ate a cheeseburger! I've been wanting one for a few days. It was small, but pretty yummy - and is apparently the Best Burger in Seoul.

Also, there was a Coldstone! And most of us got ice cream, despite the freezing temperatures. Our Kiwi friends had never heard of Coldstone, let alone eaten it before, and they were totally amazed by it. How they made it, how it tasted. Also, Chris tried to test his Korean and ended up ordering 2...oops.

• We had a little extra time, so we ended up playing some games with Sehee and Rachel (some of the Korean Group Coordinators - KGCs) and some other scholars. It was really fun just spending time with people :)

• We got to be a part of a guy's proposal to his girlfriend! Not completely - he was going around the tower getting people to write messages to his gf on a dry erase board. Then he would take pictures of the people and their messages and I assume he's going to put it into a collage. So cute!

• The Love Locks were amazing! Millions of people take their significant others to the Tower and "lock in" their love by attaching a lock to the fences or the designated trees (some people sneak a few elsewhere). It's cheesy and kind of makes a single girl want to vomit (esp. when she's with friends that happen to be an adorable couple) but it's also really cool.

Welcome to the Farm (Feb 18)

•  We had a field trip to a very small farming community today. I'm not sure if it was an actual village or not, but their community leader was really excited that we were there and wanted us to make sure we shared our experience there with everyone we know.

We were supposed to rotate through 4 activities, getting an hour at each one, but for some reason we got really rushed through all of them and even ended up leaving early. A little disappointing, because the people seemed like they spent a lot of time preparing for our visit :/ But nonetheless, it was a great day and the activities were pretty cool:

• Yunnori (traditional Korean game) - We learned to play this game at our first station. The man explaining it said it was like Monopoly, but I think it was actually more like Sorry. It was fun and we easily played it in large groups (about 15 people), which was good. There was also another game (kind of like hacky sack) but we could only choose one to learn.

• Straw craft - A few of the older men from the community made us a straw craft (I think we were originally supposed to learn to make them, but they just made it for us). I'm not sure if it's something they would actually use, but the way that they were twisting and tying the straw was how they make baskets, bowls and even shoes.

• Rice cakes - Again, we were told we'd be making rice cakes, but we only got to slice and eat them. It was a very interesting taste. The powder on the outside was very dry (think baby powder) and overwhelmingly rice-tasting, such that it almost made me gag! But the gooey "cake" underneath was pretty good. Desserts in Korea (at least the traditional ones) aren't like those in the US - I think they are mostly bean- or rice-based and they are sweet, but not in a sugary way. Considering these things, this rice cake was yummy...not brownie-yummy, but not bad.

• Making tofu - We got to do a little more with this station. We used the grindstone to turn the mixture of soybeans and water into a paste (it looked very strange). After that, I believe the paste is put into a mold (they might add a few more things to it, but not much) and then cooked. We didn't get to do those steps but we were able to try some freshly cooked tofu. The taste wasn't bad, after being dipped in a soy/sesame sauce but I really don't like the texture  of tofu (and that was confirmed today).

• Lunch - Some of the women of the community made us a fantastic lunch. Such a great break from the caf food, even though they had to make a TON of it.