What's "normal" anymore?

Tomorrow, Danny and I will officially be getting on a plane and heading back to America for the first time in 18 months.  Seriously, I can't believe we have been away for that long!  To us, that means we are heading back to the land of normal... or at least our normal, but really what is "normal" anymore?  To me "normal" is peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and lawns, and people who have different color eyes and hair, but to Korean kids none of those things are normal in their minds.

During our summer camp, our Korean students got the opportunity to make peanut butter and jelly for the very first time and it was fun to watch.  Can you imagine seeing PB&J as a strange and foreign food as all of those kids did?!  It blows your mind, huh?  Then I realized that PB&J may be my normal, but it's not everyone's normal.  Korean kids are used to kimchi and chopsticks, and I grew up with mac n' cheese and forks : )

Even though it has been difficult at times, I am really glad that this experience is helping me realize that not everyone grew up the way I did.  It makes learning about Korea that much more interesting and it allows me to share some pretty cool stuff with students to help them expand their global views too. 

It may seem strange, but I feel like when I get to share a game like "steal the bacon" that I always played growing up at Camp Elim, or when I get to make Rice Crispie Treats with these kids for the first time ever, I am sharing a bit of "Americana" with them.  They get to try something new, and I get to feel even more proud of where I came from.

I know now that nobody's "normal" is better than anyone else's or that because I grew up in the "land of the free and the home of the brave..." that I know the best way to do things, but I do know that I am pretty stinkin' thankful to be an American.  No matter what problems we are having in that country, it is a pretty amazing place, and there's nothing like living in Crazy Korea for 1 1/2 years to make you miss where you came from!  It may not be the 4th of July, but I hope this makes you feel a little patriotic today... no matter where you are from!

USA... HERE WE COME!!!!!!

Baguettes and Bananas... Crazy Tales of Teaching Koreans

Recently Katy and I have spent some time discussing and subsequently laughing about the daily stories/frustrations that teaching young kids can bring.

Last week we came home after a LONG day of teaching and as I vented my frustrations of the day we couldn't help but laugh about the sheer absurdity of the scenes we find ourselves in.

Here is one such example:
For the past two weeks a small group of students and I had been working on putting together a five minute version of Peter Pan.  I can imagine there would be challenging moments if trying to accomplish this task with English speaking elementary students, but when you add to it that most of our students speak minimal amounts of English (and probably don't understand a lot of the words they are saying) it can make for some hair-pulling, teeth clenching, silent screaming, yet funny when removed from the scene, teaching moments.

We were working on acting out the first scene where the brothers, Michael  and John are pretending to sword fight in their bedroom.  This practice just happened to be held in our "Grocery Store" classroom, where we have teaching aids such as plastic fruits, which kids can't seem to keep their hands off of.

I like to think of my teaching style as pretty laid-back and especially when teaching 5th graders you've just got to "embrace the chaos" most of the time.  So when Michael and john started using plastic baguettes and bananas as their prop swords, I thought okay, this is fine, but I told them "let's not use the baguettes because they break too easily."
I turned my back for ten seconds to speak to Wendy and when I turned around again Michael and John were sword fighting with the baguettes again.
Well, I finally had to lay down the law and say in my most authoritative teacher voice:

"WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT SWORD FIGHTING WITH THE BAGUETTES?" 

Let's just say this was only one of the many ways that my patience was tested in this practice.

It wasn't until later that night as I was recounting this tale of Peter Pan, bananas and baguettes to my lovely wife that I realized how loony and comical my teaching frustrations can be.

Ok, I know I said no more baguette fighting, but even a grown man knows that you can't just shake off a stab wound from a dangerously sharp plastic baguette.

As a final note this little guys name was Gary (aka. Roley Poley) and he is by far one of the cutest yet clueless  kids we've taught here in Korea.  Katy made him "Ham" in her groups version of Toy Story last week but we both agreed that he would have been better as a "squeaking alien"... "Ohhewww, the claaaawwwww..."  Man, Korean kids are funny.

An in depth look into Korean bathrooms...

Growing up in America has made me accustomed to certain things.  There was always soap in public bathrooms, people showered in shower stalls, and you only squatted when you were camping.  Being in Korean has made me realize that none of those things are the norm here.

Bathrooms or "hwa-jang-shil"s are one of the cultural differences that I thought I would never get used to, however nowadays I find myself used to how those things are done here.  Squatting toilets were one of the things that avoided for as long as possible because I thought it was weird and difficult to master.  In some ways, though, I might have to agree that I almost prefer them because you don't really have to touch anything so it's more sanitary. (If I was awarding points for bathroom smarts, it would be Korea 1: America 0)  I'm still not quite sure they always put a mirror in front of the toilet... I guess it's a good place to check your makeup? ; ) One thing that I don't abide by still is how they usually want you to put your used toilet paper in a trashcan next to the toilet instead of flushing it.  I have heard they don't flush paper because there are a lot of old pipes that can get clogged easily, yet I and many foreigners I talk to prefer to flush. (Korea 1: America 1)

Another difference I have come to accept is that it is only a pleasant surprise if I find soap AND toilet paper in a public bathroom.  You might, and I say might, find one or the other but finding both is a special moment. Danny and I often enthusiastically take note of bathrooms that have both and make a mental note of them for the future. Another point goes to the States...Korea 1: America 2

Danny and I have realized that Korea is the land of polar opposites.  On one hand bathrooms leave room for improvement, on the other hand, I have never seen toilets with such interesting technology as in Korea.  

Who knew that you could get a toilet that has a seat warmer, a self cleaner, bidet, a fake flushing sound in case you have a problem with bathroom shyness.  All of these things help with definite "rump relaxation" as Danny would say but sometimes when you don't know exactly what they will do, it can be a little nerve racking to go pushing unrecognizable buttons : )  Even still, I've gotta give one to Korea... Korea 2: America 2.

The last big thing that is different about Korea is the bathroom/bathing situation.  As we have mentioned before, Korea goes for the open shower choice as opposed to using bath tubs or shower stalls.  I have read many reviews of hotels when we travel and noticed that Westerners often complain about "open" showers in Korea, but you are often hard pressed to find otherwise unless you go to a really nice hotel.  Now its second nature to put on slippers before I go into any bathroom so as to protect my feet from getting wet.

No longer am I surprised if the floor of any bathroom is wet or the whole bathroom is damp as a matter of fact.  Because the whole bathroom is made to be constantly soaked, clean up is quick and easy just by rinsing everything off.  That would make the bathroom score Korea 3: America 2.  However because everything is constantly wet, that also means that mold is easily found in most bathrooms which isn't exactly my favorite thing... Korea 3: America 3.

I guess for now we'll have to call it a tie in the Korean/American bathroom race.  There are good and bad to the "hwa-jang-sil"s they've got going on, maybe you will just have to make a list of pro's and con's yourself and let me know what you've come up with.  On that note I leave you with a ridiculous song that is related, in some ways, to our topic today.  Who knew you could learn so much about poop, or "dung" as Koreans call it, from a kids song.  Let's just say it's another proof that Korea is crazy ; ) (Be warned... this movie is not only informative, but a little gross so watch at your own risk)

Yikes...right?!And that ladies and gentleman, is all I have to say on the subject of Korean bathrooms.

How to make Kimbap: a Korean staple!

Today you are going to learn how to make kimbap:  the traditional "picnic" or snack food of Korea.  Much like a California roll, but Koreanized, kimbap is rice and various ingredients wrapped in seaweed or "kim".  At first it really didn't trill me, but no kimbap is a food that I really enjoy eating for a light lunch or if we are traveling.  

This past week, some of the student helpers at the English Village told us that they would teach us how to make kimbap so we were in!  Even though Danny and I have an EXTREME love for sushi rolls, surprisingly enough we had never made any type of roll before.

As we got ready to create the rolls, we laid out all the "traditional" kimbap ingredients and some not so traditional ones.  Generally, kimbap contains egg fried thin and cut into strips, kimchi, yellow radish, cucumber, carrot,  a soaked root that kinda has a teriaki taste to it, rice, and some sort of meat, usually ham or tuna.  I brought chicken to try in my kimbap, and even though it weirded out the Koreans that I was steering away from the norm, I did it anyways.

So here is your chance to try a new homemade cuisine yourself as you learn how to make simple and delicious... KIMBAP! (you need to read it with a dramatic pause for effect and make sure to yell kimbap so you really get yourself excited!)

Step 1: Lay out the "kim" (seaweed wrap) on a sushi rolling mat.

Step 2:  Spread sticky rice over the kim, about 3/4 of the way, so you get rice all the way around the other ingredients.

Step 3:  Lay out the various ingredients that you want in your kimbap on the rice.

Step 4: Fold over the kim and start rolling up your kimbap!

 

Step 5:  Put a little sticky rice at the edge of the kim to help seal the roll together.

And now enjoy!  I decided to spice up my kimbap by doing a bbq chicken roll and it was pretty awesome.  You could do beef, spicy tuna, ham, or basically anything else you can think of to make your kimbap what you want!

Here are just a few more tips that will help you when you make your kimbap...

-  Don't put too little rice or you won't get it to stick together well.

-  Cut your veggies into long strips and if you want some veggies to be a little more tender to eat, like carrots or peppers, saute them in a pan for just a few minutes.  

-  Spice up your sticky rice by adding a little sesame oil and black sesame seeds.

-  Salt your cucumber to get some of the excess water out of them.

And there you go!  Go forth and make kimbap!  It's a delicious snack and I know once you have it, it will be a definite favorite.  Enjoy!

WE'RE COMING HOME!!!!!!!!!!

 It is officially less then ONE MONTH till Danny and I come home (just for a visit) to Colorado!  We get to come home for 2 1/2 weeks starting on August 26th, and it's an understatement to say we can't wait! We will have been out of the best country in the world for over 18 months, so we are due for a Colorado fix.  I hope we will get to see many of you at that time, eat lots of great food together, and breathe in a little freedom!  The countdown has begun... The Land of the Free, here we come!

We were excited to see a little Colorado when we were in Japan.

Osaka, Japan ~ A lil' food, a lot o' fashion!

The Food...

 Today I was asked the question, "Do you eat to live or live to eat?"... If you know anything about me, or Danny, you would know that it didn't take us a moment to answer that question... WE LIVE TO EAT!  Food is one of my favorite things to enjoy on vacation, and since Japan is home to one of our top favorite foods, sushi, we were pretty excited!  We knew that our first night, we had to go to a sushi bar, and that is what we did.  When we walked into this conveyor belt sushi bar, we had basically walked into paradise.  You could eat as much sushi as you wanted, and all you had to do was pay by the plate (18 in total... woop, WOOP)!  It wasn't exactly a CHEAP meal, but it wasn't as bad as I expected, and having the first good sushi in almost 1 1/2 years was worth it!  Mmmmm...tuna.

I surprise a lot of people when I say that Korea doesn't really have good sushi... at all.  They have a different idea of sushi that what I think of, so as we walked through a Japanese grocery store and saw it filled with different sashimi and sushi rolls, we shed a tear of joy.

  

Look at all that sushi! It's glorious!

You could also buy AMAZING salmon and ahi tuna on a stick in the outdoor markets.  Basically if I lived in Korea the mercury level in my body would be ridiculous because I would consume an insane amount of tuna!

Heaven on a skewer.

Now, you may have gotten that Danny and I LOVE sushi, so you can understand why I might think that nothing could combat with it.  Oh, how I was wrong, my friends, soooo wrong.  Some friends who went to Japan before us suggested that we eat ramen while we were there, and at first I wasn't too convinced.  I mean, it's ramen... how good can it really be?  Nevertheless, Danny and I tried it and we are glad we did.  Actually the words I'm really looking for are: OH MY GOODNESS, THIS RAMEN IS SO GOOD IT COULD LITERALLY CHANGE YOUR LIFE!

It is a bowl of pure heaven, my friends, and if you know what is good for you, you will go out and find a Japanese ramen restuarant and get ready to be floored.  It is a rich pork broth with fresh ramen noodles, seaweed, scallions, and the best part are peices of roasted pork put on top.  It completely changed my view of what ramen could be... let's just say this ain't no Cup o' Noodles.

Another food that we were told we had to try is called Takoyaki, or squid balls.  These are these bread things that are cooked in a little bowl so it looks like a ball at the end.  Squid is still not my thing, but these were pretty good!  They kinda tasted like a ball filled with cream of chicken soup so if you are in Osaka, because they are famous for them, go ahead and get some Takoyaki!

One thing I noticed about Japanese restuarants, was that most of them have displays in their front windows of the food they serve.  It's pretty smart actually... you don't have to guess what you are getting or go by a picture, like in America, you can just eat with your eyes first. 

It was fun to look from window to window at what eat place offered, especially when it was ice cream!  I think maybe I will try to create a job like that where I get to create delicious looking things in plastic, like a food artist, because you will get the satisfaction of knowing that people can enjoy your food forever!  Danny and I stumbled upon a store that sold the plastic sushi, and ramen bowls, so we found the perfect Christmas ornament to add to our collection... a tuna roll, and it looks delicious! ; )

Lastly, of course I had to show you one of the strangest things we found.  Asians have a different definition of "normal flavors" when it comes to their snack foods.  In my mind only chocolate Kit Kat's exist in this world, but the Japanese have a bunch of different flavors you wouldn't have imagined.  We found wasabi flavor, cherry blossom, and green tea, but I have heard that they also have flavors like soy sauce, buttered corn, baked potatoe, and creme brulee! (You can read more about them here. )  I just keep thinking my brother-in-law, Robb, would be in heaven here in Asia since he loves to try new flavors of things.  I guess the closest Americans get to "crazy flavors" is Jelly Belly's buttered popcorn flavor... I think we really need to step it up!

The Fashion...

Danny and I were caught by surprise by the fashion in Japan.  Korean fashion has a "group" mentality... girls wear 80's style baggy shirts and mini skirts, and men wear polo shirts a capri-type pants.  Now that is a generalization, so of course it's not everybody, but it sure feels like everybody!  So since we see the same fashion all the time, we loved how individualistic the Japanese are when it comes to fashion.  We saw a rocker style, a lingerie style, a European style, a trendy style, of course a Japanese traditional style, and what I thought was most interesting: a "human doll" style.  

Traditional Japanese Style

You can probably picture most of those styles in your mind, but let me explain the human dolls because they are interesting!  At first I thought that all Japanese are constantly on their way to a costume party, but these are just ways they dress on a normal day!  The human doll girls were a sight to see... they had circles of blush on their cheeks, huge bows in their hair, and we even saw one adult woman carrying a stuffed animal to complete the look.  It must be a commitment to dress to the nine like those women do, but they really do look like dolls walking the streets.  (I'm sad that I could never get a good picture of them, but I got one of them from behind.)

 Human Dolls

Wow that's a lot of color!

 I call these styles: "Brit Pop Chic" and "Rocker Chic"... I don't know about you but when I pictured Japan, this isn't what I imagined ; )

Here we have "French Chic" and "80's Chic"... can you imagine how long it takes to get your hair to look that perfect?

Even the accessories are intense.

Bon Jovi Chic ; )

 Danny and I spent a lot of time people watching in Osaka, and now that you've seen some of the fashion, you can see why!  We sat for a while in a part of Osaka called "Americamura". Which is the "American" section of Osaka.  It was basically just a place where all the unique music, fashion, and specialty store converge into one area.  The guide book said that it was a place where Japanese hipsters could live their "American dream"... yeah buddy!

Danny in Americamura

We have been out of America for so long "Americamura" was as close as we could get, but now I'm curious if the fashion will be as interesting to me once we finally go back.  Either way, Japan is a GREAT place for a lot of things, but the food and the fashion, in my opinion, top them all!