Travels in Europe

Travels in Europe

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Turducken and Bicycle Kicks

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Even though we do not celebrate Thanksgiving over here, I still took my Thursday to think (even more) about how I am thankful for my family, friends, and opportunity to come over here to have this adventure! This year the Delaware Saad family was all around the world for the holiday! I'm here...duh... then Mum, Beth, Alex and Edward flew off across the pond to see our family and friends in England and go to a lovely wedding (Congratulations Haley xoxo!) and then Dad pulled the short straw and had to work over the holiday so he is manning the fort back home. I'm guessing he and Henry are enjoying the quiet house and celebrating with a Guinness and the crossword at the moment! 

My Thanksgiving did not go without the food however, as a "western" bar nearby held a Thanksgiving feast for anyone who wanted to enjoy it this past Saturday! Obviously, we could not pass up a turducken and all the regular side dishes including stuffing, mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce! Katrina, Shanna, Seol, and I arrived super early hoping to beat the crowd to the food. We were the only ones there for a while...we must have looked desperate for Thanksgiving food...Lots of people showed up eventually! So many that the bar actually started to give out serving platters and chopsticks for people to use to eat their meal! I'm so glad I got to celebrate the holiday with good friends and good food!
Thanksgiving plate

Nice Seol!
After a fun evening Saturday night, Shanna and I head out today to the Seoul Worldcup Stadium to watch an FC Seoul soccer match and explore the Expat festival that was put on at the stadium as well. The festival was small but had some neat areas to check out. They had 4 stands each showcasing the traditional foods of a certain country. We tried some khuushuur from Mongolia, which is lamb in a pastry-like dough and a sweet, marshmallow type candy. Both were yummy!

Shanna trying the candy



Russian Toast with Cream Cheese...













Next was the booth from Russia, where we decided that they were serving cream cheese on toast. Tasted good, but slightly less exotic than we imagined.
 Shout out to Aunt Nyree for the next booth from the Phillippines! They served some dried mango and a delicious noodle dish called Pansit Bihon. Could have definitely gone for seconds of this dish!










And lastly we stopped at the Vietnamese tent serving plantain chips and Gui Cuon which was like an egg roll with a thin noodle wrap instead of the deep fried version at your local Chinese buffet.
It was very cool to try all these different foods! Sadly, the line for fried chicken and waffles across the festival was about 50 times longer than the line for these foods. Even though foreigners travel thousands of miles to come and experience new cultures and traditions, they still can't get enough fried chicken and waffles? Oh well, to each their own.

Another a part of the festival was a performance by multiple dance troops. One group did some show tunes including a song from Chicago, which was fun to watch, if not just for the overly-enthusiastic-and-probably-high-on-hairspray-fumes lead male dancer...
Couldn't get a good photo of him without a flailing limb or goofy face
There was also a group of ballroom dancers that did about 50 tango pieces in a row. One tango is great, two is pushing it, but after the eighth one we were all tangoed out. We took a walk around to kill some time before heading into the stadium and stumbled upon the next act...
We had matching hats!
















These next guys would be performing the traditional Korean folk dance called "Pungmul" which combines dancing, drumming, and singing into one amazing performance! They wear headdresses called "sangmo" that have long ribbons attached which they twirl and spin throughout the performance. Seeing them keep time with their instruments, coordinate a dance, and ALSO do ribbon choreography was so impressive! They all had huge smiles on their faces the whole time too which made it that much more enjoyable to watch!

After their performance, we joined the crowd into the stadium.


Surrounded by red and black, Shanna and I found seats and got ready for the match to begin. On one side of the stadium sat the HUGE section of loyal fans that do all the dances and cheers while jumping up and down the entire time. Not only did they have circus-tent-sized flags, but they also showered the stands with confetti and had fireworks at the beginning of each half as well as when a goal was scored! This brought back memories from the Philadelphia Union game this past summer! A lot of my students are big fans of the FC Seoul team- I wonder if any of them were there among the hundreds of people in the stands? Anyways, the game got off to a great start and FC Seoul scored a goal in the first few minutes of the first half! And with a bicycle kick no-less which makes it 10 times cooler obviously! The fans went crazy! Such a fun atmosphere to be involved in! That goal would be the one and only goal scored throughout the game, so my first FC Seoul experiences was not only a blast, but it was also a winning game! Can't wait to check out more games once the weather gets nice, maybe one day we will go sit with the crazy jumping fans instead?

Confetti, Flags, and ots of cardio


They gave a specific time for vuvuzelas- smart move FC Seoul, smart move.

All bundled!
 So it is already the last week of November, and you all know what that meaaaansss! Another hilarious video of my students dancing! This month is "From Me to You" by the Beatles and my students absolutely LOVE the song and the dance. They want to practice it every day and cannot wait to perform in front of everyone. Make sure you keep an eye out for the video next week!

The next few weekends are going to be full of birthday celebrations, Christmas parties, and other fun activities, and then it will be time for my Christmas in Thailand! Getting so excited to see that part of the world and experience yet another new culture!

Korean Word of the post:

내 발가락에 감각이 없어요 (Nae balgalage gamgagi eopseoyo) "I can't feel my toes"

Miss everyone- sending my love from over here! xoxo


Saturday, November 17, 2012

Lanterns and Falafel

Yesterday I was able to cross yet another thing off of my "want-to-do" list here in Korea! This weekend was the last few days of the 3-week-long Lantern Festival in the heart of Seoul! This annual event brings people from all over the country to see the amazing artistic showcase that is the hundreds of lanterns displayed through the Cheonggyecheon Stream. We arrived around 5 o'clock when the festival began and with a hot drink in hand we began our walk down the stream. Luckily for us we got there at the perfect time! Because it was still light out, the crowds hadn't really formed yet so we made it into the venue with very little trouble. 

As the sun set, the already gorgeous lanterns became even more impressive! The lanterns represent important parts of Korean history and cultural traditions such as music, dance, and occupations. The lanterns are made with paper, and then covered with some type of protective plastic I think? We wondered how the lanterns would not turn to piles of mushy pulp after some of the storms we've had here. They had been up for three weeks, so they must be pretty resilient to weather! We made our way down, commenting on the intricate details of facial expressions and colors used for the lanterns. Some of them had moving parts and lights as well! 

Lanterns at the beginning of the show
You might recognize the drum from other posts!
Not only could you look at the lanterns but you could also add notes and wishes of your own to several lantern frames along the way. It was amazing to see one of the huge dragon frames covered with small paper notes from visitors over the past three weeks. You could also make your own small lantern to float down the river with a small candle inside! I couldn't get a good picture of this but it was beautiful to see the hundreds of small lanterns floating in the water together.




Notes on a paper dragon

Happy Little Lantarn Man












As the display continued down the river the lanterns became more and more elaborate and modern. One of my favorite displays was one that had lantern children from a wide variety of countries. Surprisingly to most of us the UK child was donning a Scottish kilt? I suppose its better than holding a pint of beer and having bad teeth. America, naturally, was represented by a Native American child. Overall though this really represented the coming together of all nations peacefully; I really loved it!




Once the sun was completely down, the crowds came. The side of the river became so crowded with people that it was difficult to get good pictures of lanterns or ourselves in front of lanterns without being jostled around or accidentally pushed into the river to become a human Popsicle (It was very cold...). I suppose because it was the last day of the festival, a lot of people followed our thought process and wanted to see it before they took it all down! There were volunteers in bright neon vests and star wars style light-sabers to guide the crowd down the river and keep everything in order. Thanks volunteers!


 Near the end of the display the lanterns turned into more recognizable characters such as superman, batman, and of course, spiderman. As well as a giant pineapple. Naturally.

No Spongebob though :(
Thank goodness you came Spiderman!














Overall, I loved being able to go to this festival! It was gorgeous and such a fun way to spend the evening with friends! I wished I could have seen the process of making the lanterns. It looks like it takes endless hours of work! The result is an incredible show of artistry and beauty for us all to enjoy. After walking the length of the display along the river and back, it was time to get some grub. Katrina and I had found an Arabic restaurant in Itaewan (near the army base) that we both wanted to try, so this would be our next stop! The owner is from Jordan, so I was looking forward to some authentic Arabic dishes. When we arrived we were greeted by the wonderful smell of cumin and tahini as well as Arabic music.

 
According to the others, this was the most excited I've been about food since I've arrived...you can't keep me from my falafel for that long! I go through withdrawal! We ordered a sample platter of hummus, baba ganoush, and labneh to have with our pita bread. We also got falafel...duh...and some delicious chicken and lamb dishes! The food was so good and it brought back happy memories of home. When we were full of yummy food, we decided to head out in search of a place to grab a drink or two to finish off the evening. After finding a lot of places completely full we stumbled into a Spanish Tapas Restaurant that has a wine bar upstairs. We spend the rest of the evening swapping stories and planning for future trips together.

Tonight we are sharing some Manchego cheese (thinking of you Papa!) and wine together before heading into the week of work. I hope everyone is looking forward to their Thanksgiving coming up! Although we will not really be celebrating it here, I will think about how thankful I am for all of my friends and family back home supporting my crazy trip out here and sending their love across the world. Miss you all and wish you a safe and happy holiday!


xoxo


Korean word of the post: 치구 (chingoo) "friend"

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Kimchi Chefs




Shame on me, I posted out of order! Prior to the incredible experience of the temple stay, my kindergarten class had yet another unique field trip at Little America! Last week, we headed out to the Kimchi-making school about 5 minutes from our building. It is actually right next to Aiins World which has replicas of famous monuments and other landmarks from around the world. I have yet to visit, but as soon as the nicer weather returns I will definitely pay a visit!

When we pulled in, another school group was on a field trip as well. It was at this moment that I realized our 90's style sweatsuit uniforms are not as bad as old-man-golfing pants...
Yikes

 Kimchi (김치) is Korean's national dish. Whenever I ask my students what Korea has that no one else has, kimchi is usually one of the first answers (besides "Norebangs" and "Laura Teacher"). Not only is it eaten with almost every meal here, it is known to be one of the healthiest foods on the planet. Now whether that is true or not, there has been a lot of research regarding the pro-biotic content and its effects on cancerous cells as well as aiding digestion. Now enough of the scientific talk- lets get on with what happens when kindergarteners get to make this super-food!


The students were ushered into the kimch-making building where they were seated at a long table in front of a display table at the front of the room. It was at this table that the head kimchi chef would demonstrate proper technique and introduce the recipe to the group. There were even TVs further down the table so that students did not miss one step in the process! Unfortunately, the teachers did not get the opportunity to make kimchi (aside from Amanda Teacher who made her way into an absent student's seat...sneaky sneaky). We were on picture duty as we made our way through the kimchi splash zone that was our students' work station.

Yes Chef!

Even aprons, disposable sleeves, and long plastic gloves couldn't keep the mess of their uniforms.
Raddish kimchi roll
To begin, the chef introduced the different ingredients of the kimchi we would be making that day. Around the hall were pictures of all different kinds of kimchi. It is such a versatile dish that it has endless possibilities of ingredients and variations!




cabbage kimchi roll

Variations of kimchi

Even more variations including chocolate kimchi?


The students were then guided through the process. First, they mixed the kimchi "dressing" which includes a chili pepper sauce and several other ingredients. This had many students squealing and squirming because it was quite the messy task. Others had a blast and did not want to move onto step two! The next step was completely covering a head of cabbage that had been saturated and pickled in salt water. They spread the dressing into every nook and cranny (technical cabbage terminology) of the cabbage before "wrapping it up like a baby".

pre-squished plates

tentative squishing








proudly displaying her messy hands
The students really did have so much fun with this activity. They were able to not only get exceedingly messy but make a traditional Korean dish that they have been eating since day 1! Many of the students shared that they have made this with their mother, grandmother, or have seen them make it before. The tradition of several women getting together and making a gigantic batch of kimchi and then portioning it out for each family has been a part of Korean history for a long time. I hope that I will be able to make some kimchi while I'm here! The kids can't be the ones to have ALL the fun right?

I know you are all thinking- get on with it- how did it taste??
Oh
My
Goodness....
I am a huge fan of kimchi in the first place, so I really wasn't expecting anything better than it already is, but this kimchi was made with sesame seeds, honey, and some other sweeter ingredients that completely changed the taste! It was sweet and tangy and spicy all at the same time! The teachers got to sample a little of it, while the kids took a huge bag of their creation home with them...I warned my students that if they misbehaved for the rest of the day I would take their kimchi home with me instead. If you haven't tried kimchi before, you must go to a Korean restaurant, grocery store, or bug your closest Korean friend (or stranger...) to share some kimchi with you!

After the students were cleaned up through whatever means possible...

We of course had the usual photo shoot before we made our way back to Little America.



Swag

My kiddos
















Another successful field trip day for all and the kids got to take home some amazing kimchi to their families! Lucky ducks...no... I'm not bitter...


Kimchi phrase of the post:  
야! 그건 내 김치입니다 
(ya! geuhgawn neh kimchimnida!)
 "Hey! That's my kimchi!"

Until next time- headed out this weekend to the Seoul Lantern Festival! Hopefully will be able to get some amazing pictures to share with you all! xoxoxo

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Monks and Hammer Pants


안녕하세요! Hello! Just got back from Jeondeungsa Temple on Ganghwa Island, about a two and a half hour trip from home. At least in perfect conditions it would have been that long. In my usual Korean adventure fashion, the trip there was a bit more complicated than we originally planned out. Katrina and I headed out to the brand new subway station located conveniently around the corner from our apartments to begin our trip. Neither of us had used this new station yet so we were both excited! It's very sparkly and clean...for now...
Here is the breakdown of our trip:
Sangdong Subway Station (Our station)--transfer-->
Bupyeong Subway Station-->
Gyeyang Subway Station--transfer to airport transport line to Gamam Station---
walk to bus stop across a few streets to see the following sign...

Our bus number is there...but which direction should we go?
 Not sure exactly if we were in the right place, I used my incredible Korean skills to ask a lady also at the stop whether the bus would take us to Ganghwa-do (do=island). She said no and pointed to a large staircase leading to the highway bridge above us. She seemed pretty trustworthy and so we took her advice to go up to the highway and look for the 700-1 bus or the 90 bus, both of which would take us to Ganghwa. When we arrived on the side of the highway, centimeters away from speeding Korean drivers, we saw the sign showing the estimated time of arrival for the buses. the 700-1 bus, which we had originally planned on taking would not arrive for another 90 minutes...90 minutes!! When we were just contemplating how to let the temple know we would be later than expected the 90 bus pulled up. With a quick glance to each other we jumped on with no clue where exactly the bus would end up. After a call to Seol, he told us that this bus, while it did take us to Ganghwa, would take us to the other side of the island from the temple, thus requiring another hour bus ride to get to Jeondeungsa! He gave us an alternate route. We jumped off this bus after figuring out what stop we needed (Yeongok) from the completely Korean map in the bus and walked...and walked...probably a little over a mile or a mile and a half to another bus stop (Sinyang). Here we sat and waited for the 3100 bus that would take us to the correct area on Ganghwa-do. As we waited, we came up with back up plans in case we got there too late to do the temple stay. Both of us are too stubborn to give up that easily though.

Once the 3100 bus arrived we squeezed onto the already packed bus. I stood basically right next to the bus driver hoping he wouldn't do any seat-belt checks resulting in a Laura-shaped hole in the windshield (sorry for the graphic images). After about 30 minutes we finally made it to the bus station right near the temple (Onsuri). As we got off the bus we looked left and right...now what?

Again, I asked a group of Korean women "Jeondeungsa audi?" meaning something along the lines of "where Jeondeungsa?" in my caveman speak. They got the point across to us that they were going there too! So we now had some guides to lead us right to the temple.

Our guides to the temple- 감사합니다!
The temple itself is up on a mountain which allowed us to see the gorgeous leaves changing on the trees around the area! We checked in with our translator, Judy, and then received our temple stay uniforms and bed linen. When we signed up for the temple stay we hoped to do the "regular stay" which meant hiking in silence in the morning and completing daily tasks just as the monks do around the temple. Judy informed us however that the regular stay was too crowded and had a large group of middle school girls signed up that we might not enjoy, so she took it upon herself to change our reservation to the "relaxing stay". We found out that this just means we have a lot more free time to explore the area and meditate on our own. I was most concerned with not being able to do the 108 prostrations (bows) which was something I was most looking forward to but she assured us that she added it to our stay schedule! This change in our reservation also meant that we could have arrived at the temple later...meaning the rush from subway to subway to bus to walking to bus was unnecessary, but too late to worry about that now! Off to our room.

Our room is broken into three parts, two sleeping areas and a bathroom. We learned that we would be sharing this room with 4 other foreign visitors, two from England, one from Canada, and one from the US as well. They were all very nice! We had actually gone on the wine tasting trip with the British girls. Small world! We all put on our uniforms, feeling a bit silly, but had strength in numbers as we walked around looking silly together.




Aw for us? Thanks!


Entrance into the temple



Comfy hammer pants



Gorgeous fall leaves












That evening we met with Judy to go over the temple rules and the proper bowing form, which we would need to use for the traditional Buddhist ceremony that night. A couple of rules for the temple include keeping as quiet as possible (she told us this rule as a child ran by the room screaming his head off), and bowing hello to the monks as you walk past them. Also, upon entering the main hall we must half-bow once at the entrance, grab a prayer mat, half-bow to Buddha to say the we will do our three fully bows, complete the three full bows (placing forearms and forehead onto the mat) and then do another half-bow to tell Buddha we are finished. The three full bows represent three things; Buddha, Dhamma (the teachings of Buddha), and Sangha (the followers of Buddha). I was looking forward to trying this! Judy then took us around the temple for a brief tour explaining different artifacts and buildings. Jeondeungsa has a large bell, made by the Chinese centuries and centuries ago that is now considered one of the Korean treasures. Monks will ring this bell to signify the beginning of prayer. We were able to ring the bell that night after dinner! It was an incredible feeling when the bell vibrated through you.

 There were several small temples nearby our rooms each with a significant purpose. One temple was the main Buddha's temple, a temple where one prays for relief from illness and disease, and then another temple to pray for relatives safety from Hell and that they may enter paradise. The main Buddha's temple had small women carved out of wood holding up the roof (shown below). The story behind this architecture is that the man who built these temples fell in love with a woman long ago. He gave her everything he had and she left him with his money to be with another man. In Buddhism, they believe in forgiveness, therefore instead of allowing her to live with her sin, he built these figurines of her holding up the temple roof so that she may listen to the prayers everyday. They believe that if you hear prayers every day you will be released from sins and enter paradise. I thought this story was so touching and truly representative of the forgiving nature of those who follow the Buddhist faith.


Buddha



Woman holding up the temple roof
When we finished the short tour it was time for our temple dinner. We were all hoping to be able to eat with the monks, but unfortunately that was not the case. We did get better food then expected though! The meal included rice, soup, kimchi, and a curry that was actually delicious! After dinner we gathered around the bell and giant drum to hear two monks perform.
The drumming was mesmerizing!
Watching the monks put complete concentration into their actions was breathtaking. I wondered how long it took them to learn the intricate performances, or whether they improvised the rhythms? I did not get a chance to ask that question though as it was time for the traditional Buddhist ceremony in the main hall.



This part of Jeondeungsa temple has just been built, and has been in the news for the variation of the Buddha statue in the middle of the hall. Usually, statues in the Buddhist temples are gold-plated, however at this temple they have a pure-white statue. The white statues were really striking. Around the main Buddha in the center are 4 apostles, which are followers of Buddha's teachings. Each apostle represents a different life goal they were chosen to follow. One saves humans from difficulties, another provides humans with wisdom, the third shows devotion to practice and prayer, and the last saves humans from Hell. This apostle is also seen in the temple I mentioned earlier. When we entered the hall for the ceremony we completed the bowing sequence and waited for the monk at the front of the room to begin. He chanted and drummed to signify when to bow, stand, and sit. The chanting and singing put me in such a calm state. I tried to concentrate on the sounds and my body completing the bows, and it was truly relaxing. After the ceremony we were free to do as we pleased until bed at 9:30. We decided to stay and try to meditate in the hall for a while longer as another monk began his chanting and singing. I realized that I am really not good at clearing my mind. I can't seem to stop thinking about something, whether it is useless like what I needed to do when I got home, or even just thinking about the words of the song and how to spell them in hangul. This will be something I plan on getting better at, because maybe it will help me fall asleep at night!


After meditation we retreated to our room and set up for the night to prepare for our 4am wake up call which came all to soon. We rose and walked back to the prayer hall to get ready for the prayer ceremony and our 108 prostration session. The 108 bows represent the supposed one hundred and eight defilements or compartments in the mind. Each bow takes away one defilement, cleans one compartment in your mind. Judy set up a video for us to listen to each bow's purpose in English. Some of the ones that have stuck with me include;

"I prostrate in repentance for being unmindful of all those who have contributed to my learning and education"

"I prostrate in repentance for having disregarded our only home, Earth"

"I prostrate in repentance for my lack of compassion for those who are stubborn or hard to work with." and

"I prostrate as a vow to be positive in everything I do."

These are only 4 of the 108 bows that we completed this morning. I noticed throughout the bows that several of the statements made me feel guilty for things, others made me feel sad, and more made me feel happy. It was an emotional roller coaster of kneeling and standing. After completing all 108 we felt good! You truly feel like you accomplished a spiritual goal. While my legs were wobbling, I was so thankful that we got the chance to do them! Wobbling could have also been that we completed them at 4am and before breakfast, but you never know!

After breakfast the 6 of us got the chance to have tea with one of the monks practicing at the temple. We arrived about 20 minutes before Judy, meaning it was pretty silent as none of us had strong Korean and he did not know much English. When Judy arrived we enjoyed our tea and got to learn a little bit about this man and his practice. I asked the question of how long he has been studying and Judy turned to me and said "there are two questions that are considered taboo that you cannot ask a monk...that was one". Of course I would ask that one! He apparently took no offense to this and answered that he has been practicing since he was 13 years old! He was probably in his late 30's? He was at a temple in Buson and completed the solitary practice that so many monks do for years at a time. He said that during this time he would bow 3,000 times a day, every day. We calculated it and found that he would have bowed over a million times in a year! Imagine we only did a little over 108 that morning. This man was incredibly happy. He smiled and laughed throughout our meeting with him. One question was if he ever felt stressed with the intense rules and regulations of being a monk. He said if he did not have ways of relaxing and controlling stress, he would not be there. This was absolutely my favorite part of the weekend. At the end of the tea time he expressed his wish for us all to come back and visit on a weekday to truly experience his home without tourists everywhere. He also said he would learn English so that we could converse better- we quickly assured him that we would learn Korean too! As a gift, he gave us 108 prayer beads representing the bow session we completed that morning. The beads are made out of wood from the trees around the temple. He said that if we have trouble meditating or clearing our mind we should count the beads as we sit. The gift will be a reminder of my stay here and everything I learned and experienced from the monks and the temple.

All of the monks we interacted with around the temple were friendly and open to visitors. We learned that there are about 14 monks total in the temple but 8 of them are completing their solitary practice and do not socialize with the other monks or visitors in the temple. This dedication and complete devotion to their faith is incredible. I really hope that I can visit a temple again, if not this one then another. This was a great first-time experience, but next time I want to do more of the daily activities and possibly try to be completely silent the entire time. I think it would be difficult but a life-changing experience.

The rest of the day we had free to explore and relax more in the temple. A few of us visited the tea room and tried some 대주차 (Daejucha) which is a traditional tea made from Korean jujube dates. The tea was absolutely delicious. It had a thick and pulpy texture and was so sweet! A great way to end our weekend trip in a cozy tea room with some warm tea, surrounded by gorgeous fall colored leaves.

The trip back proved to be much easier, only one bus and a few subway transfers. We made it back exhausted but completely content. It was such an incredible experience and I cannot wait until my next temple stay!


Until next time! xoxo

Korean phrase of the post:

 평화 (peongwha)- peace!