Homestyle eatin

Today was very hot but there was also a breeze and it was very sunny with a brilliantly blue sky. This is something new given the weather for the past few weeks has been mostly grey and rainy. Today was also a public holiday so instead of going to the gym for my sacrificial cardio it was time to venture out into the world. I decided to head over to Igidae Park which is a sprawling forested park along the coast (photos will appear another day). I had an absolutely gorgeous if somewhat rigorous walk (it is mountainous after all!).

When I got home I washed up, cracked a beer and tucked into the delightful sandwich I'd picked up on the walk home. This wasn't going to be enough so I decided to build on the beer theme and whipped up a plate of nachos. I settled in to an episode of C.S.I. (Vegas - it's THE C.S.I.) and as I watched dead bodies being sown up was still feeling a bit peckish. So I decided to crack open one of my recent adventurous food purchases - partially dried squid. This is basically Korean bar food but I often go to foreigner oriented bars where not many are into eating this local treat. But, I really enjoy it so I thought I'd give it a go at home. I'd previously tried fully dried squid but practically broke my jaw with all the chewing that entailed. The half-dried stuff is much better and consequently much tastier. Once you break it out of the package you just warm it up over the grill, then shred it up into strips with your fingers and dip it in a mixture of mayonaise and hot n' sweet sauce. Man it tastes real good with beer! Here's a shot of what the original goods look like, plus the devasted remains of one I ate all unto myself....yummmmmm~~ (you can also see my lovely new faux-hardwood floor ^^)

That nasty construction

There's a very large construction site next to our building. It opened a few months ago and work is slated to continue until Dec. 2008 or so. A new dormitory and student centre are being built - each one will be over 15 storeys upon completion. Oh! Happy day! The noise and dirt levels fluctuate, but thankfully they do at least stop work around sundown. A friend told me of a charming 11 months when a new mega grocery store was constructed in front of his house - construction was round the clock.

I haven't been able to get many good shots of the big mess but I managed this one.
Here you can see a big ol' stack of materials, but what I was trying to capture was the crazy huge crane moving this very heavy looking box thing through the air and onto a flatbed truck. I was sure the end was near as it seemed inevitable balance would be lost and the whole thing would come crashing through my front window. Thankfully this did not happen! (I feel the gritty element of this photo is heightened by the grid effect which resulted from taking the picture through my screen door - click on the image to see a larger version)

And...now for some more food !

A close friend asked me the other day if I'm happy in Korea and without hesitation I responded yes. The main reason is that I truly love my job - something I never expected when I came to Korea about 4.5 years ago. The other reasons are basically found within a few kilometers of my home. I have a great gym, a great set of shops including a produce market for shopping, a mountain for skywards hiking, a vast park along the ocean for scenic walking and I know almost every decent to good restaurant in the area. Throw in a good bunch of co-workers and friends and to me these are the ingredients of a happy life.

There's one place I often stop in for a bite to eat and I always order the same thing. The place is sort of equivalent to a Japanese fusion diner in the sense that it's not too expensive but they have everything fusiony under the sun on their menu. That means mostly loads of bizarre rolls, some sushi and even some pasta and salads. But what I go there for is the 회덮밥 (hwoe-deop-bap). Literally that translates as raw fish- covered- rice, which is I guess literally what it is. But man is it tasty. On a heaping pile of rice is basically a generous topping of shredded greens (mainly lettuce + sesame leaf = yum), some strips of 김 (kim = roasted pressed seaweed - a lot tastier than it sounds) and sliced raw fish. The diner then liberal douses this with a sweetened chili sauce, mixes well and digs in. Mmmmm sooooo tasty.... [cost: 6000원 ~ $7.00 CAD]

Not dead, just away from the computer

My last post was June 2. Seems like ages ago. Of course, that was right before the Mighty Summer Workload hit. Mid-June was final exams and grading, which was promptly followed by the summer intensive program for uni students, known as PassE. It's a four-week program where about 90 students stay at the dorm, only going home Saturday night, and spending about 6 to 8 hours in the classroom a day. That meant yours truly was at Yongdang Campus from 9am till 5ish Mon. through Fri., subsequently meaning I was knackered for that entire four weeks. Several Saturdays were spent mainly sleeping.

After PassE finished, I taught two weeks at the English Kids' Camp. Only four hours a day but wow it sure did remind me how I'm no longer so keen on teaching children. Actually the majority of the kids were really lovely. I had to teach a lot of classes under the auspices of 'Music and Chant'. That meant a whole lot of nursery rhymes but also I taught them 'Yellow Submarine' - what a great song for kids!

On top of all that, for the past few weeks major renovations have been going on in the Foreign Teacher's Residence. Granted a lot of the work was past due but what a mess cramming all the work into two weeks.


First off, I came home one day to the set of E.T. This is the hallway of the fourth floor. The fumes were AWFUL. In typical fashion we were not notified that this grand event was taking place so two days in a row I awoke to the toxic smell of paint. Fortunately the Starbucks down the street opens early so I filled my backpack with books and headed there for the duration.


After the paint job all apartments had the floors and wallpapering redone (the floors here are covered in this strange 'paper', often patterned to resemble hardwood; it's similar to vinyl flooring but somehow different). That required a great deal of effort on my part since I had to 'put away' all my (loads and loads) of stuff so the workers could easily access the floor and walls. After that excitement, over the next few days we recieved a new microwave, TV, and washing machine. Here's the old ones sitting out to rest:

Here are the new washings machine waiting to be installed. I must say they are a VAST improvement over the old ones. The new one is so big and deep I have to stand on my tippy toes to reach stuff at the bottom. Happy days!

I thought the washing machine was the end of it, but no, there's more! We also got new air conditioning units and a new hood over the stove. Phew!! Finally I can put my apartment back together now that the streams of workers are done stomping through my apartment.