E.V. Chu-Seok

In the first week of October, Korea was scrambling to prepare for one of the biggest holidays of the year: Chu-Seok. Chu-Seok is the Korean equivalent of Thanksgiving, the harvesting time here and therefore also the time to spend with family, not eating turkey but instead kimchi and other delights. Chu-Seok fell on October 6th this year, a Friday, but was preceded by Korean National Foundation Day on the 3rd of October creating a week-long holiday for most office workers in Korea. People rushed to buy gifts and food and often went home to the countryside to spend this time with family. Some of my students admitted that they experienced stress during such a period, but most talked about feeling good during this time. I have been closely observing the Korean way of life and family is by far the most important thing in people's lives here. This love/devotion to family can be both healing and destructive as honor is prized above other things and people often feel forced to accomplish things or fit in merely from the familial and social pressures.

The pictures depicted here are some eye candy for the many places in Seoul that I visited during that week. Mi-Hwa, a sweet former student of mine as well as a former staff member of my YBM Guro location took me to Gyonbokgung Palace the day before Chu-Seok to show me a symbol of Korean history and culture. It was a beautifully warm day with a bright sun and I felt as though we had left the city to go into a new world. I didn't get a chance to go to the three museums on site that day, but I plan to do that sometime in the coming months. I truly felt the Asian pull that day and finally felt really ensconced in Asia since my arrival. This palace looks like the palaces you see in movies of ancient Chinese civilizations...it was awesome to walk through this gigantic area where kings and queens used to walk hundreds of years earlier.

After the Palace, we went to have dinner in Jongno where I had samgyopsal for the first time. Absolutely delicious and probably the dish I like the best here though there is so much to choose from! It is basically bbq pork, though not with the western bbq sauce you might be thinking of. Kalbi is also delicious but is beef instead of pork and is traditionally much more expensive than pork here. Here, you can have samgyopsal for two as well as Kimchi Kalguksu for about 20,000won. It's pretty cheap for two people.

After dinner we walked along the Chyungyechun Canal at night, the first time I was to see it lit up. It was gorgeous and I've taken pictures but the quality is not great online. The original pictures are nicer. This area of Jongno is known for being quite romantic and you will see tons of couples holding hands there. It can be a bit discouraging for us single ones, but it's still a nice sight to see.

After that, we walked down a bit and passed in front of Doksu Palace. We didn't go inside but Mi Hwa indicated that the sidewalk in front of the Palace is notorious for relationship break-ups. People have been known to bring their significant other there to break up with them. How sad and crass! Imagine your boyfriend telling you, "babe, let's go for a walk", and you find yourself in front of Doksu and you know exactly what will happen! ;)

Doksu is right next to the City Hall where the world filmed Korea watching the World Cup. Imagine that place with millions up people up and down the street and spread out on the grass here. There are many large screens on sides of buildings in this part of town for such occasions.

The next day, I was invited to Incheon to have Chu-Seok dinner with Harvey, a former teacher at YBM and his girlfriend Young-In. It was fun! I had song-pyon for the first time, a type of Tok (traditional Korean dessert made with rice paste and sweet, but not too much). This type of tok comes in green or white. The green version is made with some type of herb but I didn't like it as much. The white one has a sweet center made with sesame seeds and some kind of syrup. Yummy! After hanging out at their place for a while, we went to dinner where I had Kalbi for the first time. It was really good! That's the picture you see below.

Young-In is camera shy but apart from that, she's more outgoing than I am! Definitely not a typical Korean woman! The next day, Harvey and Young-In came into town (Incheon is a suburb of several million people about an hour's subway ride outside of central Seoul). We went to the annual Seoul Drum Festival which took place at another old palace in the north-western part of Seoul. It was awesome! There were musicians from around the world such as Senegal, Singapore, Italy and Japan. There were also many Koreans percussionists playing all kinds of music, from traditional (awesome but difficult to describe) to classical (western) to modern.

That was my basic Chu-Seok experience. The pictures you will discover by clicking on the Kodak Gallery link will also show you times I spent in Insadong at a teahouse with a French friend I made when I arrived. We went to a teahouse where we had gamjajin, a type of potato pancake, in a wonderful atmosphere of orange lamps and tons of plants. You will also see a picture of some of the teacher's from YBM who went out to have a girls' night out eating Kalbi and sampgyopsal as well as Hote-Tok, a delicious Korean-style donut.

We also spent some time in Insadong where we watched a man in a window demonstrate how to make Chinese pasta. It was the most amazing process! He took a wad of dough and proceeded to multiply the dough into spaghetti pieces! He mutiplied it into such thin pieces with this amazing rhythm that it was like a dance... And then we saw the same exact process done with...honey! Can you imagine! I took pictures of the making of the honey dessert called Kkul Tarea. They didn't come out perfectly but I think well enough for you to see how it's done.

I've labeled all the pictures so that you can know all you need to know. Feel free to ask questions if all is not clear.

Other interesting things:

1. I've discovered something I like better than Soju, though it's a bit more expensive: San Sa Chune.

2. The largest cut of bills in the Korean Won is 10,000, which is the equivalent of about 12 Canadian dollars. So imagine wanting to take out a hundred dollars or more. You end up with such a huge wad of cash that you feel like hiding!

I will try to take some pictures of my apartment so that you can see it in its finished glory, now that I have my stuff here! I love my place!

Till next time!

Love,

L

E.V. Personal Observations

1. When you order coffee at a cafe, sugar comes in liquid form. I'm not sure what plant the sugar here comes from, but it's a cool concept that I have not seen used on such a wide scale before.
2. Ashtrays here are either filled with coffee or white napkins. This prevents the smoke from continuing to float after people have finished smoking and therefore prevents any extra smells. I think everyone should adopt this system! In addition, though many men smoke here, the restaurants are not very smokey and people don't smoke in your face. Most people smoke in the street but not so much in restaurants. I've heard that they will soon ban smoking in all restaurants though some restaurants have banned it individually already.
3. Gingko Biloba trees are everywhere here! They are beautiful trees with leaves that look like little green fans that produce a fruit which looks like a yellow cherry. The fruits have been falling from the trees that line almost all streets in Seoul recently and you can find older men and women picking them up everyday. I've found out that they often roast the gingko nuts as they would chestnuts and that apparently it's good for the health to protect against something or another. (Dad, I will let you explain to everyone what the health benefits are because I remember you being the first person to once talk to me about the gingko biloba; just sign up and post a message) I must say this though... for the longest time, whenever I was walking home in the afternoons I would smell what smelled like vomit always in the same spot and I thought it was pretty disgusting but having grown up with all kinds of smells in Haiti, I never thought to ask. I later found out that ripe gingko nuts, when they have splattered on the sidewalk and the sun has baked them a bit, give of the wonderful smell of vomit, just in case you needed a little pick-me-up. It was a revelation...
4. The older women in this country are called hadjimas, or aunts. They are referred in this way by all people as a general sign of respect to the elders although some Koreans have told me that it's no longer acceptable to call them such. I'm in a constant state of confusion because some people say some things are okay and others say they aren't... An interesting little observation Lori led me to discover is that when walking up hills, hadjimas will walk backwards in order to keep from getting too tired. I saw this one day and it was a pretty strange and yet very cool site. In Haiti, people walk in a zig-zag manner. It's so amazing traveling, you guys. You end up noticing the slightest little things that make this world so incredibly diverse and interesting.
5. The Fall here is amazing. It only started getting colder this week (October 23ish) and we've had a few showers but apparently Korea is known for having an average of 4 sunny days to 3 overcast days. I tell you, those odds are better than those of Strasbourg for me. All ready, in the two months I've been here, I've seen more sun than I did in 4 months in Strasbourg. Thank God for that!
6. The rainy season here is not in the Spring, as most would think, but in the Summer like in Florida. Guess why? In the summer it's typhoon season and therefore they can get torrential rains and it gets really humid as well. We'll have to see about that...
7. I have noticed a few times now, a great big cauldron filled with bugs that are cooking in the streets of Insadong and have realize that they consist of Bondegi, silk-worm larvae. The smell is atrocious but my curiosity is great. I will let you know when I have mustered up the courage to try it.
8. Learning Korean is so hard! I take 7 1/2 hours of Korean a week and I'm not moving nearly as quickly with it as I had hoped. I'm afraid that I will not reach my goal of understanding 50% by December but I'm not giving up! The Koreans seems impressed with my progress but I still feel bogged down by it. It does feel good to be able to ask for milk at the convenient store though!
9. The food here continues to amaze me. The more dishes I try, the more I'm falling in love with the food and the side dishes! People here are surprised that I tend to gravitate towards all the spicy dishes. I guess they aren't used to seeing foreigners grab the green peppers and bite into them as though they were carrots! But I will speak of food another time.
10. The people here continue to amaze me with their kindness and generosity. I have started to get even closer to the female Korean teachers here and I'm finding them such a welcome addition to my life. There is an easy bond here that has formed in 2 months in Seoul that I didn't find in 3 years in Strasbourg. It's funny how people are. Don't get me wrong, I did make some good friends in Strasbourg, but it was a long process and it was only as I was preparing to leave that my friendships started to solidify. The friendships here are solidifying at an amazing rate and I've been invited to spend a weekend hiking in a mountain close to the hometown of one of the teachers in 3 weeks. Her family lives in one of the oldest cities in Korea and I will hopefully get a chance to visit that city as well. I'm really excited as I have not really left Seoul since getting here.
11. And lastly, I am still enjoying my classes. The diversity of the students and the levels of the classes are a pleasure and though preparation takes a long time, I'm trying to mix things up and have incorporated music days where we listen and dissect music by Bjork, Sting, Brian Adams, The Cranberries, Sheryl Crow, Robbie Robertson and Sade. It adds some spice!
12. Keep the comments coming guys! I love to hear what you think!

V.F. 10 Raisons d'Etre Coreen

10 Raisons d'Etre Coreen - Anonyme

1. La nouriture est delicieuse; on peut manger comme un refugie sans prendre du poids (tres vraie! J'ai perdu du poids depuis mon arrivee et les gens mangent enormement ici!)
2. On peut acheter une nouvelle voiture pour le montant de deux mois de salaire (apparement ceci etait vraie il y a 30 ans mais plus maintenant)
3. On peut grimpee une montagne dans la campagne sans avoir besoin d'equipment special (je vous tiendrai au courant...)
4. On peut connaitre les gouts musicaux des conducteurs de bus et de taxis en montant dans leur vehicule (je n'ai pas vraiment note ceci, mais peut etre je suis immunise)
5. Quatres saisons et 5000 ans d'histoire (certainment vrai en ce qui concerne l'histoire, et c'est une histoire fascinante, mais pour l'instant je connais qu'une saison et c'est geniale. Nous avons eu des temperatures dans les environs de 24 degres Celcius les mois de Septembre et Octobre. C'est geniale!)
6. Le soju coute autant que l'eau (ceci est vrai! Souvenez vous que le soju est une boisson alcoholise a base de riz ou patate qui a un gout un peu comme du sake japonais mais qui est bu frais)
7. Les lois de la rue ne sont jamais applique (je ne peux pas vous dire pour cela vu que je ne conduis pas encore ici, mais je compte passer mon permis ici a un moment donne)
8. On peut payer le percepteur avec l'argent de poche (je ne suis pas vraiment persuade par ce commentaire puisque j'ai du verse a peu pret 300,000 won pour mon premier mois de salaire qui est environ 250euros mais ceci inclus aussi l'assurance maladie et l'assurance retraite)
9. Tous les restaurants offrent une sorte de nouriture "d'endurance" (Eh oui! En Coree le concept de l'endurance dans la nouriture est enorme! Tous est promu pour nous informer des avantages des produits sur la sante. Mes etudiants hommes m'ont dit qu'en ete ils boivent souvent la soup a la viande de chien parcequ'en ete il fait tres chaud et ils ont besoin de l'endurance pour bien travailler. La viande de chien est un exemple de nouriture d'endurance. Je vais devoir en essayer un jour...)
10. Les taxis et le tabac sont omnipresent et bon marche (Disont que ce n'est pas difficile de trouver un taxi ici. Heureusement! Apres mes mesavantures a Strasbourg ou les conducteurs de taxis refusaient de me prendre au plein milieu d'hiver a 3hrs du matin, c'est bien de savoir qu'ici j'ai pas mal de choix et ce n'est pas trop cher!)

E.V. -Top Ten Reasons for Being Korean

1. The food is delicious; you can eat like a refugee and still not gain any weight (so true you guys! I've actually lost weight since getting here and people eat so much!)

2. Can buy a new car for a couple of months' salary (apparently this was true 30 years ago, but not so much now)

3. Can climb any mountain in the country in a day without any special equipment (I'll have to let you know about that one...)

4. Get to learn the driver's taste in music whenever you ride the bus or take a taxi (haven't noticed it particularly yet, but perhaps I'm immune!)

5. Four seasons and 5000 years of history (definitely true about the history, and a fascinating one at that, but as for the 4 seasons, I'm still enjoying the incredibly mild 24 degrees Celcius and slowly changing leaves. What a wonderful Fall!)

6. Soju costs as much as bottled water (this is true! Remember, soju is Korean rice or potato based alcohol that tastes a bit like Japanese Sake but is drunk cold or cool)

7. Traffic laws are never enforced (don't know about that, but I do plan on getting a Korean driver's license, apparently it's doable)

8. You can pay the taxman with your pocket change (I'm not so sure that is still true; I gave approximately 300, 000 won for my first month's salary which is roughly 300 Canadian dollars but that includes retirement funds and health insurance as well)

9. Every restaurant offers some sort of 'stamina' food (Yes, Yes, Yes! in Korea, the concept of stamina food is huge! Everything is promoted to inform you of the advantages of the product on your health. My male students have told me that in the summer men eat dogmeat soup because it is very hot in the summer and they need stamina to keep working. Dogmeat is one example of stamina food. I'll have to see what that's like one day...)

10. Taxis and tobacco are ubiquitous and cheap (Let's just say that it's not hard to find a taxi. Thank God! After my experiences in Strasbourg where taxi drivers would ignore you and leave you stranded in the middle of winter at 3am, it's nice to know that you have a decent choice and the price is reasonable)

VF - Semaine 4 - La scene Etrangere

Bonjour Tous le Monde!

Je sais que cela fait assez longtemps depuis mon dernier message mais j'avais un rhume qui me tuait et ensuite nous avons eu le Thanksgiving Coreen la semaine derniere et je n'ai pas eu de travail pendant cette periode. Depuis, je me concentre a trouver les meubles etc... pour l'apartement et je visite de nouvelles endroits chaque semaine. Je me suis beaucoup amuse pendant cette semaine de Thanksgiving Coreen et j'ai fait pleins de choses interessantes mais je vous expliquerai une prochaine fois avec des photos en plus.

Je voulais vous parler de ma 4ieme semaine ici et des observations interessantes que j'ai eu. Premierement, j'ai ete tres chanceuse and surprise de rencontrer une autre amie que je ne pensais pas voir ici. Lori et une personne sympathique que j'ai rencontre en ete 2005 a Miami. Nous avons passe beaucoup de temps a parler de Seoul, a l'epoque, puisqu'elle y vit depuis environ 5 ans. Elle est encore ici pendant un mois et j'ai pu la voir et prendre le temps de boire quelques vers et profiter pour dancer un peu a Itaewon.

Avant de la rencontrer ce samedi la, j'ai pris mon cours de Coreen habituel samedi apres-midi and heureusement j'ai aussi eu le temps de manger un peu avant. J'ai decide de m'arreter dans un petit restaurant dans le quartier de Sookmyung University et essayer un nouveau plat, bipimbap. Ce plat et tres sain et consiste de riz, un melange de legumes crus et cuits, un oeuf cuit, ainsi que plein de pate de piment rouge. Normalement les legumes dedans sont les suivants: concombres, epinards, d'autre legumes et une racine d'une fleur qui s'appelle balloonflower. Je n'ai pas trouver de traduction en francais pour cette plante mais je vous joint l'explication (la racine de cette espece (radix platycodi) est utilise en abondance en Asie comme anti-inflammatoire dans le traitement de rhumes et toux. En Korea la plante est connu sous le nom doraji -도라지 - et sa racine, seche ou frais, est un ingredient populaire dans les salades et la cuisine traditional). Ce plat est delicieux et on le melange avec la pate de piment et tous les legumes. Mmmm... On recoit aussi de petits plats (comme des tapas) a cote avec a peu pres 4 types de legumes prepares differement mais souvent vinaigre. Si jamais vous voulez essayer quelque chose de simple, sain et bon dans un resto Coreen je vous recommend ceci, particulierement pour les vegetariens.

En tous cas, apres ceci, je suis allez a mon cours et ce jours-la on a apris les parties du corps. Ce qui est comique c'est qu'en Coree, ils ont la meme chanson a apprendre aux jeunes les parties du corps qu'en Amerique du nord. Je m'attendais pas dutout a ca. Je me suis bien amuse en faisant les gestes et en chantant a haute voix!

Le soir, quand j'ai rencontre Lori, nous sommes allees a un nouveau bar qui s'appelle B-One. Ce nom est ce que les gens ici appelle le premier niveau du sous-sol. Effectivement, le bar est dans le sous-sol. C'etait tres beau, tres esthetique et moderne avec un DJ...super sympa.

Apres quelques Rhum et Cocas nous avons decide d'allee danser dans un bar/boite de nuit gaie qui s'appelle Queen. Imaginez vous qu'il y a une colline a Itaewon qui s'appelle Gay Hill (Colline des Gaies) ou tous les gaies ont tendance a frequenter. Il y a aussi une colline que s'appelle Hooker Hill (Colline des prostitues). Vous pouvez bien imaginer qui frequentent cette colline! Tres bizarre! En tous cas, a Queen, il y avait une combinaison de personnes tres eclectiques mais quand meme la majorite etait etrangers. Alors, pas quelque chose que j'aimerai faire toutes les semaines, mais sympa une fois pars mois. J'aimerais decouvrir d'autres parties de la scene de boites de nuits comme dans le quartier de 'Hongik', pres de l'universite de Hong. Apparement ils ont pleins de boites sympathiques, ce qu'on appelle des boites 'underground' avec de la musique 'live'. Bientot, j'espere...

En parlant d'autres choses, une de mes etudiantes du mois dernier etait enceinte de 8 mois. Je lui ai demande si elle connaissait le sexe du bebe. Elle m'a annonce que c'etait un petit garcon. Je voulais savoir si elle avait deja choisi un nom pour lui et elle m'a informe qu'en Coree, si le bebe est un garcon, ce sont les beau parents qui choisissent le nom. Typiquement, il vont voir un cartomancien ou une diseuse de bonne augure qui leur donnera le nom propice au bebe pour ammener a la famille le plus de prosperite possible. Quand les femmes sont enceintes de petites filles, les parents on le doit de choisir le nom des filles puisque les filles n'ont pas le meme status d'importance en Coree. Eh bien! Que peux-tu faire?

Je peux quand meme vous dire que la Coree du Sud est dans une situation assez precaire puisqu'aujourd'hui il y a un nombre insuffisant de femmes dans le pays qui mene a une baisse de taux de naissances et donc des problemes pour l'economie. Ils vont devoir trouver une solution a ce problem dans les annees a venir.

La meme etudiante dont je vous ai parle, m'a aussi explique que de plus en plus il y a une minorite de personnes qu'on appelle DINK: Double Income No Kids. Cela veut dire, Double Revenue, Pas d'Enfants. Je n'avais jamais entendu parler de ce concepte mais je le trouve tres interessant. Ce sont, en pratique, des jeunes couples qui decide de ne pas avoir d'enfants a cause du fait que c'est si cher, aujourd'hui, d'elever des enfants. Ils preferent, donc, de profiter de leur vie de couples sans famille. Eh bien, ci cela leur plait, je dit bravo...

E.V - Week 4 - The Foreign Scene

Hey everyone,

I know it's been a long time since I've written. I was sick with a bad cold two weeks ago and last week was Korean Thanksgiving so we had almost a complete week off. It was awesome and I got to do lots and lots of stuff. But that will be for my next entry and pics will follow.

I want to talk about my 4th week here and some interesting observations about what I've seen. First of all, I was really lucky and surprised to meet another friend here that I didn't think I'd see. Lori is a really nice person that I met last summer (2005) in Miami. She and I spent lots of time talking about Seoul since she's lived here on and off for about 5 years. She just happened to still be here and will be leaving next month, but I got a chance to catch up with her and go out for drinks and dancing in Itaewon.

Before meeting up with her, I had my usual Korean class on Saturday afternoon and thankfully had some time before class to eat a bite. I went to a restaurant out of the blue in the neighborhood around Sookmyung University and decided to try a new dish, pipimbap. This is a very healthy dish made with rice, raw and cooked vegetables, sometimes a fried egg on top as well as red pepper paste. Usually the vegetables consist of cucumbers, spinach, balloonflower root (The root of this species (radix platycodi) is used extensively in Asia as an anti-inflammatory in the treatment of coughs and colds. In Korea the plant is known as doraji -도라지 -and its root, either dried or fresh, is a popular ingredient in salads and traditional herbal cooking) and some other vegetables. It's really good and you mix it all together with the paste and just eat it all. Yummy. You also get kimchi side dishes (about 4 of them) which you dip into for a different taste. I highly recommend it, especially for vegetarians.

Anyway, afterwards I went to my Korean class and that day we learned body parts. And get this... you know the song: Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes? Well, they have a Korean version too and we had to sing it. It was fun! It's funny to go back to 'school' again.

We went for drinks in this really nice new bar called B-One, which is what people call the 1st floor basement here in Seoul. It is such a beautiful bar. Completely renovated with modern decor and good music with a live DJ... it was really cool.

After that we felt like dancing so Lori took me to Gay Hill, which is literally a hill in Itaewon where there are a lot of gay bars and clubs. There is also another hill called Hooker Hill and you can imagine what that means. Crazy, I know. We went to a bar/nightclub called Queen and danced for hours. The music was good and there was an eclectic combination of people though definitely predominantly foreign. Not something I would want to do every week, but fun to do once a month or so. I'd like to discover the nightclubs in more 'Korean' areas like in Hongik, which is the neighborhood around Hong University. They apparently have lots of underground places there and live music bands etc...

One of my students last month taught me another interesting lesson about Koreans. She is 8 months pregnant and I asked her if she knew the sex of the baby. She told me it was a boy. I asked her if she knew what the baby would be named and she said that it was up to her parents-in-law. When a woman has a boy, the parents-in-law often go to a fortuneteller to find out what is the best name for a boy, what will bring him the most luck and prosperity for the family. When women are pregnant with girls, the parents get to pick the names on their own as female children are not regarded with the same importance. Oh well, what can you do? But I can tell you that South Korea has entered a stage where there is a distinct shortage of women in society which is leading to lower birth rates and can cause problems for the economy. They'll have to figure out what to do about that.

That same pregnant student (she was in my Pre-Intermediate Business class, yes I teach conversational business English, who knew!?) also told me that they have a name for young couples without children and who chose to remain that way. They are called DINK: Double Income No Kids. Such an interesting concept, I had never heard of it before. Today, having kids is so expensive that many Korean couples opt out of that and choose to live their lives in other ways. More power to them...

Eng.V- Week 3- Learning a new language

Note: You can see other pictures in the French version of Week 3, as well as on the Kodak Gallery website listed as a link on your right.

Well, another week and plenty of new things to share. Where do I start?

I have decided to attack the Korean language but it is interesting that as I'm pushing my brain to accept new sounds, the language box in my head has opened up and I have rediscovered Bangla, a language that I have not spoken in almost 4 years! Words I have not thought of in so long are popping up as I try to ask questions in stores. It's hilarious! I keep wanting to say panni everytime I think of water whereas the name for water is mul!

I took my first Korean class last Saturday at Sookmyung Women's University located in a very young and hip neighboorhood. The campus is beautiful! The course had started the week before and the four other people in the class (two Canadians, a Japanese and a Hungarian) had already learned the alphabet so I was way behind. But it's a free class once a week and I get to immerse myself for and hour and a half as well as meet new people.

Decorative Kimchi pots in Itaewon/Pots decorative de Kimchi a Itaewon

I've also been working hard at home with a book on learning Korean someone gave me and practicing everyday with the Korean teachers at work. They are an immense help and I have set myself a target of understanding 40-50% of Korean by December. In addition, my boss told me about another branch of this company that is opening up a Korean class three times a week for two hours each. He will readjust my schedule next month so that I can attend those classes. They are not too expensive so starting next month, I will be one of the first students in this new program. I'm very excited.

I think that with the book at home, help from Korean teachers at work, a Saturday class and 6 hours of Korean classes per week, things will move forward quickly. I'm already learning how to read and it's going quite well though I don't really know what I'm saying. I can spell my name though! Here is it: ㄹㅔㅇㅣㅌㅏ.

This type of writing is called Hangul (pronounced Hangoul) and was invented by some scholars and scientists in the 15th century at the decree of the Korean king. Before that time, Koreans used Chinese characters. Because Chinese was too difficult and learned only by the rich and intelligent, the Great King Sae Jong ordered a new written language that would be accessible to all. Today, the Korean written language is considered the most logical and the easiest written language to learn in the world. This does not mean that speaking it is easy!To be honest, as I know almost the whole alphabet now, I am able to read signs as I walk to and from work. Last night, on my way back from the store, I kept stopping and deciphering words outloud. A man stopped me and asked me in broken English where I was going. He thought I was lost! When I explained that I was practicing my Korean, he corrected me on one of the signs I was reading and then smiled and walked away.


Anyway, back to Saturday. After my Korean class I met up with Tracie, one of the teachers at my work who is very cool, and we went back to Itaewon (the foreign section of the city) to get myself a cell phone. It was expensive! For a used phone, I had to pay 85,000won which is the equivalent of about 90US dollars. For a new phone the price range is from 200,000-250,000won. Can you imagine! But the technology is incredible here and people now have cell phones that serve as TVs! So I got a cell phone by the Korean brand Sky and then went out for drinks with Tracie.


She took me to Gecko's, where 95% of the people are white or foreign. It was very strange. Only the bartenders and a few women were Korean. There are bouncers at the entrance who only check the IDs of Koreans! I guess they are more concerned with the souls of the Koreans that than of the foreigners. I don't blame them. It was a very odd sensation being there, knowing that I was in Seoul, but feeling like I was in Canada or the States.


On Sunday I met up with Steve, an old friend from those university days who has been living in South Korea for 3 years now. He loves it here and has settled in quite well. Though he's not fluent in the language, he knows all about the food. His mission was to show me some different neighborhoods in Seoul and initiate me to some real Korean food.He took me to a very artsy neighborhood called Insadong and you guys, I swear, I liked Seoul before but I LOVE it now! It is awesome! There are many many shops lining the main street including some well-known franchises like....surprise! Starbucks. But because Insadong is trying to stay as traditional as possible Starbucks is written only in Hangul! Very cool, I should have taken a picture...I only had one roll of film with me so I didn't take a lot of pics, but you get to see a few of them here.

Shopping complex in Insadong/
Centre d'achat a Insadong

There are many beautiful vine-covered restaurants in the little side streets off the main road (which is completely pedestrian by the way) and although there were a few tourists, the people clogging up this neighborhood were predominantly Koreans out on a Sunday afternoon stroll with their families or out buying interesting knick-knacks.

Apartment building in Insadong/Immeuble a Insadong

Steve introduced me to a Korean candy called Yot (pronounced with an aspirated t) which is made with pumpkin. It is really good and reminiscent of nougat. Very sweet though.

This is a type of yot (like taffy) but I didn't try this one. The man seems to be softening it up/

Ceci est un autre type de yot mais je ne l'ai pas essaye. L'homme semble etre entrain de l'adoucir

There are many types of Yot and in these pictures you see two kinds, but I only tasted the milky looking kind. The man at the stand was slowly manipulating the yot between his hands to soften it up for cutting (I'm imagining). There was a nice crowd around him, foreigners and Koreans alike.

After we left that neighborhood we went to Pagoda Park. It is located downtown and is dedicated to the Independence Korea declared from Japan in the 15th century. Statues dating back from that period grace this walled park where many older men spend afternoons in the shade of this little spot of greenery full of the memories of people long gone. When I return there I will take pictures and add it here.We continued walking and ended up in a section where there used to be an old canal that held stagnant water and let off a terrible odor. Seoul's mayor decided to renovate the canal and there was apparently a lot of protest to this as people didn't want money spent on such a thing. Today it is called Chungyechan a highly appreciated oasis boasting clear trickling water with flat stones laid across the water every once in a while so that you can cross sides. There are little waterfalls and lots of plants growing along the water and the atmosphere is that of freshness, peace and it is a great walk that stretches for a while through downtown Seoul. People have told me to return there at night to see it lit up.

By this time, Steve and I were hungry and he promised me some good traditional Korean food so I was very excited because apart from the Toengang Tchigae, I had not had any real Korean food. Steve took me to a hole-in-the-wall restaurant (that I will never be able to find again!) in an alleyway where there must have been 20 other little holes-in-the-wall. It was great! We sat down to bossam, a Korean dish consisting of boiled pork cut in slices that you eat wrapped in a raw lettuce or cabbage leaf.Imagine this meal... You have a very large plate with hot boiled sliced pork, next to that is tamudji kimchi (pickled radish) in a chili sauce covered with fresh oysters. You should take a leaf of lettuce or cabbage, dab on some bossam sauce (which consists of miniature shrimp in a chili paste, add some samjang as well (a sweet and slightly spicy red pepper sauce with some kind of bean in it), you can add a slice of garlic to the mix (readily provided among the dishes on the table) then you add the slice of pork, a little bit of kimchi and one or two oysters, you wrap the leaf in a roll and bite! It's delicious, though the oysters can give it a bit of a strange taste. Besides that main dish you also get kimchi dishes of cubed savory radish, sweet pickles and beansprout. Beansprout kimchi is yummy. In this particular restaurant, though it is not common, they served a soup called gamjatang, which is a soup that can either mean potato (gamja) or meaty bones. We had the latter. They basically put this soup with the vegetables in it on a gas burner on your table and you can heat it and cook the vegetables the way you want it. It's very tasty. In addition, we had keranchim, a type of egg souffle which is very light and tasty but made with little to no spices. This is cooked in a kind of cast-iron pot and served in it. And last but not least we were served puchingjae, which is a kind of vegetable pancake which is fried with green onions, carrots etc... it was very tasty too. So this is what is so interesting. There were two of us. Steve ordered bossam and we ended up with a feast that we were both unable to finish.

Steve went one step further and ordered soju, a popular Korean alcohol made originally from rice with additional ingredients such as wheat, tapioca, barley and sweet potato. If you've had sake, it is reminiscent of that though it is drunk cold. The initial taste is almost tasteless, actually. After you have swallowed it, however, it has a rather sweet aftertaste combined with a very strong sense of alcohol. Not bad, all in all.


Beautiful windows in shopping complex in Insadong/ Fenetres decoratives dans le centre d'achat a Insadong

As we were leaving the restaurant our waitress came up to me and pointed to my hair said some ending with pama. I turned to Steve who explained that she wanted to know whether my hair was permed. I looked around and there were about 5 other waitresses waiting to see what kind of answer I was going to give, as though my response was either going to win them or lose them 5,000won. When I said that it was natural, she thanked me and turned back to her colleagues. It was pretty funny! They must have had a bet going! I'm glad I could provide some entertainment!

So those were the highlights of last week. This weekend I hope to go explore another section of the city.

I'll keep you updated!


L

VF- Semaine 3 - Apprentissage d'une nouvelle langue

Petit mot: Il y a d'autres photos dans la version anglaise et sur le site de KodakGallery. Vous verez le lien a ce site sur votre droite.

Bonjour a tous!

Eh bien! Encore une nouvelle semaine ici et j'ai pleins de choses a dire.

J'ai decide de m'y mettre a fond avec la langue Coreene, mais c'est interessant puisque depuis que je pousse mon cervelle a accepter des nouveaux sons, la boite a langue dans ma tete s'est ouvert et j'ai retrouve le Bangla (Langue parle au Bangladesh) que je n'avais pas parle depuis presque 4 ans! Maintenant, en allant demander quelque chose dans un magasin je me retrouve a vouloir dire des mots en Bangla. Chaque fois que je pense a de l'eau, je pense panni, quand le mot a utiliser est mul!

En tous cas, j'ai pris mon premier cours de Coreen samedi dernier a Sookmyung Women's University qui se trouve dans un quartier tres jeune et tres branche. Le campus est manifique!

Le cours avait commence la semaine d'avant et les 4 autres personnes dans le cours (2 canadiens, une japonaise et une hongroise) avaient deja apris l'alphabet alors j'etais bien loin derriere eux. Mais c'est un cours qui a lieu une fois par semaine et c'est gratuit alors j'ai quand meme l'opportunite de m'immerger pendant une heure et demi ainsi que de rencontrer de nouvelles personnes. De plus, j'etudie chez moi avec un livre que quelqu'un m'a passe et je pratique tous les jours au travail avec les professeurs Coreens. Ils sont si indulgents et m'aident regulierement. Je me suis fixe un defi
Sookmyung Women's University

de pouvoir comprendre 40-50% de la langue pour le mois de decembre. Pour m'aider a realiser ceci, mon patron m'a informe qu'une autre succursale de l'institut ou je travail va commencer a enseigner le Coreen a partir du mois prochain. Le cours aura lieu 3 fois par semaine, 2 heures par jour. Il va reammenager mes heures de travail pour que je puisse y participer. Les cours ne sont pas tres chers et je serai une des premieres eleves. J'ai hate.

Je pense qu'avec le livre a la maison, l'aide des profs a l'institut, le cours le samedi et les autres cours 3 fois par semaine, je devrais pouvoir apprendre le Coreen assez rapidement. Je commence deja a lire le Coreen, meme si je ne comprends pas ce que je lis. Je peux quand meme ecrire mon nom! Le voici: ㄹㅔㅇㅣㅌㅏ.

Ce type d'ecriture s'appelle Hangul et a ete invente par des scientifiques et des specialistes dans le 15ieme siecle suite a la demande du roi Coreen. Avant cette epoque, les Coreens utilisaient les caracteres Chinois. Parce que la language ecrite du Chinois etait trop difficile et que seuls les riches et les tres intelligents pouvait l'apprendre, le Grand Roi Sae Jong a commande une nouvelle langage ecrite qui serait accessible a tous le monde. Aujourd'hui, la langue ecrite du Coreen est considere par les scientifiques comme etant la langue ecrite la plus
Assise sur un banc manifiquement peint a Insadong/
Sitting on a beautifully painted bench in Insadong

logique et la plus facile a apprendre dans le monde. Ceci ne veut pas dire que la langue est facile a parler!

Pour vous dire la verite, comme je connais presque tous l'alphabet, je suis capable de lire les panneaux en allant au travail le matin. Hier soir, en rentrant du supermarche, je m'arretais regulierement pour essayer de dechifrer les mots a haute voix. Un homme m'a arrete en me demandant ou je voulais aller. Il pensait que j'etais perdu! Quand je lui ai explique que je ne faisais que lire les panneaux, il m'a corriger sur quelques mots que je lisais et avec un sourire il est parti.

En tous cas, pour continuer a parler de samedi, j'ai rencontre Tracie, une des profs a l'institut qui est superbe, et nous sommes retourne a Itaewon (un quartier etranger a Seoul) pour m'acheter un telephone portable. C'etais cher! Pour un portable a deuxieme main, j'ai du payer 85,000won qui est l'equivalent de 70euros. Pour un portable neuve, les prix sont dans les environs de 200,000 a 250,000. C'est la folie! Mais la technologie est tres avance ici et plusieurs personnes on des portables qui servent aussi comme de petits televisions. Alors j'ai achete un portable par la marque Coreene Sky et apres nous sommes allees prendre un vers a Gecko's ou 95% des personnes la sont des etrangers. C'etait assez bizarre. Seuls les serveurs et quelques femmes etait Coreens. Il y avait des videurs a l'entree qui demandaient une identification qu'aux Coreens. Je suppose qu'ils sont plus concernes par le Coreens que les etrangers...C'etait une sensation tres bizarre en sachant que j'etais a Seoul, mais en me sentant comme si j'etais aux Etats Unis ou Canada (je ne dirais pas la France puisque tous le monde parlait anglais).

Dimanche j'ai rencontre Steve, un vieil ami des annees universitaires qui vit en Coree du Sud depuis 3 ans. Il adore ca ici. Malgre le fait qu'il ne parle pas courrement le coreen, il sait tous sur la cuisine. Sa mission etait de me montrer des quartiers interessants a Seoul ainsi que me faire gouter des plats typiques. Il m'a amene dans un quartier tres artistique qui s'appelle Insadong et je vous jure, j'aimais Seoul avant, mais maintenant je l'adore! C'est manifique! Il y a plusieurs petits magasins sur la rue principale ainsi que des chaines de restos et cafes comme le cafe americain Starbucks. Mais parce qu'ils veulent preserver un peu l'aspect traditionelle du quartier, ils ont mis le nom en Hangul. Je retournerai un jour pour prendre une photo... Il y a plusieurs restaurants couverts de vignes et d'autres plantes dans les petites rue a cote de la rue principale (qui est pietonne) et malgre le fait qui y avait des etrangers dans les rues, la majorite des personnes dans ce quartiers etaient des Coreens avec leur familles en balade un dimanche apres-midi.

Steve m'a fait goute un bonbon Coreen qui s'appelle Yot qui est a base de citrouille. C'est tres bon, mais tres sucre et m'a fais penser au nougat. Il y plusieurs types de Yot; ici vous verez deux types, mais j'ai essaye que le beige. L'homme au stand manipulait lentement le yot entre ses mains pour l'assouplir (j'imagine en tous cas). Il y avait un bon nombre de personnes autour de lui qui le regardait, Coreens ainsi qu'etrangers.

Yot (dans le coin droit, la masse beige/in the right corner, the beige mass)

Apres ceci, nous sommes allees au Parc Pagoda. C'est en plein centre ville et est dedicace a l'independence que la Coree a declare du Japon dans le 15ieme siecle. Des statues de cette periode peuvent etres trouvees dans ce parc ou plusieurs vieux hommes passent leur apres-midi sous l'hombre des arbres et dans un endroit ou les esprits des combatants parlent encore. Quand je retournerai, je prendrais des photos pour vous montrer. Nous avons continues a marcher jusqu'a un canal qui, par le passe, etait plein d'eau stagnante et qui donnait une odeure epouvantable. Le maire de Seoul a l'epoque a decide de le renover et apparement il y a eu pas mal de protestations vis a vis cette situation. Aujourd'hui sa s'appelle Chungyechan et c'est un petit coin de paradis que les habitants apprecient enormement. De l'eau coule fraichement et est transparente dans le canal et est entoure par des plantes et des pierres qui croisent l'eau permettant de traverser sur l'autre cote. On m'a suggere d'y retourner pendant la nuit quand toutes les lumieres sont allumees.

Apres ceci, Steve et moi etions faim et comme il m'avait promis quelque chose de bon et de traditionel, j'avais hate de commencer. Apart le Toengang Tchigae, je n'avais pas vraiment essaye d'autre mets Coreens. Il m'a emmene dans un petit resto dans une ruelle ou il y avait au moins une 20aine d'autres petits restos qui n'avaient pas l'air tres chic mais au contraire, tres simple. C'etait fantastique! Nous avons mange bossam, un plat Coreen de porc tranche et bouillie que tu manges enveloppe dans un feuille de salade ou de chou crus. Imaginez...tu as une enorme assiette avec ce porc en tranches a cote du tamudji kimchi (radis marines en vinaigre et piment rouges) dans une sauce de chili couverts d'huitres crus. Il faut prendre une feuille de salade ou chou, mettre un peu de sauce bossam (des crevettes miniatures dans un sauce de chili), ajouter un peu de samjang (une sauce faite a base de poivrons rouge avec une sorte de fevre dedans), tu peux ajouter une tranche d'ail aussi (qui se trouve dans un petit bol sur la table) et ensuite tu ajoutes une tranche de porc, un peu de kimchi et un ou deux huitres et tu l'enveloppe dans la feuille. Derniere etape, prendre une bouche et voila! C'est tres bon, par contre c'est peut etre un peu bizarre avec les huitres. A part le plat principale, il y a aussi d'autres types de kimchi avec du radish en cubes, des concombres marines et sucres et des germes de soja. Le kimchi des germes de soja est tres bon. Dans ce restaurant en particulier nous avons aussi mange une soupe qui s'appelle gamjatang, une soupe qui peut dire pomme de terre (gamja) ou des os avec de la viande dessus. Nous avons mange la deuxieme sorte de soupe. Ils nous ont mis cette soupe avec des herbes et des legumes sur une bruleur a gaz sur la table et ils nous ont laisses le chauffer et cruire comme nous l'avons voulu. C'est delicieux. En plus de ca, nous avons mange du keranchim, un type de souffle d'oeuf qui est tres leger et savoureux mais qui a tres peu d'epices dedans. C'est cuit dans une sorte de fonte et servi dedans. Dernierement, nous avons aussi ete servi du puchingjae, une sorte de crepe de legumes frit avec des carottes, des onions nouveaux etc... c'etait tres bon aussi. Alors imaginez vous que nous etions que deux! Il a demande que le bossam et nous avons recu tous ces autres plats avec. C'etait la folie et on n'a pas pu tous manger.

L'entree d'une maison de the tres sympathique a Insadong/The entrance to a cool-looking tea house in Insadong

Steve est allee encore plus loin et nous a commander du soju, une boisson alcoholise a base de riz mais qui a aussi des ingredients comme du ble, du tapioca, de l'orge et de la pomme de terre douce. Si vous avez deja essaye le sake japonais, cela vous donnerais une idea du gout meme si le soju est bu froid. Le gout initial est pratiquement meconnaissable mais apres avoir avale, il y a un gout un peu sucre et fort en alcohol qui reste dans la bouche. Pas mal...

En quittant le resto, notre serveuse m'a approche et a signale mes cheveux et m'a demande quelque chose qui a termine avec pama. Je me suis retourne vers Steve pour lui demander ce qu'elle voulait dire. Elle voulait savoir si j'avais altere mes cheveux pour qu'ils puissent etre boucles. Il y avait 5 autres serveuses qui me regardaient attentivement, attendant ma reponse, comme si elles avaient pariees. Quand j'ai dis que c'etait naturelle, elle m'a remercie et s'est retourne vers ses collegues. C'etait assez comique. Je suis sur qu'elles s'etaient poses la questions pendant les heures que j'etais la. Je suis content que j'ai pu leur offrir un peu de divertissement!

Bon, voici les aventures pour cette semaine. La semaine prochaine j'espere explorer un peu plus la ville.

A bientot!

L

VF- Comment Cuisiner du Riz Gluant

Bonjour!

J'ai appris comment cuisiner du riz gluant!

La plupart des coreens ont un auto-cuiseur de riz alors ils mettent le riz et l'eau et ils laissent faire mais si vous n'avez pas ceci, comme moi, voici ce qu'il faut faire.

Premierement, le riz gluant est tres different du riz basmati ou riz jasmin qu'on connait. Nous connaissons le riz qui est assez long et fin. Le riz gluant et petit et gros et ressemble a des petites pates, presque comme des spaetzles miniscule. Soyez vigilant en achetant le bon riz a paris store ou un autre type de magasin d'aliment asiatique. Vous pouvez cuisinez ce riz pour faire des sushis ou des plats typiques asiatiques a manger avec des baguettes.

1. Mettre la quantite souhaitez de riz dans une casserole et secouer pour distribuer le riz dans toute la casserole.
2. Mettre la main dans la casserole, plat contre le riz.
3. Versez de l'eau froide sur la main et laissez l'eau monter jusqu'au debut de la main (ceci veut dire l'eau devrait couvrir les doigts mais pas la partie ou la paume commence).
4. Couvrir la casserole.
5. Laissez bouillir et quand l'eau a plus ou moins evapore mais le riz est encore trop gluant, reduire le feu et laisser evaporer encore pendant 5-10 minutes. Trouvez un covercle avec un petit trou ou vous pouvez laisser l'evaporation echaper.

Maintenant vous avez du riz gluant. Bon Appetit!

VF- Semaine 2

Bonjour a tous,

Alors, une semaine de plus dans cette ville et je commence a m'y habituer. J'ai quelques experiences typiquement 'Leita' que j'aimerais partager.

Je ne suis peut etre pas tres chanceuse en amour ou argent, mais je peux dire que je suis tres chanceuse en ce qui concerne les rencontres avec des nouvelles personnes et le fait de pouvoir trouver des esprits sublime. Plusieurs personnes m'avaient prevenu du fait d'etre bouscule et d'avoir me sensibilites affecte par leur tendence a etre mal eleves. Je dois avoir une bonne etoile puisque j'ai eu que des bonnes experiences depuis mon arrivee.

Commencons avec l'appartement. D'accord, j'ai un probleme d'eau chaude puisque j'ai qu'une minute et demi d'eau chaude avant que l'eau devient tres froid, mais mon patron va essayer de regler ceci. Je verrai, mais j'ai bien l'impression que je vais devoir vivre avec cette situation pour l'annee a venir. Je crois que la citerne d'eau pour mon appartement est trop petit donc... Bref, en parlant d'autre choses... Vous savez comment les dechets de certains sont les tresores d'autres? Eh bien, lisez...

J'etais un peux inquiete de l'idee de devoir acheter des meubles pour l'appart et prennant en compte l'etat de mes comptes (quel surprise!) je me demandais comment j'allais me debrouiller. Eh bien, grace au superviseur de l'immeuble, cher M. Son (qui doit avoir 65 ans), j'ai trouver des solutions. Il parle autant l'anglais que moi le coreen mais nous communiquons assez bien, si vous pouvez l'imaginer.

Je suis allee dans son bureau un jour pour faire un coup de fils and nous avons discutes. Il m'a demande mon age, d'ou je venais and comment je m'appelais. Ensuite il m'a explique (meme si cette explication a pris 10 minutes de recherche dans mon petit livre de traduction) que la soeur germaine de sa mere vit au Etats-Unis. Vous aurez du nous voir! Voici deux personnes, separes non seulement par age et culture, mais aussi par langage, entrain de sourire comme des fous parce que nous avons pu nous comprendre! C'etait superbe.

Le cher M. Son, ou Son-shi comme nous dirons en coreen, m'a trouve des petites perles dans la cave a me preter. J'ai recu une sorte de pendoir sur roues ou je peux pendre mes vetements pour le boulot et il y a quelques jours il ma demande avec notre langage de coreen/anglais/langage de signes si je voulai une etagere. Alors voila, quel gentilesse! De plus, mon patron est venu voir le probleme avec l'eau et je lui ai dit que j'avais vu une table a l'exterieur d'un magasin et je voulais voir combien cela coutait. Il est allee avec moi et l'homme au magasin m'a donne cette petite table basse gratuitement! Que puis-je dire? La vie n'est pas toujours facile, mais de temps en temps, nous sommes chanceux.

Cela pour vous dire un petit mot, prenez ces moments exeptionelles et cherisez-les. La vie sera encore plus belle.

Alors, maintenant en parlant des petits observations que j'ai pu faire de Seoul et ses habitants:

1. Les gens ici sont tres genereux et cela vient naturellement; les professeurs Coreens au travail nous offrent quotidiennement des petits pains et autres casse croutes et le superviseur de mon immeuble, Son-shi, m'a deja offert du cafe et des fruits depuis que nous nous connaissons; mes etudiants mon offerts des boissons et des bonbons et les receptionistes mon offerts des sucreries et des fruits; tous ca pour aucune raison!
2. Les coreens son des personnes tres gentil quand vous commencez a leur parler; je suis allee a E-mart (comme une Galerie Lafayette mais un peu plus petit) et j'ai demande a une femme d'a peu pres 60 ans qui travaillant la ou se trouvait le riz. Riz = Sal. Elle m'a pris par le bras et m'a ammener j'usqu'a la section de riz avec un grand sourire. Plus tard je cherchais quel savon a lessive a acheter et la vendeuse voulais m'expliquer un produit (il y a une laveuse par etage dans mon immeuble et c'est gratuit) mais je ne la comprenais pas alors elle a parle avec une autre dame qui a disparu et est revenu avec une autre vendeuse qui parlait anglais. Elle m'a tous explique, encore avec des sourires de tous les cotes. Et avec cette explication, j'ai fini par avoir un panier a lessive et deux sachets d'assouplissant gratuits!
3. Les Coreens prets beaucoup attention de leur sante. Souvent ils boivent des boissons ameres parce qu'elles sont bon pour la sante. Partout on voit le terme "well-being" ecrit en anglais. Cela veut dire bien-etre. La phrase coreene pour ceci est Annyong Haseyo, ce qu'on dis pour dire bonjour ici! La culture a beaucoup de termes liees au bien etre et la majorite des gens sont en bonne sante et ils sont actives (j'ai remarque ceci depuis mes etudiants et parce qu'ils y a beaucoup de centres d'exercise prets d'ici ainsi que des saunas).
4. Le recyclage. Ici les dechets sont separes dans une maniere assez interessante. J'ai lu dans certaines parties de "Lonely Planet" (comme un guide du routard) avant d'arriver ici et il dit que les coreens ont bien accepte le concept de recyclage. Chaque personne doit acheter un type de sachet poubelle pour les dechets generales, un autre type pour les dechets organiques et ont peut mettre les dechets a recycler dans n'importe quel sachet. Chaque communite a des sacs poubelles de differentes couleurs. Je me demandais pourquoi le gouvernement forcait les gens d'acheter des sachets pour les dechets et non pas pour les articles a recycler mais et toute verite, c'est logique. Tous le monde jete leur dechets mais pas tous le monde recycle. Vaut mieux faire payer les sachets que tous le monde a besoin. Si quelqu'un jete ses dechets dans des mauvais sachets, il peut avoir une contravention. En plus, si quelqu'un veut jeter des meubles, il doit acheter une etiquette dans un supermarche et la mettre sur l'article. Sinon, la personne peut avoir une contravention. Ce pays est manifiquement organise.
5. Le Metro est tres propre et bien reflechi. J'etais un peu perdu au debut puisque ils annonce plusieurs destinations sur une ligne au lieu de la destination finale mais apres l'hesitation initiale, c'est tres simple et tous est ecrit en anglais ainsi qu'en coreen. Les trains sont tres larges et il y a certains sieges reserves pour les handicappees, le femmes enceintes et les viellards. Je peux vous promettre que personne prends ces sieges a part les gens concernes. Le train peut etre completement rempli et une douzaine de personnes peuvent etre debout dans la cabine, mais personne prendra les places reservees. Je trouve ca vraiment bien et respectueux.
6. La protection contre le soleil. Ceci est un sujet assez interessant puisque dans les autres pays asiatique ou je suis allee, les femmes semblaient particulierement obsedees par la blancheur. Ici on voit de temps en temps des femmes utiliser des parapluies quand le soleil brille et des fois ont voit des femmes avec des sortes de visieres en plastique teintes qui commencent au front et terminent au menton, mais c'est plutot l'exception.

Bon, ca suffit pour l'instant. J'espere que vous avez eu un petit gout de Seoul!

Annyonghi Kyeseyo!

E.V. How to Make Sticky Rice

Dear All,

I have learned how to make sticky rice!

Most Koreans own a rice cooker and so just dump the rice and water and let the rice cooker do the work but if you do not have a rice cooker (which is my case) here is what you need to do.

First of all, sticky rice is very different from the rice we are used to. We are used to rice that is fairly long and thin. The rice here is short and squat and almost looks like little pasta. Make sure to buy that type of rice if you want to make sushi or have a typical Asian dinner with chopsticks.

1. Put in the quantity of rice you want in a pot.
2. Place your hand in the pot on top of the rice.
3. Pour cold water in the pot.
4. Stop pouring water when the water reaches just below the knuckles of your hand (not your fingers!)
5. Cover the pot.
6. Let boil and when the water has evaporated but the rice is still too moist, reduce heat and let evaporate for 5-10 minutes with the cover on. Find a cover that has a little hole in the lid for some evaporation.

Now you have sticky rice!

Eng.V - Week 2

Hello one and all,

So one more week has gone by and I'm getting into the groove of things. I've got some nice little 'Leita experiences' I'd like to share.

Though I may not be lucky in love or money, I can say that I'm very lucky when it comes to meeting people and finding kindred spirits. People have warned me of the general sense of feeling pushed around and having your sensibilities stretched to the limit with what Westerners would call rudeness. I must have a lucky star because I have had really good experiences since my arrival.

Let's start with the apartment. Okay, so the only problem with it is that the water vacillates between scalding and freezing and I only get about 1 1/2 minutes of nice hot water before one extreme hits me. My boss is trying to find a solution for this, but I think I'm just going to have to deal with this for the next year. I think that the heating tank is just really small and therefore the hot water runs out really fast. Bref... on to the great aspect. Okay, so you know how some people's trash is another's treasure? Well, read on...

I've been a little worried about all the furniture I would have to buy and considering the fact that I'm currently broke (no real surprise!) , it's been on my mind. Well, the building super is just plain super! His name is Son and he has to be around 65, and he is the sweetest man you can find. He speaks about as many words in English as I speak in Korean but he and I communicate quite well if you can imagine that.

I came down to make a phone call from his office last week and he and I had a conversation about how old I am, where I come from, and what my name is. He then explained to me (though it took about 10 minutes of searching through my little lonely planet phrasebook to understand) that his mother's younger sister lives in the states. You should have seen us! Here are two people, separated not only by age and culture, but also by language, grinning from ear to ear because we've managed to exchange basic information! It was great.

Dear Mr. Son, or Son-shi as you would say in Korean, has since found little pearls in his storage room to give to me. I have received this portable hanging apparatus where I can hang up my skirts, jackets and pants for work. And it's on wheels! A couple days ago he asked me in our Korean/English/sign language whether I could use a shelving unit. Of course! So now I have a shelving unit! My boss came to my apartment to see about the water problem and I told him that I had seen a low table at a store between work and home and asked him if he would go with me to ask about the price. So we went and the tables were lying upside down outside. I found out that it was just a frame and that there was no table top but the man working there found a table top that I could just place over the rectangular frame and guess what?! He gave it to me for free! What can I say? Life is not often easy, but every once in a while, you just get lucky.

This is my little blurb to tell you, grab those rare moments and cherish them. It makes life that much more amazing.

So, now all I need is a dresser drawer and I'm basically set. With the boxes coming sometime in October from France, I will then have my own little home in Seoul.

Some preliminary observations on Seoul and its people:

1. The people here are very generous and it comes naturally; the Korean teachers at work offer us breakfast foods daily and the building supervisor, Son-shi (at my apartment) has given me coffee and fruit since we've became acquaintances; students have offered me drinks and cookies and the receptionists have offered me sweets and fruit for no reason at all!
2. Koreans are very nice people once you start to talk to them; I went to E-mart (a Walmart equivalent located a few blocks from work) and I stopped a woman working there and asked her to tell me where to find the rice. Rice = Sal . She took me by the arm, smiling, and took me right to that section; later, when trying to figure out what laundry detergent to buy (there is one washing machine per floor in my building and it is free), the saleswoman there was trying to have me understand something that I was just not getting; she spoke to another saleswoman who disappeared and came back with yet another saleswoman who spoke English and then explained everything to me. I then proceeded to receive a free laundry basket (on wheels!) and two free samples of fabric softener! All of this with smiles and a warmth that you just can't fake.
3. Koreans are very health conscious. They will often drink bitter things because it is good for the health. Everywhere you go, you will see the term 'well-being' written in English. The Korean phrase for that, if I've understood correctly is Annyong Haseyo , which incidentally is what you say to people when you say hello. The culture is rife with the concept of well-being and most people are very fit and do some form of exercise (I've noticed this from my students and there are lots of saunas and gyms around too).
4. The recycling world. Trash is separated in a very interesting fashion here. I read in Lonely Planet before arriving that Koreans have embraced the concept of recycling and do so diligently. One must buy a specific type of trash bag for general waste, another specific trash bag for organic waste and can put any recyclables in random bags but separated by material. Each neighborhood has different colors, for example for regulare waste my trash bags are white and my organic trash bags are yellow. I wondered why we would have to buy bags for regular trash and not for the recyclabes but it makes sense. All people throw out trash, but not all recycle; make them pay for what they can't avoid. If someone throws general waste in any type of bag, they can be fined. In addition, if someone wants to get rid of furniture, they have to buy a special sticker at the store and stick it on the furniture for it to be picked up. Again, if not, they will be fined. This place is wonderfully organized
5. The Metro (Subway) is wonderfully clean and well thought out. I was a little confused at first because the signs when entering the stations do not indicate the last destination of that line, but rather 3 or 4 major stops on that line so you need to look a bit more on your map before getting used to the idea. The trains are quite wide and there are specific seats for elderly, handicapped and pregnant women. I can promise you that not a soul who does not qualify as one of those types of people sits there. The train could be full and there may be 20 people standing up but those seats are empty. I respect that.
6. Protection from the sun. This is an interesting concept as women in the other Asian countries that I have been to seemed excessively obsessed with remaining as white as possible. Here you will see a few women using umbrellas on sunny days and the occasional woman wearing a tinted plastic visor stretching from the forhead to the chin, but otherwise, they are exposed.

This is all for now. I hope you have gotten a bit of a feel for Seoul!

Annyonghi Kyeseyo!

English Version - Week 1

Thank you to all of those who helped get me here. You are awesome!


Annyong Haseyo!

I hope you guys are doing well! As some of you know, I arrived in Seoul on Friday September 1st 2006 after almost 20 hours of flight: from Montreal to Vancouver to Seoul. Seoul is 13 hours ahead of Montreal and 7 hours ahead of Strasbourg.

I was picked up from the airport and taken to a motel where I was to stay until I found an apartment. I found it on Tuesday and moved in on Wednesday. For those of you who knew my apartment in Strasbourg, this one is smaller and has way less storage so I'll have to buy a shelf and some drawers second hand when I have some money. The apartment did come with a bed (single) and two gaz burners (still no oven!) and a fridge. An interesting point, there is no bath nor shower. The hose for the shower is above the sink and the water poors directly to the floor of the bathroom! This means that your toilet gets wet while you shower. Not very practical but I had already experienced such a thing in Bangladesh in 2002; over there I had neither hot water, nor bathroom tiles but plentry of spiders the size of my hand. Over here, there are no spiders, the floor is tiled and there is hot water so I'm in paradise!

For the moment there is not that much going on because I had a cold upon arrival here and spent my first weekend in bed watching Korean television. I have to tell you though, over here the Koreans know how to do things right: they subtitle English movies. Yes!

The language here is pretty difficult and the words sometimes pretty long with sounds I'm not in the habit of pronouncing. I'm afraid that learning this language will prove to be more difficult than learning Bangla, but I'm up for the challenge.

The people here are perhaps not the most friendly that exist, as they will easily push you in the supermarket or on the street without saying they are sorry (it's not really part of the culture to apologize), but the people here have been really indulgent with regards to me. The first night I arrived I spent about 20 minutes trying to buy food to go in a little restaurant with not more than 5 booths and the people there were very patient with me as I looked through my little Korean phrasebook to find the words I wanted. Since that night I have the opportunity to try a fantastic little soup which is a variation of miso soup (Japanese) called toenjang tchigae which has the added elements of crab, clams and an Asian form of cucumber that can be cooked. But beware! If you do not like spicy food, stay away! For those of you living in Strasbourg, there is a decent Korean restaurant in the Krutenau, for those of you in Montreal, there is a great one close to Concordia university.

On to other things...I started work on Monday. I work Monday to Friday in the following way:

6:40-7:30am
7:40-8:30am
a break of 3 hours
12:00-12:50pm
a break of 6 hours
7:20-8:10pm
8:15-9:50pm (this last course is offered two or three times a week and I teach it every day)

Saturday. 9:30-1:30pm (this is only for the first two months as I am obligated to teach on Saturdays in my contract. Afterwards I can decide to stop if I want but if I want to make extra money, I can work on Saturdays with an overtime salary)

I know that this sounds a bit crazy but for the moment it works okay. Seeing as how I'm new, I got that crappy shift in the middle of the day, but schedules change every month with the start of new classes. And surprise! I actually like my classes. The students are motivated, very respectful and the ages range from 24-45. The majority are here to improve their english for work which I find awesome. They work hard here and I can appreciate that.

I found an apartment 10 minutes from work and I wake up at 5am every morning. For those of you who know me well, you know this sounds crazy but I like waking up that early and taking my time getting dressed. I feel good here and the people I work with are pretty cool.

In the months to come I hope to take a class in Korean, join a fitness club (there is one in the building I work in) and take some day trips (Sundays for the moment) to explore Seoul a little bit as well as the immediate surroundings. Fall is supposed to be the most beautiful season here.
Don't worry about me! Things are going well in my new life and I'm feeling as though, if things continue on this path, I can easily see myself staying another year.

With love,

Annyonghi Kyeseyo (goodbye!)

L

Version Francaise - Semaine 1

Annyong Haseyo! (bonjour!)

J'espere que vous allez bien. Je vous donne de mes nouvelles et j'espere que vous serriez indulgent avec mon francais (compte tenu que je n'ai pas d'accent sur ce clavier et que mon francais ecrit n'a jamais ete extraordinaire).

Je suis arrivee a Seoul, Koree du Sud, le 1er september 2006 apres pres de 20 heures de vol: de Montreal a Vancouver a Seoul. Seoul est 13 heures en avance de Montreal et 7 heures en avance de Strasbourg.

On est venu me chercher a l'aeroport et on m'a paye plusieurs nuits dans un hotel a cote de l'institut en attendant que je trouve un appartement. Je l'ai trouve mardi et j'ai ammenage mercredi. Pour ce parmi vous qui on vu l'appartement a Strasbourg, le nouveau est un peu plus petit et avec un quart d'amenagement (Guillaume, tu as fais un boulot superbe sur l'appart a Strasbourg!). Il y avait qu'un lit, deux plaques a gaz (je n'ai toujours pas de four!) et un frigo. Un petit point interessant, il n'y a ni bain ni douche ferme. Le tuyaux pour la douche se situe au dessus du lavabo et l'eau circule directement sur le sol. Cela veux dire que la toilette fini par se mouiller pendant la douche. Pas tres pratique mais j'avais vecu une experience similaire au Bangladesh en 2002 mais sans carrelage, sans eau chaude et avec la presence de plusieurs araignees la taille de ma main. Ici, pas d'araignee, et j'ai du carrelage et de l'eau chaude. Le paradis en comparaison!

Pour le moment je n'ai pas grand chose a vous raconter puisque je suis tombee malade avec un rhume pendant mon vol et a passe la fin de semaine au lit devant la television Koreenne. Il faut que je vous dise, par contre, que les Koreens on le bon sense de mettres les films Anglophone en version originale avec soustitrage! Oui! Merci beaucoup!

La langue ici est assez difficile et les mots longs, parfois, avec des sons dont je n'ai pas l'habitude de prononcer. J'ai bien peur que je vais avoir plus de mal a apprendre cette langue que le Bangla, mais j'y tiens.

Les gens sont peut etre pas les plus gentils au monde dans le sense ou ils basculent facilement le monde au supermarche ou sur la rue mais pour vous dire la verite, ils one etes que indulgent avec moi depuis mon arrivee. La premiere nuit j'ai passe une 20aines de minutes a essayer de m'acheter quelque chose a manger pour emporter d'un petit resto de pas plus que 5 banquettes et les personnes la ont etes tres patients avec moi et mon petit livre pour me debrouiller en koreen. Depuis cette nuit, j'ai goute une soupe superbe dans un autre resto qui s'appelle toenjang tchigae qui est une forme de soupe miso (japonais) mais avec des crabes, des palourdes et une forme de concombre asiatique qui se laisse cuisiner. Mais attention! Cette soupe n'est pas pour ceux qui n'aiment pas le piment! C'est bien epice. Pour ceux parmi vous a Strasbourg, il y un resto a la Krutenau qui n'est pas mal. Pour ceux parmi vous a Montreal, il y a un resto juste a cote de Concordia qui est tres bon.

Autrement, j'ai commence a travailler lundi matin. Je travaille de lundi a vendredi dans la maniere suivante.

6:40-7:30
7:40 -8:30
une pause de 3 heures
12:00-12:50
une pause de 6 heures
19:20 -20:10
20:15-21:50 (ce dernier cours se fait deux ou trois fois par semaine, j'ai un cours chaque soir.

Le samedi je travail de 9:30-13:30 mais cela que pour 8 semaines selon de contrat. Apres cette periode, je peux decider de continuer pour gagner plus d'argent (je suis payee en temps supplementaire, ou je peux arreter).

Je sais que cela a l'aire absoluement fou, mais pour l'instant je le trouve franchement pas trop mal. Vu que je suis la nouvelle, je me retrouve avec un cours en plein milieu de la journee mais les emploi du temps changent chaque mois quand les cours recommencent. Et surprise! J'aime mes cours. Les etudiants sont motives, tres respectueux et les ages sont assez melanges de 24 ans a 45 ans. La plupart sont ici pour ameliorer leur anglais pour leur boulot et je trouve ceci extraordinaire. Ce sont des bosseurs ici et j'apprecie ca.

J'ai trouve un appartment a 10 minutes de l'ecole et je me leve a 5:00 chaque matin. Pour ce parmi vous qui me connaissent bien, cela est absoluement inattendu et meme folle de ma part. Je sais, mais je me sens bien ici et j'aime prendre mon temps le matins. Les gens avec qui je travail sont gentils et je me sens dans ma place.

Dans le mois a venir j'espere pouvoir prendre des cours de Koreen, me joindre a un centre de "fitness" qui est situe dans l'immeuble ou je travaille, et prendre des journees (les dimanches pour l'instant) pour voir un peu Seoul et les proches entourages.

Ne vous inquietez pas, meme si je n'ai pas vu grand chose pour l'instant, j'aime beaucoup ma nouvelle vie et je me dis qui si les choses continuent sur cette bonne voie, je me vois bien rester ici une deuxieme annee.

Avec beaucoup d'amities,

Annyonghi Kyeseyo! (au revoir)

Leita