The Past Week or So...

There have been a few developments. Here we go.

Namaedmun Market- Last Saturday, two ICEV teachers invited me to go along to this open-air market in Seoul. Here is what my travel book says about Namaedum market (I am honestly too tired to describe it myself); "The market's history traces back to the Joseon Dynasty and since then has become the main transactional place of daily products between urban and rural areas of Korea. Namdaemun Market is also the nation's wholesale center and virtually anything you want can be found here: clothing and shoes in vast array, housewares, foodstuffs, flowers, tools, wigs, glasses, accessories of every kind, gift items, sporting goods, construction materials, electrical supplies, furniture, etc." This is especially true of the wigs. Lots of wigs. I want the green one. My favorite part of the market was the street food, which is EVERYWHERE. I tried this pancake-ish thing that had some honey and other goodness in the center, rice noodles in a red, hot sauce, and makolri, which is a Korean rice wine. When I first heard of rice wine, I was somewhat skeptical that it would be wonderful. Still, I wanted to try it. I rather loved it. I should probably run to the Ministop downstairs tonight and purchase all the makolri in stock. Better yet, I should go to the Home Plus across the street and clear THEIR stock of makolri. Home PLUS is bigger than MINIstop. Much bigger. All in all, Namaedmun market was a very alive and intriguing place that I hope to visit again soon.

The Subway: My first Korean Pet Peeve- There is good news and bad news about the subway. Good news; I'm starting to feel comfortable with it, as I now have used it twice, and I think that I may attempt to use it all by myself sometime next week. Bad news; the Korean subway is the source of my first pet peeve when it comes to Korean culture. In fact, I don't even know if the term pet peeve is strong enough to describe my dislike because what happens on the subway truly disgusts/enrages me. People push. They push often. And they don't apologize. Or they run right into you and don't even acknowledge that they nearly pushed you into the ground or that you even exist. Perhaps they go after foreigners more aggressively. There must be a point system for crashing into people on the subway and foreigners are worth double. I can think of no other explanation. I nearly screamed.

Popcorn: I found popcorn kernels in the grocery store and have made my first bowl of homemade popcorn. Not as good as at home yet (I still need to get to know my stove-ware better), but perhaps someday. Still, delicious and homey.
(Side note): My father would HATE the way they sell butter here, which is in half sticks. Surely, he would never consider that to be enough butter.

Books- As one teacher was leaving, I was arriving. He gave me most of his furniture, including a bookshelf stocked with books! I have so much good stuff to read for the next year! The titles that I am most excited to read include Life of Pi, Catcher and the Rye (a classic that I never encountered during my literature studies), The Great Influenza:The story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History, and Don't Know Much About History: Everything you need to Know about American History but never Learned. There are also three Harry Potter books (1, 6, and 7), so those are always solid go-to's...unless you don't like HP. In that case, screw you. Those books are full of magic.

First Week as a Real Teacher- I observed classes during my first week of work. This week, I am a full-on teacher. It is Wednesday, so I have been going for three days...and I'm tired. To tired to blog about it. I'll do it over the weekend or over my upcoming break.

Later.