Anniversary Meals

Anniversary meal private eating room at Hotel Riviera.

Salads for Mary's meal of cashew chicken.

Mary picking up peanut with chopsticks.

Cashew chicken

Doug's spaghetti meal (with a Korean twist).

We celebrated our anniversary over a two day span. One day in Korea and the next day for at home. We treated each other to a peanut butter on French bread supper with fresh peach juice.

Asian bread and vegetables.

Mary slurping noodles the Korean way.

Market Day

This morning, under a hazy sky with balmy winds, we jumped on bus 101 and headed across town to the old open market. What a sight!. Blocks, and blocks, and blocks.... of small stands displaying and selling anything and everything from cow tails, to stingrays, to huge white radishes, shoes, and clothing, beautiful handcarved chests, and everything in a pig but the "oink"! The fascinating thing about the market is the care and attentione each seller gives to how their wares are displayed. If, for instance, you've got shrimp to sell, they're not just thrown into a basket- they're arranged in a pattern in that basket.. Seaweed of varying types and colors, all displayed in such a way that you're almost convinced it will taste as good as it looks.

When it began to rain, we headed down into the "underground city". Once again, blocks and blocks and blocks of shops located under the streets of Daejeon. Thousands of people, hundreds of shops -  cell phones stores, shoe shops, jewelry stores, tailors, clothing stores - endless blocks! Finally, we headed back up to the surface and landed at a McDonalds! Despite the fact that it's against my better judgement to eat at  McDonalds when in a foreign country, the lure of something familiar drew us in. Given the cost of food here, eating their was cheaper than eating anywhere else. So, along with a swarm of uniformed high school students who were taking their lunch break, we ate double cheese burgers, french fries and cokes!!! I'd like to feel a littler bit guilty, but so far I have nothing but good memories.

Finally. we hopped back on bus 101 and headed for Emart - a large store similar to Target or Walmart. We came with a list, butter being one of the items we were seeking. Two plastic drinking glasses, a pound of butter, 3 asian pears, a bag of apples, a clump of green grapes, 4 bananas, 2 liters of skim milk, a "nine pack" of peach yogurt, handlotion, and an Emart green bag later, we hailed a taxi and headed home - exhausted, and $60.00 poorer.

Something you may find interesting - in a store like Emart, there are dozens and dozens of sales people standing in, and at the ends of every isle, calling out to attract your attention. We had FOUR girls descend on us within seconds as we approached the lotion isle! One wonders how the store makes any money. Labor costs must be miniscule.

  

CNU Gives Us A True South Dakota Welcome

This is where we stayed last time at CNU.

Our apartment is straight ahead in the center high rise.

CNU Winter Scene.

Walk to Doug's Office. Up hill both ways.

Is it spring yet?

Our Home Away From Home

Our 1 room castle complete with 2 desks, 2 chairs, and a bed.

A room with a view.

Here it is from our 7th story window

Class Begins

On Friday, March 19, my first graduate class began at 2 pm and lasted until 5 pm. The students have classes from 9 am to 7 pm with a few classes on Saturday. One student we know even has class exams on Sunday. CNU is a large university with 30,000 students. My class has 10 students and they were all a little apprehensive about the class because the class is taught in English and with their English skills this will be a challenge. One of the unique items that the Korean telephone system has is that you can type in an English word and it will translate to Korean. They were busy texting to their cell phones all during class. My class is set up so they can use our class software at SDSU called Desire 2 Learn. They were amazed that they could access the class information anf that we would provide that to them. I am recording the lectures so they can listen to the class and also I am making my notes more complete so it will be easier for them to follow the material. Also, any visuals are also made available for them to download as well. When I first tried to access D2L with the computer in the classroom we had some difficulty with the fact that the computer was entering Korean alphabet characters even though I was typing what looked like a regular keyboard and thus D2L would not recognize the ID and password information. With the help of the students we got the problems resolved and they were able to log into D2L.It is amazing to me that I am 1/2 a world away from some of my class material and yet I can modify and upload course material to D2L and the Korean students can access the information from their own home. Korea has the highest Internet availability in the world with more than 95% of homes having Internet. Some of the students in the graduate class were from the Korean exchange student groups we have had at SDSU during the summer and I was happy to see some familiar faces. Next week we find out when we will be teaching our conversational English classes. We know there will be at least two classes with about 12 students in each class.

My office is adjacent to the Department secretary's office. He (yes, he) is in charge of doing all the class scheduling, copying, and day to day activities for the Soils staff. He does not speak much English but between my illustrations and occasional words that we both understand we are getting by. There are always things we can learn from another culture. He brings me and other staff members fresh tea every day (morning and afternoon) and sometimes some little cookies (because he knows that foreigners like sweet things). I like this custom. Koreans do not eat many sweet items rather they prefer fresh fruit. The one "sweet" we have been served more than once, is a chunk of baked potato coated with a sugar glaze. They call this a "sweet potato"! It  may sound odd, but actually we like it.

The Soils staff number 6 and they meet once a month for a meal to discuss their department. There is a Department Head for the soils group and the Department Head role is passed from one staff member to the other after a two to three year term.

To celebrate the end of our first full week at CNU we had a lovely meal at the Continental Sky Lounge. The cafe is 16 stories up in one of the high rise buildings next to where we live. The food was excellent and much less expensive than at the motels in Yuseong. We could look out over the town and see all the buildings and mountains for miles. What a view! We will go there more often. One of us had spagetti (similar  to what we eat but with a Korean twist) and the other pork cutlets. We were full when we left. We have had a good week and tomorrow, Saturday, we plan to explore Daejeon (Teajon) using the bus and maybe subway systems.

#*$*^%^#**(#^

Finally, the computer arrived in Doug's office along with a list of grad students he will be teaching. Unfortuneatly, the student list is in Korean, and the computer needs to be reconfigured to English. We're hopeful...
And that reminds me, talking about everything being in Korean, - someone asked we'd done a lot of exploring. The one obstacle to exploring here in Daejeon, is language. Unlike Seoul, where the city itself is more like New York or Chicago, Daejeon is totally Korean. Buildings are all highrises and stores ae stacked one on top of the other. Each levelr is marked on the outside with large colorful signs that designate the store /or stores on that floor. So, for instance, there may be a small market on floor one, a "hardware" store on floor two, a dress shop on floor three, an advertising agency on floor 4, etc. Then, to complicate things even more, there are hallways that lead back to yet other businesses! Unfortuneately, because everything is in Korean, you need a native speaker to get you to where you need to go. We've discovered Home Plus, a Walmart equivalent, has most of what we need. This weekend, we plan to spend our time looking around the city, going to museums, etc., and searching out the markets where Koreans shop. 
Because we talk to the states when it's night here and morning there, or morning here and night there, and because we're a day ahead, I loose track of what I've posted and when and am too lazy to go back and look. On our March 17 ( your Mar. 16) we celebrated our third wedding anniversary. Doug and I walked to a hotel located about a mile or more from campus and had a lovely dinner in a small private room. Then we meandered back and finished the evening with several games of "Ticket to Ride". Then yesterday morning, on what we called our SECOND anniversary (your March 17 and our 18), we woke up to a spring snow shower which had fallen during the night and covered the ground with white. All morning long the sun shone and large clumps of snow fell from the trees. By the time I met Doug for lunch, most of the snow was gone and spring seemed to be on the way once more. Doug's department had a luncheon reception  for him at a Chinese restaurant not too far from campus. Don't be mislead by the word, Chinese. I'm sure Koreans would disagree, but food in a Chinese restaurant, looks and tastes pretty much like Korean fare to me - minus the hot, hot peppers. The presentation is always lovely. Soup is a staple at any meal. Yesterday, pieces of raw squid, and octopi, cellophane noodles, fish paste, seaweed and other nameless ingredients, strained my willingness to experiment to the limit. They serve so many different dishes at a meal it's difficult to recall and identify each one. We did have a first yesterday, Chinese bread. Looks a little bit like rolled foam. Pretty, but not to much on the "taste" side. They also served fried shrimp in the shell covered with a wonderful lemon sauce. Mmmmm. I.am also pleased to announce that I can now pick up peanuts with my chopsticks with a fare amount of ease. All in all, a very nice interlude.
Doug spent last night getting material for his class together. Our"second" anneversary meal - a loaf of french bread and peanut butter I discovered at the bakery.
  

So You'd Like to be an Architect?

Yesterday, we were once again taken out to lunch by Dr. Chung. This time we went to a Chinese restaurant and were accompanied by 3 of Dr. Chung's students. Two of those students took me to a coffee house last night where we had hot cocoa and conversation. There is such a desire here to learn conversational English.
During the evening, I was reminded of how we take what we have for granted. The two girls had invited a young man along as well - all three, when questioned - explained that they were not in the field of their choice, but one which was chosen for them based on their test scores. They had enjoyed college their freshman year, but once they started taking courses in their major, school became more difficult and less enjoyable. For the two girls in particular, job prospects are slim at best.And yet, everyone studies very hard - it would shame their families, who make great sacrifices, to do otherwise. No one seems to question the logic (or lack thereof) of such an educational system.Consequently, if you have a very high test score, you will perhaps study medicine or law. If your score is lower, you may be slotted into education, social sciences or agriculture, and if you score very low, you will be placed in a program for what we would call,"blue collar" workers. It begs the question of whether or not one can truly excel in a field that holds no personal interest.
In any case, I knew this before I came, but after interacting with these young people, the repercussions become thought-provoking to say the least.
      Meanwhile, Doug is still in an office with a desk and a chair - no computer - no anything. His class starts Friday. All I can think of is how difficult it will be to motivate grad students who may or may not have an interest in soil science. Doug just wants a computer. I think he'll start working back here at the dorm so I decided to get the blog done asap.
     In closing, Doug's line at lunch today, "I wonder what this stuff is? It has holes in it. Here, why don't you try it and see what it is."
And a P.S. to Ellis and Hayden - In Korea, it is expected and even polite to SLURP your noodles!! Very Fun!

Lose Weight Fast - The Korean Diet

Tuesday, March 16th (for us).Yesterday it "dripped" most of the day. Everyone walked around campus with umbrellas. I'm guessing the temp here is in the 40's - you'll probably be warmer this week than Daejeon - we're still on the cool side.
And now to the Lose Weight Fast program. Yesterday we ate lunch at the union. It's cafeteria stye - lots and lots of food for about three dollars. We know now that doug and I could split a meal. On our trays: 1. A cup of warm barely water, 2.a large bowl of clear soup seasoned with fish paste and full of sea weed, white stringy things, bean sprouts,mushrooms, plus misc.other, 3. kimchi (there are a thousand different kinds - this happened to be cabbage soaked in something) 4. some type of  - what we think was- soy/egg cakes with seaweed - 5. a main dish of beef and squid (Doug says "pigtails with lumps"}simmered with carrot strips, seaweed, onions, misc. things, and VERY hot red peppers. (I couldn't eat it without mixing it with rice, it was so hot), 6. a small dish of something we couln't identify at all, 7. and a huge bowl of rice. A small box of tissues is at every table to accomodate runny noses. (the consequence of eating hot peppers). In any case - nothing here has calories! Soon I will be a "wisp of a thing" - I can't wait!
Doug worked at the office, I explored, and last night we went out for pizza ($20.00.for what we would call a medium pizza) and then took a taxi to "Home Plus" - a large multi leveled department store where we shopped for groceries. We bought a small plastic basket for laundry, a paring knife, two bottles of juice, skim milk, a container of ,"I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" ( no real butter, here at least), 4 apples, 4 bananas, and 3 pears- ....$50.00! Usually we would walk to the store (a couple of miles) but because it was dark,took a taxi. You can see how well this Korean Diet will work!!!!
That's it for now. Our missing bag has arrived. We're hoping it's the right one this time.

What Color Would You LIke - Gray, Black, or White?

You'd like a new car? We've noticed the predominant colors here are those three. I'm guessing 90% at least. Every once in a while, a red or navy one appears, but not often (rebels, to be sure).It makes sense in a society where you want to be "part of the group". Such a difference from the US.
We've returned from a wonderful weekend with John and Alice E. in Seoul. Saturday morning we hopped on the "fast train" and 55 minutes later we were there. What would be a 3 hour drive by bus or car, hardly gave us time to get settled in our seats! Incredibly quiet, a train to Seoul arrives at the station about every 10 minutes or so, precisely when it's scheduled.You have a minute and five seconds to board the train and it's off once again! Doug and I were facing the opposite diirection when we first waited for our train, and it was so quiet, we didn't know it was there until it pulled up next to us! John and Alice have a lovely, lovely home on the grounds of The Korean Foreign School.  As always, Alice  has done a wonderful job of making the house a "home". The campus itself is difficult to explain. It sits on a hill overlooking the city, is gated, and serves over1500 students grades K through 12. It's located in an upscale part of the city so they have access to most anything western or Korean. Her refridgerator, looked like her fridge at home. After our arrival, we headed out to see the sights of Seoul and were able to tour the Gyeongbokgung Palace, The Folk Art Center, and have plum tea at a quaint little tea shop before going to Nanta -  a crazy theater performance where cabbages fly and everyone has a geat time. If you've seen Triple Esspresso - it's the Korean equivqlent. Afterwards we had supper and then fell into bed by 9:00.