Weekday blurs

Oh my! Where does the time go! It has been a week since my last update & usually my goal is to write about the week by Friday & the weekend before bed Sunday night...that was not the case this week as I missed both my Friday deadline for last week & my Sunday deadline for the weekend :O Oh the horror! luckily, I can just do it now, as there are no real consequences (besides a fuzzier and fuzzier memory) when I turn in my posts late, so to speak. But to get on with it...here is a picture-ed synopsis of last week (in no particular order) :]

Taylor & I still haven't gotten all the 'necessities' for living/cooking, so here you see a prime example of conquering functional fixedness as I use chopsticks to stir our scrambled eggs one morning. I believe this gets me a gold star in the Asian category for the day >.<

Next, you see my latest K-pop purchase...more Shinee stickers & a calendar. Little did I know that "photo calendar" really just means pictures with little number at the bottom meant to tell you have many days are in each month...which I can do by that knuckle trick anyways...so, not very helpful, but at least it gives me something pretty to put on my desk <3

Yet another delicious meal at Misoya (Wednesday night, Taylor's choice) which has become a favorite of ours since our first visit the night of our arrival. We usually get the same thing, since its close to comfort food, or at least, we can tell what all of it is!

 Next up is a delicious cafe mocha I got from Mancini's (the coffee place in our work building). Many of DOCS' foreign teachers gather here during our break between Kindie & elementary classes, & its become a bit of a tradition for me to snap pictures of the drinks I get, as presentation seems to be a bigger deal in SK than the US

In addition to my cafe mocha (from Tuesday I believe), I also tried their 'iced chocolate' which is essentially a chocolate shake, but MY MY is it good! I decided to make this my Friday treat, for a week well worked :)

Since we are on the topic of food pictures...I give to you...moving chicken from Thursday!

Okay, okay, so it isn't moving in the picture, but I promise you, it was when we ordered it! Taylor & I tried out a new place last Thursday for fried chicken, and one of the sauces we got had tuna flakes (as seen at the bottom of the picture), but the flakes were waving back and forth in a very life-like way! We discovered that it was because the chicken was hot, and the window we sat by was cold, and therefore created a wind-current that made them wave like they were underwater seaweeds, but it was sure cool looking! Even after we had figured out why, and image our surprise when we received food that was moving! Taylor & I even wondered for a minute if we HAD been served something living (it wouldn't surprise us), but since this is only a still-picture, you'll just have to take my word for it.

After our food fiasco, we walked through the outdoor market near Mangu station, looking at everything from foods to furniture to clothes. The market is a neat, winding maze of back alleys and sidewalks that are packed with merchants until quite late, and, according to co-people, the cheapest and best place to buy fruit, which is worth its weight in gold in Korea!

And of course, whats a walk through a market after a life-like dinner without a little dessert! I shared with Taylor a treat I haven't had since Thailand...Pocky Sticks! Which come in every flavor from strawberry to traditional chocolate to graham cracker, but we went for one of my favorites...Oreo :D

But finally, every long week needs some good old cuddle time with the family...family meaning dog, since our true, human family is many miles away. Feel free to 'aww' at any time.

So, as a general recap; here's our week, sans photos:

Monday is a lazy day in the Korean Collard household, recovery from the weekend, cleaning, organizing the week to come and of course (just like in Grand Rapids) pizza night! We prefer the closest place (just like in Grand Rapids) which happens to be called Pizza School, which we order take-out from before going home to spend the evening in the comfort of our cozy (ie itty-bitty) flat.

Tuesday last week was our 400 won wing-night in Itaewon at the Rocky Mountain Restaurant (the one from our Irish night) however, I don't think it will become a tradition, though it was yummy, I just don't like bone-in wings very much (too messy). Though, if you do remember, Tuesday when we went to Itaewon was when I was planning on raiding the foreign food shop to get my much-needed ranch, and jalapeno kettle chips, and cheezits...you know, the essentials. Well, apparently some greedy expat is reading this blog, because when I went on Tuesday, ALL THE RANCH & JALAPENO KETTLE CHIPS WERE SOLD OUT!! I was most displeased, but Taylor placated me by promising that we would come back again to check...so...the hunt continues for ranch!

Wednesday I actually cannot remember whatsoever, and I have no pictures in my phone from it (besides Misoya pictured above) so lets just say it was a lazy night in? For the most part Taylor & I take turns choosing food/activities after work, so Monday is him (pizza & hanging out at home/relaxing), Tuesday is me (Itaewon & exploring/grocery shopping attempts), Wednesday is him (most likely Misoya & staying close to home again) & Thursday is me again (moving chicken & outdoor market)...then the weekend where we just go with the flow & do whatever our coworkers are doing, or whatever strikes our fancy.

Thursday, as said above, and pictured further above, was a night of walking about Mangu station, deciding if we felt like going anywhere, and then deciding that it was too cold and we wanted to be lazy and going home to waste time on our computers before bed :) Sometimes little things like playing Don't Starve and chatting about potential weekend plans is all it takes to make an evening enjoyable. Plus, since Taylor and I STILL haven't gotten paid, we are trying to keep our outings to a minimum :S

Next post will be about classes, Friday, Saturday & Sunday...but it is midnight and sleep calls. Until next time...

All of my love,

Tea

P.S. I found this picture in my phone...and it warrants a bit of explaining...

With all the technology of Korea, and their emphasis on cleanliness, one thing is sadly lacking...their bathrooms. First (as both Taylor & I discovered while at a shopping complex) some bathrooms do not have TP in the stalls...yes, they require pre-planning & instead have one toilet paper dispenser on the wall before you have even entered the hall where the stalls are, so as Taylor & I are not accustomed to such methodical toiletry procedures, we didn't even see the lone dispenser and went straight into our stalls...which looked normal as they also have dispensers in them...except the dispensers in the stalls are all empty, something we both only discovered (much to our shock) after the fact, so to speak. Sigh. Fast forward to the sink...where we find the above picture, essentially a bar of soap on a stick, which is slimy and frankly gross. As if the sticked-soap isn't enough, you have to repeatedly 'stroke' the soap to get your hands sudsy, which is also quite strange, and then...you guessed it...no paper towel, no dryer, just the old 'flap-your-hands-like-you-just-don't-care' method. Sigh. But now we know, and if unique bathroom tendencies are the worst things we encounter while in a foreign country, I will count myself lucky :) Much love, once again,

Tea