Let me be clear that I have never been to France. I have never had macaroons created by a master chef. I am not the person to judge the quality of a pastry. But these macaroons were delicious and the mascot of the store is an adorable whale!
From the top: strawberry, mango, salted caramel, and vanilla
Ever heard of yellow dust? I hadn’t until I moved to Korea. Every year around springtime, all the dust and sand from the desert in Mongolia and China gets carried to Korea by strong winds. Sometimes you can see the fine yellow dust on cars or buildings here in Seoul. Once it mixes with all the smog in China, the everyday pollution of Korea, and springtime pollen, it makes for a nasty mixture.
It also isn’t good to breathe in a lot of dust, I feel even worse for anyone here with asthma. Most people stay inside when the yellow dust level gets dangerously high. I follow a Twitter page that tells you the yellow dust level in Seoul throughout the day.
I still try to have some fun though, even when I can’t spend a lot of time outside.
I can still take the subway
I can still go out for some pork barbecue.
I can still order some tasty snack foods. The red stuff is tteokbokki (rice cakes in a fiery red pepper paste sauce). The food at the top in a clearly greasy bag is various fried goodies. This time I got shrimp, dumplings, squid, and sweet potatoes. The last container is filled with fish cakes. I will always make room for fish cakes.
I love spring but I will be happy when the yellow dust desists.
There are countless activities in Seoul. You could probably live here for your whole life and still not see every neighborhood. But Seoul is not the end-all-be-all of Korea.
I went on a tour organized by WINK to a strawberry farm and Daedunsan mountain. Korea has extensive public transportation, but you don’t necessarily want to rely on it in rural areas. It’s not fun to miss the last bus back to Seoul when you’re in the Korean wilderness. It was nice to have a bus pick us up and wait for us.
Unfortunately, there were a few more misses than hits on the tour, though none of it was the tour company’s fault. There was supposed to be a strawberry festival but the people who normally put it together decided to cancel it because the flu was going around in the area.
It was fine by me because we still got to go to the farm and less people just meant more strawberries for us!
Free box of freshly picked strawberries
Strawberry rice cake with some kind of peanut flour, dust of some kind? I don’t know what it was but it was good
Some of the farmers were making strawberry jam
Korea hasn’t quite made it out of winter yet so there is still brown and dead vegetation. Nevertheless, the peace and quiet of a farm with the smell of dirt and flowers with chickens and kids running around was wonderful.
On our way to the mountain, we got to drive through Cheonan. It was funny being able to turn to my friend and say “look there’s my old apartment”. We stopped at a rest area and I had to buy Cheonan walnut cookies.
We were late arriving to the mountain. Since the festival was cancelled , the tour guides decided to leave Seoul later than planned, since we wouldn’t need as much time at the farm. The problem was I think they underestimated how long it would take to get out of Seoul. The traffic is more manageable on the weekend, but that just means instead of standstill traffic, it’s more of an inch by inch crawl.
On the way to the mountains
We had the choice between taking a cable car about halfway up the mountain or hiking. We weren’t going to be there long enough to go all the way to the top. The big problem was finding out the cable car wasn’t working that day.
Many people were not dressed for hiking, as they thought they would just take the cable car up and down. My friend and I were some of the few people with good shoes and extra water. One girl had heeled boots on!
We were also short on time so we didn’t get to do a lot of actual hiking. After we ate lunch, we rushed over to the start of the trail and were told we had two hours. I think the guide was worried about so many people being unprepared for a not so easy hike getting stuck on the way up or being super slow on the way down. There weren’t clear trails because of how rocky it was and there were a lot of stairs built in because of how steep the mountain was. There are definitely bigger and more challenging mountains out there, but this certainly wasn’t a walk.
Restaurant area near the mountain
Delicious bibimbap!
I enjoyed the trip even with the bumps in the road. It can be hard to predict how much you will like a tour because you never know if you will jive with the other people in the group. Fortunately, nobody got on each other’s nerves. You also can’t put a price on an air conditioned bus that hauls your sweaty and gross post-hike body back to Seoul.
Seoul is a busy city, and everything boils to a crescendo on the weekend. Insadong is packed every Saturday and Sunday but it didn’t stop me from enjoying the area.
Central Seoul, especially north of the Han River, has more history than the newer districts. There aren’t as many high rise apartment blocks or department stores. Insadong is a neighborhood right by Anguk station. Many of the traditional houses have been turned into restaurants, boutiques, galleries, and guest houses. Tourists stay here because they know it’s a short walk to places like Gyeongbukgung Palace.
I want a house like that!
A lot of the knick knacks that are sold here can be found in every stationery store and street-side stand in Korea. However, there are even more trinkets of the hand-made variety. There were a few hand-made card shops, aprons sewn to look like hanboks (Korean traditional clothing), a giant store filled with green tea products, jewelry stores, homemade honey, and a store selling globes and maps.
so many stores
Unlike most shopping malls of the world, the Ssamjigil mall isn’t a giant box with brand name stores inside. The stores are independently owned and the walls, stairs, and railings are decorated with art.
I actually enjoyed being in this mall, most shopping malls stress me out and I can’t wait to leave
I also took a quick peak at Gyeongbukgung Palace, but I didn’t explore. The palace grounds are enormous. I am waiting for Spring to arrive so I can take a whole day to see everything.
Insadong is also a great place for cheap and adorable purses and backpacks. I don’t like spending a lot of money on a purse, but there aren’t many good deals on cute ones. This one was only 10,000 won ($10)!
Next time I want to try one of the Korean traditional restaurants. I went to Insadong on a full stomach, big mistake!
I brought out my Hong Kong food pictures already, but I didn’t spend all my time eating Chinese food while I was there. Hong Kong is made up of several islands, and many of them are accessible by cheap ferry rides.
First, I went to Lantau Island. You can get there by ferry, but I actually took the metro. The island’s major attraction of the last few years has been Hong Kong Disney Land. I skipped Mickey Mouse and saw the giant Buddha instead.
There was a rest stop/amusement park type of area next to the Buddha statue. It had t-shirt stores, a photo taking area with Hello Kitty, and a Starbucks. Apparently not even a religious site in the quiet mountains can entice tourists without the allure of brand name coffee.
on the way to the big Buddha…
I’ve spotted it!
There it is!
The Po Lin Monastery is a short walk away.
I also went to Lamma Island. It’s a quick 30 minute ferry ride from Hong Kong Island.
the ferry harbor on Hong Kong Island
Lamma Island is a lovely getaway from the city. A lot of the houses I saw on the island seemed abandoned. I don’t if many people live there, other than the restaurant workers. Fittingly, all the restaurants are seafood joints.
you can see the city in the distance
There’s a couple of beaches you can visit when the weather is nicer. Or you can do what I did and walk around taking pictures of the killer views.
There are problems and then there are first world problems. I’ve been having the first worldiest (I’m sure that isn’t a real word) of first world problems. My apartment wifi wasn’t working, hence the lack of posts.
But the wifi drought is finally over and I can update my blog with the high-speed power of Korean internet.
I know I said I live in Seoul now, but Seoul is a huge place and every neighborhood looks similar in my eyes, with a few exceptions. I live in Gangseo-gu, a district in the western part of Seoul. Gangseo-gu is made up mostly of newer apartment blocks, some department stores, and Gimpo airport. It doesn’t have the glitz and glamor of Gangnam or the sprawling houses of Pyeongchang, but it has all the comforts and necessities of a big city.
The panda apologizes for the lack of posts
My closest subway station has an express line, score! That makes it easy to get to places like Hongdae easily. You can also get on the airport subway line.
All the good ramen is in Hongdae
I’m close to coffee shops, restaurants, phone stores, street food stands and a giant Homeplus.
If you want to picture Homeplus, just think of a Walmart where they sell whole squids and walls of Samsung televisions. I remember talking to people that were in Korea for years and they always bemoaned the lack of imported food. I think the market in Korea must be changing because Homeplus has plenty of syrup, bran cereal, and earl grey tea.
the brightly lit aisles of Homeplus
The Han river splits Seoul in half, but it’s not just another dirty river stuck in the middle of the city. Most of the land right by the the river has been turned into parks, bike trails, gardens, tennis courts, and general recreation areas.
that bridge is for the metro
nice yachts
the dome building is the Korean Parliament building
All in all, it’s good to be in Seoul.
I never ate school food when I was a student in America. It was mostly cold french fries and greasy pizza with the occasional vegetable dish, maybe a tiny pile of creamed corn. I brought my own lunch, not because I was a snob…well, I was probably more pretentious than I like to admit. None of it looked appetizing to me and I brought my own boring turkey sandwich.
I realized I never took a single picture of the school lunch when I worked at Korean public schools. I know it might be interesting to some people but most day-to-day occurrences are forgotten when you talk to friends and family because you forget you ever ate anything different for lunch after a while. I actually enjoyed eating public school lunch and so far nothing at my new job has given me food poisoning.
I took some pictures of the teacher lunch. The students that are here for kindergarten classes during the day eat something else.
Overall, the lunches here have been nutritious and tasty. The only thing I haven’t liked is the kimchi soup, I just can’t bring myself to like watery, fermented cabbage broth.
I haven’t been updating my blog recently because I moved all my belongings out of my house and I went to visit friends and family in America for a few weeks. I made it back to Korea, but I’m not in Cheonan anymore, I’m in Seoul!
National Museum of Korea
NMK
I am working at an after school center where I teach elementary and middle school students. I feel America doesn’t have an equivalent type of program. You could probably compare it to a tutoring center maybe? The Korean students aren’t really there because they are struggling though.
I’ll explain more about my job once I get settled into my apartment and get over the jet lag.
Right now I’m just really excited to be able to call Seoul home. My goal was to live in Cheonan for a year and then find a way to get to Seoul. It’s an exiting place to be and I’m so grateful that I found a good job here. I can’t wait to start adventuring around the city!
NMK
NMK
Area near my hotel
Since my parents don’t really like Chinese food, it was like pulling teeth to get them to go to a Chinese restaurant. To be fair though, greasy and deep fried Chinese buffet food in America isn’t spectacular and certainly isn’t an accurate representation of actual Chinese food. When I was in Hong Kong, I ate all the Chinese dishes I wanted!
Most of the restaurants I saw on the crowded and cramped streets on Hong Kong island were family-owned, hole-in-the-wall shops. People spoke English at every place I went, even if they didn’t have English menus.
The food I knew I needed to try was dim sum. Dim sum is small dishes for groups to share. It usually means dumplings, steamed vegetables, and sweets.
chiu chow style dumplings
I had never heard of Chiu Chow dumplings before visiting Hong Kong. These dumplings had nuts and maybe radish inside? I wasn’t sure what the exact ingredients were, but they were wonderful.
I also tried turnip cakes (the thing that looks like a hash brown), steamed bok choy, and shrimp wrapped up in deep fried tofu skins. All of it made me full and happy.
Shrimp Shu Mai, delicious!
I also had dim sum from a little stall at an indoor food market. You can’t go wrong with shrimp!
the famous egg tart and a milk tea from 7/11
Hong Kong is also full of bakeries, and I went to the same one for breakfast almost every morning. I loved the sausage pastries, egg tarts, and walnut bread.
sausage doughnut from a local bakery and some soy milk from McDonalds
I had iced milk tea with almost every meal. It was so cheap, how could I say no?
Milk tea, I lost count of how many glasses I had
I went to a temple on Lantau Island, which is part of the city of Hong Kong, and I don’t know what I ordered, but it was good so no harm done.
I’m not sure what this was but it tasted like custard
vegetarian deli at the temple
I noticed Japanese chain restaurants everywhere. You can find them in Korea, but it seemed like there was a Yoshinoya, sushi restaurant, or ramen place on every corner in Hong Kong.
MOS Burger, a Japanese burger chain
I could eat noodles every day for all three meals and Hong Kong did not disappoint me with its countless noodle shops.
noodles with bean sprouts, onions, shrimp dumplings, and fish cakes
fish dumplings and noodles
All the Chinese styles of cooking were represented in Hong Kong, but I saw Hainanese chicken rice the most. Hainan is an island off the southern coast of China.
Hainanese chicken rice
I went to Lamma island, a rural and quiet island only a thirty minute ferry ride from Hong Kong island, and unsurprisingly there were a dozen seafood restaurants right next to the ferry pier. I know fish and chips isn’t traditional Chinese food but since Hong Kong was a British territory, I think the choice was appropriate.
Fish and chips
my lunch view on Lamma island
my lunch companion, the cafe dog
Fish korma and jasmine rice, there were lots of Indian restaurants
Mango + Banana ice cream
If you come to Hong Kong and do nothing but eat, it wouldn’t be a bad trip.
Winter camp is finished, the grades are in, and I had my last days at both schools. I didn’t give any advanced notice to the students or teachers that I wasn’t coming back because I didn’t want a big fuss, but I still managed to get a surprise goodbye party.
Country school winter camp art
We had a barbecue party at the country school to celebrate the end of the school year. When I said I wouldn’t be there next year, they all said how sorry they were that they didn’t get me a goodbye present. Grilled meat is a good enough gift for me!
Meat!
I already told some teachers at the city school that I wasn’t coming back next year, and I know they told the students at my camp because they all wrote me goodbye letters. I’m going to keep them forever!
We read different fables and each student had to make a poster for their favorite fable
“Farewell” cake
I’m excited for a change but I really will miss these students. I didn’t enjoy my middle school years and in some ways the experience of bonding with middle school students was cathartic. I was reminded of how smart, silly, insecure, profound, and kind pre-teens can be. Can’t I take them all with me to my new home?
Where To Next? 