Music Video

It was late, the buses stopped running, so we took a taxi home. You just never know what it will be like inside the taxi. This time the driver was young and hip. His rear view mirror was replaced with a good size video screen on which he was playing music videos. We came in on a Destiny's Child music video, but the song didn't go with the video.... Either way it was pretty cool entertainment for the ride home.

Annoyed

It was one of those days today where everything seemed to annoy me....

.....My freezer is so cold (without any way to turn it down) that if I want to eat my Ice Cream, then the night before I have to put it in the refrigerator in order to 'defrost' it.

.....My teacher continues to use an empty dry erase marker to write on the board. She brought a spare marker and ink refill bottles, but it only lasts for a few minutes. No ink does not stop her from "writing" on the board. I try hard to use my imagination, but really I have no clue what she is pretending to write on the board. (She has been "writing" with no ink for weeks!)

.....The road outside of my apartment has been dug up so many times that it's this long dusty, bumpy road. Last night it rained, so it was about a half mile walk in the mud.

Meat Market

I ventured to my least favorite place...the meat market! But today I brought along Ben and some friends to help me overcome my aversion to raw meat. There were tons of meat stands to choose from, all looking the same - big dead carcasses hung all round and big chunks of meat spread out on the tables. You point to the piece you want and the shop keeper weighs it and bags it for you.


I couldn't even think about food, but I guess the shop keepers are used to it, as this lady seemed to be enjoying her lunch.

Classmates

When I first met my korean classmates, they were pretty excited that I was half korean, half mexican. One of them eagerly told me she LOVED mexican food, especially burritos. So we made a deal that I would cook mexican food in exchange for korean food.

The other day I had my whole class over for lunch, even my teacher came (the one in the green shirt)! I made a big spread of chicken fajitas, beans, rice, tortillas, and salsas. Those korean girls can eat, we cleaned up the table!

In exchange my classmates brought kimbop to class the other week, she cooked duk-bo-gee at my house, and today she brought me a package of instant ja-jung-mein! I think I got the good end of the deal because these girls can cook!

Did you know they eat cheese in korea?!? They melted cheese on top of the duk-bo-gee....they said it was good for my health....that's a new one to me, but it actually tasted pretty good!

Dish Market

I wish I had my camera when I stumbled upon the dish market! There is a big vegetable whole sale market next to my school...it's on the walk home. Usually I only stop when I need to buy a lot of veggies. But this day I decided to walk around and explore only to discover this was the dish whole sale market too. There were plenty of shops with hundreds of ceramic bowls, plates, cups, and spoons. Despite my heavy grocery bags I couldn't resist wandering around the isles of colorful dishes. Upon entering a shop, my eyes could hardly taken in all the different shapes and patterns. It was even more beautiful as none of the shops had shelves, but rather they were all in tall stacks on the ground! The best part was the price ranged from a few cents (for spoons & cups) to a few dollars (for large serving bowls & plates). Beautiful and cheap, how do you beat that?!?

(This picture is one I found on the Crate&Barrel website because it looks similar to the dishes at the market -- only difference is this dish costs $33 and the market's dish costs $2.)

Dancing

Today a friend called me and told me to come outside because there were dancers performing in my apartment complex's courtyard. I never figured out the reason these people were dancing or if it was some sort of holiday. But it was fun sitting around with my neighbors watching. They wore colorful robes with all sorts of jewelry. Their sleeves were extra long such that they flapped gracefully when they were waved their arms.