Monday, October 25, 2010

Dino Meat


Yeah, this place actually exists. Sorry to disappoint, no they have not been able to make Jurassic park a reality and thus they do not serve actual dinosaur meat. However, aside from having to accept that crushing truth, this is possibly the greatest thing ever, if you love copious amounts of grilled meat that is. The way it works is you get a table, which may require some waiting, something that is unheard of here in South Korea. Your server will then bring you an array of sides, salads, sauces and of course kimchi. Then you take your silver tray over to the meat fridge and take as much of whatever you want. There is a wide selection from side beef ribs, to thinly sliced deliciously marinated beef, to sausages and other strange ground meat patties. Once you have selected your meat you take it to your table and grill it however you want, as every table has its own charcoal grill. Once you have finished your first tray you simply repeat the previous two steps endlessly. You will run out of pretty much every side, sauce and salad. Don't fret, you just push the call button on your table and someone pops right up and is more than happy to bring you more of whatever you want. You can order various beverages, both alcoholic and non, including the very fun and fitting Korean alcohol soju, great both for shooting between lettuce wraps or mixing with "cider" (sprite). All this can be yours for the costly price of 14,000 won (roughly $12.75 Canadian) plus whatever you drink, roughly 3,000 won per beverage, or any meat you take from the fridge and don't eat, I have no idea what the price for this is.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Dongdaemun Market

The Infamous Dish


We went to Dongdaemun Market in Seoul last weekend. The Market is huge and you can find pretty much anything and everything your heart desires; whether it be new kicks, a bow tie or a metallic picture of Jesus; and everything is cheap cheap cheap. We really enjoyed exploring this place and taking in all the diverse sights and smells. We also ate our worst and most expensive meal to date here. It was some sort of blood sausage and cuttlefish stir-fry that smelt like dog. We learned a valuable lesson from this experience: In life it is important to always take risks and try new things, but sometimes with food it pays to stick to the somewhat familiar. Overall though, a great day.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Dogs


I have never seen so many little dogs in all my life. It is as if they have taken every dog they could get their hands on and shrunk it down so that it can fit in a bicycle basket (see above photo). Even stranger than the disproportionate number of small dogs, none of which seem to be the typical breeds that we associate with little dogs like Chihuahua or pug, is the crazy things they do to their dogs. I have seen many different coloured dogs, some pretty funny hairstyles, they ride in baskets on people's bicycles, etc, etc. And to top it all off they even eat dog here. It is a rare delicacy and I have not yet encountered it myself but it is something they do here. This would be easier for me to understand if they didn't keep dogs as pets but instead as livestock, but they don't. Its all just a little strange and very entertaining, especially since a lot of the dogs look like the "dragon" from the Neverending Story movie, you know the one.

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Korean Youth Culture


 




















Some of our older students favorite bands, 2NE1 and Big Bang, collaborate on this amazing track Lollipop. The music here is oddly enthralling. Enjoy.

Some of Our Adorable Students

Taylor's Kindy Class 
Nathan's Kindy Class
Jennifer (Nathan's Favorite)
Precious Camilla
Working Hard
Cutest Photo Ever a la NayNay
Taylor's Reading 3
Best Class Ever (Even Badass Zeus on the left)
These are our kindergarten classes and reading 3 class. They are all about 6 or 7 Korean years which is 5 or 6 Canadian years. We teach the kindergarten kids for 3 hours everyday and the reading 3 class for 1 hour after lunch. These kids amaze us more and more everyday. They are learning English as a second language and pick up on new ideas, that kids their age who speak English as a first language have trouble with, so quickly. They make working 10 hour days worth it annnd they are fucking cute as hell.