Thursday, September 28, 2006

A Spoonfull of Sugar...Burns Like Hell

A few weeks ago a strange candy-making machine showed up outside of the snack shop below our academy and became the main attraction for all the children from the neighboring elementary school. A few days ago Shayne and I decided it was time to figure out what this craze was all about and to try it for ourselves. There was a good chance it would have the flavour of dried squid, but we took the risk to experience more of Korean culture.

Like good university grads, our journey began with research. We found out from our director that the home-made candy is a traditional Korean treat called Joke Ja. That being the extent of the research portion of our project, we headed out for some work in the field.

While Shayne busied himself creating a photographic record of the experiment from a safe distance, I got more hands-on and approached the machine itself. I had to push aside a few students, but they happily complied, mesmerized that a teacher, and a waygook no less, was interested in their snack food.

(Me with the machine...and a bunch of kids who'll need to visit the dentist soon.)

As you might be able to make out from the photo above, the candy machine consists of two red-hot elements and a series of candy moulds. What you can't see, and what I received assistance from the shopkeeper in using, is the sugar dispenser at the bottom of the machine. You insert 200 Won (about 20 cents), and a few tablespoons of fine sugar is dispensed into your waiting mini frying pan.


(This is the jar where they put the mini frying pans to cool after each use. I'm not quite sure why the water's black, but I'm choosing to believe that it's intentional and perfectly sanitary.)

Now, the help from the shopkeeper was welcome, but apparently I appeared completely incompetent, because as I began the next step of the process (melting the sugar above the mini stove top) an 8-year old girl took the mini frying pan and the popsicle stirring stick out of my hands to show me how it was supposed to be done. I wasn't too worried until I tried to get it back and she wouldn't let me. I had to put on my best "teacher's" voice until she relented.

(Stirring the melting sugar in the "correct" way.)

(A child mixing the 200 degree concoction. But protective parents, never fear: You can see the "hands off" sign on the cook top. I'm sure it's been effective in preventing burns.)

After the sugar is completely melted you're supposed to mix in a pinch of an unknown white powder (I think it's flavouring). I was in the middle of doing this when I guess the shopkeeper felt I, once again, wasn't doing it properly, and she took the mini frying pan from me to complete the task herself. I didn't have a chance to protest as in the process a dollop of molten sugar flicked off the popsicle stick right onto my wrist. Luckily for me I was in Korea, and so the inevitable string of expletives went mostly unnoticed from the brace of children all around me. In fact they were too busy laughing at my misfortune to pay attention to what I was saying...Shayne included.


As you can see from the photo the Joke Ja seared off the first layer of skin. The only silver lining was that after a few minutes the last of my nerve endings died and I didn't feel any pain. I can't imagine what would happen if some 6 year-old kid accidentally poured the whole panful onto a friend or something.

Anyways, while I was busy applying ice to my wound (gathered from a nearby ice cream cooler), some kid swooped in and stole my now finished Joke Ja! I don't know who this kid was, but they're obviously headed for a life of petty crime. I mean, stealing from the injured? What would Kohlberg say?

(Me wondering where the hell my Joke Ja went. Despite interrogation, the two little girls maintained the childhood code of silence.)

So, with an eye to not receiving another second degree burn, I set about making another Joke Ja candy. I was now a practiced hand, and although the shopkeeper once again took it away from me to add the strange white powder and set it in the mould, I think I did a pretty good job.


(Look Ma! I'm making Joke Ja!)



Here I am holding the finished product. It's in the shape of some Korean cartoon character and actually tasted really good. It was kind of like peanut brittle without the peanuts. I can see now why the kids like it so much, but I can also see how eating too much of this stuff would make your teeth fall out. Well, all in the pursuit of knowledge.

Jo

Sunday, September 24, 2006

Something smells a little fishy!!!

**** Editors Note - This is a massive blog ****

Although most of you won't have to go through the torture cheerfully known as Christmas shopping for many a month we had to do worry about ours a lot earlier this year. Due to the slow nature of the postal system we calculated that in order to arrive in Canada on time our gifts would need to be sent by September 5th at the latest.

Unfortunately, last month on our way to the store to buy all of your presents we came across a man selling magic kimchi, and, well....anyway lets just leave that embarrassing story behind us shall we?

We figured better late than never and left early Saturday morning for the coastal city of Busan to pick up a few gifts. Busan is Korea's second biggest city and is famous for its markets and shopping centres.

Being cheap or smart, depending how you look at, we decided to find the most inexpensive hotel possible.



It took us about 30 minutes to find our hotel as we wandered down dozens of narrow streets that looked exactly like this one. It seems that most Koreans don't worry about addresses too much as most streets aren't clearly named or indicated in any way.

Thankfully the "hotel" staff noticed the two waygooks walking back and forth and finally came to our rescue running after us.


This sign was beside our hotel and let me just say that nothing adds a star or two to a hotel rating like having a brothel on the 2nd floor. I still haven't been able to convince Jo that I didn't make the reservation because of the hotel's ...cough....special amenities.

Now this is what I'm talking about. Who hasn't dreamed about staying at a hotel that not only offers free roach spray but a used brush as well. Initially, I thought the hairy brush was the strangest thing on the table but after studying it a bit more I think that the rock or the spare metal knob might actually win. Of course, the odd hairspray, the strange green garbage can, and the phone that didn't work all have a place in my heart too.


Jo and I seem to have knack for good timing on our trips. We stumbled across that parade back in Japan and managed to do it again in Busan. We're not sure what this parade was exactly celebrating but it was very cool nonetheless. It was the first time we have seen traditional Korean clothing and costumes.

The cool looking dragon thingy was a novelty at first. I say at first, because at one point Jo managed to grab its attention and then proceeded to hold it for a long time. Haha, the guy posed for a picture and then actually held up the parade by flirting with her and continuing to just stare at her for several minutes.

Jo's a beautiful girl and it's not the first time that she's been hit on in Korea but it was the first time that I almost got into a fight with a dragon/lion thingy because of it.

(Another shot of the cool looking costumes)
.
Busan is divided between the new world and the old. Half of the shopping district is filled with streets like the one above: Littered with every brand name possible and designed in a way to make them appear as western as any shopping complex in Canada or Europe.


One strange thing about the area is that basically all of the different type of stores are located right beside each other in their own areas. There are blocks full of pet stores, import stores, clothing stores, children's stores, and stores that sell stores.

Hundreds of puppies line the windows of the pet store block and most of them melted our hearts like the little guys above. Dogs are really really cheap in Korea and every time we see one Jo has to take my wallet away. Which is probably a good thing or we would have had to sell our laptop by now to pay for all of the dog food.

If the shot above captured the new Busan this one captures the old. Hundreds of stalls selling everything imaginable for prices that are negotiable. The hard part was navigating between them as thousands of people rush past and scooters and cars wizz by with little thought to hitting you.

Although I knew how silk was made this was the first time that either of us have actually seen the process...on a random street corner. Nevertheless, it really made me appreciate all of my silk tuxedos that much more.



The crabs are very, very, very different then the ones back home. If you took western crabs, made them work out, and injected them with steroids this is what you would get.

Look at that picture, it looks like something from a cheesy horror flick, not something you should eat, let alone pay top dollar for.

Busan has the biggest fish market in Korea (and one of the biggest in the world - take that Harman and Jo) so we were really excited to see what crazy delicacies it had to offer.



What fish market wouldn't be complete without a table selling pig's feet? Thankfully after spotting this table we were able to finish all of our shopping, Merry Christmas everyone.

The Korean's believe that the heads of pigs bring good luck. I'm not sure about that but mmhmmm, they were pretty tasty (according to Jo). Joking aside, it was pretty strange to see these fellows smiling back at us.

The fish market was surprisingly difficult for me to walk through. The animal lover in me hated seeing all of the live fish and sea creatures in small tanks just waiting to die. Though, nothing was harder than seeing these sea turtles bound for a dinner table somewhere. They were a lot different looking then the turtles back home but I've always had a soft spot for the little guys after growing to like my sister's turtle back home.

Enough dried fish to last a life time. The best part is that they are just stored in cardboard boxes. Again, merry Christmas everyone. Make sure you clean out your cupboards and make some room.

This was a pretty common site. The ratio of fish to humans was about 1000 to 1. If these fish ever unionize we're in big trouble.



We had never seen large octopi in person before. They looked like they should be sinking ships or eating children somewhere.


Here's a shot of some stingrays drying in the sun. It's one of the few foods we haven't tried yet but one of these days the experience will be blogged.

Every time I look at this photo I'm reminded of the Crocodile Hunter. So, open a bottle of wine and join us in toasting the only man brave enough to wear kakis everyday and wrestle things that are as scary looking as these bad boys.


The little guy in the top right tried for a good 10 minutes to escape. Watching a boneless creature move was pretty cool. I haven't seemed someone squirm like that since Stephen Harper was invited to the Pride Parade.



After walking up and down the massive fish market we walked along the ocean and spotted the fleet responsible for all of the catches. Hmm I'm not sure I would trust these boats with my life as the Korean fishermen do. They look like something from the poor Canadian navy.

Anyway, we loved Busan and look forward to going back as soon as possible. We managed to buy all of the gifts we needed and still had a little money to sit in Starbucks and drink liquid pies.

You just gotta' love Korea.

Cheers

Shayne (and Jo)



Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Running with Scissors

Parental Warning: the following blog entry contains scenes of foolishness and reckless endangerment of life. Proceed at your own discretion.

Since we arrived in Korea we've witnessed three typhoons. Of course, the first two barely qualified as such by the time they hit the peninsula, but the third and latest typhoon (Typhoon Shanshan) was of significant strength to warrant both our curiosity and a blog entry.

When we left the english camp on Sunday afternoon and drove back along the coast on the way to Bangoejin (our neighborhood), we saw the churning surf and wind-ravaged beaches and knew we needed to see more...and feel more outside of the safety and relative calm of a minivan full of 10 children. So as soon as we got home, we donned our rain gear and ventured out toward the rocky ocean outcropping just a 20 minute walk from our place.

(Jujeon Beach on the drive back from english camp.)

Although we dressed warmly, we soon realised that it wouldn't do us much good as the driving rain quickly drenched our pants and seeped into our shoes. In fact, the whole city seemed soaked to the bone, as water gushed from every conceivable hole and down every slope.

(The picture doesn't do it justice, but it was like someone had left a fire hose on at the top of this small hill. Walking through the resulting river was what first soaked our shoes.)


Like proud Canadians (or as crazy waygooks - however you look at it), we sallied forth despite our growing discomfort, and headed for the pine forest next to Ilsan beach (known as Ilsan beachee to the locals). As we neared the coastline, our confidence began to falter as the winds whipped into a never-ceasing frenzy, and adding stinging rain to our list of complaints. Shayne started to have serious doubts - mainly due to the failure of his miraculous gortex "water-proof" shoes - but after a bit of coaxing and a few bribes, we were back on our way.

The last time we ventured into the pine forest, we were surrounded by hundreds of other people come to visit the seafood market or hike through the trails. This time, however, there was just us. If we hadn't felt like we'd just taken a bath in our clothes, it might have been a bit romantic....and the feeling that we might be walking willingly to our deaths didn't help matters.

When we reached the viewpoint at the end of the main trail, the view was breathtaking. The wind was the strongest I've ever felt - like being in a wind tunnel - whipping both rain and salt spray sideways towards shore, and it tossed the sea crashing into the rocks. To put it in even more context, even though Shayne's 210 pounds, he had trouble walking in a straight line (and he wasn't even drunk this time).

(None of our pictures were able to properly capture the violence of the sea, but this gives you a bit of an idea.)


At first we took shelter in a gazebo near the trees, but we gained some courage (or stupidity, whatever) and like soldiers running for cover, we headed out towards the look-out point up on the rocks.

(Shayne always gets a lot of grief for his trademark point in photos, but he still managed to pull it off in hurricane strength winds.)

Up on the look-out, we were hoping to get some close-up views of the waves through the holes in the brick wall. The wind was so strong, though, that it was impossible to look into it for more than half a second.

(You're just going to have to imagine 100 mph winds whipping across the picture from right to left. We would have photoshopped them in, but we thought that was tacky.)

(A picture of the rocks from closer up. Well worth the trek.)


Well, we survived our trip out into the typhoon, no matter how foolhardy, and even though we got completely drenched we didn't regret a minute of it. Even if the rest of our lives end up being really boring we will always be able to tell people that we survived being on the beach during a typhoon. I've always loved watching the sea being rocked by a storm, and Shayne's never really had the chance to do so before, as he's been landlocked for most of his life. I wouldn't recommend it for everyone, but there really is no other feeling like witnessing nature at its most powerful.

And to our parents, who are probably shaking their heads that we'd do something so dangerous, we can say only this in our defense: At least we weren't the crazy old man fishing down on the rocks during the storm. Yes, fishing. Now we don't look so silly anymore.

Until next time,
Jo




Sunday, September 17, 2006

It's ok, I never used that one anyway.

Greetings

When our Director approached us a few weeks ago about running one of her english camps we imagined scenes of canoes, archery, campfires, and good times: All staples of the camping we remember from our youth (long, long, long ago).

It turns out that aside from the good times, camping is slightly different in Korea. At least as far as english camps go.

We found out last week that the camp would entail one night's sleep in our Director's beachfront apartment with 10 children and no connection to the outside world (no phones, internet, etc).

Although we were a little worried about being able to contact the authorities in case of an emergency (running out of Kimchi, etc), we soon realized that even if an emergency did occur we would be of little use. Sadly none of the six words we know are "help" or "the little guy is on fire."

Our original plan called for a lot of time on the beach and some old school games like "What Time is it Mr. Wolf?" and "Do the Teacher's Laundry" (just kidding of course). But the arrival of Typhoon Sun Sun changed all of that and we were forced to change all of our games to the indoor variety.

But wait, I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's take this one step at a time.


Joanna and I were pretty excited so we showed up at the school before the Director and found ourselves alone in the company of one the little campers. I'm not sure if it was a gift or a Korean declaration of war, but she presented us with what appear to be two sticks impaling several chicken hearts. Our horrors were abated, however, when it turned out that they were indeed gifts, and only chicken livers, not hearts...phewwwwf.


It turns out the warnings on elevator doors are just for show as we managed to fit in much more than the suggested maximum of 8 people. Here's 10 children and three adults cramming into one elevator. I'm sure that there's a joke to be made about sardines or clowns but I'm too lazy.



The ancient ritual of picking teams. In order to minimize the amount of Korean spoken (it was an english only camp) we separated the kids into teams and issued red cards to the violating team each time a child spoke Korean without permission. The children actually took the loss of the red cards pretty seriously and we had to separate a few fights.

To be honest, although Jo somehow managed to master it, I'm still baffled by the complex designs on the cardboard team-picking sheet. To the best of my knowledge it's some form of Greek Torture.


We included this picture as proof that there was some work done at the english camp, and also as proof that Korean children are much tougher than their western counterparts. The living room had no couches or cushions, but they all happily took to the floor. Canadian children would have refused to sit on the ground and waited for us to carry in some couches.

In fact, Joanna refused to work under the conditions, and after a few calls to her agent we finally got some pillows.



Here's a photo of the children helping to prepare the dinner (spaghetti, by the way). Initially, Joanna was a little upset at the idea of 10 year old children handling knives and was worried that someone might get hurt.

I, being the worldly scout that I am, informed her that things are different here and the children are much more mature. I believe that my final words on the subject were "Relax grandma, what could go wrong?"


And..... here you see a photo of my thumb after being surgically altered by little "Kevin." Although both Joanna and the Director thought that I might need stitches, I braved it out and will remember it as lifelong lesson on never letting children hold knives no matter what country I'm in.

And, as I'm being forced to do so, I would like to point out to all of you that Joanna was right and I'm a fool.




Here's a photo of the girls getting ready to go to bed. Don't be fooled by their sweet smiles and happy-go-lucky appearances. Although we can offer no legitimate proof, we're fairly sure that a riot broke out every time the door closed. We've been to rock concerts and political rallies but the sound these girls omitted puts them both to shame.

It took about 7 visits and just as many threats to send them to sleep in the boy's room, but they finally got to sleep around 1 AM.



As you can see by the photo, the boys were a little less willing to pose for the camera. Rest assured that they were just as crazy if not more so than the girls.

Joanna is a little more soft-hearted than I, but after the 5th bathroom/water break I was ready to implement some "Tough Love" in the form of push-ups. Jo, on the other hand, wanted to hold hands and recite some hippy nonsense that I've already forgotten.

Between my boot camp approach and her rainbow connection we managed to strike the right balance, and after a few push-ups, several glares, and a couple reminders that we were all still friends, they finally fell asleep.


After a hard night of drinking milk and playing "I spy" the children were tired and needed a little R n' R the next morning. After a little Uno and some Hot Potato we did a couple of writing drills and then had a massive balloon fight. I'm still loving the fact that we got paid well for all of this.

For the record, any time that milk and Uno is involved I will work for free.

Ah yes, I almost forgot about this badboy. Here's a beautiful drawing of me by little "Brad." The Korean writing means something about me and a chicken, and although he spelt my name wrong I can still feel the love.

Every teacher aspires to be caricaturized, and now that I have reached this plateau I want to thank the academy and my mother for always believing in me.

Anyway, camping was a great time and we look forward to doing it again next month. Hopefully the next time we won't have to fight off a typhoon and will actually be able to play outside.

Until the world can camp in peace free of typhoons our struggle will continue.

Cheers,

Shayne (and Jo)

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Top 6 reasons you know you are a pampered Canadian

With the three month mark on the horizon, and Christmas just around the corner, we've been feeling the loss of the many comforts we left behind when we moved to Korea. Having only each other to complain to we thought that we would unburden our sorrows on you. So here's a list of the top six things we miss most about Canada. Yes, I know that a better number would have been five or ten, but this is Korea and things work a bit differently here.

Number 6: Bath Towels

Back in Canada I guess we were used to the over-abundance of terry cloth, and lavishly swathing ourselves in over-sized towels after every bath or shower. When we arrived in Korea, however, we were provided with bath towels that would barely pass for hand towels back at home. Perhaps this is due to the scarcity of Korean cotton, or perhaps Koreans are simply more utilitarian than Westerners, but we have nevertheless been thankful for the two full-sized bath towels we carted with us across the Pacific.

(Shayne trying to wrap himself in a Korean bath towel. Shayne wanted the shot to be more realistic and go au naturel, but I prevailed. You're welcome.)


Number 5: Candy


We've received a couple of care packages since arriving (props to our respective mom's), and among the more coveted items has been the candy and junk food that we just can't get over here. Pictured above is one of these items: a package of licorice. Of course, since getting this package, it's been all I can do to prevent Shayne from eating them all in one sitting. The result has been a strict rationing, and me doing guard duty whenever Shayne's unsupervised.

(Sometimes even the thread of a plastic BB pellet to the head doesn't stop him)


Number 4: Sidewalks

While this picture is a particularly harsh example, one thing we have found living in Korea is that you can't really enjoy the scenery while taking a walk around town. Well, you can, but only if you're prepared to risk tripping over loose paving stones and cracked concrete, or falling down perilously graded driveways.


Number 3: Running Water

Okay, we do have running water per se. It's true that water runs to taps in our apartment, but how exactly it arrives there, and how useable it is when it gets there is a completely different story.

Meet our kitchen faucet. He looks a little sad and beaten up, and well, the picture doesn't lie. He provides us with a steady stream of water at the rate of about 2 cups per minute. Also he's either cold or scalding hot, nothing in between. When the hot water's on, we have to cart cold water in a jug from a tap in the bathroom whenever we do dishes (thankfully not often). Yes, running water indeed. This is in no means indicative of Korea as a whole but since our apartment is Korea for us, it's on the list.

Oh yes, and I forgot the best part. We cannot drink it. Whenever we're thirsty, cook, or brush our teeth, we use distilled water from our water cooler. Oh Canada, how I miss you.


Number 2: Milk

We never really considered this before we left Canada, but dairy products are fairly new on the Korean scene. Above is the only brand of milk we have found here that isn't full-fat. Really, we have no idea what the percentage of milk fat is, but we've put our faith in it for the sake of morning tea and breakfast cereal. Also, today we heard about some strange skin disease that doctors say comes from milk, so now we're wondering if it's even being pasteurized. Well, we're not giving milk up no matter how shady it might be, so if we end up dying of some strange skin malady, you'll know why.


Number 1: Rice

Yes, that's right. The number one thing we miss about Canada is rice. In Canada's grocery stores you can get long grain, medium grain, basmati, jasmine, sticky, black, and wild rice. In Korea you can get sticky rice. Only sticky rice. While it in no way tastes bad, you just can't make the fluffy rice dishes from back home, and it was the last thing we expected to be lacking here. A lack of rice...in Korea...where it's considered blasphemy to go two meals without eating it. Apparently Koreans just don't like any other type of rice.


(Me holding a few grains of Korea's staple)


Well there you have it, the things we miss most about Canada. I suppose it could be a lot worse and we could be saying we miss electricity, flush toilets, or worse yet, English TV shows. Despite the superficiality of our complaints, however, one thing is guaranteed: When we come back home we will definitely appreciate life in Canada more.

Until then,
Jo