fish cakes are yummy

this is my new favorite thing to eat in korea. they're "fish cakes."

i dont know how to ask for them, but usually you'll be walking around and you'll see a truck, or cart, or a stand set up, sometimes in front of a restaurant. they'll have these skewers in boiling water, and on these skewers are these beige strips. they dont look good, but they so are. you can take a little cup also, and drink the soup (the liquid the skewers sit in).

they're only about 500 won each... 50cent. you can spray them w/soy sauce or brush it with whatever sauce they have sitting in front. you eat it there, and them leave them the stick. which i hope they at least rinse off before they use them again. or maybe you can walk off with the stick? i dont know, i always eat it then and there like everyone else does.

my utility/maintenance bill

update 04/08: please note that the korean won and the US dollar has been fluctuating lately, be sure to check current conversion rate.

i dont know why my first bill was so friggin high. i guess i was stuck w/some of the last persons bill... oh, and i didnt even GET a bill the first couple of months, actually, so it looks like they charged me all at once. jerks.

anyway, in an officetel, you pay a maintenance bill which includes utilities, water, electricity, and keeping the common areas clean. so, these are my bills from my moving in up until whenever.

some of my coworkers have had extremely high bills: i remember one month my bill was 150 something, and the couple who lived in the next building had a bill of over 300. others who swear they never use the heater/air conditioner (whereas i had the ondol all all the time in winter and constantly used the ac in summer) have bills comparable to mine. so, i dont know, i guess it depends on the building you live in? since so many people email asking me about bills, ive posted this, but dont assume your situation will be the same. ive friends who live in houses or apartments or villas, and their bills are 20,000 won. Yes, i said TWENTY. go figure.

Date	Won	Dollars
06/07	265,670	$279.74
07/07	119,070	$119.65
08/07	117,010	$123.20
09/07	120,670	$127.06
10/07	129,930	$136.81
11/07	113,440	$119.45
12/07	121,270	$127.69
01/08	147,810	$155.64
02/08	145,550	$153.26
03/08	163,860	$164.67
04/08	155,580	$156.35
05/08	137,510	$138.19
06/08	127,170	$122.37
07/08	118,190	$113.34
08/08	123,570	$84.92
09/08	139,050	$95.56
10/08	108,770	$74.75
11/08	117,450	dunno
12/08	127,820	$95.00
01/09	164,720	109.71
in	february	i moved
to a	new	place.

in my place in jamsil, i get a bill from Korea Electric Power Corporation, a bill from Daehan City Gas Company, and another bill that i think is water.

electric bill Date	Electric bill Won	electric bill Dollars
02/09	.	.
03/09	.	.
04/09	32,210	.
05/09	.	.
06/09	33,990	.
07/09	18,250	.
08/09	20,320	16.63
09/09	36,280	29.68
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gas bill Date	gas bill Won	gas bill Dollars
02/09	.	.
03/09	.	.
04/09	40,840/46,570	.
05/09	?/14,330	.
06/09	5,340/14330	.
07/09	.	.
08/09	.	.
09/09	.	.
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water Date	water Won	water Dollars
02/09	.	.
03/09	9,670	.
04/09	.	.
05/09	7,260	.
06/09	.	.
07/09	.	.
08/09	.	.
09/09	.	.
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how ise feelin right now

i dont know what this is a picture of, it comes up when you do a google image search for "first anniversary." pretty hot.


holy cow, here i is near 11 months later! happy new year!

my contract is up in february, i'd like to go home and visit family/friends, and i definitely want to come back to teach again. probably at the same school, i like the job, i like the kids there.

i have plenty of gripes about my job and korea in general of course, but you all can find lots of that on other blogs.

but anyways, as i get blue for just a hot second, here is what i miss right now (excluding friends and family):

1. the san diego weather. it's so cold here right now, my ears ache, my face hurts where my glasses are resting on my cheeks/nose, i dont go outside, i cant, it's torture.
2. soy rolled tacos from el zarape. hmmm...
3. familiarity. knowing where everything is and how to get everywhere.
4. harar. ever since ive been here, ive had a reoccurring dream that im in san diego, rushing to get to harar b/c i want to eat the no.17 one more time before i go back to korea. and then i wake up all the way, realizing im nowhere near my favorite restaurant.
5. my cats.
6. the clubs i frequented that played hip hop i loved. btw jean grae is the number one emcee in the world.

merry xmas

from a rather infamous blog the metropolitician, who plugs another great blog feet man seoul:

This Christmas season, the must-have item is the bear hat, courtesy of Paris Baguette. And if you are a couple, a matching pair is the way to go. This couple is the quintessential Seoul Christmas couple, since they're not only rocking the hats, but have a Christmas cake in tow, as well as a little bit of candy, a lollipop that looks freshly picked from a Dr. Seuss Christmas tree. All items, it appears, that you can find in the original commercial.

from sarah

click to enlarge and read this lovely letter from little sarah--->

hey, i've been working here in korea at cdi for near 9 months now. *phew!* i have my complaints about my job, as do we all, but overall im really happy there. i love the kids, and i like teaching. i love my apartment. i LOVE my apartment. like really, i love it. i may never leave.

it's coming to the end of my 3rd term and i'll say goodbye to my kids, and hello to a whole new group of classes. sometimes students will leave before the end of the term, which i really dont like b/c they seem to disappear one day and then i dont get a chance to tell them goodbye. :(

sometimes the student knows they're leaving, so i tell them how wonderful it was to have them in my class, and i tell them to watch lots of english movies, and read lots of english books, and tell them they're brilliant and good luck in the future and email me if you ever need anything. i don't tear up or cry, tho when sarah told me goodbye and gave me this note, i got real reeeeeeeal close.

happy choseok

little charlie from one of my elementary school classes said his mother told him to bring me these song-pyeong, rice cakes with some sort of sweet bean paste inside. they're common food fare for chuseok. i didnt eat them (they're similar to philipino desserts, and i never developed the taste for them) but i kept them forever, opening the refrigerator everyday and smiling and thinking that i must be some kind of fantastic teacher for a student to bring me treats. ha!

paying bills back home

The only bill ive had to pay back home is my student loan. every month at payday, i go to the bank and transfer money to my account back home, then i pay everything online once the money is in the account. i have also done some online shopping w/amazon, using my home account as well (it's a atm/visa check card through my bank).

other bills i was able to transfer to other names/people, or cut off entirely; but if there were others, im sure i'd be able to do it all online just as i am w/the student loan.

my old apartment still has bills and my cats, but i send money to the roommates and they make sure everything is taken care of. we did it all online before, anyway, so it's all staying the same.

i think i've written this elsewhere, but here it is again:

• before you leave for korea, go to your bank, tell them you're leaving the country so that they dont cut your account privileges.
• check your billing adrs and contact number the bank has (i changed mine to my parents adrs & phone)
• double check your account number, password, routing number.
• get the bank full adrs, phone number, and email (i was able to email my korea adrs and phone number to my bank once i got here).

summer work

if i had known about summer and winter jobs here, i might've used the opportunity to visit korea before making the big move here. these seasonal jobs all include free accomodations, paid airfare, and around 2000USD for one month of work. the quality of the job depends on the employer, of course. anyway, to all those in cyberworld who've let me know they're considering korea, maybe check out a summer gig.

check here for the eslcafe korea job board. i got this link by doing a google search for the phrase "summer camp," narrowing the search to pull only from the eslcafe korea job board.

moving service

click this and this forum on eslcafe, or here on global village about how to move: There are moving services or you can get just a bongo truck guy. But unless you speak and read Korean really well you would probably need a korean to help you get one.

This guy speaks english.... seems about 40,000 to move most things:

When you need a truck , Please send below items ! I will reply the price asap !

• name & cell phone ex) brandon : 010-7707-4280
  

• from where to where ex) from habangchon to kangnam


• how many stuffs ? ex) 1 couch, 1 washing machine, 1 computer desk, 5 suit cases, 10 paper boxes…… * from which floor to which floor ex) from 2th floor to first floor


• old address & destination address ex) yongsan2gadong 391-12 & ilwondong 234-76 kmk20287@hotmail.com

update: i used the above guy, brandon, he was cool. spoke fluent english. i paid 50 to move a piece of exercise equipment from hanaam to pyeongchon.

oh my gosh, if you go on google

and search "cdi seoul black"

my blog is the FIRST RESULT!

im famous!