Schools, and markets, and cafes...oh my!

7/15/2012

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This week I had the opportunity to visit a few new places...a public elementary school, a traditional market and a very unique cafe.

Since I work at the Foreign Language Institute, all students come  to our facility after school hours.  I have never actually seen a public school during my time in Korea.  On Monday, my former supervisor picked up a couple of us and took us to see her school.  This school is a large one, I believe she said there were 6 or 7 classes at each grade level.  I was most impressed by the variety of classrooms.  There was an entire wing dedicated to English education.  In addition, there were 2 science labs, a gym, a swimming pool, a parents room, and a variety of other spaces.  When students are not using the pool, the public can pay a fee to use the facility.   Also interesting, the school library is open for the community to use as well.   Here are a few pictures from the school...
On Tuesday the 10th, we got to take a cultural outing with work.  We went to the 5 day traditional market.  This market is only in the area on days that are in multiples of 5.  There was tons of produce, fish, meat, snacks, and a variety of clothing items as well.  It was a great experience.
Sunday took us to the Penis Cafe.  Yes, you read that correctly.  The entire cafe is decorated with genitalia...from the napkin holders, to the bathroom door handles, to the lights, to the clock.  It was certainly an interesting experience.   Sorry folks, no pictures will be posted as this is a G-rated blog.  If you're really curious, send me an email.
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Busan Fireworks Festival

11/4/2011

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Last weekend I went to Busan to see the fireworks festival.  The day started with a walk along Heundae beach then 5 of us met up to grab a late lunch.  We read about a Mexican place that was given some good reviews, so we decided to check it out.  Even though the place was called "Hello Kimchi", the food was pretty good.  (And no, kimchi was not served!)

After lunch we walked around a bit then headed to the festival.  The moment we got off the subway, I knew it was going to be chaos.  There were tons of people so military personnel were called in to help with the traffic.   Upon stepping out of the subway station, we saw that it had begun to rain...hard.  Fabulous.  We followed the masses to the beach.  By the time we got there, the show was already underway. 

The fireworks were nice, but nothing spectacular.  Perhaps I'd feel differently if I could have gotten a view that wasn't obstructed by umbrellas.  I think we caught about 20 minutes of the show.  We decided to stick around a bit after it ended, as we knew the subway would be a nightmare.  As the crowd left, I was appalled by the amount of trash that people left behind.  Who gets the fun job of cleaning up that mess?

Anyways, we finally made it back to the crowded subway station.  After the subway ride, we had about 45 minutes before our train back to Ulsan.  We stumbled out of the rain and into a Korean restaurant for some dinner.  I had a delicious eggroll filled with crab while my friends enjoyed some fish soup...complete with eyeballs.  I'm not a fan of eating anything that is looking back at me.  Gross.
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Korean Food Tour...Stop #2

6/27/2011

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Today we went to the Garden Buffet BBQ & Seafood in Artesia.  This was an all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ with lots of different meats and side dishes.  My favorite meat was the bulgogi ("fire meat")...marinated barbecue beef.  YUMMY!  I also tried the teriyaki chicken, beef ribs, and a couple types of kimchi.  No seafood for me, but they did have several options to choose from.
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