Foodly Goods

Compiling a google map of delightful Daejeon eateries (restaurants).

Tell me if you'd like to make an addition! Although, suggestions must first be tested by ME! Or not... I suppose I can trust the opinions of others. Let's get our eat on!

View Awesome Daejeon Eateries in a larger map

New School Year

Today is the first day of the 2011-2012 school year here at Shinhueng Elementary School. Although, really we can just say the school year is 2011... as nothing actually happens from January-March.

There is much that is different this year from last year, for instance, I no longer work at two elementary schools- I will miss the small class size of Dong Myoung, the commute, however, I will not, miss. The punctuation in that last sentence was just as annoying as my commute to Dong Myoung.

Aside from only being at one school I have a brand new set of coteachers. My old Shinhueng teachers, Youngers and Amy, have decided that they no longer want to be associated with me due to my ever increasing demands and the fact that my good looks were a major distraction during planning. Not really... I don't have many demands. I miss them already! The good news is we're still friends and they are easily my favorite Koreans in THE WORLD.

My new coteachers seem alright thus far, though we haven't taught together yet so I bite my tongue. It looks as though I will be doing the majority of the planning and teaching when we work together, which is fine by me! I did come here to teach, after all. I recieved my new schedule today: #grade-#class-- 1 hour lunch in between 4 and 5.
Mon Tues Weds Thu Fri

1. Free 5-1 6-1 5-1 6-1
2. 3-1 5-2 6-2 5-2 6-2
3. 3-2 5-3 6-3 5-3 6-3
4. 3-3 5-4 6-4 5-4 6-4
5. 3-4 5-5 Free 5-5 Free

Notice anything missing? Grade 4, perchance? I'm guessing here... but I'm fairly certain one of my coteachers, and this is a quote of the first sentence in English I ever heard her say, who said, "I don't want to be an English Teacher, but they are making me." Well, she teaches grades 3 and 5 and has 23 classes in total- the fact that I have grade 3 and double classes for 5 means that she will really only teach 9 classes solo a week. Before my old coteacher left the new one asked her if it was alright if she left during class when I am teaching- the answer was "He will probably call the MOE (office of education) on you!" I don't think she'll abandon me, but I don't expect much assistance from her. Anywho, I just like to see all the kids and I'm a little annoyed that I won't get to see grade 4... I'm contemplating an after school club just for grade 4 students. Even then I will maybe only see 10 to 15 of them.

Anyways, I'm glad to be back in school and teaching again! I do feel a little awkward in the Lady's Teacher Room without Younglan around though... but the Guy's Room is smoker-friendly and the lack of my own office really doesn't give me other places to go. That being said, I've slowly been getting closer with other teachers at my school, it's nice to walk around and get genuine smiles and greetings! Some teachers even told me to call them "hyung" or "nuna", Korean for big brother and big sister. Part of the whole Confucian hierarchy idea, but one that I find kind of endearing if you're on the 'in'.

Also, the students are in awe of my hearty sideburns.

A Novel Quest

As of late I've gotten zealous inclinations to start writing and reading more. A result of this zeal has been my desire to find bookstores in Daejeon, more specifically, bookstores with an English section. A mission that is proving to be somewhat difficult... although Daejeon is a city with about 1.5 million people, there is not a large ex-pat community, compared to other major cities in Korea. Thus there aren't many foreigner friendly bookstores. That being said, today I had a small success!

I went to Eunhang-dong in search of a supposed bookstore, 계룡문고 (Gyea-rong-mun-go... approximate). This bookstore is actually listed on the Daejeon city website- which it turns out gave inaccurate directions, as it had moved and was no longer in the listed locale. Today I learned that the internet cannot be trusted when it comes to matters of such import as a bookstore's location.

It was disheartening to get to where the store should have been only to find it had been replaced with Noraebangs and Cafes. I wandered for a while thinking that maybe I would chance upon it- no such luck. Fortunately I have a Korean informant who's quite familiar with the happenings of Daejeon and I had the grand idea of contacting her. She informed me that the bookstore I was looking for had moved and that it wasn't that far away. Huzzah! I was given a general area to search and a typed out sentence to show people if I needed help. (계룡문고 어디로 가는지아세요? Do you know how to get to Gyearongmungo?) Thanks, Luka!

Off I went! I didn't end up having to use the sentence, my bibliophiliac sense kicked in and brought me straight to the store. It's the basement level of a building about 100 metes past the Galleria out Exit 6 from Jungangno Subway. There's a pole with the store name on it, 계룡문고, as well as a few signs on the building. Here's a map that should be mostly accurate.

View Daejeon Bookstores in a larger map

As far as the English section goes... well... small. I've recently become fascinated with Mark Twain, so I bought out the entire Twain section- all two books, Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer. Total cost was 15,100 Won- not bad at all! Other than Twain, which I feel very lucky to have found, the pickings were slim. One Hemmingway novel (19,500 won paperback), Lord of the Flies, Of Mice and Men, Johnathan Livingston Seagull (I taught this book two years ago to 7th graders in the US), Harry Potter, Twilight, Chicken Soup books, and not much more... they had a lot of abridged books with both English and Korean- think Heaney's Beowulf- which might be cool? I guess... Anyways, the "Paperback" section was a little despondent, but I still managed to find books to bring home! The best part of the experience was just being in a bookstore and browsing some English books for the first time since my arrival in Korea. There are supposedly more bookstores in Daejeon that await my discovery... I'll let you know how it goes.

겨울 Happenings

I made it to the Busan Aquarium a couple weeks back. It was my first time in Busan and probably not the last. The city was wonderful, I wish I had spent some more time there, I'm thinking I should have spent the night but decided against it at the last minute and just got a train home. While in Busan I also went to the Museum of Modern Art- they had some pretty cool exhibits, most notable was the Henry Miller exhibit. Eventually I made my way to Busan Tower; I arrived just as the sun was setting which afforded me a wonderful panoramic view of a city gone dark coming to light. Other than photographs and memories I only took one thing back from Busan, a seashell.

I had a week of camp after my week of vacation. Perhaps some of the most fun that I've had in school in Korea. The kids were genuinely amazing- the camp was for less fortunate children, low income, low level, orphan type- you know the lot. I also made some new friends at camp! Other Korean and Native teachers.

Insert a Saturday trip to Lotte World here. I went with a couple Korean friends, Anna and Luka- the ones that Brian and I meet for language exchange. Ou

r weekly meetings have been less about language lately and more about just hanging out with friends, totally ok with me. So we went to Lotte world, the three of us- Brian is currently soaking up sun and avoiding clock spiders in the Land Down Under with his lovely lady, so he wasn't present. The day was AWESOME. I freakin' love amusement parks- the rides, the food, the atmosphere- totally dig it. The queues were a bit long, but most of the waits were worth it. My reaction to the rides was a bit different from all the Koreans around me... laughter. Instead of screaming, I laugh. I don't remember a time that I've laughed

as much and as genuinely as I did during some of the rides. SO much fun. We plan on going to Everland during spring break- a weekday this time.

Last Tuesday I met up with some Korean teachers and we went skiing at Muju Resort. It had been maybe two years since I skied, but it comes back pretty quick when you're flying down a mountain and need to remember how to slow down. We only spent three hours there- the total damage to my wallet was roughly 70,000 won, which isn't too bad considering I had to rent everything... even ski clothes. That night I met up with a cohort that I had met during camp the week prior.

The Groove Gate is near Jungangno Station; had I not been

led there then I would have undoubtedly failed to find it. The interior is something akin to the Ethnic Bar in Dunsan-dong, though a bit more open and sans hookahs. The owner is an ex-music producer named James (english name) who's really quite enjoyable to talk with. He's one of those guys that you just want to succeed- reminds me a bit of the owner at House Grill. We drank some beers while waiting for one more compatriot to arrive. Once she arrived and introductions were issued we ordered food, Pad Thai- only thing on the menu that night. I guess there's normally a cook that can do all sorts of Thai food, but he wasn't around that night so our host, James, offered us a dish that he would cook himself. Yes, it was delicious! I really want to make it back when the cook is around so I can try some other delicacies, I'm told the red curry is choice. James found out that I play banjo and I've been asked to return sometime in the future with the banj, I get nervous when I play in front of people, so

I've been practicing a bit more since Tuesday- I've even managed to get two new songs in my repertoire, 'Crazy' by Patsy Cline and 'Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps' originally by Osvaldo Farres. I should also mention that after a day of skiing with Koreans, a night drinking with two well-spoken Brits was just what I needed.

I suppose this is sufficient for now. I'd like to start writing more- not just blogging... fiction too. Here's a picture of Hemingway boxing in Africa. (Current desktop background)

Just Another Burger Monday

Edit: http://www.facebook.com/people/House-Grill/100001737251045

House Grill now has a facebook- also, check out the owner's blog to see his art.

Brian and I have decided to start a ritual; what ritual? You might ask. Well, we found a nice burger joint near the Yongmun Lotte that has decent prices and delicious grub; so we've decided to baptize Monday as "Burger Monday". Really though, I don't expect we'll go there every Monday as I'm pretty sure I'd get sick of burgers pretty fast... but it's nice to have the suggestion of routine.

Let me tell you about House Grill, the burger place. It's a hole in the wall joint with a swell interior where your chef, waiter, host, and owner are all the same person- and yes he speaks English relatively well. On the menu you'll notice the slogan "burger + art" in which the burgers are self-explanatory but the art might take a minute. Hanging on the walls are illustrations of characters that may have either come out of a Tim Burton movie or a Maurice Sendak children's book; though they come from neither! They are a creation of the owner and are all for sale for rather reasonable prices.

Pretty much... he's a cool Korean guy that studied art in the US for a while, where he also developed some reasonable language skills. He decided to come back to Korea, open a burger joint and use it as a medium of art distribution. Oh, and his chili fries are damn good.

If you're near the Yongmun Lotte in Daejeon be sure to keep an eye out for House Grill! Fantastic!

View House Grill in a larger map

Yeouida Park, German Sheperds, and Explosions

I visited Seoul again last weekend with the intention of meeting a friend. Things don't always go according to plan though, or maybe the fact that I don't really make plans can oft cause things to not go according to them- which isn't always detrimental. I won't delve into the cacophonous mishaps too greatly, simply put- I arrived in Seoul at 3:15 PM and I didn't end up meeting my friend until Midnight in Bucheon. The main reason for the delayed has much to do with my cell phone malfunctions- I couldn't recieve or make calls and many of my texts weren't 'uploading'. And when I did get texts they would arrive late, about an hour.

Destination Yeouido Park (여의도 공원)

Not entirely sure where the park was, and unable to find it on my subway map because I was looking for "Yoido" (요이도) which doesn't exist on the map- smallest miscommunications can make a huge difference- I asked a taxi driver outside of Seoul Station. The first one had no idea what I was talking about and the second did his best, which was pretty good. Yeouido is a district in Seoul and a pretty neat one at that. It's a rather large island on the Han River with some wonderful recreational areas and other Seoulesque attractions. As we were driving across the bridge to Yeouido we passed one of the river parks which was where I'm pretty sure I wanted to go, but the traffic was so bad that my driver opted to take me another route. He drove into the city more and eventually dropped me off at a part of the park, about a mile away from the river. I paid my 8000 won bill and began exploring. I made a new friend almost immediately:

His name is King Sejong and he was kind enough to let me take a picture of him.

He doesn't really have the greatest view in the park though.

I wandered around the park for a while, because it was beautiful, until I got a text letting me know that my friend had arrived down at the river portion of the park.

Destination Han River Park

This is the part where I never ended up meeting my friend due to technomishaps and a coin flip. The park was astir with thousands of people- playing in fountains, biking, blading, chilling in tents, or just meandering- much like I was. My attention was officially caught when I heard snare drums in a drumline style. I followed the sound until I saw what might be one of the coolest things ever... flying drummers.

I watched these guys for a while until I received a text from my friend informing me that she was somewhere close to a green bridge and a boat that had a KFC and other delcious things on board. I walked to land's edge and looked east and saw no green bridge or KFC boat, looking west I saw a bridge that was pretty far away and what looked like a white boat on the water with white buildings on the land. The flip of a coin decided that I would go west towards the green bridge.

Destination Green Bridge & KFC

After about five minutes of walking I looked at my phone, there was an error message on my screen. It informed me that I should call the service center; I had five bars but I couldn't use my phone for communication purposes, oh well. I decided to keep walking towards the bridge and hope that it was the right choice. I was walking on a dirt path along the shore, which turned out to be a mistake, because Yeouido- being an island- has a definite end to it. I walked by a lot of old korean men with their fishing rods secured to the ground and lures bobbing in the river 50 feet away. Each man; with Soju, Cass, and cigarettes to keep them company, had at least four rods set up just waiting for the first sign of a fish to catch on it. I ended up walking to the end of the island on the west side, the green bridge was still about half a mile away and there was no way across the river in site, so continued walking around the island now on the South Side heading East.

There were some signs written in Korean in a red font, as I read them I imagined what they could say- my best guess was "No trespassing." I walked up a small slope and I looked down into a construction site and boat dock and also, a way off the island and to the green bridge. I was seperated from route by about 200 yards of concrete, a small bridge, and a fence. I was about to make the walk when I noticed the guards, and the dogs. There were only a couple of them, but they were some of the biggest German Shepherds I had ever seen. Luckily they hadn't seen or smelled me, so I jumped down an embankment and enjoyed the gap-toothed stares of startled fishermen.

I walked parallel the construction site until I found a safer way around the fence. Eventually I got within sight of the green bridge and I came upon the white KFC looking boat; as I got closer I noticed more and more people- maybe I was headed in the right direction! As I got closer it became more apparent that the white boat was in fact not KFC, and the white tents on land were little shelters with tables under them for the customers of the Seven Eleven... and that this was not in fact where my friend was, at all.

Destination Back to Han River Park

When I finally got back to the park I was walking towards the bathroom when I hard snare drums start up. By this time it was dark and I couldn't see where the sound was coming from when suddenly around a corner comes a row of drummers dressed in colonial era european soldier's uniforms, with faces painted white like french clowns, or maybe ghosts? By the time I got my phone out to take a picture, which was still not functioning like a real phone, a spotlight had turned on to illuminate our snareful conspirators.

I apologize for the bad photos... my next big purchase is going to be a decent digital SLR camera. For now all I have is my cellphone.

Anyways, these guys were drumming and walking through the crowds of people. Occassionally they would stop walking, drum for a minute, and then charge forward forcing everyone in front of them back- it. was. awesome. While they were drumming there were also about five groups of traditional korean drummers walking around. Six sets of percussion in total all marching more or less to the same beat. Eventually the snares dissapeared and then out of nowhere...

They flew in on their harnesses and drummed over our heads, circling the audience, making faces at us and one of them even threw her clothes down as she started doing air ballet in a circus style swing. After about ten minutes of pure enjoyment there was a brilliant light followed by a loud bang. Everyone in the crowd turned around to enjoy the start of the longest fireworks display I have ever seen.