I said it before, but I feel that cooking here is much more difficult than cooking at home. Efforts take about twice as long as they did in Virginia... I often find myself yearning for the kitchen I left behind at South View. The meat selection at Homeplus is pretty awful. There aren't a lot of cuts offered, there are often grey spots on pork and beef, and meat (no matter where you go) is pretty expensive. It's been expensive equipping myself with cooking supplies, too. I've been trying to cook/ make some different things here. Without an oven, I can't make turkey meatloaf- ground poultry doesn't seem to exist here anyway. I miss turkey loaf.
Plus, my "stove" is a double hot plate. It barely fits 2 pans. It really kind of takes some of the fun away from cooking. I've made 떡 (ddeok), steamed rice cake, with cabbage and a red tomatoey-chili-y sauce. The sauce was packaged, and the ddeok was store bought. It's a dish that is pretty common at street food vendors' tents. Definitely yummier at 2 am on the streets. I made tacos with the taco seasoning sent from home. Freaking awesome. I think my proudest achievement didn't involve much cooking at all. Vietnamese spring rolls based on what John's host family served us for lunch once. She called it fusion, I guess because they incorporated Korean stuff, but it's basically just sliced vegetables, some meat if you like, and this stuff called rice paper- your wrapper. You dip it in hot water to soften it up then load up on whatever you want in it. The cool thing about this is that you can get as creative as you want or can with this dish. Plus it's pretty healthy.
But seriously. Can you believe that I'm cooking beef? omg, I cooked BEEF. And I didn't even think about it.
My treasure for the day was green beans! Today was the first time I've seen them here, but they're pretty expensive. Just enough for 2 people cost almost $3. So worth it. Cauliflower is starting to show up in the stores, so I'm planning to get some and do the cheesy cauliflower like home. I have a giant head of cabbage that I didn't get to use today... now I need to figure out how to make it tasty. It is almost one of my favorite vegetables now. It's dirt cheap and PACKED with nutrients. Toss is in the family with broccoli and cauliflower. Awesome.
On a closing note, Korea as someone put it, is all about free stuff. At Homeplus, random things get taped to products as freebies. I got a cereal bowl and a fork off of 2 different cereal boxes. Giant boxes of instant coffee had tuppeware containers stuck to them, some products get doubled up. Chili paste was coming with cooking oil. STORY. An associate chased me down in Homeplus to try and convince me to buy a huge container of chili paste because it also came with a small bottle of the oil in my cart. I mean first, how did she see those things in my card. And secondly, I turned her down because the chili paste was way too much, and the oil was way too small. She probably just thinks I was clueless.
I never finished my 5 day course of Tamilflu. Sunday was awful. First to clarify, there apparently aren't general doctor's offices here. There are specialized doctors in their own offices, but for something general you go to the hospital. So no hospitals were open in my neighborhood on Sunday. My coteacher lives halfway across town, and he made me meet him at a hospital that was open near him. By this time, my temperature was about 102, my entire body hurt, and I had those chills in the bones that you can't do anything about. Absolutely miserable. On Motrin and Tamiflu and some mystery "cold pills," my temperature peaked at 99 on Monday, and was gone Tuesday. Nice.
I need work in my life, though. Being at home for a week was pretty dismal. Oh, and by the end of my birthday, I had received 4 cakes and got very drunk. But not as drunk as I was last weekend. Soju is dangerous. Koreans who drink with you are dangerous. A group of 10-15 of us were in this tiny bar, and a Korean college soccer club was also drinking. We made friends, ended up drinking together and I insisted that I was having a moment with this guy until he fell into a table. The night was kind of awesome.
Today, my 2 classes were cancelled for an unknown reason. I started the online courses that my co-teacher signed me up for (thanks for that...) and had some issues with accessing some video lectures. I got to see my computer be controlled remotely. Weird thing. I survived one class. 10 e-lectures, some freshman homework and an obnoxious lecturer. Koreans with English (British) accents are disturbing. Not because of the accent, this particular woman pronounced some words in ways that gave me the urge to hurl my computer. Or chuckle. Or do both at once. My hopes that the next class would be better were dashed when the new video opened with a portly American man in a powder pink shirt... and no offense, but kind of looking like a pedophile, which made me suspicious that he's an Asiaphile. I know, I'm judgy. To survive this... This better certify me in something.
Sunday I was "diagnosed" with H1N1, and must now spend a week at home. Yesterday sucked. Really sucked. The body aches, the internal chills. Freezing, but sweating. I don't know if it's my fever really going away or the Tamiflu I'm taking, but my temperature hasn't gone above 99.5 today. fine with me.
It started yesterday afternoon when my co-teacher arrived to teacher training with a cake. It was a house... and somehow they managed to demolish it in 5 minutes. At midnight when my co-teacher sent 15 text messages. The last 6 woke me up. I vaguely remember feeling freaked out and wondering who would be texting me then... and so much. The student I meet with in the mornings to go over her English diary gave me a gift; I haven't opened it yet. A teacher gave me something that has to be refrigerated. And then after lunch the teachers gave me another cake- a sweet potato cake!- (고구마)... Thursdays I have classes all morning, so I don't come down to the teacher's room until lunch. Someone left a handful of chestnuts and a sweet potato on my desk. Another teacher made these cute magnets- a happy cloud and a leaf... pictures later. too effn cute. It's been a good day, and I reeaally appreciate what everyone's done!
I also figured out the post office... kind of... and found some cards to mail to the states (AT LAST). I have a rogue Christmas card and some stationary sets. Everything else seems to be about how "I love you" or something about being happy. hopinghopinghoping the stuff I mailed actually makes it to their destinations.
After my school closed last week for H1N1, now all the students are getting sick.
The faculty at my school blasts the heat, turns it off, and then opens the windows. It's about 40 degrees today. Apparently stingy on AC, and totally weird about heat.
Plus, my "stove" is a double hot plate. It barely fits 2 pans. It really kind of takes some of the fun away from cooking. I've made 떡 (ddeok), steamed rice cake, with cabbage and a red tomatoey-chili-y sauce. The sauce was packaged, and the ddeok was store bought. It's a dish that is pretty common at street food vendors' tents. Definitely yummier at 2 am on the streets. I made tacos with the taco seasoning sent from home. Freaking awesome. I think my proudest achievement didn't involve much cooking at all. Vietnamese spring rolls based on what John's host family served us for lunch once. She called it fusion, I guess because they incorporated Korean stuff, but it's basically just sliced vegetables, some meat if you like, and this stuff called rice paper- your wrapper. You dip it in hot water to soften it up then load up on whatever you want in it. The cool thing about this is that you can get as creative as you want or can with this dish. Plus it's pretty healthy. 
