SA Blog Awards, I'm driving everyone nuts!

As you all know , we have made it through to the finalists round of the SA Blog Awards in the category for Best Overseas Blog by a South African, YAY!

Just an update on what is happening! Well, to be honest, I don't really know! The voting stage is blind so I am not sure if we are at the top of our category or stone cold last, all we can do is wait and see!

I have to admit that I have been driving all my friend nuts with the blog awards by constantly asking them to keep voting. I have had so many questions from them, that I realised our loyal followers might have a question or two themselves.

So here is a glance at our SA Blog Award journey, if you have any other questions feel free to leave a comment!

I didn't think that we would make the cut to the finalist's round and I'll tell you why:

• We are a baby in blog terms, we only started writing in May of this year!
• We only realised the blog awards had started when there was a week left of the nomination phase (so we missed 20 days worth of nominations)
• And there are some pretty amazing blogs out there. I encourage you to go look at the list of finalists, they are impressive and I am proud and honoured to be among them

Now I am not telling you all of this because I am fishing for compliments, that's not it at all! Rather, I am so excited that we have made it this far! Now that's not to say that I don't want to win...heehe! Once you get this close you can't help but pull up your sleeves and get ready to fight for first place. I don't know if it's me simply being human  or if it is because I am super competitive. Either way, it has meant that I have gone out of my way (sometimes to the annoyance of my friends) to promote our blog and get people voting!

However, instead of just nagging for help (which I did try), I decided I would try and make my facebook statuses unique so that people would want to vote! I am not sure if this strategy worked...but here are a couple of my attempts at trying to lure in votes from my facebook friends:

• Imagine Dory from Finding Nemo singing this: Just keep voting just keep voting just keep voting voting voting http://website.sablogawards.com/2010/vote/voteforme/3149
• Have you done it today and will you do it tomorrow? What about the next day?
• SCENARIO: Your at work waiting for the minutes to pass so you can go home and grab some chow. You just wish the minutes would go faster. You have checked all your emails and your randomly scrolling through Facebook. You sigh. "I just wish there was something else I could do". LIGHT BULB."Shit, I haven't voted for Claudia's blog yet, better do that now! Would you look at that, it's time to go! Thanks Claudia for filling my day"

Now, why am I telling you all of this, it has absolutely nothing to do with Korea! Well I disagree! I think that South Korea has been a teaching destination for a while but only in recent years have South Africans started  to consider it! And I love Korea and I think that if we win this, or at least do well, we will get more exposure in South Africa meaning that the adventures that teachers have in Korea will also get exposed which means that maybe more South Africans would consider this amazing place for a gap year!

Now of course winning is cool for other reasons, there are prizes....but I have no idea what they are, they have not been announced! So who knows! Hahaha!

So, if you would like to vote just click on the badge to the right of the page, check that cokorean has been highlighted under the Best Overseas blog category, scroll to the bottom of the page, put in your email address, and click on the link in the confirmation email!

What is really cool is that you can vote once every 24hours! So if you feel up for it....vote away!

There is only one week left of voting! So, once I know, I will let you all know the outcome! Fingers crossed.

Post by Claudia

Marathon eating: Shabu Shabu

Hmmmmmmm!

As you all know we LOVE food and we write about Korean food often always claiming our next entry to be the best food yet. And today is no different; there is another dish that deserves to be added to the best list.

Not only is this food incredible delicious but it also healthy and inexpensive! Yip,  you heard me! People are constantly weighing their options...do we go here? No it's expensive. Do we go here? No, it's not healthy. Do we go here? No thanks, I'm not a big fan. Most Korean food is healthy, delicious and inexpensive, but I will explain to you why Shabu Shabu is even more worth your while.

There are many different types of Shabu Shabu, including seafood, ribs and beef. Beef is our favourite; it is not everyday in Korea that you get an inexpensive meal with beef in it. We are used to beef being very cheap back home so we would eat it quite regularly. For 300g of mincemeat in South Africa you would pay approximately R30 (just over 3USD) but for the same thing in Korea you will pay roughly 40,000Won (34USD). It is crazy! So the moral of the story is, we don't get to eat a lot of beef which is another reason why Shaby Shabu rocks.

I am getting ahead of myself, I will get back to the beef a little later. Like any good Shabu Shabu, it starts with the vegetables! Yummy!

The burner, the broth comes on

You get a big broth to boil on you table and you slowly add a cocktail of different vegetables to the broth, which include: cabbage, other green leaves, mushrooms, and some fish cakes (not a vegetable I know but it goes in the same time as the veggies). Then you start to eat away at the vegetables dipping them into some or other scrumptious sauce on your table. You have a couple of spoons of the broth, with is absolutely yummy and then you start adding the meat.

Shabu Shabu has very thin slices of meat because it cooks in a matter of seconds once added to the broth. So you add the meat and what you have left of the vegetable, turn down the heat so that you have a low simmer going, and continue to stuff your face full of wholesome goodness!

Once the meat is gone, which with our carnivorous appetites is quite quickly, the broth has thickened somewhat and is ready for you to add the noodles. So now the broth has added flavour from all of the meat and vegetables that it makes these noodles amazing! Turn up the heat, and soon it will be time to eat again!

Throw some of the noodles into your bowl! Add some of the yummy sauce (Oliver is a big fan of doing this) and chow down!

Now in some Shabu Shabu places this might mark the end of your culinary experience (like the one we are showing photos of) but in others (like our favourite spot introduced to us by a good friend but where we did not have a camera handy) the meal continues. By now, your stomach is reaching proximity but you just can't help but push on!

The next stage requires you to add some rice and egg to the now boiled down broth. You give it a couple of minutes to figure itself out and by then you would have given your tummy some time to breathe! It ends up being a delicious rice porridge...my favourite part of the meal (even more so than the meat). If you are really lucky you will also be served a delicious cinnamon drink to finish off the meal.

So Shabu Shabu is no ordinary meal, it is a marathon of eating which is also healthy and cheap.....how cheap? On average you can eat Shabu Shabu for about 8000Won (Just under 7USD).

A damn good deal if you ask me!

Ppost by Claudia

Seoul Knife Gallery

Not too long ago, we made a little trip to Seoul, to feed our inquisitive minds and find out what the Seoul Fringe Festival is all about. Turns out it's all about the arts, music and just general awesomeness. On the Sunday after the festival we did have a couple of hours to do some more sight seeing in Seoul. Even though we had been there before, we decided to go to Insandong. Anyone who lives in Korea has no excuse for not having seen this place. It is just an absolute hive of activity, one of the most animated areas I have ever been to. Anyone not living in Korea, who one day decides to visit, must make the mission to see the marvel that is Insadong.

Insadong contains many shops, antique stores, art stores, restaurants, and art galleries. It is very well known for the conglomeration of art galleries and exhibitions that are to be found there. Many of these exhibits are temporary exhibits, of artists showing off their (usually amazing) work, and then there are a few exhibitions that are permanent. One that we saw and decided to go visit is the Knife Gallery.

Turns out this place is far more than your run of the mill knife gallery, if there is such a thing as a 'run of the mill' knife gallery. We went into the gallery, expecting to see your standard fare of different varieties of Asian swords and Katanas,etc. but this place was a lot more far reaching than that.

Upon entering, you pay 1000Won 'donation', and then you are free to browse. One of the first things that smacked me in the face was a life sized replica of the Witch Kings mask/helmet. Really really cool!

Standing very near to the Witch King of Angmar's mask is a glass encased hand of Sauron, complete with the Ring. Again, very cool.

It's worth noting here that all of these items are made of actual steel/metal, and are not plastic replicas. And the detail that has been put into these things is ridiculous. The ring on the hand of Sauron actually has the writing along its edge, as it is seen in the movies.

Once you move a bit further into the exhibit, there are many 'more serious' items on display as well. One of the most interesting ones was an exhibit showing the step by step process that is required to make a traditional sword. I must make an apology here, as I am not too certain if this is a Japanese sword, or a Korean sword. Either way, it is incredibly interesting to see the process involved in making just one of these swords!

There are also several displays of Japanese Samurai armour and swords:

Once one has moved past the interesting and informative items, one seems to get hit by a complete barrage of more 'just cool' items. There were so many items on display that I recognised from movies from when I was younger. On display are replicas of John Rambo's knives from all of the different movies. The knife that Arnold Schwarzenegger used in the Predator movies. There are replicas of Braveheart's sword, and also replicas of Ivanhoe, and even Excalibur. I must say I was a little disappointed by Excalibur. This has got to be possibly the most famous and well known sword in history. It might even be the only sword that many average people know by name. And it's really small and puny and absolutely not what one wants to see when standing in front of the most revered sword ever.

Braveheart's Sword

                                                                           Excalibur

I am by no means a movie geek. One of 'those' people' that get caught up in the fictional realities of fantasy stories such as Lord Of The Rings, or Braveheart. Nor am I a Sci-Fi geek that gets caught up in the made up, but oh so intricately detailed 'reality' of the Star Wars movies, but standing there in front of all of these marvellous movie icons, I couldn't help but feel a little happy on the inside. And none of these items made me smile as broadly as one of the last few items in the farthest corner of the gallery.

What might these incredibly awesome items be? I'll tell you. Lightsabers. Yes, Lightsabers. Ask ANY guy who has seen a Star Wars movie and ask them what the coolest part about the movie is, and some might say 'Princess Leia', and others will say 'Darth Vader', but almost undisputedly, 99% of guys will tell you that the Lightsaber was the coolest Star Wars gadget. I will go as far as saying that the Lightsaber was the coolest movie invention ever. Well, Lightsabers and Wolverine's claws (of which, by the way, the gallery has a set)!

'Am I reading correctly?' I hear you ask? Yes you are. And yes, that is a perfect replica of Yoda's Lightsaber. Possibly the coolest character/weapon combo ever in the history of anything, ever. It really is that cool. The one thing about Lightsabers that makes them the coolest and most disappointing movie invention ever, is the fact that they don't work. Bummer! Any one of these movie swords can be picked up and swung around and be used to chop stuff up. Lightsabers, unfortunately, no.

So, aside from all the informative stuff, and intensely awesome movie paraphernalia, there is a smorgasbord of different, random knives, weapons and just cool stuff made by all sorts of manufacturers and knife makers.

So if you are in South Korea and happen to be in Seoul, and you just so stumble into Insadong, and you have about an hour or so to spare, give a thought to all those movie fanatics out there, and the people that dream up their awesome movie ideas, and go visit the Insadong Knife Gallery, and go donate your 1000Won!

Post by Oliver

The winds they are a changin...

As I'm sure most people have seen and/or heard, in the last couple of weeks parts of Asia have been hit with some severe weather. This is because this time of year is the rainy season in Korea, or if you want to sound a little bit more dramatic, typhoon season. I am no climatologist, and so cannot give you accurate data and facts, but a typhoon can range from nothing but some wind and rain to storms that destroy huge tracts of land and cities.

Luckily for us, here in Wonju we haven't had anything more than some really heavy wind and some annoyingly persistent rainfall. There were other areas of Korea that were affected quite badly but from what I've heard, it wasn't all too bad. I do know that 5 people died, and I'm not trivialising the loss of their lives, I am simply saying that typhoons can be, and have been far worse than this one.

Too be honest the rain did come as a bit of a relief from the persistent hot and humid weather we've been oppressed by for the last 2 months. It makes for a welcome change when you have to walk to school, and you get there being a little wet from the rain rather than your own sweat. So let the rains come and cool everything down, and then let them stop and usher in a new season!

Summer seems to be drawing to an end, and as nice as it was to have the hot weather, I must say I am super excited to be moving closer to winter. Winter brings about a whole new set of trends, which is totally awesome! For one, the clothing will change to longer pants and long sleeve shirts to sweaters and jackets, through to long johns, beanies, jackets scarves and mittens. Being from South Africa I've never lived through a white winter, so this will be awesome!

Also, being in Wonju we have some of Korea's best ski resorts within a half hour drive from us, with free shuttle buses to and from many of them. The skiing season here lasts about 4 months from what I've been told, and the idea of a 4 month long snowboard season gets me really excited!

So here's a tip of the hat to good ol' Summer, who is on his way out, and a big, mitten clad wave to winter who is on his way over as we speak!

Post by Oliver

Scrambled eggs and bacon!

Tomorrow a friend of ours (Mason) is organising a brunch and he has promised that there will be scrambled eggs, bacon and pancakes! Hmmmm, it is at times like these, when you get all giddy and child-like about breakfast, that you realise you miss the joys of a western breakfast!

You see, in Korea, breakfast is very much like lunch and supper. The breakfast will be hot, Kimchi will be involved, rice is likely to be there and I am pretty sure there will be a soup of sorts as well. And while I love all of these foods (I really do) they just don't appeal to me for breakfast, except if I am hung over like a crazy person, because let me tell you something, a good Budae Jjigae (a spicy soup with everything in it) will fix you up one time.

Other than that though, I like an ordinary breakfast. You know, cereal and milk, that sort of thing. And although there is cereal available in South Korea it is often of an incredibly sugary descent (not good for your health eating that every morning) and it's expensive (not good for your wallet either). On top of that, sometimes you just want a change!!!

Yes, there are bakeries that sell pastries that make you want to cry because you don't know which one too choose, but still, there is something missing...maybe it's the greasiness and awesomeness that is bacon! Or maybe the sweetness just gets too much and you need something a little savoury in the mix. Does that sound contradictory?

Well, you see, breakfast in Korea is either totally savoury or totally sweet, no taste-bud balance I tell you! However, this is where western breakfasts have got it down!

Just last weekend, when Oli and I were rocking at the Seoul Fringe Festival, we came across a little restaurant that was selling western breakfasts to die for (our first on since leaving South Africa so it was doubly impressive). It came complete with crumpets, potatoes, bacon, vegetables, coffee, and sausage. Amazing!

When you haven't had something for a long time, it becomes easier to forget it but once the flood gates open again and the eating demon inside me awakens, I crave it like a mad woman thereafter (so Mason's invite came at a great time).

Another flood gate, which we also opened at the Seoul Fringe Festival was the wine gate!!! Holy Molly! I haven't had a sip of good red wine since we left SA. We found an amazing open air wine bar in Hongdae (there aren't any in Wonju that I have seen), the wine was expensive but when I put my nose to the glass and got a whiff of its pleasurable aromas, I almost wanted to cry. So we sat savouring its flavours for as long as we could (with some complementary cheese and crackers) but alas, the wine soon dwindled and we were left with nothing but empty glasses. Good news though, later that evening I found out you can buy an alright bottle of wine from your local convenience store for a reasonable price, I just need to find some decent glasses now!

Sorry, I deviated a little bit there. Went from my breakfast rant to my wine rant....

I am not sure what else there is to say, except for the fact that I am looking forward to tomorrow and I am already salivating!!! Hmmmm, I bet you are now too! Heehe!

Post by Claudia

We are finalists!!!

The nomination round of the SA Blog Awards are closed and I come bearing good news, WE MADE IT into the final round!!!

A big THANK YOU to everyone who nominated us!!! Being such a new and small blog we are very proud and very grateful to have come this far and it is all because of you! We are now in the top ten of the category Best Overseas South African Blog.

Now the next phase of voting begins  and again we need your help! The good news it is super easy (much more so than the nominating phase):

•  First, click this link or the badge to the right of the page http://website.sablogawards.com/2010/vote/voteforme/3149
• Scroll down to best overseas blog make sure cokorean has been selected,
• Then scroll down to the bottom of the page,
• Enter your email address,
• They will send you a confirmation email!
• VOTE AGAIN TOMORROW (you can vote once a day and the more votes we get the better)

The voting phase closes on the 17th of September so keep those votes coming and please spread the word, voting is crucial!

We are so happy we made it to the next round, we are overwhelmed!!!

Thank you so much for your help and for your dedicated following of our little blog!!!!

My students' obsession with me...

So, the whole thing of being stared at in Korea is no new thing. We have already done a previous entry on the topic, and things have most definitely not changed since then. Wherever we go, people stare, wherever we eat, whole tables of people turn around and stare. It's something that was a little disconcerting at first, but to be totally honest, it's not something that bothers me anymore.

On occasion there will be a particular person, usually an older lady or older man that will hold their stare a little too long, but rather than it making you feel uncomfortable, it's more of an annoyance. But as I've said, for the most part it doesn't bother you.

It's usually very old people or very young children that are fascinated by us foreigners. The children, which are usually the most receptive to us, are the 6-12 year old crowd. These are the children that have enough fascination with us, and have the guts to simply come and approach us. They seem to see us as a quick opportunity to practice their limited English skills. These kids (a large part of them) have foreign teachers in their schools or hagwons, so one would almost expect them to be 'over' us foreigners...

The story seems to swing the other way once you enter the depths of such a hagwon. I work at 3 different schools (hagwons), and have on average about 70 students at each of these three academies. I see 2 sets of children twice a week, and one set of kids only once a week. This is a decent amount of 'exposure to a foreigner' to get over the fact that we look different; or so I would imagine. Turns out this isn't so.

There are several things about me that seem to blow my kids' minds' every so often. I would put my arm hair at the number 1 spot. Armhair? Whats so different about arm hair? We'll, for one, Korean kids have none. There are many Koreans that do grow arm hair once they get older, but like all the hair on a Korean, it's black, or at the least, very, very dark brown. Mine isn't. It's blonde. But blonde is not a term that Korean children know, possibly because there is no such thing as a blonde Korean. To my kids, my hair is "Gold".

Their fascination with my arm hair doesn't end with them simply pointing and saying :"Teacher hair gold!"
No, on a regular basis I (and hundreds of other foreign teachers in Korea) find our hair being gently stroked by the kids. All it takes is for me to walk over to a kid's desk, and make some corrections in their workbooks, and BAM! They are stroking my arm hair. Pure Fascination!

It still doesn't end there. Some of the braver kids have now starting testing my roots. They will come up to me, start stroking my hair, and another BAM!, they pull out my hair! Why they do this I am not sure, but it's not particularly comfortable!

Another one of the children's enthralments are my eyes. This one is a little more obvious to understand, and a little less painful than the arm hair hang-up. This is usually a matter of sitting down next to a student, to help them with things in their books, and as you sit down, their gaze turns from the book to your face. When you then turn to look at them to see why they are not looking at the work in front of them they will quite often utter some words of obsession:" Teacher eyes velly velly blue", or another one that is quite regular: "Teacher eyes biiiiiigggggg!"

Being this close to a child that is this fascinated by your eyes can be a wee bit hazardous to your health, or at least the health of your eyes. Many of the kids will use their hands to express their absolute amazement with your eyes, and will point at them, often bringing their fingers precariously close to my eyes. A couple of very strong willed kids have actually tried to touch my eyes. Not gonna happen kid!

I seem to be a non-stop fascination shop for a lot of my students. I have very blue eyes, I have a lightish brown hair colour, and I'm 1,89m tall, which is towering compared to most Korean adults. One other thing I have caught my children out on is them making fun of how HHHHUUUUUUGGGGGGEEEEE my nose is. Which it really isn't. I do know that I have somewhat of a bump on the top of my nose, but by western standards, it's nothing too extreme. Here, my little bump has generated hours of fun for my children to make a mockery of.

The root of this allure is that Korea has an incredibly homogenous society. There are very few foreigners here (although that number is on the up and up), and most Koreans look very similar in appearance. Don't get me wrong, Korean's look as individual as any society I have seen, with incredibly beautiful faces to be seen everywhere, but people all have black, straight hair, and very dark brown eyes, bordering on black. My children often refer to their own eyes as being 'black'. With regards to the straight hair, I get asked quite regularly if I have a perm! Which I don't, my hair just happens to curl a little!

Next time someone looks at you for a second or two and you feel like they are 'checking you out', spare us a thought in Korea, the land where people will stop their daily routines (even their cars), so they can have a good and proper look at this strange being that is the foreigner!

Post by Oliver