Thanksgiving Day didn't seem like Thanksgiving this year, not only because I had to work as if it was any normal Thursday (because, here, it was...), but also because I didn't spend it with my family, eating the traditional fare and playing cards and board games, though I was able to skype with Mom, Dad, Kirk, Kandie and Mike in Texas Thursday night, which made it feel a little more like a holiday :). Though I still haven't become homesick in the depressed and sad sense, I certainly miss the people, food and traditions that happen during this time of year. Saturday's Thanksgiving celebration was just what I needed to fill the slight void I felt.
Thirty one people gathered in Dionne and Scott's apartment, which was about a fifteen minute bus ride from E-Mart, to celebrate a traditional Thanksgiving. We had all of the usual food, save sweet potatoes, including a turkey they found at Costco that was imported from Australia! In addition to the turkey, we had two kinds of sage stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, two green salads, corn relish, rolls, a relish tray and cranberry sauce that someone found at a black market store in Seoul for five dollars a can! For dessert, we had pumpkin pie, Boston creme pie, bread pudding and a cranberry apple pie. Everything was so good! And, for those of you wondering about eating turkey for the first time in a couple of years, here's the verdict. I like meat in Korea because it's covered in sauce or other flavors. I will never enjoy the taste or texture of meat. I slathered the small piece I took with gravy.
I contributed a green salad to the dinner and dressed it with this delightful lemon vinaigrette dressing that Kirk and I made all the time last summer. Even though I had to make a couple of changes to the ingredients based on availability, prices and utensils, it turned out quite nicely! Here's the recipe. Try it. It's easy. And, it will blow your mind.
1/2 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon minced shallot
1 1/2 teaspoons dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1/2 teaspoon sugar
Whisk all ingredients in bowl to blend (or make in a jar and vigorously shake with the lid on). Season with salt and pepper. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Chill. Bring to room temperature before serving.) Makes about 3/4 cup.
Aside from eating, we played many, many games. Banana-grams (like scrabble), cribbage, euchre and a new guessing-type game called family were what occupied the rest of the day, as well as several deep conversations and singing Christmas carols. I made some new friends and am going to start gathering with them on Sunday nights for a dinner and worship time. Because everyone comes from a different religious background, though all are Christians, I feel very safe in opening up and exposing myself to this new group of people. I think it will be a great time for learning and expanding my faith and outlook. Perfect! The women also meet on Wednesday nights, so I think I'll start gathering with them after the new school year starts in March. I'm very excited to have been connected to this new community of people.
During the night on Friday, I was woken up by a full blown storm. Lightning, thunder, rain, etc. So, on Saturday morning, when I woke up to a light covering of snow, I was a little surprised. There was less than half an inch of snow, but it was very heavy and wet snow. I was surprised by people's reaction toward the snow. I guess it takes some getting used to since it's been several months since they last dealt with it...
Before I journeyed to the Thanksgiving gathering, I was taken out to lunch by Hyunjoo and her family. She has the most adorable six year old twins, Samuel and Evelyn and her husband, Bong Kye, is very sweet. They picked me up and had planned to go to one of their favorite restaurants, though I'm not really sure what the restaurant was to serve. I never found out, either, because they weren't open due to the snow. So, Samuel and Evelyn requested shabu shabu, so they took me to a newly opened chain restaurant that specializes in shabu shabu. It was amazing! This restaurant provided many more types of food than the other shabu shabu restaurant I have tried. Hyunjoo and I opted for a spicy broth. Instead of getting merely thinly sliced beef, greens and mushrooms, we got fish cake, a beef compound with the consistency of braunschweiger, mandu, radish and probably other things that I am forgetting, as well as noodles and rice at the end. The rice wasn't as much fried rice and rice porridge because they left more broth in the pot. It was yummy and warm on the chilly day. There was also a tasty salad and a very mild kimchi that was more like a relish tray than actual kimchi. It was sooooooooo good and cheaper than the other restaurant too! I'll be back, for sure! During lunch, Hyunjoo also asked if I would be willing to play with Samuel and Evelyn once a week. They were born in America and learned some English very early on, and continue to use it sparingly. Hyunjoo is concerned that they are losing what English they know, so she wants me to hang out with them, so that, at least once a week, they are forced to speak English. Tomorrow is our first "play date" and I'm pretty excited about it! I'm hoping to teach them to play Go Fish...
Last night, I ordered a pizza for the first time. I had it delivered to my apartment and I was so scared to order it! It took me about 15 minutes to psych myself up to order it and when I did, I was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was! A woman answered the phone and when she heard a foreigner on the other end, she put me on hold and found someone who spoke really great English to help me. I ordered a potato pizza (which had Korean bacon, which isn't cured like at home, small pieces of beef, potato wedges, corn, onion and a sauce that tasted like a seasoned mayonnaise on top). Since I called from my land line phone, I thought my address automatically appeared in their system, which was perfect because I don't know what my address is... When they asked if the address they told me was correct, I said, "Sure!" The wait time was supposed to be 35 minutes, but over an hour had gone by and I hadn't yet received my pizza. I thought the problem was that there are two buildings that have the same name and sure enough, I got a phone call asking me to verify my address. This time, I made sure to tell them I lived above the hapkido studio and about 15 minutes later, I heard a knock at the electronic door. I opened it to a pizza delivery man who looked a little agitated. Today at lunch, I was telling the lunch table about my pizza ordering experience and Toni said, "Oh. That was your pizza?" Last night, the pizza man walked through our electronic door that must have been left open for some reason and tried to deliver the pizza to Toni because the apartment number they had on the order was 402, which I thought was my number. It turns out I'm 403 but since I was a foreigner, they assumed it was Toni ordering the pizza. That poor delivery kid came to our building twice last night with the same pizza...
I'm excited to try different kinds of take out delivery here now that I know how it's done. It is super cheap because they don't have extra delivery fees and you don't tip them either. And, in the case of most delivery food, they serve it to you on actual plates instead of stryofoam boxes. When you're done with your meal, you leave your dished outside your door and they come back to retrieve them later. How crazy is that?!
On Monday, I wore dark skinny jeans, a light blue v-neck sweater, a pink, blue and teal plaid scarf and my Ugg boots. I was little surprised to have the following exchange while I was brushing my teeth after lunch:
Grace Teacher: Oh. Noelle Teacher. I like your outfit today.
Noelle (holding my toothpaste covered toothbrush, and speaking with a mouth full of toothpaste as I waited for an open sink): Thanks!
Grace Teacher: Look like cowboy today.
Noelle = baffled.
All week, I've been playing the same game with my students. We all stand in a circle with one person in the middle. They spin in a circle and when they stop, they point to someone and say a letter. The person that was pointed to sits down and the people on either side of her have to say a word that starts with that letter. (We also played a variation where they have to say a word that ends in that letter, which was much harder.) Whoever says it first wins and goes to the middle and whoever loses is out. Some of them get so into it and it's so funny! Sometimes they say a word over and over to prove they won. So, there's a chorus of EAR EAR EAR EAR EAR or TIGAH TIGAH TIGAH (tiger, but when they say it, the r sounds like an h). I also play, so when a student realizes they have to play against me, they often make funny noises because they're sure they're going to lose. What they don't know is that before I answer, I count to ten to give them a chance to think of something. Sometimes, I also can't think of a word that fits whatever variation we are playing. Whenever a student beats me, the whole class breaks into a low sounding OHHH as I sit down. It's so funny. Also, no third graders this week so far. They've had to attend various lectures and programs, so we even haven't seen them all week. I'm starting to miss the little boogers.
Now for the last bit of excitement: yesterday, I booked Jill's and my tickets to Vietnam!!!! We're going to spend eight days with our pal Maren in Hanoi, which is in northern Vietnam. We're sooo excited!
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