Pics from Daegu

Our new year visit to Daegu.

Happy New Year

Wishing everyone a wonderful 2009. I hope 2008 will be remembered as a great year for you and that next year exceeds your expectations.
Jason
www.asknow.ca

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Hello!

 

Just a quick note to say Merry Christmas to all of our family and friends out there.

 

2008 has been an incredibly interesting year and I'm looking forward to an even more exciting 2009.  I hope that you find time to unwind and be with people you care for during this holiday season (maybe I'm talking to myself here!).

 

Whether you celebrate Christmas or not, it's a great opportunity to just step back and review the year, think of what you want to accomplish next year, and appreciate everything and everyone around you.

 

Happy Holidays! 

 

Jason

www.asknow.ca

xmas dinner

yummy!

Thanks for the 20 cents

Dear nice girl on the bus,my hands were full and i put 2000 won in the slot and you noticed. You also saw that I didn't get my 20 cents change. So you asked the bus driver for the change 5 minutes later and handed it to me with a smile. I love this country some days.
Jason
www.asknow.ca

Pics...

My first attempt at a blog post with picture from my cell.

Jason Lynch Fundraiser Pics

A few pics from the fundraiser at Stompers for Jason Lynch

 

Jason

www.asknow.ca

Some Pics of Christmas in Korea 2008...the Preparation

Enjoy some recent pics of getting ready for Christmas at Chez les Cresswell in Seoul, South Korea!

 

Jason

www.asknow.ca

Egg Nog Success!!!

Wow!  I sit here in Korea sipping on some delicious egg nog...nope, I didn't make a quick trip to the supermarket back home...we're talking homemade! 

 

So, the first batch that we attempted was, well, not so good.  We deviated from the recipe and...oh wait, correction, I deviated from the recipe.

 

Anyhow, we ended up with a modified version of milk that tasted nothing like egg nog.  It wasn't horrible, but it certainly wasn't nog!

 

This, on the other hand, is a masterpiece! 

 

Does it taste like supermarket nog?  Nope.  But that's ok.  It's a whole new taste for me and perhaps the start of an annual Christmas tradition.

 

So, here is the recipe that I used:

 

http://www.eggnogrecipe.net/traditional-eggnog-recipe.html

 

The things that we did differently:

 

1. No bourbon or brandy handy...I put in a touch of Bailey's...next time I'll use more!

2. No nutmeg available...I used cinnamon and I think I prefer that for sure.

3. Skipped the waiting stuff and did it all at once and then put it in the fridge for a while.

 

Enjoy!

 

Jason

www.asknow.ca

 

Traditional Eggnog Recipe

12 eggs, separated
6 cups milk
2 cups heavy/ thickened cream
2 cups bourbon
1+ ½ cups sugar
¾ cup brandy
2 teaspoons ground nutmeg

In a large bowl and using a mixer, beat the egg yolks together with the sugar for approx 10 minutes (you want the mixture to be firm and the colour of butter).
Very slowly, add in the bourbon and brandy - just a little at a time.
When bourbon and brandy have been added, allow the mixture to cool in the fridge (for up to 6 hours, depending on how long before your party you're making the eggnog).
30 minutes before your guests arrive, stir the milk into the chilled yolk mixture.
Stir in 1+ ½ teaspoons ground nutmeg.
In a separate bowl, beat the cream with a mixer on high speed until the cream forms stiff peaks.
In yet another bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
Gently fold the egg white mixture into the egg yolk mixture.
Gently fold the cream into the egg mixture.
After ladling into cups, garnish with the remainder of the ground nutmeg.

Serves: 8.

Christmas in Korea...Coping Strategies

Well, if we were back home right now, it would certainly feel a lot different than it does here in Korea.  Back in Sudbury Ontario, I'm sure that it feels like Christmas is just around the corner, especially with all of the snow in the pictures that Stacey sent me.

 

But, here in Korea, it is difficult to imagine that Christmas is coming. Sure, there are some lights and decorations here and there, but nothing like the atmosphere back home. 

 

Am I alone in missing being back home for the holiday season?  Far from it I'm sure.  Every year at this time, applications to come teach here drop. Everyone wants to wait until after Christmas and come to Korea in January.  Why? To spend Christmas at home with their family of course! 

 

So, for those of us still here, it is easy to imagine that many people will be feeling more homesick than ever.  This year, we will be staying in Korea as well. It's been several years since I've missed a Christmas at home, so I'm feeling it too.  So, I've decided to come up with a list of things to do to help cope and bring the holiday spirit about.

 

In no particular order of importance...

 

1. Get a tree and decorate it!  Go ahead and download some Christmas music, then head over to your closest E-Mart, Costco, or other favorite store and pick up a tree and some decorations. We picked up a 150cm tree for 29,000 won at E-Mart on Sunday. Sure, it doesn't compare to the 7ft tall, 7ft in diameter giant real trees we get back home, but once you get decorating and turn off the lights and see the bulbs dancing, a little tree is almost just as good. Plus, no family arguments about how to stand it up, where to put it, which side is best etc...

 

2. Come to our Christmas Party. If you haven't signed up yet, do.  We are having a full on turkey dinner with all the fixins'.  Home is where the food is. So, since you can't take yourself home, we are taking the food to you.  www.asknow.ca/events.aspx to join.

 

3. Find some snow.  This perhaps makes more sense to northerners like myself, but I'm sure even those who spent most of their lives down south will agree that being in a snowy environment makes the mood much more festive. In our case, we plan to head to a ski resort for Christmas.  I always feel like I've gone to a different world when I go to a resort in Korea.  If that's not your style, track down and rent a cabin ("pension") in the woods in a place like Gangwon-do (province on the east coast).  Get a group of people together and head out for a gift exchange weekend.  Have a pot-luck dinner.

 

4. Write and Wrap.  One of my favorite things to do near Christmas is wrap presents.  Nothing says Christmas like the smell of Scotch tape and wrapping paper. Sure, I make a mess of it and my wrapping skills haven't improved since I was 8 years old, but I love sitting in my room, listeing to Christmas tunes and getting those gifts wrapped.  Many people also enjoy writing Christmas Cards.  Screw e-mail, go to the local book store or stationary store and buy a pile of cards. It's so cheap to mail stuff home...get those addresses and send the people who are important to you a Christmas card.

 

5. Make Eggnog.  Sure, not everyone likes eggnog (unbelievable!) In fact, I didn't enjoy eggnog until a few years ago. But now, it is one of the things I look forward to most each holiday season.  But, good luck finding it in Korea!  Surprisingly, it is not so difficult to make.  Brant found some recipes and made a batch that was superb.  We first found out from Chef Meili that home-made eggnog can be great.  I was used to supermarket nog, but when I tasted Chef Meili's nog with a hard hit of alcohol, I was hooked, as was Brant. So, off we went in search of a recipe.  Be creative like we were and throw in some extra Bailey's and Kahlua.  Or, go for alcohol-free batches for your morning drink.  Here is a collection of recipes:

 

www.eggnogrecipe.net/

 

I hope that helps give you some ideas of how to enjoy your Christmas in Korea.  Please feel free to share your plans for Christmas and help others who might be feeling the holiday blues.  Don't worry, there are plenty of Christmases to come!

 

Jason

www.asknow.ca

ROKetship adds video

Great news! Luke Martin of ROKetship has now launched ROKeTV. Check out this very entertaining video about the laundry challenge in Korea.




www.asknow.ca

Dispatches from Gangneung

Here is another installment in Melissa Steach's adventures as a first-year teacher in Gangneung on the East Coast.  There are so many comments in here that bring me back to my first year in Korea!  Great stuff!

 

Jason

www.asknow.ca

------------------------------------------ So there's this teacher I work with. Nice lady. She's friendly and upbeat. But here's the thing: she smacks. She sits at the desk next to mine and she chews like a cow. She chews her food, then she slurps her coffee, then, without fail, she says "Ahhhh" -- Repeat. Thursday I rode with Lindsey and her family to E-Mart. This is Korea's version of Wal-Mart. I arrived very excited to stock up on body lotion, moisturizer and some new boy shorts. My joy quickly dissipated when I saw the prices. Oh my god! How much for Neutrogena?!?!? You've got to be kidding me! The saleswomen who swarmed around me didn't understand. They pressed every brand of shampoo, lip gloss, vaginal fragrance, you name it as long as there was English writing on the label, in front of me. All at once they pointed, gestured, acted out the reasons why I should buy the product in their hands. I was overwhelmed. I couldn't explain the price issue. They were confused. "Cheap!" they chirped with questioning eyes. Lindsey's daughter Cathy had been assigned the position of Teacher Melissa's translator. At age twelve, her English is decent, but faced with the onslaught of salesmanship and my constant guffaws at the prices I saw... All I could get out of Cathy when I asked her what one of the many women were saying was "shampoo?" Halloween arrived and the children at QES went bananas. I arrived as a pumpkin. Despite the candy, I thought we were off to a healthy start. Each teacher had an assignment. Lindsey put boys in one room and girls in the other. They played Halloween games. Evelyn occupied another group of children in the screening room upstairs. They got their English lesson the old fashioned way: They watched it. Julie monitored the hallways and I painted faces and hands. At first the children all wanted jack-o-lanterns on their hands or cheeks until someone would decide on a ghost, then the next ten kids would all want that. This pattern continued for about two hours until, just when I was gonna hang myself in the hall and really give'm something to scream about, Max asked me for Donald Duck. When I finished he ran into the hallway and excitedly shared his freshly painted hand. The fun began. Like a pop quiz in pictures, each student came in with a new challenge. "Sponge-a Bob-a" asked one. "Colorful cat" said another. "Oni from Star Craft" challenged Jordan. Aw yeah I thought. I got so involved with my new personal competition that I didn't hear the trick or treat begin. Julie had closed the door to my classroom and though some twenty students stood outside knocking and yelling "trick-a or treat-a" for what I was told to be five minutes... I hadn't heard a thing. Finally, one of the two girls watching me paint a blue mouse onto Lucia's hand shook my shoulder. "Teacher. Trick-a treat-a time." The teacher's outing was Saturday. All of us went hiking in Mareung Valley (Utopia Valley). I thought last Saturday's grueling hike at Sorak Mountain was a fluke. I was wrong. I erroneously thought that a hike here is comparable to a hike in LA. You know, Runyan Canyon at the least. Frye Canyon or the Palisades if you're feeling adventurous. Oh no. It is literally a national past-time here. We hiked a total of five hours, passed two Buddhist temples both more than a thousand years old, drank water directly from a mountain stream, rested at three different waterfalls and had lunch atop a rock nestled in the forest next to a prayer sanctum marked by lovingly arranged rock totems. Once we finished our lunch of Kim bap (Korean version of sushi hold the fish, add pork), apples, persimmon, boiled chestnuts, pastries and a thermos of sugared coffee, I excused myself to climb further into the forest. While the others chatted and rested before the trek down I went further into the prayer sanctum to meditate. A prayer I could not have prepared poured forth as affirmations of gratitude. I understood then how communication has absolutely nothing to do with talking. That behavior really says it all and that is what I am truly responsible for. I don't know how long I escaped into this fold before an investigative chipmunk stirred next to me and drew my attention. He wanted to know what I'd brought along with my prayer as an offering. I left him a piece of apple and a halved chestnut before rejoining my group. During one leg of the hike up I'd counted more than five hundred steps. The three different sets of steps (more akin to ladders) we'd endured on the way up the mountain were no less daunting on the way down. My left knee began to pop and just when I thought I'd maybe been too grateful for my healthy body too soon, a patient stretch got me to the mountains base. I arrived invigorated and said another silent prayer: May I please be able to maintain at least half of what I'm learning long enough for it to become part of my being and not just some more esoteric babble because the proof just ain't in the pudding. My plan for Sunday was to sleep all day. Saturday's hike had followed four days of ninety minute yoga classes. I was beat. But by 3 p.m. I couldn't sit around any longer and so decided to take a cab downtown. Fall is my favorite season. I wanted to bundle up and expose my face to the crisp cold air. Lindsey told me that whenever I wanted, I could hop into a cab and simply say "downtown." Getting the cab was easy... however, the cabbie and I spent twenty minutes pulled to the side of the road and while the hazards blinked, we played charades. The cabbie and I threw clues back and forth. Words, gestures, sounds. At one point I found myself hoping on my butt across the backseat, purse in hand, acting out "shopping." I called Lindsey on her cell: no answer. He called dispatch: no luck. Finally after throwing in the towel and reaching into my purse for the won to pay for my time in the cab, dispatch called back and downtown we drove. Though we still didn't understand anything the other said, together we giggled all the way there. I browsed for about an hour. Downtown is a little older than the rest of Gangneung. The streets are narrow and the stores crowded. Music seeps into the streets from every shop mixing with the smells of coffee, pastries, roasting nuts and dried fish (stingray being a local favorite... teeth and all). I hailed a cab home with the confidence of knowing my apartment's street name or at the very least the name of the popular nearby market. After climbing in I started with my address, the engine idled. I tried again with Donghae Market... nothing. I ended with Dunkin' Donuts and off we went. During the drive home this new cabbie taught me to say "dong tek chi." This, he communicated, was the name of my neighborhood. I surmised that he was telling me this because he knew I didn't really want to go to Dunkin' Donuts, but figured as long as I knew this phrase I'd be able to at least get within walking distance of my apartment. We arrived at our destination. Smiling, we exchanged our own particular good byes before I exited and headed home. I fell into bed. Waking up in just enough time this morning, I downloaded pictures from the past couple of weeks before leaving for yoga then work. Saturday's adventure had made my legs tight and even though the instructor kept telling me "good job" in Korean, it sounded like the English word for "crutch." "That's what I'm gonna need when you're done with me," I said under my breath. She caught the look on my face and matched to the tone of my voice, she knew exactly what I'd said. Communication. We laughed and the day was good.

Come to Stompers Tonight!

I should have posted this earlier.  Anyhow, there is a fundraiser for Jason L. at Stompers tonight in Itaewon.  I do believe his band, Dog Soup, will be playing there and they will collect a 5000 won cover charge that will go to help Jason's cancer surgery payments.

 

So, head up the hill, or should I write, The Hill, in Itaewon and join us at Stompers for a drink tonight, Saturday December 6th. Jason L. is a great guy and he could use any help we can give him. 

 

Jason

www.asknow.ca

Either you Guys Really Love Hongdae, or We're Doing Pretty Well!

Brant, So Young, and I went to Hongdae this weekend after enjoying some SamGyupSal and a bit of soju.  We were joking about how soon it would be before we spotted one of our teachers in the area as it seems to happen every time we go.

 

Well, we hadn't been out of the cab for 30 seconds before we made our first spot! We met one of our teachers that we placed back in 2007 and he was hanging out with one of our teachers that just arrived a couple of months ago!  I have no idea how they met, but that was neat!  I have to admit I didn't recognize Megan at first, but she recognized Brant's name and we all figured it out after that.

 

So, then, after a drink at Rocky Mountain Tavern, we headed down to Jane's Groove where we discovered 4 more of our teachers enjoying the Groove!  Jean and Carrie with their group and Paul and Joey with another group.  Then, as we were about to grab a taxi toward the end of the night, we saw Becky, someone who applied with us but ended up getting a position elsewhere, but who has become really close with us and joins in a lot of our events.

 

I got to thinking about how many people might actually be around that we don't recognize because all we have to go on is one or two pictures.  It is quite possible that there were many more people that we should know. So, if you recognize us, be sure to come and say Hi!  I must admit that I'm proud of this little company we've built and nothing makes me happier than being able to randomly run into people we've helped get to Korea.  See you again on another weekend!

 

Jason

www.asknow.ca