Blog Posts Out of Order

Dear Blog Readers,

My apologies for my blog posts being out of order. I'm not sure how to fix it.

Anyway, here's a picture of one of the keyboards at school showing Korean letters too.

Chao for now,
ELTer now in the U.S.A.

Coffee Shops - pictures!

Just wanted to post more pictures from coffee shops and cafe's. What's the difference in terminology anyway?

Notice the spelling of "smoothie"...

Take out menu from Art Espresso Cafe

coffeesmith in Busan

Cafe Flue Friends sign

Cafe Flue Friends (Why 'flue'?!? Doesn't sound appetizing...)

Cafe Seattle, yes, with KFC's sign reflecting in the window (Busan)

Dunkin' Donuts, baskin robbins, and "coffee and fry" (Busan)

Coffee Shops

There are soooooooooo many coffee shops over here! Koreans are crazy about their coffee shops! Unlike cafe or coffee shops in the U.S., few here open before 10am. Weird, no? Well, not if you consider most Koreans work hard into the night so it seems coffee shops are particularly popular after... dinner, meaning *after* 7pm at night!

Some are chains, some aren't... 

There are American ones:  Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks, Krispy Kreme...

European-sounding ones:  Paris Baguette, Tous les Jours, Cafe Pascucci, Cafe Bene...

Other chains:  Angel-in-us Coffee, A Twosome Place, 7th Heaven, Holly Coffee, Bean Cafe...

Are these chains?:  Cafe Friend, TalkHolics, Beans and Books, Art Cafe, Hello Kitty Cafe...

Gallery Cafe

Close by, I like to support two that aren't chains:  Soul In, and the new Gallery Cafe.

Most offer fresh fruit smoothies (during the summer) with just fruit and ice, no sugar or anything else added! Smoothie flavors:  kiwi, mango, watermelon, strawberry, green melon,and my favorite:  Persimmon!

Many offer lattes:  green tea latte, sweet potato latte, brown sesame seed latte, and my new favorite:  honey-ginseng latte!

Waffle with fruit and ice cream!

Most of course offer the regulars:  Americano, Cafe Latte, Cappaccino, etcetera.

As for a "hot chocolate," sometimes it's called a "Choco Latte," and sometimes a "Hot choco."

Also curious - most do *not* have soy options. Most of the drinks here are made with milk! Koreans love milk it seems. There's even a soda-pop made of milk called, "Milkis" as in Milk + kiss. It's delicious I must admit!

Anyway, back to coffee, I asked my Korean friend why there are so many coffee shops. He said, matter-of-factly, Korean women LOVE their coffee! Hm... I can see how Korean women drive the market... But also, it must be something to do with the fact that sugar is so addicting and most of the drinks at coffee shops are *far* from sugar-free or low on sugar! 

Why then are coffee shops open so late?!? One of my favorite local coffee shops doesn't open until 10am, regardless of what day of the week it is! But it's open until 10pm and I see people in there ordering caffeinated beverages at 9pm at night! Well, it goes back to the Korean way of life - up all night, and up early too! Go go go! After being in the hot humid air in the summer, I too felt like rushing into whichever closest shop just to feel cool air and most likely it'd be a coffee shop, and of course a dripping wet cool ice coffee looks appealing to anyone on a sticky sweaty summer day! Now of course, after being outside in the frigid humid winter air, I want to rush in for a nice warm "noke-cha latte" (or Green Tea Latte).

It seems there are several reasons that coffee shops are popular:  the sugar, the air conditioning / heating, the way of life here- requiring one to do all things fast- and maybe the desire to be seen chillin in a coffee shop sippin a drink. Or maybe it's the need for a relaxing calm or cool atmosphere, away from the sounds of the street noise, and in an environment made with love and care.

"...There is only one happiness in life, to love and be loved."

Things I'll Miss

Things I'll Miss About Korea

sides (refillable, bottomless side dishes served at every meal)
heated floors
bus system
Korea fun, cutesy, or insulting socks

stickers
ATM machine that updates your bank book for you
cafe's
stationary "book" stores at which you can buy erasers, pencil cases, stickers, etcetera
Art Box - a store that sells stationary, fun alarm clocks, cell phone and hair accessories, etc.

I luv U chocolates from Artbox

using chopsticks
Korea's health care/insurance
acupuncture for $5-$10 per treatment!
Green Tea Latte
soy bean paste stew (even though most foreigners hate the smell and don't like the taste either)
how safe I feel despite being in the *city*
spa/bathhouses
bowing out of respect
the open-air MARKET
the PEOPLE of course!

Count Down: 0 days after today (late post)

Monday, February 18, 2013

Errand Day!

I thought the bank would be the most complicated errand today. It wasn't; it was the easiest!

My AWESOME but EXPENSIVE LG phone

The most complicated errand was going to the LG store to cancel my phone. After many trips to an from the LG store, and 3 hours of working on cancelling my phone, I finally finished about 5:30pm, and after paying $305!

IMPORTANT NOTE to those interested in teaching/working in Korea:

Careful of the cell phone thing! I wasn't told when I first got my Korean cell phone that the contract was for 27 months, and that breaking the contract early by canceling my phone would cost me this much!


If you're going to get a Korean cell phone, be SURE you have someone with you who speaks English well and Korean well and who will take the time to ask your questions and get you answers about the details to that you don't get screwed over by the phone contract system!

Count Down: 1 day after today (late post)

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Today one of my dear close friends, also a foreign teacher at the same school, helped me for a few *hours* to pack my things and clean. CK - THANK YOU!

Today I ate Korean bbq for the last time with 3 foreign teacher friends. "Seaweed - I will miss you!" I commented during dinner. Here's a view of the entrance to the restaurant.

Count Down: 2 days after today (late post)

Saturday, February 16, 2013 - Day of Farewells

Today I said, "Goodbye" to the Soul In (coffee shop) owner, the dollar store man and woman, the lady at the place where I used to buy 2 liter water bottles for 800 won, and to the acupuncture doctor, to my Korean friend (the doctor's niece), and to her mother, and to the foreign teachers.

I'm discovering that goodbyes are more necessary than I'd thought but not easy. I've never been good at them in the past. I usually brush over goodbyes, make them fast, or don't say them sincerely, or don't allow myself to be present when I'm saying the words...

When I said, "Goodbye," to the dollar store people, the woman came from behind the register and gave me a  hug and started getting teary-eyed.

The lady who sells the 800 won water surprised me by saying, "Go-ma-wa-yo" which, I believe, is the now-we're-friendly version of "thank you." How sweet!

Today I ate lunch with  my Korean friend; we had soup and rice cooked in stone pots (see picture). She gave me gifts too! Wow! I'm constantly flabbergasted by Koreans generosity, and by how unaware I've been that they have become a big part of my life.

Stone pot, soup, cutting kimchi

I have so much to pack and clean still and I'm still feeling sick but I know it will all work out because it must.