Sushi for lunch

I had been invited to spend some time with friends today and meet with a Korean student who is studying English at a college in Brisbane.

I was looking forward to it, especially as Sushi was on the menu and it was to be made by the student. I had taken some of my Korean photos too. Perhaps a little cultural exchange. I am familiar with Sushi - have made it here at home, but Sushi was not familiar to my Aussie friends.

It is quite a popular food for lunch and another friend and I often comment about the long queue at a Sushi shop that we pass on our way home from Society of Women Writers meeting each month. Clearly this sushi is popular for Asian people and Aussies!! It is easy to make, but quite inexpensive to buy ready made - generally a healthy meal.

My friends had turned their kitchen over to L from Korea, but it is not always to cook using someone else's kitchen, and L had some challenges. He even burnt the rice a little - but lifted the good rice off the top - and didn't spoil the taste.

There are many photos of different Sushi here too.

The noises and smells from the kitchen added to the intrigue - and soon a platter of Sushi arrived on the table - along with a plate of lettuce, tomato and olives.

I'm not sure that the sushi proved popular - though it was tasty and the sushi rolled in egg pancake was very keenly sought after! The plate was soom empty!

Dessert created by our hostess was great too - a great finale to a wonderful meal.

L spoke of his home, his work in Korea, and some of his experiences as an English language student in Brisbane. Perhaps life would be easier for some students if there was some quality information about living in Australia - even though many Koreans learn English at school in Korea, they do little conversation work, so find it quite a challenge when they hear us speak in Australia. As well, they learn American English, so our Aussie accent, and our Aussie English is quite hard.

I'm sure we could make these students more welcome too!

I thank my Aussie host and hostess, and my Korean cook for lunch today!!!! Many thanks.

Still working on material

I'm still busy putting material together for teaching in Korea. So much work to do - and so little time. It is starting to stress me, but I continue.

The weather has been strange - lots of wind and dust continues and everything everywhere is covered in the fine red dust from central Australia. Much less than Wednesday, but still not worth cleaning up.

We had lunch on the back deck - but the fine red dust took a while to clean off the chairs and tables. Even my laptop is covered in fine dust.

I spoke with my parents today - still have not told them that I am going to Korea. Still it will be only 7 weeks I hope.

We have sent our documents to the Korean Embassy with the application for our Visa. Hopefully we will get them back in plenty of time before we are due to go on Wednesday week.

More photos from my walk

Wild irises in flower near the river.

The Death of the former President

Yesterday it was my big Saturday in class. Seven hours of teaching with a one hour break in the middle. It was at that lunch break that we sat in a Chinese restaurant eating Korean food, that we saw on the television the news of the suspected suicide of the former President.

It appears that earlier that morning former President of South Korea Roh Moo-Hyun, had jumped to his death from near his home on the east coast of South Korea. My Korean companions were upset about this event as, despite the fact that this man and his family were embroiled in a scandal about bribery and corruption, he was a much loved former President.

Later I felt that things were rather solemn, sort of eerie in a way.

I did some research on suicide to find that South Korea has a very high suicide rate these days. There has always been pressure on folks to succeed and students at high school and university are under great pressure to do well. As well, with the Internet, they are able to read about suicde and I even saw a message from a Korean student willing to pay for a drug to help end his life, as he could not cope.

"Suicide is the fourth cause of death in South Korea. A government report released at the end of 2006 stated that South Korea's suicide rate was the highest among the members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in 2005. The report highlighted that the high suicide rate is a reflection of changing and conflicting gender roles, economic hardship and domestic violence. In 2005, 26.1 out of every 100,000 South Koreans committed suicide, a dramatic increase from 11.8 people in 1995."

(Source http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?at_code=390145 - Accessed May 243th, 2009)

There is certainly a lot of pressure on folk to succeed, and they donot like "losing face", so the former president's suicide is not surprising when you see how much pressure he was under with the investigations about his family and the money.

It was an eerie feeling last night. I hada feeling that people were sitting at home considerin the ramefications of the news. Even though there was suspicion of corruption with his family he was much loved by the people of Korea. It will be interesting to see what happens over the next few days.

A wander in the village

In the Jeonju Hanok Village there are many photo opportunities especially in spring as the azaleas and other flowers are in bloom. There is so much to see - I've been there three times already and still there is more to see, so I plan to get back.

It was the old part of town, and is being revamped to make it a tourist haven. This little street has cafes and shops along its length and a great water feature. At one point there is a stone water fountain where the water trickles down into the "river" that winds its way along the footpath. The water is only a few inches deep but it is quite a feature.




At various points along the way is a point on the pavement that says something like "take photo from here" which gives any budding photographer an idea where to stand to get a good photograph of the feature - which may be the water wheel above, a statue, or other place of interest.

There is much construction work going on and still much to do - and of course people live here as well as work here. The shop keepers are great - and many try their English skills with me. I've been given tea in shops, and taken from one shop to another by one of the shop keepers and even when I don't spend any money. Their courtesy is impressive.

Where have all the rivers gone?

A couple of weeks ago on the visit to Hanwon I made comment about the wide rivers with no water. My guide said it bothered her too - she recalls that as a child she and her parents used to visit the rivers but these days the rivers have dried up.

She thought the rivers had been dammed or something.

Around here the river beds have been transformed. Some have roads that pass under bridges before coming back onto the main roadway again, and on both sides of the rivers there are now pathways, and sports fields.

Today when visiting the area known as Mai San or Mt Mai Tap-sa, we passed quite a wide river bed, where huge earth moving machines were dragging rocks around the bed of the river. There was a small channel of water which would have been about 2 feet wide.

I asked my companions about it today. Oh, there is not enough land for farms, so they are making the rivers into farms. I heard today too that in some parts whole mountains are being moved to make way for farms too. In a small nation with a huge population, all needing food, I guess it is something that the government needs to do, though I would worry about the rivers.

Is this really playing around too much with nature??

Politicking Korean Style

Apparently there are some local elections coming up - I don't know what is meant by "local" here, but in any case it has made for some amusement on my behalf. I don't know how many candidates there are - maybe 8 or so, as they seem to have numbers attached to them.

I first saw a group of them "performing" on Saturday - as I was in a car we passed this group of people dressed in yellow shirts, with the candidate and his wife on platforms "performing" to the passing traffic. Yesterday when I was in town I managed to see more of this extra ordinary (for me) spectacle.

It appeared that someone other than the candidate (his wife perhaps?) was the speaker from the back of the vehicle which had a huge screen on one side - perhaps extolling the virtues of the candidate. There were folk in pink shirts handing out literature, and one old man, whom I suspect was the candidate's father collared me, and tried to explain that the candidate was his son. (I think that is what he was saying.)

As I passed the spot again a short time later I heard the speaker shouting - so passionate - loudly that it could be heard right throughout the park.

Later as I was walking "downtown" I saw two more groups. One group had set up at a busy intersection, with the truck with screen showing footage of something I did not understand - and a group of supporters dancing with white gloves on, in front of the truck. They saw me taking the film and waved to me. You might notice the crazy traffic at this intersection. (It is hard to make sense of the traffic lights - especially when many drivers, particularly taxi drivers, ignore all lights anyway, and pedestrians take their chances instead of waiting for the green walk sign.)

First Impressions!

Well, I've been here for less than 24 hours, so it really is a first impression. The city is rather quieter than I imagined and as it is just after winter, the spring flowers are about to erupt. I've seen some magnolia flowers, and a little cherry blossom, but it will realy be in full swing in a few weeks time.

The traffic is interesting. The motorways are busy with quite polite drivers everywhere. And quiet too. (No continual honking of horns as in China!). In this city the roads are narrow - and most only have room for one car to travel one way, so there is some interesting shuffling and parking.

The supermarket was huge and busy - but we had such a quick visit that I will tell more later. (After I have been again!)

What is amazing is the bowing. For example as we arrived at the supermarket there were many young people in uniform as traffic wardens, and they bowed to welcome us to the store. There is a lot of bowing! When we left the supermarket the same uniformed wardens bowed "to thank us for shopping there" I was told.

Everywhere people are bowing at others "as a courtesy".

The skies are blue, but there is a constant haze on the horizon. Pollution? Not really I am told - but it looked like smoke.

Food? - what a variety of fresh interesting food. Can't wait to have a slow tour of the supermarket! Very good looking meat and there's a variety of cheese too.

The people have been every so friendly. Just wonderful in fact. Overwhelming.

But things are different. I'm glad I brought sheets with me and my towel. Neither are used here very much. Taking shoes off before going into rooms/apartments is common and will be hard to get used to. The heating is from under the floor too. I don't know how it works but I have a control. The bathroom is a treat - there is a shower rose but no shower cubicle. So when I shower the whole room will be flooded. The whole apartment is rather tiny - but I do have a double bed, a small table and four chairs, and a tv which is only in Korean I think. I have cupboards, and a small fridge. New saucepans and one cup, and no glasses.

I have worked out how to use everything I think - although the washing machine will be a challenge. I can put that off for a few days.

I am on what we would call the first floor, and it is in a quiet suburb. I don't know my address yet, but can find it if I did not stray too far from here.

Interesting. Interesting.