People Helping People

Last Saturday I went with a group of foreigners to an orphanage. This group of Christians are from the US and Canada. They do this once a month. I agreed to do this a few months ago, but I usually was hungover or woke up too late and couldn't make it. This month I made sure I would be able to go. So we met at 1:15 at Starbucks in Nampodong (just across the bridge from where I live) and waited for 1/2hr before a van came to pick us up. Yes, Starbucks are popular in Busan also, as well as Dunkin Donuts (which is much nicer than the one was in my hometown).

So we went there and played with kids. I spent the first 30 min playing basketball. Man, I suck! I'm so out of shape for that. But the kids were pretty good, lots of passing and teamwork; they were about age 10-12. Then me and the other guy in the photo played with a group of girls for the rest of the 2 hrs we were there. We came with more people, but they all disappeared and we couldn't find them.

I gave my buddy a piece of gum, and the kids, with their raptor-like senses, were on to me instantly and wanted all my gum. So I reluctantly gave it all away, everything I had. Then one girl though it would be a good idea to put rocks in the gum pack where the gum used to be. Pretty funny, so I said in Korean "Oh, delicious?" And I gave lots of piggy-back rides, chased them around and spun them around.

As we were finishing, one guy said to me that we are probably getting back more than we give (when we do this good deed). I didn't really have a response, so I just said Yea, I think so! lol I didn't see it that way at all, I just went to play with kids. Kinda like work, but no studying English. I was the only non-Christian in the group of foreigners. But it was fun and I'll try to get some better pictures next month. It's a really nice school complex.

Korean food

Ok, so you guys must wonder what I eat every day. To tell the truth I don't really keep track of what I eat, so I have to take pictures to remind myself. Usually for breakfast I have a western-style meal, like cereal or eggs and a PBnJ, orange juice, maybe a banana and a protein shake a bit later. The rest of the day it varies. For lunch I might cook up some meat and some vegetables. In one picture you can see the vegetables on a white plate. Next to that is what is known as busan odang, which is a sort of fish patty, particular to Busan because of its abundant fishing industry. It tastes great!

Last week I went to a fishery in Yeongdo with a coworker. It looked more like a warehouse than anything else. All their food was fresh, and I guess you could pick your fish if you want. I ate raw fish, its was okay, with some soju and beer. Growing up my family did not eat a lot of seafood because of allergies, so getting used to eating mollusks and squid and such was pretty weird. It still is because of the salty taste. Yes, I live on an island, but its just like the rest of the city, nothing special. I just cross a bridge to get to the rest of the city. There are two bridges and they are pretty short.

Later in the week I went to another place to eat, in Nanpodong, which is right across the bridge. Just look at the stuff! Its hard to explain what everything is. Its Korean traditional food. The big plate on the left is steamed pork, the big one on the right is kimchi. Then a bunch of side dishes, which is common to Korean meals. There are plenty of western-style restaurants as well, like Outback, Bennigans, MacDonalds, TGI Fridays, etc, but I don't really want to go to those places. There'll be plenty of time for that when I go back home.

Snow? In Busan?

Yes, it finally snowed in Busan on Monday! But by 11am it was mostly melted where I live. I received a few text messages to wake up and look outside, cause I've let everyone know how much I miss it! It was a measely 1-2 inches, and turned to light drizzle later. It was ok, but I wasn't all that excited. The picture of the mountains is the island I live on, on Monday around noon. The second picture is what I see everyday when I first walk out of my building. Nothing special, but I do get to see those mountains when I walk a bit farther down the street.

I went hiking again a few weeks ago, and took a few pics. I had a friend help me get those two little girls to pose, but they seemed pretty confused about what was going on, and maybe a bit scared of the big waygook lol! Also atop the mountain there are old mine fields, pretty fun. It used to be some sort of lookout point however many years ago due to its location close to the sea. On a clear day you can see all the way to the island I live on, but usually its kinda foggy.

Also included a pic of one of my students, a typical little Korean girl. Its funny, most Korean girls ages 6-11 wear pink almost everyday, either their coat or shirt, pants, etc. And you see that piece of paper being held up? Thats a scaredy-cat teacher who didn't want to be in the picture lol. Silly girls...