flowers, fruit, friends and Chuseok

We have another Korean holiday coming up next week. Chuseok (everyone seems to pronounce it chew sock, so I guess that is correct)is held on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month. Apparently in ancient times, they worshipped and held festivals under the full moon. Presently, this holiday is a "thanksgiving" of sorts where they visit ancestral grave sites and observe the rites of clearing the grave site and offering food and drink to their ancestors.

Anyway, it also seems to be another occasion to give gifts. This week, we have received kiwis, oranges, cakes and wine from different Korean businesses such as the agent and the management company that we rent from.


I have a book called CultureShock! It discusses various customs and cultural differences, as well as everyday living in Korea. I have pretty much read it all but I still look up things I can't remember from time to time. I know that the Korean people feel that good business relationships are built upon strong personal relationships. One Korean man explained to Ken and I one time that the friends he made when he was younger are his friends for life. And they spend alot of time, money and effort on these friendships because sometimes these relationships are a key factor to their success in business. Anyway, I looked up the passage on gift giving in the workplace and it stated that not only do the gifts show respect and appreciation, but they also serve in getting someone to think more kindly of you. It went on to say that that these gifts are commonly given during important Korean holidays and that if you receive such a gift, it is important that you reciprocate. I wonder if Ken knows that. Better check.

Speaking of gifts, I received a few of my own yesterday. I had a morning coffee for the women and wives of the project at our apartment. I had been wanting to do this for some time and finally got around to setting a date and sending invitations. It was nice because not only the wives attended, but the four women that work in the office (one works for the company, the other three were hired to work on site here) were able to come. By the way, look at the beautiful orchid they brought me.
I also received more flowers and fruit. It happened to be a box of grapes and I cleaned and put some out. I then learned something new - they don't eat the skins of the grapes. They put the grape in their mouth and then spit out the skin and seeds. You are left with a plate of grape skins that they say are too sour to eat.

Anyway, I think that the coffee (or tea party, as some called it) was a success. I plan on doing it again sometime. We all are different ages, nationalities and with different backgrounds and interests, but we are all here for the same reason. So if we can make a few more friends along the way, so much the better.

oh, my goodness......i'm famous!

The other afternoon I went strolling around Okpo. I usually will get out in the afternoon when it is cooler but I really haven't done that since I have returned since it has been so warm. After all the rain we have been having, it was nice to walk around town.

While walking, I met up with two friends of mine and we went into a little shop that sells Korean chests, pottery and souvenirs. As we entered the store, 2 other expatriate women were leaving. One of them turned to me and said, "I think I have met you before." I didn't recognize her and we both started to try to figure out where she might have met me. All the sudden she exclaimed, "You're Kim in Korea!" I immediately became very flustered and somewhat embarressed. It turns out that she moved here 2 months ago from Brazil. She had gone online to try to get some information on Okpo and came across my blog. I was trying to remember what pictures of myself I had posted when she said, "you are in it too!", to one of my friends. Then I realized that she was referring to one of the photos on a recent blog about our visit to the Geoje Art Center. I then had to explain everything to my friends, who aren't as up-to-date as me on the blogworld. (I am just being facetious, of course.)

I started all of this for myself and family members, but it was sort of flattering to meet someone that took time to read my blog. I am sure I will come across her again on the streets of Okpo. It was really nice to meet her and she let me take her picture............!

kim's grill (or is it mr. kim's grill?)

Since coming to Korea, I have had to shift my way of cooking somewhat. I don't necessarily mean the kind of food (however, that has changed drastically) but the way I prepare food. I do have a gas cook top and an extremely small oven (with only one small rack that a 9x13 inch pan can hardly fit on). But coming from Texas, we used the outside gas grill year round. Alot of times I would just put some chicken, burgers, pork chops, etc. on the grill and then just round out the meal with salad or vegetables and potatoes or rice. Of course, sometimes on the weekends we would get fancier and Ken would grill fish or steaks, but I usually did it myself during the week. After selling the house and living with Bailey temporarily, I had discovered the George Foreman grill. It was a small one, so I usually had to cook the meat in increments but I liked cooking with it nonetheless.

While in Korea, Ken and I have been on the lookout for one here but to no avail. We do have a small outside charcoal grill but it is not as convenient or quick as a gas grill. Last week we were scanning the channels for something to watch on TV and somehow stopped on one of the channels that was advertising a "George Foreman type grill" - but I think it was Mr. Kim or Mr. Park or Mr. Lee selling it instead of George! Like in the U.S.,you will find shopping channels on TV, which is where we found this. Most of them concentrate on food or cooking. Have a gander at some of them.

Anyway,we quickly wrote the phone number down and Ken asked the secretary at the office to call and order us one. It wasn't too bad for here ($45) and it arrived the other day. We were thrilled and I will be trying it out tonight. I'll let you know how it goes. You probably wonder why we just didn't bring one from the states. Well, the electricity is different here and we would need a transformer to convert a U.S. plug to run anything with a heating element. We do have a transformer but it is a small one to run a mixer, etc. I bought my blow dryer here.

More on scanning the TV channels...! We have some sort of cable and satellite TV here. After awhile you get to know which stations will have English speaking shows on them, but that doesn't mean they will always be in English or what time they will be on. We have 2 channels that usually have movies on them but lately we have noticed Desperate Housewives on one of them (I think it is a season or two behind). We also have a couple of channels were you can chance upon shows such as CSI, Prison Break, House, Ripley's Believe it or Not or Numbers. There is a BBC channel that sometimes has funny British shows and we do watch alot of Discovery Channel and Animal Planet. There is also a "chick channel" (Ken never usually watches it) that you might catch Bravo shows such as Project Runway, Next Top Model, Ambush Makeover, etc. Luckily for Ken, there are several channels with sports. Sometimes you can catch American baseball and almost always golf but it is commentated in Korean. They especially like the LPGA because there are alot of top women golfers that are Korean. Of course, there is CNN and BBC News. The problem with TV here is that you never know when things will start. When you come to a channel, there will be something in Korean at the bottom of the screen with a time frame on it (for example, 7:50-8:40). You may watch an entire program with no commercials or sometimes there might be a couple. Mainly the commercials are before or after the program, so it is hard to judge when something will begin or end. Their commercials are usually very short but numerous. Hope you enjoy some of them!! (By the way, I didn't tape these but I have seen all of these on TV. This person was able to video them better than me.)

Now if Ken and I could only agree on the remote control! He will start to look for something to watch and stop on a channel and watch it for awhile regardless how long ago it started. In other words, he will stop to watch something that has already been on for an hour. I think we should quickly go though all the channels to see what is on and what time it starts. Then we should decide what to watch. What do you think??

korean brush painting #3

I am still taking painting class every Friday morning with Mr. Park. It is one of my favorite things I do while here in Okpo. I spent most of the spring doing the 4 seasons - everyone does some of the same pictures at first and these are some of them.

I enjoyed doing them but they really aren't, as a group, one of my best I think. The two pictured are winter and summer.

Since I have been back I have completed "kimchi pots in the snow" and am now working on some pine trees in the snow.






I also have been taking a bead class since I returned. It really isn't too much of "my thing" but it actually has been sort of fun. And I have met several new people while taking the class.

Just a sampling of my new handiwork....!

That reminds me, here is a picture of the beautiful jewelry box that was given to me by the shipyard.

friday night in jangsuengpo

I realize I am behind on posting but I seem to have been busier than normal. Hopefully I can get back on my regular schedule and get some of my thoughts down on paper (or computer)!

Ken and I had a pleasant surprise on Friday night. The company that leases our apartment to us gave us some tickets to the Geoje Island Art Center, which is located in the town south of us called Jansuengpo. We weren't quite sure what we were going to see but we knew it had something to do with music and dancing. When we arrived, we saw a few other people we knew and were able to sit together to watch the performance. The theater was fairly full with mainly Koreans.

It began with 6 men and women sitting on the stage with various instruments. The women were dressed in beautiful traditional Korean dress. There was one woman playing a wooden flute and four others playing stringed instruments. I looked some of the instruments up and found that one of them was called a guhmoongo.
It is larger than it looks in the picture (maybe 3 or 4 feet) and was played either with a bow, a stick or by plucking with fingers. The other stringed instrument was a haegum, which was played rather like a cello except for the fact that it was quite a bit smaller, more like a violin.
The music itself was not the most pleasant sounding I have heard. I could not imagine how they were keeping time. They could have made a huge mistake and we would have never known the difference. Ken later said he was worried that the whole presentation would be this, but I thought it was entertaining to watch the musicians.

During the presentation, there were 2 different dance numbers. One was with fans - I actually found a picture on the internet that looks like the dress they wore.
There also was a lady that came out onto the stage with much acclaim who talked and sang. It became obvious that she was telling a story of some sort. What surprised me was the audience. They would shout out words and sometimes sing along. Even though we didn't understand, it was fun to watch.

However, the most amazing part of the show were the 5 Korean drummers. They first sat on the stage playing various drums and percussion instruments. They were absolutely wonderful. I couldn't believe how long they could keep it up and stay in rhythm with each other. Talking about it doesn't do it justice. After a short break - there was some more music and dance - they came back out from the back of the theater. They marched down the aisles with some very interesting hats on. When they got on the stage, the purpose of the hats became apparent. I also found a picture of one of them that is exactly how these men were dressed.

The long ribbon twirled around and every which way while they danced and played these amazing drums. Dependent on how they moved their head, the ribbon would follow along. It was truly astonishing, especially since they were energetically dancing and playing the drums at the same time. Hopefully we will have another chance to see this while we are in Korea.


When it was over, they all went outside and you were able to take pictures.



What a great experience!