We were asked Friday by our co-worker if we wanted to go to Busan on Sunday with her and her husband. Hmmm. Chin-cha? Interesting and why Busan?
There was to be an educational conference, of sorts, taking place at a Foreign Language College. Of course we had to go.
Wake up at 3:30am. Dress and catch a taxi to the train station. Arrive a little after 4am. Wonder why we are here this early when the train doesn't leave until 5...looking around for a coffee place to be open and then remember--too late--that the world of Korea coffee doesn't open until 10am. Dang it.
We meet up with our coworker and her hubby and board the train. They wisely arrive about 10 minutes before the train left. Things run on time here in Korea (I know, right?).
We board the train and try and sleep most of the way there of the 3 hours.
Arrive bleary eyed and a little less sleepy and take the taxi to the college. We have to admit here that we were not expecting a great conference. We have been to our share of conferences back in the United States and most are great while others are sorely lacking. This one was surprisingly okay and actually informative. We had coffee, snacks, etc. as a breakfast and we were given a coupon for lunch (and reminded not to lose our coupon several times during the morning). Cambridge Press, Harcourt and eFuture were there along with Costco giving out coupons, cookies and discounts on memberships. There were maybe 200 people there to attend and there were 6 presenters speaking about how to better teach English Language Learners.
This is all information Joseph and I have learned and mastered in our State side trainings and teachings; however, it was lovely to get a foreigner view on how to use these strategies to our advantage in Korea.
After the conference was over we took all of our goodies and decided to go to the world famous fish market. It was awesome. A street filled on all sides with fish vendors and most of those vendors having a shack in the back nibble that vendors speciality. We walked around and settled on one of the vendors for dinner. Six whole fish and a plethora of refillable sides (the usual) for less than $30 USD for four adults. Okay. We left soon after with bellies full of fish and wandered across the incrediably busy street to Busan Film Festival Street and Food Street where tons of people go nightly to sample the goodness of food and film. The night we were there (Sunday) was no different. Packed and crowded as sardines in cans we wandered around and slightly wished we hadn't eaten because there were several things we all wanted to try.
The train ride back was interesting. Joseph and I had standing room only tickets which means that we play musical chairs all the way back to Daejeon. We stand until there is an available seat then we sit until that person comes to claim their purchased seat. Then we stand and repeat. Picture a crowded cattle car (without the smell) and you have an idea what the train looked like on our way back. We actually got a permanent seat about an hour left of our journey and were able to sit the rest of the way without changing. Nice. Got home about 1am and crashed. Awesome day in Busan!
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Carmen...the Opera 10-29-11
Opera. Some hate it, some love it, some don't know what it is and most don't care. What is Opera? It is an artform in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score usually in a theatrical setting. There are elaborate costumes and sets and is part of the Western classical music tradition. Most Operas, though certainly not all, are performed in the Italian, French, German, and Russian languages. Opera was first brought about in Italy at the end of the 16th Century.
Another great performance in Daejeon this past weekend with Joseph and I and 2 good friends. We were fortunate to see the opera, Carmen in all of it's eleborate goodness. The performance was wonderful--the performers doing a splendid job. The entire opera was performed in it's original language, French, and the Korean actors did well. There were suptitles in Korean on either side of the stage for the audience to be able to know more of what was going on.
The performers were accompanied by a full orchestra and they did a very nice job as well except for ONE french horn player who was so flat--he must have been tone deaf not to hear himself and I can't believe no one around him told him about himself--at least he was 3rd or 4th french horn. Lee Ann and I winced each time he played and we were in completle sympathy about Hannibal Lecter eating the flat Flutist in the movie, Red Dragon (great movie). It made us giggle. Our seats were in the second balcony on middle stage right and still had an excellent view and were able to hear everything we needed to hear. Wondeful performance (except you, flat frenchy--you were terrible).
If you are not familiar with Carmen, you may read about it here.
Audience performance etiquite. You know, don't get up while the performance is going on, don't talk, turn your cell phone off, etc. All of us should know these basic fundamential guidelines to performance etiquite. I have to say the Korean's do a great job at these "rules" in the more expensive seats. If you are fortunate enough to sit in the upper balcony you may not have the same set of guidelines to follow. The opera was almost 3 and half hours long. That's a long time to sit still in the dark. I must say that I am impressed that the Korean people do a great job of turning their cell phones to the silent position. No vibrating or ringing--not even once. I wish American's did that. There were several children of all ages above 6 (younger than 6 are not allowed) that did wonderfully during the performance. There is not an announcement before the performance saying to turn off cell phones, but there is a reminder that children 6 and younger need to be in the play area and not in the hall.
A great night at the opera for less than 10 USD. I'm sorry, but that would have never happened at home with the same calibar of performance from both the actors and musicians. After the opera we went to dinner at a resturant not far away where the only item they served (basically) was a "bab" [rice] bowl. You are given about 20 or so side dishes on your table and each person gets a very hot bowl of rice and a raw egg. You choose your sides and put the raw egg on top and mix. The bowl is so hot that it cooks the egg almost instantly. It is delicious.
A great night had by all of us and we are looking forward to more.
Another great performance in Daejeon this past weekend with Joseph and I and 2 good friends. We were fortunate to see the opera, Carmen in all of it's eleborate goodness. The performance was wonderful--the performers doing a splendid job. The entire opera was performed in it's original language, French, and the Korean actors did well. There were suptitles in Korean on either side of the stage for the audience to be able to know more of what was going on.
The performers were accompanied by a full orchestra and they did a very nice job as well except for ONE french horn player who was so flat--he must have been tone deaf not to hear himself and I can't believe no one around him told him about himself--at least he was 3rd or 4th french horn. Lee Ann and I winced each time he played and we were in completle sympathy about Hannibal Lecter eating the flat Flutist in the movie, Red Dragon (great movie). It made us giggle. Our seats were in the second balcony on middle stage right and still had an excellent view and were able to hear everything we needed to hear. Wondeful performance (except you, flat frenchy--you were terrible).
If you are not familiar with Carmen, you may read about it here.
Audience performance etiquite. You know, don't get up while the performance is going on, don't talk, turn your cell phone off, etc. All of us should know these basic fundamential guidelines to performance etiquite. I have to say the Korean's do a great job at these "rules" in the more expensive seats. If you are fortunate enough to sit in the upper balcony you may not have the same set of guidelines to follow. The opera was almost 3 and half hours long. That's a long time to sit still in the dark. I must say that I am impressed that the Korean people do a great job of turning their cell phones to the silent position. No vibrating or ringing--not even once. I wish American's did that. There were several children of all ages above 6 (younger than 6 are not allowed) that did wonderfully during the performance. There is not an announcement before the performance saying to turn off cell phones, but there is a reminder that children 6 and younger need to be in the play area and not in the hall.
A great night at the opera for less than 10 USD. I'm sorry, but that would have never happened at home with the same calibar of performance from both the actors and musicians. After the opera we went to dinner at a resturant not far away where the only item they served (basically) was a "bab" [rice] bowl. You are given about 20 or so side dishes on your table and each person gets a very hot bowl of rice and a raw egg. You choose your sides and put the raw egg on top and mix. The bowl is so hot that it cooks the egg almost instantly. It is delicious.
A great night had by all of us and we are looking forward to more.
Turkey Day...Almost
Thanksgiving in Korea? Who'd of thunk?
As most of us know, Thanksgiving is a traditional holiday in the United States. Other countries have their variation, but "Thanksgiving" is all U.S.A.
How does one celebrate this United States holiday in Korea? Take some awesome friends and even a family member and throw in a great dinner and the "whatcha thankful for" speeches and that's about it.
Thanksgiving this year was celebrated in South Korea. With my husband, sister, and two people who should be part of the family. The day itself was not celebrated due to us working. That was strange because at home we have had the entire week off. Oh, how that is missed! The weekend came and with it so did my sister and a few friends. Saturday began with shopping for last minute items to ship back home for Christmas (believe me, that is a blog in itself) and then joining up with Kate, Amy and Lee Ann so we could all finish our shopping. Joseph met up with us later and we all went for dinner. Shabu shabu. Delicious. It is a bowl of boiling water surrounded by a BBQ grill and then you have Korean [cow] meat and you grill that at your table. There is a plate of raw veggies: cabbage, carrots, beets, onions, and sprouts. There is also rice paper that you dip in rose water and add the meat and whatever veggies you like, add sauce and wrap it up. Think non-fried spring rolls (Billie Jo: Pho' 97). After your wraps, meet and veggies are gone, noodles are added to the boiling water and then eaten. After they are gone, if there is any water left in the bowl, rice and an egg are added along with more veggies and stewed until a thick rice type porridge is created. It is too delicious for words. A few of us had cameras but neglected to take pictures. Don't worry, a blog will be dedicated to the stuff Joseph and I normally eat as soon as we have enough pictures to do it. We sat at the table for a few hours talking and eating and then were kicked out simply because Koreans don't sit at the table and talk. It isn't their culture. None of this socializing business. They go to bars for that. So we moved our party to Cafe Benne which is a coffee and gelatto shop. We sat in there for a few more hours and ate gelatto and laughed and then it came around to 'whatcha thankful for?" Even in Korea, this is one tradition that has to be done. Every one of us groaned and moaned but then we all put up our best and came up with some pretty awesome things about what we are thankful for.
Without giving specific information we are thankful for...
*the opportunity Korea provides us
*drama free environments and people
*great friends and food
We didn't even miss the traditional American Thanksgiving food--almost.
Korea Rocks.
As most of us know, Thanksgiving is a traditional holiday in the United States. Other countries have their variation, but "Thanksgiving" is all U.S.A.
How does one celebrate this United States holiday in Korea? Take some awesome friends and even a family member and throw in a great dinner and the "whatcha thankful for" speeches and that's about it.
Thanksgiving this year was celebrated in South Korea. With my husband, sister, and two people who should be part of the family. The day itself was not celebrated due to us working. That was strange because at home we have had the entire week off. Oh, how that is missed! The weekend came and with it so did my sister and a few friends. Saturday began with shopping for last minute items to ship back home for Christmas (believe me, that is a blog in itself) and then joining up with Kate, Amy and Lee Ann so we could all finish our shopping. Joseph met up with us later and we all went for dinner. Shabu shabu. Delicious. It is a bowl of boiling water surrounded by a BBQ grill and then you have Korean [cow] meat and you grill that at your table. There is a plate of raw veggies: cabbage, carrots, beets, onions, and sprouts. There is also rice paper that you dip in rose water and add the meat and whatever veggies you like, add sauce and wrap it up. Think non-fried spring rolls (Billie Jo: Pho' 97). After your wraps, meet and veggies are gone, noodles are added to the boiling water and then eaten. After they are gone, if there is any water left in the bowl, rice and an egg are added along with more veggies and stewed until a thick rice type porridge is created. It is too delicious for words. A few of us had cameras but neglected to take pictures. Don't worry, a blog will be dedicated to the stuff Joseph and I normally eat as soon as we have enough pictures to do it. We sat at the table for a few hours talking and eating and then were kicked out simply because Koreans don't sit at the table and talk. It isn't their culture. None of this socializing business. They go to bars for that. So we moved our party to Cafe Benne which is a coffee and gelatto shop. We sat in there for a few more hours and ate gelatto and laughed and then it came around to 'whatcha thankful for?" Even in Korea, this is one tradition that has to be done. Every one of us groaned and moaned but then we all put up our best and came up with some pretty awesome things about what we are thankful for.
Without giving specific information we are thankful for...
*the opportunity Korea provides us
*drama free environments and people
*great friends and food
We didn't even miss the traditional American Thanksgiving food--almost.
Korea Rocks.
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