Rugby World Cup, Eating Healthy, and Muffins.

Last weekend, the Rugby World Cup began here in New Zealand. It is the first time NZ has hosted the event since 1987--the same year they last won the cup. So as you might imagine, there are a lot of expectations for greatness in NZ during this time. It is pretty exciting, since NZ is such a small country. We get to hear a lot of complaining at the same time--about how terrible the public transport is, criticisms on the decorations, and moaning about the referees making bad calls against the All Blacks(NZ's idolized Rugby team). At work everybody is getting into the excitement, which makes my days a little more interesting. I work with a lot of Pacific Islanders(Samoan, Tongan, Fijian, etc.), and they are all getting very into it, proudly cheering for their home teams. Tomorrow we are having a potluck to celebrate Samoa's first game of the world cup. I decided to make these banana chocolate chip muffins (blue and red to support USA!):

I made those to compensate for the healthy eating lifestyle Erlo and I are attempting. We always try to eat healthy, but after watching the documentary Knives over Forks which is all about Plant-Based Eating, we are trying to have less meat and dairy in our diets. It's a very compelling movie, and while I realize that it is probably biased, I think the evidence they present begs for at least a little conscious lifestyle change. Watch it and see what you think!

Anyway, tonight, I made this amazing dish:

It is roasted butternut squash stuffed with Quinoa mixed with chickpeas and caramelized onions. I used ginger, sprigs from our curry plant and fresh garlic to season it. Erlo agreed it was great. This was a completely vegan meal with plenty of protein. It was so filling neither of us could finish it! This doesn't mean that we are becoming vegan(Erlo definitely couldn't), but we both want to experiment cooking with a lot less meat and dairy. I know the muffins don't really follow the whole no dairy thing, but they are a treat... :)

Last 5's

Stolen from my BFF, with a few alterations:

last 5 books I read:

1)Stolen Innocence-Elissa Wall

2) High Noon-Nora Roberts

3) The Opposite of Love- Julie Buxbaum

4) Rogue- Danielle Steel(not proud...)

5) Slam- Nick Hornby

Last 5 meals:

1) homemade pizza

2) kimchi, rice, and tofu patties

3) delicious deli sandwich

4) korean beef, rice, and kimchi

5) cereal

*Last 5 people I talked to on the phone/skype:

1) Erlo

2) a girl I interviewed at school today

3) my family

4) Alicia

5) Bethany

*some of those had some repeats!

Last 5 things I watched on TV(rather, the internet):

1)Law and Order

2)Private Practice

3) 17 Again

4) Medium

5) Grey's Anatomy

Last 5 things I've bought:

1) water

2) some groceries, including eggs, cheese, bread, and vegetables

3) a coffee this afternoon

4) that delicious sandwich last night

5) a cold beverage to go with that sandwich

that was probably more interesting for me than for you!

Lately

So sorry I haven't been updating about the happenings over on this side of the world. I've been meaning to and finally feel completely over a sickness that seemed to last for way too long. It's nice to be able to breathe again!

I'll start with the weekend before last. I had a four day weekend, but since I was still on antibiotics and not feeling so well, I decided to stay home and get myself better for one of my favorite holidays: Cinco de Mayo! Really, I have to admit its just an excuse to drink margaritas and eat Mexican food, but what can be better than that? A bunch of us went to La Merce, the only "Mexican" food in the area. It is a poor excuse for Mexican food but they do have excellent ritas.

Jillian and the sombrero:

Alicia and I. The beer is good too:)


Mariko and Brandon, some of my favorites:


Having a discussion on the dating rituals of boys:



Although overall a pretty uneventful weekend for being so long, it was nice to chill and relax. I also bought some much needed curtains. Now I am sleeping until AFTER the sun comes up. It can be very bright on the 34th floor, you know.

This last weekend was much more eventful. Alicia and I went to the National Palace in Seoul. It's where the Royal family lived, but it was burned down and torn down by the Japanese on two different occasions(couldn't tell you exactly when, but it was very very long ago). The final restoration was in 1990, and it is very impressive. Supposedly, Koreans are so obsessed with the novelties of American culture that having such a large and sacred part of Korean history restored and kept up is pretty rare and special. It was really really cool. There were a couple museums there we didn't get to explore, so hopefully I'll get back someday. They had a little march by the "Royal Guards" in front. Here are a few of my pictures. I'll try to put the rest of them on facebook ASAP.

The showing of the Royal Guards:




The front of the Palace:


Throughout the day, we kept getting stopped by various students with assignments to perform an interview in English. Here's Alicia getting one. I had just gotten one right before this, and Alicia took my video, so it was only fair that I put this picture on my blog.


The architecture is very cool:
What I would look like as a Royal Guard:

A pagoda:


Kids painting the scenery, so quaint!



Beautiful scenery. This is the party house of the palace. Looks like fun!





After the Palace, of course we couldn't resist some good ol' Korean shopping:



Just kidding. Actually, we did go to the shopping district in Seoul again. Made some very crucial spring purchases. Later, we had Thai food in Itaewon, the part of Seoul where "all the foreigners hang out". Meaning, lots of Army and Air Force people, Indians, Africans, and of course, English Teachers from all over the world. Anyway, its a good place to eat, a sketchy place to go to bars, unless Army boys are your thing. My favorite part of the night was running across this vendor selling overpriced, dirty bracelets and jewelry. In case you can't read the warning, it is prohibiting vendors for setting up there. It warns that they will be severely punished....I wouldn't mess with Korean government either!

Hope you all have a great week!!!

Dinner and Blogs of Note

Hello....

Well, you'll be happy to know that I went shopping yesterday and found a BUNCH of new ingredients. I first went to the imported goods store, "I Love Cookie" and found some jalepenos, capers, chili seasoning packets, and some dried italian seasonings. After school, I went to a more upscale Korean grocery store, found some fresh ginger, cilantro(!!!!), bay leaves, curry powder, Hoisin sauce, and a few other things. Last night I made a delicious Asian salad with tofu, lettuce, cilantro, corn, and onions. For the dressing, I mixed together lemon juice, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, sesame oil and a little white wine. Yes, it had some powerful flavors mixed in there, but it was delish. I would have taken a picture, but when I mixed the tofuin, it kind of fell apart, and didn't look that pretty. Anyway, tonight, I'm making Chili, we'll see how that goes.

I didn't even plan on writing that much about my dinner! On another subject, you may have noticed to the left I have some links to various friends' blogs I read. They are all worth taking a gander. I just received permission to tell you about Bethany's blog too. I may be a little biased, but its maybe my favorite right now. :) Read it.

Your Help Needed

OK, this is a desperate situation folks. After weeks of spending a lot of money eating out and eating the same 3 things at home, I NEED to start cooking more and becoming more creative with my cooking. I just can't seem to get going though. The first couple weeks I found myself just buying the essentials at the grocery store and I find my meals are odd combination and often repetitive. I like to cook, and I think this is a great time to experiment. So here is what I have to work with so far(note: I know I will need to do some shopping in the near future!):

Currently in my kitchen fridge:
*Kimchi(obviously)
*Yogurt
*Milk
*Kiwis
*Sliced Ham
*Chicken tender pieces(I have a lot of this frozen-from Costco)
*Tofu

Currently in my cabinet:
*Canned Kidney Beans(again I have a lot of these from Costco)
*Rice
*Cereal
*1 can of tomato sauce
*1 can of corn
*Peanut Butter
*Cereal

Spices/Condiments I currently have:
*Soy Sauce
*Garlic-Sesame sauce/marinade(pretty good with chicken, but I'm sick of it)
*Korean chili paste
*Garlic
*salt & pepper
*Sesame seeds
*Sesame Oil
*Olive Oil

What I have to work with in my kitchen:
*a stove top
*no microwave
*no oven
*a small frying pan and a small sauce pan(I think I might invest in bigger ones)
*a washing machine(hmmm...)

What I have to work with in Korea:
*Limited cheese availability
*Limited spice and herb availability(haven't really investigated this fully, but the spice section at the store is minuscule, all I know is that I haven't found cilantro yet)
*abundance of vegetables, mostly sold in bulk
*abundance of seafood and meat


So, help me out. Give me your ideas as to what I can cook. It would preferably be as healthy and protein rich as possible, and be able to be stored for leftovers. So far I have made a lot of grilled sesame-garlic chicken and rice, cabbage soup, grilled ham and cheese, tofu and sauteed veggies. I'm planning on trying to make Chili this week with some of the kidney beans. So, have at it! Help out a single lady trying to survive in a different country!

around town

So I've been trying to take more pictures, but still only have a few of the area that I live in. I've been wandering a lot by myself, trying to get my bearings, and also find some interesting things. Today I found a Din Tai Fung, which is a Famous Taiwanese handmade Chinese dumpling place. Super excited about that one.

Here is a picture of Cafe Street, the area right down the road from me that is packed with cafes and restaurants. There are a lot of Italian and wine places, but also some Chinese, Japanese, and maybe American(and Korean, of course). Its a little pricey, but could be fun for a cup of coffee or some wine on a weeknight. I can't wait for the spring when all the trees will be in bloom. More pictures then.





Last weekend, I made my way to this department store, Shinsegae. It is right next to an E-Mart, the Korean equivalent to Wal-mart(classier, though). Shinsegae is a very high-end department store, with Louis Vuitton, Channel, Coach, and all those special names. There is also an over-priced Gap, and I was thrilled to find a Kiehls and Aveda store. Yay!





This weekend was my coworker Joel's birthday. We went to a Brazilian restaurant, where I attempted to use the little Portugese I knew with the waiters and we overdosed on meat. It was far from being close to as good as real Brazilian food, but it hit the spot for the time being. Afterwards, we went to a "Clubby Bar". It was here where a few of my coworkers bet me $50,000 won(a little less than $50) for me to go into the crowd and dance with a Korean guy. If they knew me, I'm sure they wouldn't have bet that much, because of course I jumped right in there and danced a song with a guy. Anyway, after that, the guy assumed we were bff, and all his friends came over and started to talk to us like we were celebrities. These girls were so excited to meet us, so I asked for a picture with them. Don't they look so happy???!





At the next bar, nothing significant happened, but this scary mask was hanging on the wall right next to me. Weird.





And finally, here is a picture of my new picture collage. I spent last night watching Vicky Christina Barcelona and putting these up. I like it a lot. All of the pictures are from within the last year. Also, Vicky Christina Barcelona is an OK movie, not great, but worth seeing just for Penelope Cruz's preformance.


And that is all. I joined the gym in my building, so I am trying to get motivated to work out. Marian suggested putting on my workout clothes and seeing if that helps. But Sunday afternoons are for naps, right??

Kimchi

As many of you probably know, Kimchi is a very popular dish here in Korea. It is basically fermented cabbage with chili. I tried it a couple times in Taiwan, but was never really able to get used to it. Since I've been here though, I've tried a couple different varieties, and discovered that it can actually be quite delicious. It can be eaten cold or cooked. Tonight, I cooked it up and put on some great french bread with cream cheese. Yummy indeed.


I've asked my kids at school if they like it, and they all do. Can you imagine young kids in North America liking this sort of thing? Yeah, no chance, huh?

well, I'm here.

Yes! I made it to South Korea safe and sound! I left California early Monday morning for my journey. It went amazingly well. I think the more I worry about flights these days, the better they seem to go. The girl at the check in counter for China Airlines didn't even weigh my bags! I was super worried about the weight, since I have the tendency to always be over the allotted 50 pounds. I was also pretty worried that I wouldn't be able to sleep on the plane. Leaving in the middle of the night has its benefits though...I slept like a baby. Despite the uncomfortable seats and having nowhere to lay my head, I was awake for only about 4 hours of the 14 hour flight to Taipei. When I arrived in Seoul, I found a taxi easily and made it safely to my new apartment, where my boss met me. The first day, I just stopped by the school to meet all the teachers and then took the day to rest and unpack. I was delighted to find that my new single occupancy apartment is on the 34th floor of a very nice building, complete with a gym, pharmacy, bank, convenience store, and several restaurants.

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday were my training days. This just involved observing the veteran teachers and meeting all the kids. I will be teaching a Kindergarten class in the morning and an elementary class in the afternoon. I didn't meet my Kindergarten students yet since they will be brand new on Monday! I am already expecting lots of tears and possibly wetting pants. My classes are very small--only 10 students. So much better than Taiwan in that aspect! I have really been impressed at how smart and well-behaved they all are as well.

So far, I couldn't be happier here! The teachers I work with are all amazing. So helpful and fun to hang out with. My boss is also pretty cool. He is willing to help has repeatedly told us that whatever we need he will do what he can to help. On Friday we all went out to dinner and drinks and had a blast. I'm excited to get to know these new friends:


After dinner, we ended up at a Norebong, the Korean KTV or Karoke:



Here are a few of my apartment:






Pretty nice, huh?

I'll try to get out the next few days and take some pictures of the area...very nice. There are lots of cute cafes and restaurants in the area, as well as good parks for running and exploring.