observations from the last class

The class I just finished tends to be one of my favorites: it's full of "characters."  I have recently discovered that the main gangster of the room is really smart, and thank heavens, he seems to be generally on my side.

Things they said today, and how they made me feel:

:(
Jin Sol said: "Teacher, arms, oh no."
My hairy arms really bother this guy, apparently.  It's like the tenth time  he's mentioned it, but at least it's always with a smile.  Initially it was funny, but now I'm like, geez, kid, my arms bothered me a little when I was at home with other hairy barbarians.  Here in the land of the hairless I'm starting to feel a mite more insecure about it all.

:(
Frankenstein said: "Internet shopping ..."  (other boys talking to my co-teacher, "internet shopping blah blah blah") -- finally, Frankenstein again: "Teacher, GMarket.  You, internet shopping."  Me:  "Actually, I got this at Uniqulo.  And this from Forever 21.  But I do like internet shopping."
I am pretty sure that he meant my clothes looked cheap.  I guess this outfit doesn't please them ... But it's so comfortable.  Still, I know I could do better, style-wise.  I think whether I wear it again will depend on how grouchy I feel, haha.  I'll definitely wear it on grouchy days.

:) / :-O
Sweetheart: "Teacher!  You girlfriend, my girlfriend!  Come here baby."  Me:  "I'm a little old, and you're going to get yourself in trouble."
This kid is adorable, but he better watch it, ha.  "Come here baby" is a phrase a lot of my boys try to use on me before I turn "death ray glare" on them.  I've heard them say it to other female teachers too -- wonder where they picked it up.  They just use it when they want help with their work, ha.

:)
Kid who actually has facial hair: "Teacher, me English, no." Me: "Okay.  This one - where do you live?  You house?  I live in ---, you live in ---?"  (blank gaze of confusion in response) I then proceeded to ask where his house is in Korean - freaked him out a little, haha.  But he understood and gave me an answer, way too fast for me to catch it.  So I sat down and tried to talk through things with him, but his main response was, "Mm.." with a vaguely distressed look of incomprehension.  Which I understand.  Poor guy.  I think we made a little progress, and I'm surprised that I didn't notice him before today.  Seems like a good kid.

too much punishment, etc.

Since teachers aren't allowed to hit the kids anymore, my school has had to be a little more creative with punishment methods.  It's become a lot more noisy in my hallway as a result - kids have to do more punitive yelling, apparently.  I think this hurts me more than it phases the students.  Anyway, what's worse than yelling is the cleaning - they've had the kids put some potent-smelling stuff on the floor and I feel sick from breathing the fumes.  I imagine the kids must feel worse than I do, since I'm sitting here in a room instead of out in the hallway itself.  Anyway, I wish they'd pick something non-toxic for the children to do, ha.

In other news, my co-teacher is humidifying our office by running an open hot water pot.  Pretty sure that is both against the manufacturer's instructions and almost totally ineffective.

the danger of cooking for yourself

People!  I think it's risky business to cook for yourself.  Not because you may cut yourself, light yourself on fire, or inadvertently poison yourself; no, the real threat lies in addiction.  Addiction and elitism!

Once you've made something you're really happy with, you'll start to judge all other versions of that dish against your own.  You'll be spoiled.  If that elitism isn't bad enough, add to that that to find satisfaction you'll always have to work!  In some ways, that's good.  You can make yourself happy, save money, time, etc.  If your favorite restaurant that makes the rolls 'just so' closes down and those rolls were the paragon of rolls, well, you'd be out of luck!  But not if the paragon of rolls for you are the rolls you roll yourself.  Then you're blessed with the knowledge that as long as you have the power and wherewithal to do so, you'll always have rolls.  But.  You'll always have to make them.  You can never "treat yourself" to a night out with rolls.  Sure, maybe you like cooking - maybe you love it!  But your self-made food addictions can only be satisfied through your own labor.  It's a blessing and a curse.

This is what's on my mind as I stuff myself with some of the food that I love.  I used to cook this stuff all the time at home and back at school, but for some reason not that often in Korea.  (It's American Chinese food, haha.  Simplicity perfected, people.  Or nearly so - the only thing that could make this better is the right kind of tea to drink with it, and I won't bother - I've got darjeeling made and I won't waste the oolong.)

regarding disappearing products

Less than two weeks after I bought it, that delicious butter from Homeplus is already gone.

WHAT THE CRAP, Homeplus.  I'm so upset.  Seriously.  It was soooo good.  Good enough to eat on its own, people, and that's kind of a disgusting thought, I know, but I think it was that tasty.

Just posting this to remind you that I wasn't joking when I suggested you seize the moment when you see things you like in stores here in Korea.  Buy while the product is within your reach.  I think I'll go around to different Homepluses (ha) and see if they have any of the other butter hanging around.

exposed skin! gasp

My students are adorable in their concern over my state of dress.  They generally compliment me if they think my outfit looks good, something along the lines of, "Oh teacher, beautiful!" or "Good fashion!  Teacher, fashionista!" All cute, right?  Right.  I know the boys are often lying because they want to be charming, but regardless, it's a flattering practice of theirs.

Sometimes, though, my students get very serious.  This happens when I am inadvertently showing some amount of skin.  Examples:

• Scene: I'm seated, slightly leaning forward at an all-girls' table, my shirt collar slightly open.
• "Oh, teacher!"
• "Yes?"
• "Shirt - oh!" She gestures to her chest, covers her neck, and looks at me.  I nod and sit up straight, covering any centimeter of previously exposed skin.
• "Thank you!" I say to my student, mirroring her solemn face while inwardly "aww-ing" over her concern.
• "Teacher.  There are boys outside." (She points to the door.)  "So be careful."
• One boy pulled at the back of my shirt once so that the front would pull up - I think I've mentioned this before.  That was rather odd, especially since he didn't try to say anything about it, and it was a break in his "generally acting obnoxious" behavior which I was trying to address at that time.
• Today I heard, "Teacher!  English teacher!" as I was walking around the classroom helping kids with their work, so I figured that's what the student calling me needed.  However, when I turned around, the boy that addressed me just pointed to a girl near me, and she reached over and patted my back.  Apparently some of the shirt that I'm wearing under my sweater was showing - maybe even a little of my waist moments before, as I'd leaned over helping a nearby student.  I thanked them and pulled my sweater down a bit.

Unrelated to skin exposure:

Two of my boys just said hello to me in the hallway as I was walking back from lunch with my co-teacher.  They said their formal hello to her, and to me, "Oh, hello!" accompanied by a crazy elaborate bow from one of them -- not the traditional Korean on-the-floor bow, just something involving a lot of arm motions and a waist-deep bend.  Curious.  Then, of course, singing.  They started some 2am or 2pm song (my co-teacher told me, I didn't recognize it) and then - as we looked at them - they started dancing in sync, and kept it up as we walked away from them towards the office.  Um.  Cute, weird, over the top, ha.

tip! on rubberbands

The talented and wise gyopo wife mentioned this wonderful tip somewhere on her blog: I probably found it when I was spending waaaay to much time reading past posts some months ago, ha.  Sorry for acting like a creeper by reading up on your past experiences, gyopo wife!  But your writing is good, and it's fun to follow along.  That, and after getting the invaluable rubberband tip, I can't stop myself from gleaning for more kernals of great knowledge.

If you find yourself in need of a big rubberband, gyopo wife has come up with a great solution: make one from a rubber glove!  This works wonderfully, people.  I haven't looked for rubberbands in stores.  I honestly don't need dozens of them even if I were to find them.  I just need a few.  In order to make a rubberband from a glove, all you have to do is cut off part of the glove with scissors.  Pretty simple!  I use one to keep a too-small trash bag open and secure in a too-large trashcan, and I have two on duty keeping a bag of pasta and a bag of flour sealed.

A note on the flour and other ingredients: I have been advised to keep many things in the fridge.  I understand that some things stay good longer that way, and that it might discourage/delay the appearance of things like weevils.  (Eeek!)  I have only seen weevils once here, and I'm not even sure they were the sort that I had seen occasionally back in the States.  Whatever they were, they appeared after a couple of weeks in a bag of red adzuki beans that I had purchased from Homeplus (Homeplus brand.)  Since the bag was closed and no other grains were in that cabinet, I can only assume the creatures came in with the beans.  And I had already eaten some the week before - the beans, I mean.  I guess I probably ate some creature eggs too, if they hadn't washed off when I cleaned my beans.  So appetizing, right?  Eh.  Anyway, from that point on I decided to not buy Homeplus brand beans, ha.  I can't keep something like flour in the fridge because I am positive that it will pick up a kimchi taste.  I really need to do something about that, ha.  It's delicious kimchi, but because of the way the fridge is made, even my ice cream is now kimchi flavored.  The store-bought kimchi is well-sealed enough to not leak odors in the fridge, but the stuff I got as a gift is pungent and emits a kimchi odor through a lock and lock container and two sealed bags, ha.

welsh cakes, illustrated

This is the the welsh cakes recipe that I started with, by Stephanie Jaworski.  Actually, that's a lie, now that I think about it!  This is the welsh cake recipe I really started with, and it's by Chichi Wang?  I'm rather confused.  I know Chichi Wang posted the post and photographed the food, but who is responsible for testing the recipe and adapting it from A Baker's Odyssey?  Probably Chichi Wang, right?  Hmm.  I found that recipe because I was in one of my "oh my gosh, I just really want some lard" moods, so I googled up a bunch of recipes that used lard one day during my spare time.  I really ... love lard.  I haven't been able to get up the courage to ask Korean butchers about getting my hands on leaf fat, so my time in Korea has so far been lard-free.  Alas.

Since I don't have access to lard, I can't make that exact version of welsh cakes.  So I looked at this bbc welsh cake recipe, then at the recipe by Stephanie Jaworski.  I went with Jaworksi's when I decided to get baking - I suppose guess because it didn't call for lard so I wouldn't have to bother with substitutions.  Here's my take on that recipe.

Cranberry Orange Spice Welsh Cakes
kimchipress, fall 2010

• 2 cups flour
• 2 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/3 white granulated sugar
• 1/8 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
• --
• 1/2 cup cold, lightly salted butter, cubed
• --
• 1 tbs orange zest, finely chopped
• 1/3 to 1/2 cup dried cranberries.  I left half whole, chopped the other half.
• --
• 1 egg, beaten
• 3-4 tbs heavy cream

Salted butter is all I have access to, but at least this is a good import from - let me see, Denmark?  It's called Lurpak.  So it's not horribly dyed or oddly sweet, like some Korean butter. I really love the taste of this stuff, and it's my first time using it.  Now that I know it's good, I'll go buy a bunch.  New arrivals to Korea beware: your favorite ingredients may disappear without warning here.  Stores like Homeplus and Emart love to switch things up frequently.  Land o' Lakes and Prego have both vanished since my arrival. : (

You may have noticed I didn't call for any salt.  I think things went fine without it, especially considering my salted butter.  I don't know if it would have affected the rise, texture, or taste of the final product that much.  I also didn't turn my welsh cakes.  Hah.  Basically they just look like flat scones, but the taste is decidedly different, if only just.  The spiced flavor is mild, but lingers on the tongue.  If you really want "Christmas" taste, increase the amount of spices you use.   But go easy on cardamom - that stuff is potent.

1. Heat oven to 350 F, or 175 C - the latter is what I went with, since I'm playing with my new oven.  Butter a pan.  I used a ceramic cookie sheet type thing that came with my oven.
2. Blend the dry ingredients (not the zest or cranberries) together until things are thoroughly mixed.  Add the cubes of butter, a few at a time, and cut in with a fork or a pasty cutter - since I don't have one here, I went with the fork.  Continue mashing the butter about until you don't seem big blobs of butter.  Garbanzo bean sized chunks are okay, though.
3. Mix in the zest and cranberries.  Mix a tablespoon or two of cream into the egg, beat briefly, then add the egg cream to the mix.  Blend to form a rough dough, adding a tbs or two of cream if need be.
4. Turn the mix out onto a floured surface and work the thing into a somewhat manageable blob.  You don't need it to be super smooth, just enough to look relatively uniform.  Press it flat (roll it, if you wish) to 1/4 or 1/2 inch in height.
5. Cut into desired shapes.  Ideally, cut into rounds with a cookie cutter.  I cut my dough into pie wedges with a knife because I don't have a cookie cutter, ha.  A drinking glass would work, but will tend to crush a sharp edge.  I'd rather have a sharp edge in this instance instead of a round shape.
6. Brush floured hands over rounds or wedges and place them on baking sheet, leaving an inch between the pieces.
7. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until top is barely beginning to show touches of gold.
8. Leave on sheet for as long as you can bear (5 minutes? ha), then sprinkle with sugar and devour with a cup of good tea.

welsh cakes

Well!  I have turned my oven on for the first time today.  I've had it for quite a while, but couldn't bring myself to test it out on anything less than cookies or welsh cakes.  Since the welsh cakes require cold butter instead of soft, ha, that was the easier/speedier choice for the evening.

From what I've read (all two recipes?) welsh cakes are generally baked on an open griddle, not in an oven.  But since I know my stove works and didn't know if my oven did, I switched my methodology.  Though for those that cannot bake, welsh cakes would be a great thing to be able to make, especially here in Korea, eh?  Bread (cake?) like this is a treat.  Sure, there are bakeries, but most of them bake Koreanified bread.  Not welsh cakes, ha.  I'll have to try the griddle method out before I can suggest it to my baked-goods-deprived fellow expatriates.

The cakes themselves are amazingly tender, somewhat -- flaky, maybe?  They crumble easily, but are not dry.  I flavored mine with dried cranberries, orange zest, and a faint hint of a variety of Christmas-y spices, because it's November and I'm totally in the holiday mood, ha.  I'll post the recipe I was inspired by, my own modified version, and pictures of the finished product as well.  As long as I can restrain myself from eating them until I've taken pictures?  Haha.  Had hoped to give some to my co-teacher tomorrow, but I ate my first two so quickly ... I fear for the wellbeing of the rest.

camera issues

I've been thinking about getting a new camera for a while now.  Maybe ... 6 years?  Hahaha.  I did buy one, and it's been darling, but I wonder now if it's time to get one of the other cameras I had been considering.

I currently use a sweet little Fujifilm Finepix - it works well as the "keep it in your purse" outing camera, and it really shines in low light conditions.  That's why I bought it, actually.  I knew that it could take decent pictures at concerts, and it was small enough that I'd actually cart it around and use it.  It has done its job well.  Though it has a "sports" setting, I just don't have the speed with it to take pictures quickly.

That's why I sometimes think of a DSLR.  I want to be able to snap shots of people, especially, before they notice, haha.  My students are totally my intended main target - it would be really sad if during my time here I acquired only a few photographs of them.  Especially since they are so adorable!  Their faces are super precious, ha, so I want to keep a record of them in their shining youth.

A DSLR is big and expensive.  Not too big, not too expensive - I have one that I've picked out that's around $1,000, and I'd pay that for a good camera.  But what worries me more is the fact that I don't really know how to use one well, and I don't care to spend my life editing images.  I know the color is off with them - it's usually too unkind, the borders with white a little odd.

I'd really like a film camera.  I don't know how in the world to go about picking out a good film camera, ha.  And I don't know much about how they operate, technically.  I've read a little, but it hasn't stuck.  But the look of film!  I like the detail of it, the tone of it - and, I'll be honest, the darn "oldness" and tangibility of it.  Film prints are so different than digital prints.  And slides!  Don't even get me started on slides, people.  I freakin' love slides.   And to top it all off, I don't just want a regular, portable 35mm film camera.  I want ... I want a medium format camera.  Haha.  The kind you have to set up on a tripod with a sweet box and billows and etc.  I want that AND a portable camera.  Future ambitions, probably?  Hmm.

Since I haven't made up my mind on the camera front, I did go ahead and buy myself an expensive little baby Instax Mini.  It's super precious, and I'm really happy with the photos it produces.  I doubt they'll last long - I'll have to make digital copies.  But for now, they'll do.

thanksgiving update

I have:

an oven
canned corn (creamed and whole kernal)
cornmeal
a turkey*

I need:

... On second thought, this list would be too long to bother posting at this point.  Basically, "a lot."

If you find yourself in Korea and in need of a raw turkey, the rumors are true: you can indeed purchase one at Costco.  That is where I bought my 17lb bird.  I carried that baby home, people.  Along with other stuff!  It can be done.  Costco also has delicious looking 6000 won pumpkin pies - I really want one, ha.  I'll try to get one soon - hoping they aren't sold out yet.  There were only 5 turkeys on display when I picked mine - I'm not sure if that's because they only want a few on display, or if that's because that's all they had left.  I could have bought mine later, but I chose to get it early because I have a fear of being Turkey-free.  Pie-free -- I can handle that.  (Maybe it's a marketing ploy?)