빼빼로 Day!

Today is 빼빼로 day, or Pepero day. Here is some information I found on Wikipedia about the holiday:

Pepero, 빼빼로, is a cookie stick dipped in chocolate syrup manufactured by Lotte since 1983. Pepero Day is an observance in South Korea similar to Valentines Day. It is held on November 11, since the date 11/11 resembles four sticks of Pepero. The holiday is observed mostly by young people and couples, who exchange Pepero sticks and other candies.

According to one story, Pepero Day was started in 1994 by students at a girls' middle school in Busan where they exchanged Pepero sticks as gifts to wish one another to grow "as tall and slender as a Pepero."

Here is a display of some 빼빼로 for sale:

Story of the 16% Milk

After going to the gym on Friday, I stopped by the Lotte Grocery Store to pick up some snacks and drinks for the Halloween Party. I had used up the rest of my milk, and decided to get some.

I was standing at the milk section, debating what kind to get, when I remembered Emily had mentioned a few weeks ago that she bought the milk in the pink carton. I found one, and was suprised that some of the label was in English. This particular milk has 0% fat, and then, I decided to compare the Korean word for milk on this container to the other nutrition labels. I've tried about 3 different kinds so far. I was so suprised to find that those three kinds had 8%, 14%, and 16% fat!! I almost dropped the carton when I realized I'd been drinking 16%!! At back home, I'll have either 1% or skim. I always knew the milk tasted strange. It was so thick, it was like pouring pudding on my cereal in the morning. Well, alright, not that bad, but definitely like cream!

I ended up buying the last two half liters (they sold them in sets of 2) of skim milk. As soon, as I got home, I poured myself a glass, and while it was not WI milk, it was a great improvement from before! I've now memorized the Korean word for milk and also where on the nutrition label it is listed (it is different than in the USA) so that I don't end up with any more 16%!

Lotte Mart, Suwan, Gwangju

Today was the big day. Everyone has been talking about it at school for the last month. Lotte Mart had it's Grand Opening today, September 24, 2009. This may not be that big of a deal for many of you, but for the residents of Suwan, this is BIG NEWS. The development of Lotte Mart is bringing a lot of businesses to the area. Suwan, which is my neighborhood, is the home of the first-ever Toys-R-Us in Korea! We are also getting Baskin Robbins, a new coffee shop, and Nike, Puma, Fila, and Adidas shops. I know this because I see the signs for them on my walk to school.


So I decided to check out the Grand Opening tonight. I'm glad I went, but I'll never go to a Grand Opening again. It was worse than the mall the day after Thanksgiving. Lotte Mart is a very short walk for me. It is about 4 blocks, or 15 minutes. It is very, very close. Usually, on a Thursday night, the area is very quiet and you are lucky if you see a few people walking around. Tonight was a different story.


There were police directing traffic at the intersection, and guards directing traffic into the 4-story parking garage. People were milling about everywhere, and the cars were double parked.

I didn't spend too much time looking around because it was way to packed. I know there are 4 stories of outlet shops, and a grocery store on the other half. Since I knew I needed some basics, I headed towards the grocery area. I saw tons of crazy things- mushrooms for 129,000 won (about $100), lots of seaweed, fresh fish, rice, and of course, fresh kimchi. I didn't even know where to begin. I had to ask for help to get a basket because I didn't know where they were located, but luckily there were clerks at EVERY end cap, just like all the other Lotte and E-Marts.

I just picked up the basics- rice, seaweed, body lotion, mozzarella, tomatoes, italian dressing, and hair gel. I decided to get organic rice because 1) it was the smallest/cheapest bag 2) I know I'm going to be here a year, but do I really need 20 kilos of rice? 3) I didn't feel like lugging 20 kilos of rice home! And the seaweed, well, when in Rome! And, its pretty tasty! I'm really looking forward to the mozzarella!

I saw a lot of crazy things, but I think the most interesting things are the people. There must have been some pretty good sales going on. I saw a person with 11 packages of 24 rolls of toilet paper. It was taller than him. Not kidding, here's a picture!

It wasn't until I saw him on the other side of the checkout that I realized/counted 14 packages! Really, how much TP does a person NEED??

In all, it was a very exciting experience, and I'll definitely be going back sometime soon, probably to see the Toys-R-Us!

Orientation

The last couple of days have been crazy, so I'm sorry I haven't gotten to post recently! I am about to go to Lotte Mart with a couple of friends, so we'll see how much I can update you on.

We have been having a lot of lectures for the last 3 days. They were all pretty great. The speakers had different backgrounds and experiences, and I've gotten a lot fo good advice. The bottom line is that we have to speak openly to our co-teachers, and be flexible. It really depends on the school and the way it is set up. Many people have said they have anywhere between 600-800 students!!

Most everyone got a phone through the service provider, KT. They came last week and had 5 different models, but by the time I got there, they had only two left. They came in today, and everyone is going crazy! But I have to admit, this is by far the coolest phone I've ever had. Its so cute! Everyone is trying to get as many numbers as possible.

On Sunday, all of us piled in 16 coach busses for a field trip. We visited a traditional Korean village, had a Bibimbap event for lunch, and did a temple tour in the evening. The village was a lot of fun to see, and I took a lot of pictures. The downside of being one of 600 is that its sometimes hard to hear the details about the places. For lunch, there was a giant pot with a mixture of rice, spices, pork, and vegetables. There were Korean women serving it and they were efficient, so we got our food quickly. The temple was nice. We had a lot of time, and we were all exhausted from the heat, so near the end everyone was relaxing on the steps out of the hot sun.

I've got out the last 4 of 5 nights. There is a street nearby that everyone goes to. We've heard time and time again that Koreans mix business with pleasure much more often than Americans. We'll probably go out with our bosses and coworkers at least once a week. We don't get too crazy, but its nice to get out and hang out with and meet as many people as possible. I'm trying to make a lot of connections so it is easier to travel in the country. I've met so many wonderful people, and it will be sad to see us part ways on Friday. Our 1am curfew prevents people from coming back too drunk, so that's good.

Lotte Mart is a big store where they sell a variety of things. They say, if you can't find it at Lotte Mart, you can't find it anywhere. I'm on the lookout for a hairdryer and straightner. Hope to update pictures soon!