Korea and its COOLNESS

As I roam the streets of Korea, walking aim-lessly with no specific destination in mind, something cool ALWAYS seems to present itself to me.  If I'm lucky,  I'll have my camera on hand to capture a picture to share with you.  If the "stars are not on my side" (haha I just went to a tarot card reader the other day for fun)  I won't have my camera and will take pictures in my mind by blinking my eyes.

Fortunately, I usually have my camera, so enjoy the cool, cute, interesting, unique creations of a smart Asian country.

Watch TV while you drive and navigate (So you don't miss any World Cup Games)

Parking assistance (the green means there is an open spot in this section.

The red in the back means all spots in that section are taken.  

CLEVER.

 

Looks like this candle kills bugs,

but the guy told me it sucks up the smoke from his cigar...

View of Daegu from my uncle's apt window (monsoon season=random rains)

 

The department stores are EXTREMELY accomodating :)

(found in bathroom next to hand soap)

How specific...

I wish I had one of these to drive around campus with!

Swing with your sweetheart <3, drink coffee, and people watch

All at once.

Parking Contraption...never forget where you parked

Because the car comes to YOU!

The mechanics of this parking puzzle thing

I like it when my beer wears a hat :)

I guess Koreans believe in aliens?...

yes, I come in peace as well 

My favorite bar...take-out cocktails

An ad in a metro

No need for dog-sitters anymore.

Feed them, call them, and video chat with them from your cell phone!

Adorable clothing!

Fortune telling is a BIG thing in Korea!

~Melissadaptable

How to make soondubu (spicy tofu soup)

Step-by-step pictorial.  This is me adapting to the cooking styles of Korea :)

Sweet 16 steps [very very simple!]

INGREDIENTS:

(a pot with 2 cups of water)

 (a package of tofu...I prefer the not so mushy kind)

 (팽이 버섯 idk the English name.  Can be substituted with bean sprouts)

 (a leek)

 (an egg)

 (gather everything like this)

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Boil the water

2.  Pour in the soup mix

3.  Stir while boiling

4.  Add in the mushrooms or bean sprouts

5.  Chop up the leeks

6.  And add them in

7.  Stir 

8.  Open the package of tofu...if you do it this way, it's less messy

So make a slice along the edge of the package

9.  And poor out all the water first

10.  After you rinse off the tofu, cut it into 1 cm slices vertically

11.  Then make one slice down the middle horizontally

12.  Add it into the soup

13.  And stir

14.  Add an egg into the soup, but don't stir for a little while

(I actually failed at trying to break it with one hand...)

15.  After a little while, mix to find the yoke and make sure it's cooked like this

(If you feel uncomfortable adding raw egg, try scrambling your egg, then putting it in)

16.  Aaaand you're done!  

Refer back to my tips on eating spicy food before you enjoy!

*The great thing about soups in Korea is that you can customize it to fit your taste.  Add whichever vegetables you want:  carrots, zucchini, etc. and it'll still taste great!  You can also add mandu (dumplings) or seafood like shrimp and clams.  Have fun!*

~Melissadaptable

I got hickeys on my back

Just to warn you, this may be a little inappropriate.

They are dark, discolored, circular, and 12 in number...and they run from my neck down to my butt.  How did I get them? 

This is the story of expectations being WAY off.

2 years ago when I came to Korea, I got a facial...only, it wasn't JUST a facial.  It was a facial that included the massage of my bubbies (Lauren if you are reading this, I am using your word lol)  Talk about AWKWARD.


I was passing by the same place on my way home today when I realized that a back massage would be AMAZING.  So, I decided to pop in and ask if they did back massages (they aren't too common...ppl usually just go to chimjilbang, which is a spa/sauna).  She said they do, so I entered the ginseng-smelling room with soothing traditional Korean music playing. 


Perfect.  This is going to be just what I need:  a nice back rub, a little shoulder massage, maybe a back popping--but then she says, "Please take off your clothes."  ... HUH? 


Ok, that's fine.  They say that at every place you go to...but usually they leave the room.  I'm not sure if it was because she was in a hurry, or if I was American, or maybe it's just the way they do it here in Korea, but I had to undress in front of her...again, AWKWARD.  I did as I was told and proceeded to lay on the massage bed.  


It started off fine, with the kneading hands, working out of kinks, elbowing of my shoulders...but then she stopped.  After a few seconds, she came back and began SCRAPING my entire back with the most extreme pressure using a plate.  Did you read that right?  Yes.  Yes, you did.  It was a plate.  A small one, but a cooked clay plate nonetheless.  

EXCRUCIATING PAIN.  SCREAMING MUSCLES.  STABBING BONES. 

I thought I was going to die.

That's not where the hickey's came from though.  That was only the most painful part.

Following the scraping of the skin on my back with a plate, was the cleaning of my blood....or something like that.  I was in too much pain at this point to be paying complete attention.  

She placed a small plastic thing that looked like a cup on my back.  Using something that looked like a fancy corkscrew, she suctioned the air out of the cup.  You know that feeling when you're getting your blood pressure checked and it feels like your arm is going to implode?  This was worse.  The feeling was something like the cross between a leech sucking and a clam clamping.  I had 12 leeches sucking, 12 clams a-clamping, but this was no Christmas jingle.  

Thus, she tells me that I will have marks.  Okay, so maybe a couple circles here and there from the outlines of the cups.  HAHA wishful thinking.  I have 12 LARGE salami-shaped hickeys covering my back.  Great.  No backless shirts for me and no pool for a while...if people were to see it, they would think that I have an octopus for a boyfriend.  

These are just the top two...they hurt like no other!

Moral of the story.  Ask if kitchen utensils are used for the massage before agreeing to get it.

... and don't ever get into contact with an octopus.

~Melissadaptable

Mayor Election Exhibition

The city of Daegu just elected a new mayor.  For the campaigns, some people had trucks, blasting music while waving like princesses in a parade.  Others had people at the end of EVERY cross walk bowing to every single person that crossed.  Still others had people shoving flyers into the hands of any passerby, who took it simply because they felt bad for not taking it when the 아줌마 (old lady)  offered.  

But this...

this, by far, was my favorite campaign.  

• People passing out not only papers, but little packs of tissues.
• Bicycle parade, in which they rode bikes, unicycles, tricycles, quadrupicycles.
• Coolest part of all of course, was THE DANCING!!!

This guy was my favorite.  

Even though he was trying to keep himself together most of the time, 

he had the best expression and kept SMILING.  He was definitely having fun!!

Here's a choreographed dance they did

If you don't wanna watch the whole thing, skip to the 1 min. and the 2:20 min part

Koreans do things in such entertaining ways!


PS.  Sorry for the horrible quality of the vids...my camera wasn't meant for that lol

~Melissadaptable

WORLD CUP!!

대한민국!!

South Korea vs. Greece: 2-0

Here's the story:

I went to the streets in front of the Coex mall in Seoul to watch the game...along with 3000 other people standing with ponchos and umbrellas in the pouring rain. It was a SWARM of red (that's South Korea's color), and the feeling of pride was incredible!  

Everywhere I looked, I saw red jerseys, thunder sticks, scarves, clappers, and light up devil horn headbands. People were clapping, cheering, and chanting the ENTIRE time!! I lost my voice, joining in the screaming. Quite exhilarating really!

Even after the game was over, people littered the streets chanting daeee-han-min-gook! bam bam .. bam bam bam! (haha the bams are claps btw) Car horns tooting, random high-fiving, crazy people dancing. It was all so friendly and happy!

Turn on your speakers!

The great thing about Korea is the unity of the people. If you read my previous posts, you'll find the one about how Korea is group-oriented...well this made it VERY obvious!! And this unity is constantly seen everywhere I go. Whenever I talk to someone about cultural differences, I always say "in America," but no matter who I talk to, they're response is ALWAYS "우리나라에," which means "in our country." I find it very inviting because if you are in "their country" you become part of it.

It was like a big fat high school pep rally!

~Melissadaptable

Tips for Eating SPICY Food

1.  Prepare yourself mentally.  Unsuspecting spicy is the WORST surprise.  (Why do you think that gum from the trick shop is so funny?)


2.  Keep an extinguisher nearby:  milk, rice, really cold water.  Do NOT use beer, coke, or ANYTHING carbonated.  Your mouth will explode like a firecracker.


3.  Don't let it touch your lips.  Your lips have tons of nerve endings and will feel every bit of spiciness.  You may say "Who cares? "  But why would you want your lips to burn if they don't have to?  Burning lips will not make your kisses any hotter.


4.  Swallow as fast as possible.  You want to get that spicy stuff out of your mouth as soon as you can!


~CONGRATULATIONS!  You are now ready to tackle something spicy.  Go forth and EAT!~

~Melissadaptable

Shabu Shabu. mmmm*

Here's a meal that is cooked with boiling water.  No fat or grease added.  Simple, yet bursting with flavor of natural energy.  Deeee-licious!

Table with a built in grill...I wish my table had that!

Tall people must have a hard time sitting at this table

... I'm only 5'5ish and I found it uncomfortable

FINALLY! 

too bad the meat's raw and frozen cmonnn

It does look yummy though!!

Korean beer...GUMBAE!!

Veggie bar...if only the US had this many options too, I might be vegetarian

In with the greens!

Stir the pot aaaand...

This becomes an AMAZING meal!  

(The beer actually aids with the digestion of the meat

... at least that's what I'm told)

P.S.  This is suuuuuper healthy!  No lie!   ^.^  

(this is the little face on my phone for health haha cute!)

~Melissadaptable