Day 10

• For the second time I got to use a fork. We went to an Italian restaurant for lunch. Chairman Yoon’s, the head of the company, eldest son took Chin and me out to lunch to say thank you for teaching the demo lesson. For desert we had a scoop of green tea ice cream served in a cup of cold espresso shot. It was so surprisingly good!
• So my friend Hye Jeung is having her birthday with weekend and I told her I would bake her a cake if only my apartment came with an oven. She laughed at me and told me that Koreans don’t bake; they boil, fry, or steam their food. Only high-end, new, expensive apartments come with ovens, and even then people only use the ovens to warm up their left overs. I just figured my apartment was too small to fit an oven but I guess it’s actually a cultural thing instead.
• After work today, Hye Jeung, Sunny and I took the bus to Lotte World (Korean Disneyland). Instead of a large mouse they have an even larger raccoon. They kept the same theme of using street rodents that people will pay 65$ to go see. Anyway, the girls helped me by a bus pass that is also good for the metro. And they taught me what my stop is so that I was able to make it home all by myself without getting lost. My stop is actually called “Yoon’s English Acadamy” so it’s really easy for me to recognize.
• We had Indian food for dinner, but they do not use Indian basmati or jasmine rice. They still use sticky Korean white rice instead, much to my disappointment. However, I did like how they made their garlic Nan bread. It was fluffy and not oily at all.
• After dinner we walked around the Lotte World Lake. It is quite beautiful at night. We sat under the gingko trees and had a beer and had a very relaxing evening, despite all the screaming you can hear from people enjoying the rides at the amusement park. Next Friday we are going back but will go on the rides, I can’t wait!
• Both Sunny and Hye Jeung are married. Apparently women here do not buy their wedding dresses. You pay for a photography and dress package that included 3 different gown rentals for the wedding and reception. So Loribeth I guess when you had all those costume changes on your wedding day it is customary and not eccentric at all : )