Friday, January 18th,
2013 – Friday, January 25th, 2013
One of Aimee’s co-workers had a potluck on Friday
night. It was a lot of fun and
everyone brought really yummy food.
Aimee made a Korean food called Kimbap and I watched her make it/rolled
one myself. It has carrot, egg, ham
and radish in it.
On Saturday, Casey, Aimee and I went to watch traditional
Korean dancing and music. It was
done at a theater and every Saturday they have a slightly different venue with
different types of traditional dancing and music. They did a total of seven performances, each demonstrating a
different dance or music performance.
The performers wore traditional clothing and they used different types
of instruments. The one we all
liked the most involved around 5 women, in traditional clothing, playing drums
in-sync and spinning their body around so they were playing the drums from the
back at times and arching their back to reach the drum. It was really interesting to watch
every performance.
On Sunday, Aimee and I signed up for a self-defense
class. It started at 12:15pm and
we were in the class until 4:30!
We had two instructors; one was actually from Toronto and went to
Carleton. That instructor taught
us how to punch. The other
instructor taught us jujitsu moves. We learned how to get out of a choke and how to strangle
someone. We also learned how to
get out from under someone, how to elbow someone and other practical information
to avoid getting into any of those situations in general. After the class, we
went out for Indian food with the jujitsu instructor and another student in the
class.
Since we enjoyed the self-defense class, when we were told
they were starting a women’s jujitsu class on Tuesdays and Thursdays we decided
to give it a try. So far we
have learned how to break a fall, how to get from a vulnerable position to a
more dominant position and other practical knowledge. It has been a lot of fun and good exercise. My body is adjusting to the class still
and after the first 4 -hour class on Sunday, I was pretty sore. I am getting a little more used of
it. Right now, it is two days a
week but it might be increased to three days a week next month.
Friday night, I was invited last minute to eat at my
director’s apartment with my co-workers after work. It was so fascinating to see what a typical homemade
Korean meal consists of. With
every meal they eat Kim chi, which is normally a type of cabbage marinated in a
spicy sauce and she had four different types. She also gave me a small bag to bring home and now my
apartment is starting to smell a bit haha. She also had a bowl of de-clammed oysters, a small bowl of
miny scrimp. A plate with
fresh seaweed and more cabbage, a grilled fish with the eyeball still one it,
yellow bean soup, fish rice cake, rice, tofu, a plate with raw garlic, jalapeños, and onion and
finally stem cooked pork with a couple of dipping sauces for all of the
above. She also made an alcoholic
drink using Soju and pomegranate seeds.
It seemed like a lot of food for one meal, but it is apparently pretty
standard. Traditional Korean
food is extremely healthy, except they leave a lot of the fat on the pork. For dessert we had fruit: permissions,
Korean pear (giant round fruit that has the texture of an apple but the taste
of a pear) and apple. After
dinner, they showed me the director’s bed, which is flat marble that is
heated. Some people, like my
director, sleep on hard marble with no mattress and this is also very
traditional. My first thought about sleeping every night on a rock hard surface is "ouch" but I guess you get used of it.
Copy and paste the link:
http://kikinitinkorea.tumblr.com/post/33203435642/when-i-try-and-speak-korean-in-front-of-my
Copy and paste the link:
http://kikinitinkorea.tumblr.com/post/33203435642/when-i-try-and-speak-korean-in-front-of-my
