Super Crazy Korean Snow Day!

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Two days ago, Korea saw it's heaviest snowfall since something like forever. It was magical! Snow doesn't usually fall heavily here in Korea. Last Winter, snow would fall occasionally, but would melt away a couple of hours later. On January 4th, 2010, though, something close to 26 cm of snow smothered Seoul. Anyhow, the whole point of this backstory is to tell you that this snow day was AWESOME! Spudgy loved it, probably because he never saw snow like this before. We went out to the park to tape Spudgy hopping around in the snow, and happened to get a lot more than just Spudgy acting silly. It was a wonderful day, and we have it on tape, so click the picture above to see our video of Korea's Super Crazy Snow Day!

Merry Christmas From Eat Your Kimchi!

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We're feeling in the Christmas spirit, so here's a quick video we slapped together of Christmas at Simon's Korean Middle School. Simon makes students write letters to Santa, then picks the best one from each of his classes (he's got 22), and then, on Christmas Eve, he goes from class to class, throws open the door, yells HO HO HO, and gives a small present to the winning student. Oh, and he's dressed up like Santa the whole time. The suit's really itchy, by the way. Spudgy's got a Santa suit of his own, and he's not too fond of it either. Anyhow, here's a small video to match the Christmas spirit, with a Korean version of Jingle Bells playing in the background! Click on Santa Spudgy to see Christmas in a Middle School. And Merry Christmas to you! See you next year with some more videos.

How to Get Sushi Delivered to Your Home

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We love sushi. We were really excited when we saw that Korea has Sushi Conveyor Belts, but since then the novelty has worn off, and we haven't really eaten much sushi since. Fortunately, someone sent us an email recently to tell us about Sushi Mom, which does Sushi Delivery. Yes. That's right. SUSHI DELIVERY! We don't have to go to the conveyor belts anymore! Sushi can come right to our house! What's great about this place is not only the awesome sushi, but also the fact that you don't have to stumble around on the phone trying to explain your order, because the owner speaks perfect English! Order your Dynamite Rolls, Rainbow Rolls, whatever-you-want rolls, and get them delivered to your place! Check out our Review of Sushi Mom, and then go to their website and order some sushi! You won't regret it.

How to Become a Teacher in Korea

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We have received a lot of emails from people asking us how to become a teacher in Korea. It's a complicated process at times, with a lot of documents that need to be signed, stamped, and delivered. However, before you get to that process, you need to make two important decisions:

1) Do you want to teach at a public school or private tutoring school
2) What recruiter do you want to use to get you to Korea

In this video, we'll give you our honest opinions and experiences with public and private schools. Sure, not everyone will agree with this, since everyone has different experiences, but we think this is the safest bet for having a successful stint (or career!) as an English teacher in Korea. As for us, we both work in pubic schools with Gepik (The Gyeonggi Board of Education), and we love it!

Have you already taught in Korea? Share your experiences with us in the comment section!

Click on the picture above for our guide on How to Become a Teacher in Korea, or check out the sidebar for the QuickTime version.

Adventure to Korea's Everland!

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A few Saturdays ago we woke up early and decided to go to Everland. Everland! One of Korea's awesome amusement parks! Hooray! Problem was, Everland's a two hour busride away from us. But no matter! We still went, and had a fantastic time! The rides were great, especially the T-Express Roller Coaster of Thrilling DOOM! That's not the real name of it, but it was still intense. We didn't have enough time in our day to see everything in Everland, but what little we saw we were absolutely amazed with. So check out our Everland Adventure by clicking on the picture above, or check the sidebar for higher quality versions instead.

A Scooter Tour of Bucheon, Korea

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Quite a while ago, we gave you a tour of Jung Ang Park on our bikes. Times have changed since then, and we've moved on to bigger and better things. Now we have a scooter and can ride a lot further (with a lot less energy), and our camera doesn't suck as terribly as before! So, this time, we drove around the streets of Bucheon, Korea on our scooters and filmed the whole deal, including any important landmarks along the way. Sure, we couldn't film ALL of Bucheon, but you'll see the parts we know and are familiar with. So check out what our city looks like! Click on the picture above for our Scooter Tour of Bucheon, or check the sidebar for QuickTime format.

Bucheon's Sang Dong Market

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We're happy that we found this place, because this is what we kind of expected Korea to be like before we got here: marketplaces with bad lighting and fresh produce, fresh fish, and meat cut right in front of you, vendors yelling for your attention, and random sock stores that don't seem to fit in with the rest of the place. Instead, we're surrounded by shopping malls and megamarts - in our part of Bucheon, at least - so we like to make it down to Bucheon's Sang Dong Market every once in a while. They quite possibly make our favorite Man Du (dumplings) and Don Kat Su (shnitzel) in our entire stay in Korea - and, believe us when we say we have eaten LOTS of Man Du and Don Kat Su. We highly recommend you stop by here as well, if not as a regular customer, then at least to see a different side of Korea apart from Emart and HomePlus. It's located between Bucheon and Songnae station, on the road that connects them both, so get there if you can. Click on the picture above for the tour of Bucheon's Sang Dong Market or check the sidebar for the QuickTime version.

Taking Care of Your Cats and Dogs in Korea

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Recently, our Spudgy dislocated his knee. It was a terrible experience: he lifted his leg to pee, and - being the gimpy dog that he is - fell over in agony. He was screaming and howling, and it broke our hearts. We hopped in a taxi and went to Seoul immediately. Now, we could have gone to a vet in Bucheon in a fraction of the time it took us to get to Seoul, but we knew that Spudgy would get the best care at Mari Animal Hospital. They're located in the Hongdae area, and we've been going to them from the beginning with Spudgy. Their English is great, which makes taking care of Spudgy so much better; they can tell us exactly what we need to know in order to take care of our dog properly. As well, they have a soft spot for dogs adopted at shelters, and we strongly advocate getting your dogs through shelters rather than through the puppy mills. Anyhow, for the many of you concerned with getting or bringing your pets in Korea, or taking care of one, this video's for you. Click on the picture above for our video on Taking Care of Your Cats and Dogs in Korea, or click the sidebar for different formats. As well, click here for their Business Card. Finally, Spudgy's doing ok now. He had knee surgery and now has a metal pin in his leg. He has to be in his cage for a few weeks and is not allowed to walk! Poor guy!

Teaching in Korean Middle School: Guess Who

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Next week we're going to be giving another presentation for the Gepik Orientation, so here's a video in the spirit of helping teachers. Here's another video of a lesson we do in a Korean Middle School Class. Like the last Battleship lesson, this is a class where the teacher does minimal talking and the students practice their English instead. It was a really fun class, so we'd highly recommend you try it out in your schools. As well, it's highly customizable, so you can make the questions fit whatever level your students are at. All of the materials in this lesson, including Powerpoints and Handouts, are available to download in Mac or PC format. While you're at it, you can check the rest of our ESL Resources here for other ideas. So, click on the picture above to see the video of Teaching in a Korean Middle School Class, or click on the sidebar for different formats. Oh, and - yes - I know I look a little bedraggled in the video: this was the last class in a grueling 6 class day. I'm surprised I still had enough energy to stand on two feet.

What You Should Pack to Korea

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Planning on coming to Korea? What are you going to bring with you in your suitcase? Surely by now you've heard stories, about what Korea has or does not have, but as we discovered, a lot of those were just rumors. Since we've been in Korea for well over a year now, we can squash those rumors. After visiting Canada for summer vacation, we prepared "a what to pack" and "what not to bother packing" video. Unfortunately, the video could not cover everything, because it would be far too long, so this post will serve as the exclusive extras list of things you must pack to Korea. So click on the picture above for our video on What You Should Pack to Korea, or check the sidebar for higher quality QuickTime

Not mentioned in the video are the following:

ELECTRONICS: Simon packed his Wii and PS3, and has had no issue with them whatsoever. Nothing has fried after many hours of usage. The secret? Read your cables! If they say anywhere on them "Input: 100-240v" you're safe! You can plug in your electronics from anywhere in the world so long as you have a little plug adapter to pop on the top of it. If you don't have that cable, it's ok! You can still buy a power converter. Go to any supermarket and in the lighting section (usually), you'll find a thick, ugly, clunky metal box that will plug into your Korean outlet and let you plug in two of your North American plugs. It ain't pretty, but it works.

BOARD GAMES: If you're geeky and like board games like us, we had a hard time finding reasonably priced English games (ie: Scrabble was double the price) and the newer games (ie: Cranium, Apples to Apples) were impossible to find. Playing cards are also expensive. Pack any games you find necessary.

COMFORT FOODS: Fruit teas, chai tea, and your favorite black tea brands are impossible to find or are otherwise really, really expensive. Starbucks does offer a small selection of TAZO brand teas, though.

COOKING FOOD: Dried spices such as nutmeg, cinnamon, oregeno, and basil are available in speciality import sections but crazy expensive, and Martina was unable to find liquid vanilla extract anywhere.

COSMETICS: If your skin tone isn't similar to a Korean person's skin tone, it can be hard to find pressed power or liquid foundation to match your skin, so come prepared. If you wear contacts and can only use a specific brand of solution, pack a few bottles to be safe.

GIFTS: It's nice to bring your new employer a gift to thank them for hiring you. If you're at a public school, get a small gift for your Principal, Vice Principal, and the co-teacher who will be taking care of you when you first arrive. We suggest a product that is only availble in your country. For example, a specific food (we brought organic maple syrup), hand cream/soap (Bath and Body Works is not available in Korea yet, and it's sought after) or even alchohol (rum, ice wine, or rum filled candy).

Feel free to contact us or leave a comment about anything you're worried about Korea not having. We might not know all of the answers, mind you, but we might be able to tell you if you should pack it or not.