Ben: Computer Problems

My trusty Acer laptop recently died. It's been going out for awhile, gradually staying on for less and less time. We'd turn it on, it would work for awhile, and than decide it was time for a rest and turn itself off. Well last week it decided that about 2 minutes of on time was about all that was really necessary. We spent several frustrating days trying to fix it. It's strange how urgent the need to fix a broken computer feels, as this comic from http://xkcd.com illustrates:

Luckily my work has been generous enough to loan us one of the many unused desktops at my work. There are actually 15 unused computers at Ewha, five in the teacher's offices, and ten more in the computer lab. Before they would let us take a computer home, I had to have this slightly absurd conversation with my boss Bruce:

Ben: So the laptop that we brought to Korea has broken.

Bruce: Oh?

Ben: Yes, it has stopped turning on.

Bruce: (very puzzled) Okay...

Ben: It is what we use to talk to our families back in America, and to watch movies on since Kyle (the previous teacher) broke the TV. So we were wondering if we could borrow one of the unused Ewha computers.

Bruce: (looking very alarmed) One of the computers? But I think that we need them for running the school.

Ben: Don't we have some unused ones? (looking in in the direction of the three unused computers within five feet of Bruce's desk)

Bruce: (looking around the office and counting computers) Oh, that is true, we do have more computers than teachers, but I think these are kind of public computers for the teachers to share. We well have to take a sort of poll to see if everyone will be okay with losing one of them. (pause) Oh! Wait! I have just had a sort of great idea! There are many unused computers in the computer lab! You could take one of those!

Ben: Oh! Yes that is a good idea!

So we now have a "new" computer.

Catie: A quick note on Silkworm Pupa.

We've seen this stuff around:



Mostly as steaming street food.

And I always knew it was bugs, but I never knew what kind until tonight when I stumbled across it looking up Isaac Toast.

Well, turns out it's silkworm pupa.

You read that right.   The festering eggs of the worms.

It was a serendipitous discovery though, because just tonight, while having Korean BBQ, the hosts thought it would be pretty funny to bring the foreigners this tempting treasure (sigh).  It was the first time we'd ever seen it up close.

(FYI: it's no better looking in real life.)

Beondegi, for that is it's given name (really?  I totally would have guessed "puke worms"), is one of only a couple things I cannot bring myself to try.  Not even a little bit.

Not even the tip of my chopstick.

It is covered in sticky, brown sauce (Read: slime).

It LOOKS like bugs.

So, we did not try it.  But we didn't give them the satisfaction of being grossed out either.

At least, not outwardly.

And in retaliation, I ate lots of kimchi and all my raw green onions.

And I am certainly hoping they were properly surprised, because they have gross kimchi and their green onion salad leaves something to be desired.

I miss our old KBBQ place.

Catie: What is a toasty sandwich?

After Ben mentioned that the top Ewha sticker prize was a toasty sandwich (or is it 5,000 W.. I don't remember), my mom asked what that was.  And, instead of just replying in the comments, I thought I'd give you a few pictures of these, erm, tasty.. cabbage-y... egg-and-cheese sandwiches.

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This is your typical toasty sandwich from Isaac Toast, probably the most well known toasty chain in Korea.

And People Baking Toast is one our favorites.



These ones are all over Daejeon.  There's one right outside Ewha and I'm pretty sure they make the prized toasty sandwiches Ben mentioned.

There are also loads of little independent toasty shops, too.  We have one called TOAST about two blocks away from our apartment.

These places have all kinds of sandwiches, but most seem the same to me.  All of them feature a fried egg and American cheese, and almost all feature shredded cabbage, corn (often fried inside the egg part) and pickles and/or some sort of sweet sauce.  Many locations carry several flavors of these sweet sauces.  I know Isaac has their own "Isaac sauce" and I'm sure People Baking Toast probably does, too.  A few sandwiches will have different meats: bacon, ham, Korean sausages, etc..

It might sound a lot worse than it actually is.  I know the thought of eating cabbage on things was not just a little repulsive to me when we first got here, but now it hardly fazes either of us.  It's really not as awful as it sounds, although, at the same time, it's not something we're dying to have.  Maybe it's the sweet sauce that puts it over the edge..

If you think about it, though, this must seem to the children like Jesus came and a made a perfect Korean combination.

Corn: on EVERYTHING.

Eggs: on everything ELSE.

And Cabbage: on ALMOST everything.

So, I guess they just kind of took all the things that go on everything and made a sandwich.  It probably seemed like a brilliant plan and I'm sure questioning the ingredient choices would be met with a sort of, "duh, eggs, corn and cabbage are the perfect combination," kind of response.

To Koreans, they truly are.

What is funny, to me, is that Isaac Toast just opened a location in California: Korea’s Isaac Toast Sandwich Shop–First U.S. Location Now Open in Westwood–First Impressions


Head on down to California for an American Toasty Sandwich...


You may notice the wheat bread, the delicious looking tomatoes and crispy bacon.  Note that none of those are typical of a REAL toasty sandwich.

Here, you will find yellow-pink, slushy (yes, slushy) tomatoes, pure white 1950's style white bread and limp, pink -- not red or brown -- bacon that neither breaks nor crunches when you bite it.

This sandwich, by comparison, actually looks pretty durn delicious.

For a look at The Real Korean Toasty Sandwich Experience, check out this blog post: Isaac Toast: The Korean Version of the Ramly Burger .

I don't know what a Ramly burger is, but THIS is toasty sammies at their best.

Or.. worst, after seeing the American picture.

Scroll down to the last picture on the blog post and you'll see the kind of bacon I mean.

Yummy, yummy.

...sorry if I made you hungry.    : - |

Ben: Ewha Stickers

These are the "Ewha stickers," the much desired carrot of Ewha's carrot and stick child disciplining approach to encouraging good behavior. There isn't actually any stick, besides getting the Korean teachers to yell at and maybe scare the kids, so we're pretty much dependent on bribary to get them to sit still and do a lot of things that kids never want to do. They can take the stickers and use them buy goodies from the front desk. For the younger kids there are pencil cases, pens, and rulers. For the older kids they can get computer game money and coupons for toasty sandwiches. Some of the older kids also use them to gamble with.

For my first two months I didn't actually know about the stickers (go Korean communication/teacher training). When I found out, I thought I could give out any old stickers, so I tried to give my students some animal stickers that I found in my desk. They were cute, but worthless as Ewha currency. The childrens quickly set me straight. Since than I have given them out like they are little sticky pieces of sugarless candy. It is an utterly painless way for me to bribe the kids and curry favor. The other American teachers are pretty stingy (mostly because they don't seem to like the children), but I see no reason to spare the stickers.

My ultimate goal, besides paying off the kids, is to pass out so many stickers that German style hyperinflation will take hold of the Ewha economy, hopefully resulting in new stickers or something equally exciting. According to my kids, the sticker payoff system as already had to be revalued twice during the past two years, causing the price of a toasty sandwich to increase from 30 stickers to it's current price of 120 stickers. Hopefully with time and determination I can help to drive the price up to at least 500 or so stickers.

Ben: Funny Konglish

Nowadays almost people think is funny.

I think I have seen "nowadays" written more times in Korean than the rest of my life combined.

When they write "almost people," what they really mean is most people, not some subhuman group of cloned "nearly" humans that exist only in Korea.

Finally, funny is constantly miss used to when they mean "very fun." As in, "I went to watch the movie "2012," it was very funny. Or, "playing computer games is funny." No matter how many times I explain that "funny does not equal very fun," they will write it week after week. So I've long given up and accepted it. Living in Korea is just more funny that way.

Ben: DO YOU NEED TO KNOW WHERE TO BREAST FEED?

Cause it is here:

[caption id="attachment_556" align="aligncenter" width="420" caption="The breast is best!"][/caption]

For a sense of scale, the thing in the right hand corner is one of those ridable floor moping machines. Yes, this sign is big, about 10 feet by five feet big. Also it is just one of two, there is another one, the same size, on the other side of the room. You know, just in case you somehow managed to miss the first sign.

This in a country which is horrified when Catie wears a sleeveless dress. Also while Mel was here we had all the trouble finding places for her to feed Rocco.  Clearly we were just missing the GIANT signs.

Ben: Almost people think this is funny!

Some of the things the kids say at school (over and over again) are pretty hilarious.

Like:

Almost people think this is funny.

This se