Potato Festival; Festivale de la patate

Dr. Lee invited us to a potato festival in his hometown. We were treated like royalty by the locals. The only rough part of the two day activity was sleeping on the floor in the community center. It was worth it, but I doubt that I would do it again unless I had a bed to sleep on and a pillow to put under my head.

It was my first "country-side" visit. We hiked up a small mountain and enjoyed looking at the lush beautiful plant-life over here:-) That, I'll have to do it again. There are many places where you can go hiking over here since it's the Korean's national pass-time.

*I took a picture of a Korean woman picking up the potatoes that were left in the field.

Dr. Lee nous a invités à un festival de la patate dans sa communauté. Nous avons été traités comme de la royauté. La partie le plus difficile de la fin de semaine a été de dormir sur le plancher de la salle communautaire. J’ai beaucoup aimé ma fin de semaine, mais je ne le referais pas sans être certaine d’avoir un lit et un oreiller pour la nuit.
C’était ma première expérience à la campagne depuis que je suis ici. Nous avons escaladée une petite montagne et j’ai pu voir la belle végétation sauvage ici. J’ai l’intention de répéter cette partie de l’expérience. Il y a beaucoup d’endroit pour escalader ici étant donné que c’est le passe-temps national de la Corée.
J’ai pris une photo d’une femme coréenne qui ramassait des patates dans un champ.

Eating in Korea; Manger en corée

I will be working 4 hours on Saturdays for a 12 week program. Dr. Lee, the owner of ICEV, invited those who will be on this program to the restaurant. The place where you cook your meat is at several places in the table and is directly in front of you. There are also many things to accompany what you're eating on the table. Of course we were sitting on very thin cushions on the floor.

Je vais commencer à travailler 4 heures le samedi sur un program de 12 semaines. Dr. Lee, le proprietaire de ICEV, a invité le personel qui travail sur ce programme au restaurant. L'endroit où nous faisons cuire notre viande est intégré dans la table et est situé à plusieurs endroit sur la table. Il y a aussi beaucoup de mets supplémentaire comme accompagnement. Évidement, nous sommes assissent sur des coussins très plats par terre:-)!

Tea for Two

I know we are already Monday, but time flies by so fast over here that I barely have time to look back at what just happened to realize that something new is already taking shape in front of me; that's why I need to write about Friday, Saturday and Sunday! On Friday I received my first pay check (we are payed once a month over here) and went to Bupyeong with Pam to get cell phones. Over here it's our way of keeping in touch with one another and finding out where the others are if we ever get separated from one another when we go somewhere.
I wanted a thin one so that it wouldn't be too heavy and I thought that I would be buying a used one, so that it would cost less. Well I ended up buying a new one for 80.00 plus 10.00 for a calling card. In Quebec I would have paid over 300.00 for the same thing!! My phone has an mp3 integrated in it... And I got a bonus surprise! I love the painting by Klimt called "The Kiss". When I was going through the backgrounds I could choose from in the cell phone, The Kiss was one of them! I wasn't too excited about getting a cell phone, but now that I was able to have a slim one and that I have The Kiss as my background I'm really happy to have it!
On Saturday I went to Insadong with Juliet to have tea in a traditional tea house. The tea I chose was Ohmija which means 5 tastes. When you savour the tea, the flavour distinctly changes From bitter to sweet to spicy to salty and then to sour. It is quite an exciting and savoury experience for the palet. The tea is not given, it costs 6.00 but is worth every penny.

After our tea we looked at a few art expositions in the tea houses courtyard. We had the pleasure of seeing beautiful edible flowers made of sugar by a wonderful woman named Yooney Choi. Here you see Juliet standing beside her, and the picture of the cake with sugar flowers is one of her creations.

Dazzle Shoes; Souliers étincellents

Here the women wear very fancy, often with extremely high heels, shoes. You see these "dazzle shoe" boutiques on almost every street corner. The high heels are possibly because Korean women are not very tall. Another plausible reason could be because Korean women show a lot of leg and high heels make their legs look longer.
My first thoughts when I saw these very dressy shoes was, "Oh no! Not for me thank you." But after being here for 4 weeks, I realized that owning and "wearing" a pair (or two) of dazzle shoes was part of my Korean culture experience. So here they are; a pair of slightly comfortable high heels and extremely comfortable slip-ons. I already love them...Now what will I do when I get back home?...

Ici les femmes portent des souliers très étincellent et souvent avec des talons extrêmement hauts. On voit des boutiques remplit de ces souliers sur presque chaque coin de rue. Il est possible que les coréens portent des talons hauts parce qu’elles ne sont pas tellement grandes. Une autre raison possible est parce qu’elles montrent beaucoup leurs jambes et que ceci les fait paraître plus longues.
La première pensée que j’ai eu en voyant ces souliers était, « Oh non, ce n’est vraiment pas pour moi! » mais après les avoir vu à tout les jours pendant 4 semaines, j’ai réalisé que porter des « dazzle shoes » devait faire partie de mon expérience coréenne. Alors les voici! Une paire de soulier haut « légèrement confortable » et une paire de talon bas « extrêmement confortable ». Je les adore déjà!! Comment est-ce que je vais faire pour m’en passer à mon retour au Québec?...

Itaewon, the English Area for Foreigners

Today I went to Itaewon, the foreigner area of Seoul, with Pam. Here almost everyone who sells something speaks English. I bought two beautiful Korean masks representing a woman and a man. They'll be decorating my walls here and I'll be bringing them back home. I also bought some Soju drinking glasses, the Korean's official 90% alcohol drink, to be able to share soju with my friends. Each glass has a drawing of a Korean mask on it.

While we were waiting at a subway station, I bought a small bag of 10 Koreen walnut cakes. They are about the size of timbits. When looked in the bag I was surprised to see that each one was individually wrapped...Now this really does not come as a surprise; it simply confirms the Koreans obsession with details and perfection.

I also saw my first sqwatting toilets. I didn't "officially" try it since there was pee all around it, but I will eventually use one and when I do, I'll let you know about it...Like when I'll have my first grilled silkworm, full of nutriments and apparently crunchy, eating experience.

First Time at the Theatre; Ma première sortie au cinéma

One of the things I was thinking I would be missing while I was in Korea was going to see a movie in a theatre. Well, believe it or not, the English movies are presented IN ENGLISH with Korean subtitles! It's even better than watching a movie in Chicoutimi since they were always in French. Life is full of surprises!!!

Comfort wise? I would give the theatre a 10/10 score. The Koreans preoccupation for details is even seen here. First of all, when you buy your ticket they show you a screen on which you choose your seat. Your ticket has the number on it. Then when you enter the room, even if the lights are closed, you can easily find your place since there is a lighted number before each row. The seats are extremely comfortable with a headrest and you even have elbow space.

The only thing I found strange in relation to my own culture was when I bought my popcorn and was asked if I wanted it sweet. My spontanious answer was "No thank you!" but since I want to fully live my cultural experience while I'm here, the next time I'll say yes. That next time may even be tomorrow evening if I go to see Star Trek...in English :-)!!

Une des choses dont je pensais m’ennuyer en étant ici était de voir des films au cinéma.

J’ai eu la belle surprise d’apprendre que les salles de cinéma présentaient les films américains EN ANGLAIS avec des sous-titres coréens!! Enfin je vais pouvoir écouter les films au cinéma en anglais! La vie est pleine de surprise. La salle? 10/10 La préoccupation des coréens au petit détail est présent ici aussi. À l’achat du billet on choisit notre siège sur un écran parmi ceux qui sont libre. Il y a des numéros illuminés sur chaque rangée de siège pour nous permettre de trouver notre place même si les lumières dans la salle sont éteints. Les sièges sont très confortables avec des appuie-têtes.
Une autre chose qu’ils font que l’on ne voit pas chez nous est de nous demander si on veut du sucre sur notre pop-corn. Ma réponse immédiate et spontanée a été « Non!! » mais, étant donné que je veux vivre mon expérience coréenne au maximum, je vais dire oui la prochaine fois que je vais aller voir un film. Il se peut que ce soit demain soir ; le film Star Trek est encore ici et j’ai vraiment hâte de le voir!!