Johnnie and Angela

Gaegogi 개고기

Having Dulce here is a blessing for us but it's certainly not easy for her. When we adopted Dulce, we had a fenced-in backyard that she could access any time she wanted with her doggy door. Living in a Korean apartment is the complete opposite but she has adjusted very well. Korea is not a very dog-friendly country and a dog is certainly not the pet of choice here. Dulce always gets one of two reactions whenever we are out: the "what a cute dog" reaction or the more often "get that hideous monster away from me" reaction. I guess that's not surprising in a country that has dog meat as a selection on some menus. That's right, dog meat (Gaegogi) is actually eaten here. It can be roasted, boiled, steamed, or prepared in soups and stews.

The eating of dog meat in Korea can apparently be traced back to the Stone Age. However, in recent years, there have been more and more conflicts about the eating of dog meat and an increasing number of Koreans who are against it. Dog meat is not a "regular" part of Korean cuisine and it is not typically served in Korean homes, but it is still offered in some restaurants. Have I seen it yet? No, but you know I'll take a picture when I do! Will I ever try it? Although I am an adventurous eater, I don't eat red meat and I love my pet dog, so the answer is no.

The dogs that are eaten are not just random dogs or pets. They are bred to be food, much like cows and chickens in the States. Therefore Dulce is in no real danger but we couldn't help getting her this t-shirt purely for the comic relief it provides on the subject :)

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"You learn something every day if you pay attention."
-Ray LeBlond

Chipping Away at the Language Barrier

People in Korea speak Korean but their written language is called Hangul. For example, the Hangul form of "hello" is 안녕하세요 and the romanization of it (the way it's pronounced written in the Roman alphabet) is annyeonghaseyo. Because of the US military base here, you'll see English translations written under Hangul words on some things, especially signs, but most things are written only in Hangul which makes translation very difficult. Words written in foreign languages that use the Roman alphabet can at least be sounded out and sometimes even resemble their English equivalents, but there is no hope for that with words written in a foreign alphabet.

How are we adjusting to life here without being able to read Hangul? Technology is a beautiful thing :) My amazing husband bought me an iPhone to use here and it has proven to be worth it's weight in gold. We have a few Apps that get used everyday to help us understand the world of symbols surrounding us. However, nothing is perfect. As in every language, there are multiple ways to say the same thing depending on audience and context. The iPhone Apps can tell us what something written in Hangul means and how to say something in Korean but sometimes things still manage to get lost in translation.

We have two Apps that allow us to type something in English or Hangul and get a translation. We can switch between a Roman alphabet and Hangul alphabet. It will show us the word/phrase in English, Hangul, and the phonetic romanization. We can press the little speaker button to hear it spoken in Korean.

We also have the Lonely Planet Korean Phrase Book App that allows us to choose an English word or phrase, arranged by category, and it gives us the Hangul and phonetic romanization versions. As on the others, we can press the little speaker button to hear it spoken in Korean.

Johnnie used these Apps to translate our Korean appliances before I got here. We have sticky tabs on most things to help us use them.

The dishwasher

The stove

The washer/dryer

The fridge

The "musical" toilet - gotta love the seat warming option :)

The intercom system - if someone rings our apartment from the front door of the building or from outside our apartment door, we can see them on this monitor (they can't see us), talk to them through the intercom, and open the door for them. We can also call other apartments in the complex using this.

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"A different language is a different vision of life."
-Federico Fellini

Heavenly

Sleeping in our own bed last night for the first time in months was heavenly. Compared to the rock-hard rented mattress that we've been sleeping on, our own mattress is a cloud. We've also gone from 2 pillows to 8 pillows - of course we couldn't fit them all on the bed but I managed to surround myself with quite a few. For the first time since I've gotten here, I did not want to get out of bed this morning!

Yesterday, I met up with about 14 other wives plus a lot of their children for lunch at a great little cafe bakery called Heavenly Bread. The smell inside this place was divine! Scents of freshly baked bread, pastries, cookies, and sweet lattes wafted through the air. Shelves were lined with delectable goodies and a chilled display case held elaborately decorated cakes that looked almost too beautiful to eat. Their list of specialty coffee and tea drinks took up an entire page on the menu. The food was very "American" with personal pizzas, sandwiches, soups, and spaghetti, but everything was delicious.

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"Life is uncertain. Eat dessert first."

-Ernestine Ulmer

Happiness is Snow and Household Goods

It snowed last night! I'm actually not a fan but freshly fallen snow does look pretty. Dulce hasn't seen snow since she was about 4 months old. When we went out this morning, she ran around biting at it until she realized it wasn't a solid thing she could grab with her mouth.

The big news today is that our household goods that we shipped from Georgia back in December are finally here!!! Everything was packed into 3 wooden crates on a truck. The entire side of the truck opened, our boxes were taken out of the crates, and three men zipped around getting everything unloaded as quickly as they could. I was handed a clipboard, a pen, and a list of what we packed. All I had to do was check off the box numbers as the guys brought them in and direct where everything was placed. They unwrapped everything that was wrapped in packing paper and left the boxes for me to do later. I am so excited to put things away and turn our stark apartment into an actual home! Dulce seems most excited that our living room area rug is here. As soon as I rolled it some of it open, she started rubbing her face on it. She's been chilling on it with her chew bone ever since :)

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"May your troubles be less

And your blessings be more

And nothing but happiness

Come through your door."

-an Irish blessing

Mounds of Dirt

Walking up the hillside towards our hilltop park, we pass by some odd circular mounds of dirt. There are no markings and no monuments, just the grass-covered domes. They are grave sites. Traditional Korean graves are mounds of dirt usually on rural hillsides in scenic locations. There aren't many designated cemeteries in Korea so these random groupings of graves can be seen in many places throughout the city and countryside.

On another side of the hill, we found a lone grave site. I assume this was either someone important or someone wealthy due to the cement wall encasing the mound and the monuments surrounding it.

While trying to find some information about Korean graves, I came across a great story written by an American who taught English in Korea. She was invited by the family of one of her students to visit the grave site of the student's grandparents. The author describes the etiquette of visiting Korean graves, most of which she learned by doing the wrong things.

http://wanderlustandlipstick.com/wander-tales/asia/korean-grave-etiquette/

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"He spoke well who said that graves are the footprints of angels."

-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Home Sweet Home

Here it is - the tour of our apartment! Our household goods are still on their way across the ocean so the place is really bare. We didn't ship much furniture, so the pieces that we currently have are being rented.

The entry - inside the apartment looking at the front door. Both sides of the wall are closets with many shelves. Lots of space for shoes, but a place to put coats would have been nice...