Teacher's Day

Saturday was Teacher's Day in Korea; here is a list of the presents we received:

Brandi:

100,000 won Lotte Department Store gift certificate
35,000 Starbucks gift certificate
Five pairs of designer socks from Elle and Beanpole
Two bottles of shower gel
Hand cream
Two pens decorated as cloth carnations
Two chocolate bars
A long-stem rose
Many handwritten cards in broken English from kids and parents

Erik:

An approximately $75 dollar bottle of 17 year old scotch whisky
Man lotion
Mini bottles of spf 50 sunscreen, face whitening lotion, and ginseng "face awakening" lotion
Gum and chocolate
A long-stem rose
A cloth carnation pen
More broken English cards

We bought a nice Korean tea set with the Lotte gift card.  It was actually hard to find something to buy in Lotte that only cost 100 bucks.  I don't know why anybody would shop there.  Now I just need to get well so I can spend my Starbucks money...mmm.  Teacher's Day rocks.

In-Laws in Korea!

Carl and Dian's visit went really well.  They got to see a lot of interesting new places, and so did we!  Sunday we took them to Seokbulsa (a mountain temple with Buddhas carved into the rock face) and Busan Tower (a good place to see the skyline of the city), and Jagalchi (a fresh seafood market where you can pick out your fish and eat it too.  We ate still wriggling octopus, raw abalone, and boiled king crab, mmmm.)and Nampodong (a huge traditional market selling anything and everything you could possibly need).  On Monday while we were at work, they went to Beomeosa temple and Taejongdae (a seaside walking park with temples, a lighthouse, a pebble beach, and beautiful ocean side cliffs).  On Tuesday we accompanied them to Haedong Yonggungsa (the temple by the sea), and they went to Haeundae beach while we worked for the afternoon.  On Wednesday we had the day off for Children's Day, so we took them to Dadaepo beach for some hiking, and to Shanghai/Texas street for some killer Chinese massages. While they were here, we tried to give them a sampling of all the best Korean foods:  shabu shabu, chicken galbi, traditional fish and bulgogi with tons of banchan (side dishes), kimbop shops, and barbecue. 

 I think they had a great time while they were here, even if they conked out early because of the jet lag.  I think it was a trip they will never forget!

Dear Korean Neighbor,

I am writing this letter because I am tired.  Why am I tired, you ask?  Because of you.  I'm sure you're aware that the doorbells in our neighborhood are extremely loud, as they obnoxiously play Fur Elise over, and over, and over.  While this is annoying, it's not necessarily a problem...during the day.  The problem occurs when you, dear neighbor, come home at three a.m. and ring said doorbell continuously for AN HOUR.  The simultaneous banging on the door and calling of a cell phone within the house does not help the matter.  In fact, it makes all of the residents of our building want to bang their heads against a wall until they cause enough brain damage to rid them of the curse of hearing your late-night cacophony. 

You see, we actually have to get up early and go to work the next day, and it's not so easy to entertain kindergartners when you're bleary-eyed from sleep deprivation.  I don't know why you can't get into your house.  Perhaps whoever you live with is angry at you for your late-night gallivanting, or maybe you just keep forgetting your key.  Either way, you have two options that would really increase your popularity in our neighborhood, or at least keep everyone from wanting to hunt you down and hose you off until you sober up.  Option one:  come home earlier.  Option two:  instead of ringing the doorbell for an hour, why not just walk five minutes up the hill and sleep in the jim-jil-bong for the night.  It will only cost you a couple of bucks, and it's a lot less trouble than standing there unsuccessfully trying to get in your house all night. 

Please, dear neighbor, have some mercy on everyone within a half-mile radius of your house.  We'd really enjoy a good night's sleep; I think it would really increase the neighborhood's morale.

Sincerely,
The Neighborhood Waygook