Delicious Beef and Singing Koreans

Check another 2 totally Korean things off my list... Korean BBQ and Noraebong. So far I had been able to cross off Soju and Kimchi (spicy fermented cabbage.. Koreans LOVE their fermented cabbage).

Let me explain the night that I just had...

I got a call at 430 from Kimberly, a teacher at the school, who asked if I had eaten yet. I wasn't sure if she was referring to lunch or dinner... obviously I had eaten lunch, but it was only 430... I'm not 60, I don't eat dinner at 430. If you had given me another half an hour my answer probably would have been yes. I was told that they were at the school and would wait for me before eating but to hurry, so I figured that they had ordered dinner. Not so.

When I got to the school we headed in the school's shuttle bus to a Korean BBQ restaurant. It was amazing. I had heard how great it was, and it was everything that I had expected. There were 6 of us females who are teachers at one table and then the boss, his wife and the drivers at the other table. The fact that we were sitting away from the bosses made the scene much more relaxed and the girls were all great. I am the youngest though, the are all in their 30s (although I would have never guessed it). They thought I was 22 though, and when I didn't say thank you when they said that they were offended. I tried to explain that until you are a bit older in Canada you don't like to look younger. Being told I look 22 is almost insulting, but I knew they meant it as a compliment so I tried to take it as one. I'll explain the picture... at the top right is the Korean beef cooking on the bbq, I also think it's important to note that they cut the meat with scissors, how awesome is that?! There is also mushrooms cooking on the grill. At the bottom left is onions and some sauce which I gathered you ate with the beef. Next up is some jellyfish and veggies, then a salad, next is leafs that you can wrap the beef in. There is also salt, soybean paste and garlic next to the grill to be used with the beef as well. In the white cup is water, but in the little cup behind it is Korean berry wine. It was sweet but delicious, kind of like juice... we had multiple bottles of it. Sunny actually got drunk and was beat red, it was pretty funny. There were a few more side dishes as well but I can't remember them. It was an amazing meal.

I'm really glad that I was home to get the phone call. Apparently this is the only time in the 7 months that the other foreign teacher has worked there that they have gone out together. They were all really impressed that we were taken to Korean BBQ and told me to enjoy it because it wouldn't happen again. To be honest, I think the boss was trying to make a good impression on me... or is it just coincidence that they get taken out right when I get here? Probably not....especially because he was contacted by the recruiter today. I also asked the girls what the dress code was like and they said because I am a foreign teacher I can basically wear whatever I want. From the sounds of it, foreign teachers get away with a lot because they can't afford to lose them. 

After dinner we stood outside for at least half an hour waiting for two of the Korean male teachers to show up before we headed out. I have found out that these girls LOVE taking pictures on their cell phones. Not one of them uses a camera. They used this as a photo opp and I was glad to jump on board to show you all who I would be working with! They really are all great girls... they usually work until 10:30 though so it's rare to every hang out outside of school. Plus all of them live in Seoul, and at least an hour commute away.. so much for making local friends. I'll go from right to left in the picture... In the back sticking out, well to be honest, I completely forget her name.. shit. Next is Sheryl (the other foreign teacher, she is from the Philippines, the vice principal (not "one of the girls" but more, the boss), Libby, Sunny (I adore her, she is so talkative and friendly) and Kimberly. These girls are all super short and Kimberly made me squat down in the picture to be the same height... all it did was make me look like a moron.

Next stop? The Noraebong! This is Korean karaoke, you have individual rooms and two microphones. There are Korean, English and Japanese songs. It was a ton of fun. The Koreans LOVE to sing...and to be honest, they were all really good. Most of you know that I am a horrible singer and hate karaoke. I love to listen but hate to sing. I got roped in to singing one song with Sheryl, but she lied and barely sang at all. If I was drunk and with friends, I would have been all over it! I would have been dancing and jumping on the benches, but with my boss? Not so much. Plus all the songs I wanted to sing were inappropriate, and even if they didn't know what they meant I was scared that they would ask me to tell them. This place is literally across the street from my apartment though. So as soon as I make local friends, or convince friends to hang out in my area of town, we are going back for sure. I never thought that I would love it so much.The boss's wife also brought in two pizzas. I seemed to be the only one aware that we just ate a huge meal. It seems that Koreans don't register being full. Like on my first now how I offended my principal by not finishing my meal, he didn't seem to understand the concept that I was full. I tried to stay away from the pizza, but the wife noticed and made one of the Korean male teachers bring me a piece...which I then felt forced to eat (it was delicious on my tastebuds bud horrid in my full stomach). I'll just have to go for an extra long walk tomorrow I guess.

One of the male teachers singing

Two of the girls rockin the tamborines, that's right, tamborines!!

At the end of the night we were all standing outside and the principal was handing us all 10,000Won for transportation. I pointed across the street as if to say "I live there, I don't need this"... one of the girls told me just to take it. Apparently it is some Korean thing and it is better to just accept it.

So in all, I got taken out for a delicious meal, met some great people, had some great laughs and got an extra 10,000Won at the end. Successful night? I think so!