Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Everyday Life

My days are usually quite similar. I wake up, go to school, come home, do homework and go to bed. I think it'll get better in a week or so, since I'll be done with exams. For now. I'll have them in another 7 weeks... =(


Our classroom! It's quite sparse, and the desks really suck, but it's got what we need. =)


Any day includes going to the bathroom. Many places have a mix of Western and squatting toilets. If I'm wearing heels, squatting toilets rock - I still need to work on my squatting. Koreans are unfairly good at it. You should see all the ahjumas squatting like it's the simplest thing in the world. It probably is for them, though.


The language school cafeteria sells a bit of everything. Hot meals, drinks, sandwiches, smoked eggs, kimbap, fruit and more. At 1, when classes ends, it's always so full that people find seats outside the cafeteria to eat. Koreans say that the food there is delicious, I think it's just ok.


An apple a day keeps the doctor away! These apples are so yummy! Not like the American one's my step-father always insist on buying because they're cheaper. hehe You get this type of Apples in Norway as well. =D


On the metro on the way home. It's rally cheap, but often very crowded. This is in the middle of the day, so it is relatively empty, but finding empty seats is unusual. But then, you burn more calories if you stand! Or so our Korean textbook told us, but I am inclined to think it's true.


A market! Things there are often quite cheap there, especially vegetables and fruit. They're still kind of expensive, though, but I just can't live without fruit and vegetables. I always go here to buy vegetables. People with any economic sense would do so, too. ^ ^


At home, book back dumped on the floor, ready to be studied from! Studying here I come!

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Bbang vs. Bread

I like Korean food, but bread is probably my favourite food. It's quick to prepare, you can have almost anything on it, and in reasonable amounts it's healthy and a good source of fibre and other nutrients.

The bread of which I am speaking is Norwegian bread. Korean bread (bbang), however, isn't what Norwegians would call bread. Usually, bbang is made with sugar and refined flour. They also like to put nuts and fruit in their bbang. Even if you order garlic bbang with cheese, or a sandwich with egg, you are likely to get bbang that contains sugar, with added syrup on top. Yum. To me, that cannot really be called bread - that is called baked goods. Ergo, I would argue that Koreans don't really have a term for bread.

Why am I writing about this? Well, we are learning about what foods are healthy and not healthy. The teacher, of course, termed bread as unhealthy - I disagreed. But then, I was referring to what Norwegians call bread, not Korean bbang. XD We were asked to talk about healthy Norwegian food, how it is made and how it is eaten. And because of that, I REALLY want to go to Norway and have Norwegian bread.

I'd like bread with brown cheese and cucumber; Norvegia cheese with lettuce, or grapes, or cucumber lettuce and tomato; liver pate with mayo; mackerel in tomato sauce; fish pudding with (Norwegian) caviare; eggs with (Norwegian) caviare; low fat cream cheese (though Korean Philadelpia's strawberry is very good); prim; hapÄ; and the likes. =( I haven't even eaten most of these things in over three years, but now I really, really want to eat them. With a nice cup of tea. I have tea here, but eating breakfast the family and having tea is something I really miss. =(

I'm going to go now and think of Norwegian bread...

Thursday, October 7, 2010

There are five royal palaces in Seoul. They all have the same kinds of buildings painted in the same style, because in Choseon times (the last dynasty of Korea from 1392-1897) there was a uniform styles for palaces and temples.

I went to the biggest one, Kyeongbok palace, last year and this year I went to Changdeok palace. I liked this one better, because the layout was more diverse at this one. The consturction of Cheongdeok palace was started in 1405. It's been completely rebuilt once, and has undergone several partial reconstructions. It has a very beautiful palace gardens, but we came too late for the guided tours, the only means through which you could enter them.

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I find the contrast between the modern and traditional interesting.

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Tourists!

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