Thanksgiving - Korean style

Hard to believe we’re into October already! The days and nights are cooling down a little, at least so I don’t break a sweat when simply thinking of walking outdoors. This past weekend felt a lot like the beautiful sunny fall days we often enjoy in southern Ontario.

The calendar reminded us that Canadian Thanksgiving was fast approaching so some of the Canadian faculty decided to get together to celebrate. I would say about 35% of the TCIS faculty are from Canada so there was lots of interest in having a Thanksgiving meal.

Even though not everyone could attend, most of those who did show up hail from the southern region of Ontario -- Guelph, Peterborough, Toronto, North York, Waterloo with a few from Alberta and British Columbia. It really is kind of strange having so many Canadian locals with me here in Daejon Korea -- strange but I sure appreciate their company! Since most of the staff from TCIS live within a three-block radius of one another, it wasn’t a far walk for any of us to get to our host's apartment.


My responsibilities included bringing drinks and ice. Sounded simple enough, but I soon found out that locating ice in Korea is akin to finding palm trees in Canada. Well, while I was selecting from an assortment of drinks at one of the local “kogaes” (neighborhood stores), I noticed a stainless steel refrigerator in the back employee-region of the store. I decided to do a little personal investigation since I didn’t have a clue how to ask for “ice” in Korean. Long story short: I found a freezer full of ice and was able to convey to the owner that I would like to buy some! Soon I was on my way to dinner feeling pretty good about my find =)

The week before our dinner, word had spread across campus like wild-fire that Costco had pumpkin pie and Canada Dry! No turkeys to be found in Korea but securing these other major food groups assured us of a great meal. And what a fantastic meal it was, including a lot of western tastes like chicken, stuffing, mashed potatoes etc etc and, of course, pumpkin pie. Had to laugh because we ended up with six HUGE 15-16” diameter Costco pumpkin pies for 15 people. Thank goodness the pie was incredibly good because many of us are still eating leftovers.

Step Aside World Series!

The Hanwha Eagles made the playoffs! This is definitely big news for residents of Daejon and surrounding region. Seating at these games, whether playoff or not, are first come first serve (as opposed to reserved seating at movie theaters) so a bunch of us from TCIS decided to head to last Wednesday's final game early to get good seats.

Once again the hype surrounding the game proved to be more interesting than the game itself... from (16th century) Korean warrior mascots to the smoking fireworks. The Koreans get into the game like I've never seen before and since we were in the front row of our section, we saw it all!



No inhibitions here. Fans took turns running the Eagles flag around the stadium and some even lead our section in cheers. Admittedly, I don’t have a clue as to what they’re chanting in Korean but it sure is catchy. At times I swear they were yelling “who let the dogs out” but I wouldn’t place money on it =)

A friend from school wanted to see if there were any limits to this enthusiastic crowd so he started chanting “U... S... A...” and, sure enough, our part of the stadium picked it up and ran with it. Too funny. Most in the crowd probably had no idea what they were yelling but they were sure getting into it!




I am constantly amazed at the level of hospitality and friendliness of Koreans – even at baseball games! Despite the language barrier, many Koreans put chicken and other foods in our hands and motioned for us to eat. Fortunately no one offered us dried squid because it isn’t polite to decline and, well, none of us were in the mood to eat 3 foot long strips of dried squid that night =)

All in all, another great time at the ball park! How could our evening end any better than having dozens of Korean fans wave and say “good bye” to us as we left the stadium? I’m sure the Koreans, like most citizens of other countries, are delighted when foreigners take an interest in their country and participate in cultural activities. In all reality, it’s our privilege!

Getting Off Campus

I was told by a fellow staff member that life at TCIS is exceptionally busy during the month of October. So far this is holding true for me because I’ve been more than busy with teaching, tech coordinator responsibilities, helping at student choir practices and concerts, attending master plan committee meetings and working on final requirements for a thesis. I really don't see my schedule slowing down any as I also agreed to teach ESL to primary kids from the community next month after school. No time to get in trouble!

Every once in awhile when the schedule permits, I am able to venture off campus and visit other staff in their homes or try different restaurants in the city. So when a co-worker last week suggested we spice things up a bit and try a formal Japanese restaurant, I jumped at the opportunity. Apparently this Japanese restaurant offers only one meal all day - half price during lunch hours! Quick like a bunny we logged off our computers and headed out the door.

Upon our arrival we were ushered into a private dining room where we took off our shoes and sat on floor cushions at this over-sized low-lying table. Then the parade of food started. I took these pictures thinking the waitress had finished bringing the food to the table but Jin informed me that “more was coming”. Unbelievable.

Seriously, I counted over 20 different foods when all was said and done. I don’t remember the names of most dishes but we experienced just about everything from the ocean -- some of which included octopus, squid, spiced-up raw fish, sushi, almond paste, pickled garlic and (my favorite) shrimp tempura. Once again, the price was right at $10... which also included the Japanese hostess wanting to hold my hand as she walked with me out of the restaurant =)