Middle School ESL Activities Blog

I've recently made another blog that focuses on sharing the work, ideas, and thoughts of my Korean students.  My hope with this blog is to provide some ideas for other ESL teachers and to simply share the work of my students to people from all walks of life.  Perhaps by sharing this will provide those who have never been to Korea a small taste of what life is like for these students.

The blog can be found at: Yeonghwa Middle School ESL Activities

Korea's "time of the month" remedy

I came to work today and it was, well, "that time of the month" for me so I went to the nurse for some pain relievers to help with cramps.  She gave me two Women's Tyenol and then gave me some little advice on what to eat and not to eat (according to what Koreans believe is best).  Her advice was: don't eat any fruit, don't eat any cold food, and eat only warm food.  Apparently the belief is that if you keep your body warm then it will help keep you more balanced and reduce any potential symptoms that will surface.

Oriental Medicine - Part 2

I went in for my second session on Tuesday.  It was predominantly the same procedure as Monday by involving both heat and acupuncture,  but the needles were placed in different areas.  The first time it felt like the needles were placed in positions that influenced different digestive organs.  It was a little weird feeling at times, but it felt good over time of them being there.  I was actually excited about going in for my second treatment.  This time I'm not quite sure what kind of "map" he used to place the needles but I can say that they were definitely placed in more tender areas and I was a little bit sore in spots afterward.  It felt like perhaps it just really hit some muscles that are a little of "out of wack".

I actually didn't go in yesterday because of my schedule.  That's one of the interesting things about Korea and doctors: There are no appointments.  You just walk in whenever you have the time in your schedule.  Of course, if it is something critical then you need to go in according to a certain schedule but for the most part they are pretty relaxed about it.  And the best thing is -- for not having an appointment, so far I have spent less time waiting.

My attempt at oriental medicine

Yesterday, I gave in and decided to make an attempt at oriental medicine.  For anybody who is reading this and can read Hangul (Korean text), you will already know what it says on the bottle.  For those that can't (which I'm sure is the majority) at the top it reads: Herbal Remedy for IBS.  After trying to manage and cope with this for a few years with worsening and spontaneous attacks despite watching diet. Going to any traditional doctor has told me (and likely anyone else with this) to "watch your diet", but I've found that this is never consistent, as any little thing can throw it off.  After feeling the desire to almost give up eating, I've decide to give this a shot.

The treatment is supposed to take only 10 visits, which the doctor told me I can just come in 10 in a row whenever I am able to.  The treatment involves: heat, acupuncture, massage (mechanical), and herbal medicine.  I have to take 20 of these little herbal pills after each meal, 3 times a day.  If my stomach is unsettled yet, I can increase up to 30 pills after the meal.  I'm not exactly sure what herbs they are (since it's all Korean), but its a mixture of several.

The total cost for 10 days of treatment?  Only W47,000, which is about $45 so whether it works or not I felt it'd be a good experience and definitely worth a try for such a price.  Crossing my fingers that I have at least an improvement if not quite a "cure".

Dunkin Donuts Korean Style

Korea certainly hasn't avoided in getting several popular western culture franchises. There are 7-Elevens, Baskin Robbins, and Dunkin Donuts everywhere throughout the country. I think I've been to more of these businesses in Korea than I have in the United States!

There is one thing about coffee in Korea that puzzles me a bit. Rather than have regular drip coffee, most places (with Dunkin Donuts being one of he few exceptions) serve Americano (espresso with water added). I guess
It is easier to make since you then only buy espresso beans? I'm not sure exactly but that is how
Korea does it.

Brown Rice Green Tea

When I first came east I was quite excited about coming to a country that grows tea and has much better quality of tea than anywhere else in the world.  However, what I noticed in the first couple weeks when brewing myself a cup of green tea with a tea bag that I had found in my cabinet, I realized that the green tea here is not just green tea: Its green tea with brown rice.

I was quite disappointed with this unexpected flavor and felt it tasted much too "grainy" than a cup of regular green tea.  I later learned that you CAN buy plain green tea in bags or loose leaf, but you just have to watch the labels because most does have brown rice added to it.

But why do they add brown rice to begin with?  It has taken me over 6 months to learn the reason and today one of my Korean co-teachers explained it to me: Because it adds fiber, so it is better for your digestive system.

I suppose I'm not too surprised.  After all, Koreans in general are very health conscious and seem to have a natural remedy to prevent, help, or cure anything.

Unexpected flavors of food

Today I came in for lunch and had two particular items that looked quite familiar to what I might have in a meal back home: What appeared to be some sort of meat or chicken fillet and a fruit salad.  What puzzled me, however, were the flavors and combinations of foods that I was not expecting.  For instance, in this fruit salad that appears to have apples, raisins, grapes, and marshmallows there are certainly no grapes in it but rather tomatoes.  The fruit salad itself is not very sweet either as one might be in the US.  I could only subtly taste the marshmallow.  The other was the little patties or fillets.  My initial guess is that it was chicken with a honey mustard (since I have had other dishes here with honey mustard).  However, this was a fish fillet and the sauce is mustard that seems to be mixed with some mayo so it isn't as strong.

Where is the tartar sauce you ask?  I don't think that exists here.

This is just one of the many food I've eaten here that had a flavor that I was not expecting.  The one that I noticed early on was garlic bread.  Naturally, as a westerner, you would expect garlic bread to taste garlic-y and a bit salty, perhaps.  However, in Korea it is sweet.  You still taste the garlic, but they seem to put some sort of syrup on it.