The title of this post is from a trip we took to the natural rock water slides in Meeryang, where the group organizer could hit the first rock in such a way that he could slide down all the subsequent rock slides in one shot. Everyone started yelling "one shot" whenever they wanted to encourage someone to slide the gauntlet:
I've posted over 500 pictures on Facebook since I've been in Korea, and that can be a little bit overwhelming when I want to look at a quick pictorial overview of my year here. So here it is, the beauty and dynamism of Korea in 50 pictures or less:
 |
| my shot! |
 |
| Korea has technically outlawed corporal punishment in the schools, and my school is desperately trying to find new ways to deal with unruly students. One of the most common ways to punish them now deals with physical feats of strength, so here they are being forced to walk flat-footed while crouched down, pulling on their ears. After doing this for 10 minutes, I suppose I would also be deterred from wearing my uniform jacket inside out ever again. |
|
 |
| Nowadays, it's common for me to walk down the hall and see a scene like this. These students were being punished for being late to class. |
 |
| a traditional Korean meal |
 |
| and a traditional Korean attempt to make Western food: here, Kelly is not too happy that they put her savory ham sandwich (which they call "sand" for short) on a blueberry bagel |
|
 |
| A typical beach scene in August. Koreans REALLY hate the sun, which is why they're all hiding underneath these umbrellas |
 |
| A traditional Korean/Asian dessert, "pot-bing-su" which is Chinese for 'ice red bean.' It's red beans (used in all their desserts here), ice, assorted fruit, and ice cream. I promise it's delicious! |
 |
| Koreans LOVE nail design, and it's usually far more intricate than anything American women ever get. |
 |
| You can buy books in vending machines in the subway! |
 |
| Koreans are obsessed with beauty, so when I moved here I wasn't too worried about finding the face moisturizer that I use daily to protect my skin. The Korean words on the bottle sounded like "Hey-a-neese-euh" when I pronounced it, and it didn't sound English to me, so I figured it was some Korean word I didn't understand. All summer long I kept commenting to my friends that I had fewer freckles than usual, but I reasoned that perhaps the Korean sun wasn't as strong as Indiana sun. I really wish that someone had warned me that Korean women only use moisturizer that has whitening bleach in it, because that Hangeul on the bottle was actually trying to say "Why-te-neese-euh," or... WHITENESS. |
 |
| Korean couples often wear matching T-shirts or socks to prove that they're together... but perhaps this is taking it a bit too far? |
|
 |
| Korean rice cake. NOTHING like our rice cakes back home |
 |
| Bakeries have been a recent fad here, and they go all out to compete with those countries that have several decades on them. |
 |
| A traditional Korean market, where you can buy anything: beans, kimchi, hats, octopus, dried squid, high heels, lettuce, rice cakes, chopsticks, tupperware, etc. |
 |
| Koreans don't like to carry around thick books, so it's normal to rip a book in half or into quarters, or tenths. My students often come to class with one unit ripped out of their textbook. So when an author like J.K.Rowling comes out with thick books that weigh several pounds, the publishing companies save the consumers the hassle of ripping apart their precious books and instead partition them ahead of time. |
 |
| Here you can see the fourth book divided into four books |
 |
| On this particular night, a bunch of us had gathered at a galbi buffet restaurant to bid our friend, Alexis, goodbye. At the next table over, we noticed some Korean guys having a birthday party for their friend. When they started singing "Happy Birthday" in English, we naturally joined in the chorus. They thought that was great, and so they proceeded to share their cake with us and take several pictures with us throughout the rest of the meal. After that, two men from another table came over and treated us to soju and beers. This kind of experience is not all that unnatural here =) |
 |
| Dried squid, a favorite snack of Korean people, especially when accompanied by beer at a baseball game |
 |
| Korean-style pizza. I think this one had popcorn shrimp, pineapple, honey mustard, soy sauce, sweet potato, coconut, and green peppers |
 |
| A typical Korean shower/bathroom. There's no separate bathing area, just a toilet, a sink, a shower head and a drain. I actually prefer this kind of shower now, because I can easily clean my entire bathroom while cleaning myself! |
