Latest Knitting

I just finished my latest project but plan on adding 2 or 3 more to the collection in different colors. This one was quite fun to make.

Seoul Zoo

Yesterday was the first very nice day in a long time! We decided to spend our day in the zoo and I must admit it was one of the nicest zoos I have ever seen. There was a ski lift ride that took us from one end of the zoo to the other when we were ready to leave. It was also very interesting to see what animals they considered zoo animals; animals in the States we are used to seeing in our own backyards! They had skunks, deer and raccoons! Some unique animals we were able to see were white peacocks, red pandas and very interesting native ducks. Below is a slideshow including videos of the variety of animals we saw.

Knitting

Well I wasn't all that impressed with the Stitch-N-Bitch meetings so I decided to start my own. Last week I met some other foreigners from a foreign parent board I'm on and we are starting our own knitting group, our first meeting is next Friday! I can't wait to see everyone again and get more time to work on my projects. I finished this one yesterday and started another project but had to put it away to work on homework.

St. Patty's Day Festival in Seoul

Last weekend, Greg and I went to the St. Patrick's Day parade/festival in Seoul. I must admit that was the most non-Korean people I have seen gathered in one place! The event was sponsored by Guinness. There was music, free-be's, beer (Greg had mine) a parade and an opening speech from the ambassador of Ireland.

Our parting gifts, a T-shirt and a Guinness piggy bank!

Baby Blog

I started another blog about our peanut. It is updated weekly with information of how it's growing. Once I "pop" I'll also post growing belly pictures and updated ultrasound pictures. To view the blog visit here:

Our Little Peanut

Fish Market

Greg and I go grocery shopping in a warehouse; however we have to walk through a fish market to get to the store we like. Below is a video of the fish market along with the giant king crab. They look like giant sea spiders! Sorry it's a bit shaky, I was feeling a bit queasy and had to walk a little fast through there.

Why is the sky Yellow?

Today looked like an overcast day; however, something was different. The sky was yellow tinged and continued to intensify in color throughout the day. So why was the sky yellow? Turns out it is Asian Dust. It is a seasonal phenomenon that sporadically occurs during the springtime months. According to wikipedia, the dust originates in the Mongolia deserts in northern China and Kazahstan. High speed surface winds and intense dust storms kick up clouds containing the dust particles. Prevailing winds carry the clouds over China, North and South Korea, and Japan. Sometimes it even travels far enough to affect the air in the United States! Many people were wearing masks today, although that is not that uncommon and can be seen everyday. Although we were out all day, I read another blog today that advises people to stay indoors if they can when we are experiencing a dust storm. It can increase the difficulty of people who have respiratory problems and cause eye irritation. It traveled about 1,500 miles that's like San Fransisco to San Antonio!



According to the Los Angeles Times:

"As the latest sandstorm moved southeast, South Korea's national weather agency issued a yellow dust advisory for Seoul and other parts of the country.

Chun Youngsin, a researcher at the Korea Meteorological Administration, said the yellow dust was expected to hit the Korean peninsula beginning Saturday afternoon and it would be "the worst yellow dust" this year."

Fun fact of the day

This weekend marks daylight savings time in America where we spring forward and begin to have longer days. In Korea we do not have daylight savings time. Although South Korea does not currently observe Daylight Saving Time, the country did adhere to DST from 1948 to 1951, 1955 to 1960, and 1987 to 1988. I'm not sure why this wasn't continued and why there are gaps between the years it was in place. Below is a map that documents the areas of the world that have observed Daylight Saving Time.



(Image obtained through: http://www.webexhibits.org/daylightsaving/g.html)

White Day

Today, March 14th is White Day. As I have mentioned in a previous post Valentine's day is celebrated differently here in Korea. The traditional Valentine's Day as we know it in America is when couples express their love or feelings for one another. In Korea each gender has their own day. Valentine's Day was reserved for women to express their love or feelings for a special guy in their life. One month late, White Day it is the guys turn to express his true feelings. For the entire week, streets have been lined with vendors selling chocolates, large stuffed bears and various flower arrangements.

Knitting

After an unsuccessful first meeting of the knitting group, it should meet again this Sunday. I'm looking forward to it and hopefully there will be more than one person and they will be on time this week. Here is my latest creation, a new pacifier clip.

The Vast Array of Foods

We've been able to eat a variety of foods here in Korea. There are many stands that sell little pastries filled with a bean paste. I'm sure you're thinking, "bean paste? ewww" but it is surprisingly a little sweet. I think my favorite little pastry so far has been Korean pancakes. They are filled with taro paste I think and have a slight cinnamon and sugar flavor. The best is to get them when they are warm.

We've partaken in American style foods at the stands as well like corn dogs. Unfortunately they aren't quite the same. The outside crust is more like a doughnut, but for less than $2.00 I guess it's not too bad. Last night we even took part in some American pizza; although they have various types of foods it is always done Korean style. We didn't end up getting a Korean style pizza this time, settled on Hawaiian. Every meal comes with various sides; for Koreans eating is all about the taste so the more little side dishes you have I guess the more it cleans the palate. Dishes are also visually appealing such as the Korean style pizzas. This one shown even has shrimp wrapped in bacon on it!

We ate at our first Korean restaurant too... it was quite an experience. There were tables with an electric pit in the center of the table. Our food came to us in a skillet uncooked; the workers come by and continually stir your food until it's ready. They gave us little aprons to wear but I don't think it was with the intention to keep your clothes clean while you ate but rather to keep you from getting splattered when they come by and stir it! After waiting quite a while we figured it was ready so we started to dig in after observing other tables doing this too.... but we were quickly reprimanded by a man speaking in Korean until he eventually said, "not yet, not yet". I think they were worried we may get sick from not fully cooked chicken. Overall it was quite tastey and fairly cheap as most food here. This dish had chicken, cabbage, these chewy rice sticks and of course chili paste. This dish has inspired Greg to create many other creations like this at home.