Come to SEOULTUBE 2012! 서울 튜브로 오세요!

Evan — Tue, 15 May 2012 04:46:36 +0000

Come to SEOULTUBE 2012! 서울 튜브로 오세요! Ven a SEOULTUBE!

The 4th Seoul Youtube meetup is happening this weekend! Find the Facebook event page HERE.

The event is Saturday, May 19th, at Hangang Park 한강공원, Yeouinaru Station 여의나루역 (Line 5), exit 3. Entry is free. You can bring snacks, drinks, guitars, and of course cameras. Dinner will be ordered at 5:30 and delivered around 6 (dinner is not free).

Watch the video for more information!

Hiking Obongsan

Evan — Tue, 08 May 2012 04:23:55 +0000

Obongsan is a mountain in South Korea that is pretty much in our back yard. We hiked up to the top! Amazing view. See more pictures on our facebook page!

Yangsan Tower 양산 타워

Evan — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 04:19:59 +0000

We went to the top of Yangsan tower. What an awesome view! Lot’s of cities in South Korea have these space needle type towers.. the most famous of which is North Seoul Tower up in Seoul. We have a video from there, too! Check it out here ..warning, it’s pretty old!

A Wedding in South Korea

Evan — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 23:57:04 +0000

We went to Rachel’s Co-Teacher’s wedding in Busan, South Korea. It was really interesting! I am not entirely positive that I am correct about the details, but I will try to explain a little bit. There is a western style wedding, which you can see in the video below, which is similar to weddings you would see in the USA or Canada. Then, there is a Korean traditional style wedding in which only close family participates and everyone wears hanbok. Cool! We didn’t get to see the second part because, well, we’re not close family. Check out the video! Have you ever been to a wedding in South Korea? Leave us a comment and tell us about it!

We got a lot of follow up questions about weddings in Korea, so here are some things you need to know!

WHAT SHOULD I WEAR?
The best advice is always that it’s better to dress up than dress down. I will say that if you’re a guy, don’t stress if you don’t have/don’t want to wear a tie. I did see a few guys in nice jeans. Most of the women just looked as nice as they do every day. I wore a dress with a cardigan, Evan wore khakis and a black button down shirt.

WHAT SHOULD I BRING?
The most common, and preferred gift at a Korean wedding is money. How much? Some people say that 30,000 is okay for a coworker or someone you don’t know very well, and some say that with the 50,000 notes in circulation, that is a more common amount. Obviously if you’re close to the bride or groom feel free to give more. This was my co-teacher’s wedding, and he spent a week trying to convince me not to give them anything because he just wanted me as a guest. My other co-teachers said that 30,000 is completely acceptable, so that’s what I gave.

When you walk into the wedding, there will be a desk with someone collecting the money. Buy an envelope at a convenience store, stick the money inside, and right your name on the outside. Hand the person at the desk the envelope, and then you may have to sign a book with the amount paid.

WHAT SHOULD I EXPECT?
It’s pretty different from Western weddings. There are no greeting cards, or speeches, or toasts, no first dances (or dancing at all). Korean weddings tend to be chaotic and impersonal. There were so many people at the wedding hall, as you can see in our video, that we watched the wedding on a big screen TV in the lobby. Expect people to be talking or on their phones in the room while the wedding is going on. The actual ceremony is very short, around 30 minutes. There is also a time that the bride and groom take pictures with all of the guests, and then everyone moves on to the buffet. You may notice that a lot of the people there don’t necessarily know the bride or groom personally. Often friends of friends are invited. It seems to be a common belief that the more people that are at your wedding, the more celebrated the new couple seems.

HOW MUCH DOES A KOREAN WEDDING COST?
I’m pretty unsure about this. When I looked it up, I saw everything between $15,000 USD and $175,000 USD. I’m sure some of those include a lot of related things like the honeymoon and furnishing a new home. But if you know anything more abut this, please let us know in a comment!

P.S.-The groom may or may not give a piggy back ride to his mother-in-law at some point.

Our Neighborhood in South Korea

Evan — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 09:06:39 +0000

Follow us as we walk around our neighborhood in Yangsan, South Korea where Rachel works as an ESL teacher in public school and Evan, well.. hangs out.

We live in the southern part of South Korea, just a little bit further up from Busan, the second largest city in the country. Our apartment is provided for the foreign teacher at the school Rachel teaches ESL at. It’s the standard one room accommodation that most schools in South Korea provide for teachers. Yangsan is a really, really lovely town. We lived in Seoul last year, and while we liked it a lot, we like Yangsan much better. It has a great vibe to it!

Right now, the Cherry Blossoms are blooming and there are white petals floating through the air like snow. It’s AWESOME. Check out the video!

10 Websites That Will Make Life in Korea Easier

Evan — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 14:33:24 +0000

Here are ten websites that have made our lives as expats in South Korea much easier – they are sure to do the same for you!

EZshopkorea.com
Last year we loved our quaint neighborhood in Yeongdeungpo, Seoul. It was close to Hongdae, but away from all the chaos. That is of course if don’t count the chaos that is COSTCO on weekends. Yes, we lived right by the Yeongdeungpo Costco. haha. While many of you may be thinking that we’re incredibly spoiled, wait till you hear about this website. Now that we live in a suburb outside of Busan, we’re about an hour and a half from the nearest Costco. Instead I somehow stumbled across this amazing website that DELIVERS Costco and Homeplus goods TO YOUR DOOR, anywhere in Korea. Anywhere. I made a short video of one of the orders we got. They do need a valid phone number, and they almost always call beforehand on the day they deliver the groceries. A little korean may be desirable, but I think you’d get them at your door regardless.
Gringos
Let’s face it, the one thing we ALL miss when we live in Korea is good, cheap mexican food. It’s nearly impossible to find, especially for those outside Seoul. Gringos Burritos to the rescue! These guys craft a truly excellent, authentic burrito and then in true Korean service fashion, they ship it to your door. It’s excellent stuff. They also have chorizo and bean dips. Try ‘em out!
English Gmarket
GMarket is the famous Korean online store front. It’s actually owned by eBay, but functions a little bit differently. Perhaps lesser known is English GMarket, the English language portal to this huge shopping site. GMarket is your ticket to getting things you can’t find in Korea, and even for importing goods from other countries (just watch out for customs fees!).
Daum Dictionary
I discovered this recently thanks to hangukdramakorean.com, an awesome self study korean blog. It’s a great dictionary for learning korean because not only does give you the definition of a word, it gives you common phrases in which its used. If you are studying korean this is a great resource to use.
Talk To Me in Korean
We almost excluded TTMIK because it just seemed too obvious, but just in case you don’t ALREADY know about this amazing Korean language resource, I can’t say enough good things about it. Not only is their material easy to understand, well-organized, and relevant, it is FREE! The teachers are also just really great people who interact with and care about their listeners/students. Go check them out.
Waygook.org
This message board is often called the Bible for teachers in Korea, and it is an endless resource of materials, lesson plans, ideas, and questions answered. I prefer this site waaaayyy more than Dave’s ESL cafe, and I actually would never recommend Dave’s ESL cafe to any newcomer of Korea. Waygook has a much more positive, productive vibe, so when your first week of teaching is approaching and you’re scared out of your mind, Waygook.org will save your life.
Adventure Korea.com
Adventure Korea is a club that organizes trips for foreigners all over Korea. From tours of the DMZ to bungee jumping trips to island hopping by bicycle, adventure Korea is an awesome way to get out of your comfort zone, meet new people, and explore more of this new country you’re living in. Make the most of your time here and book a trip with them! While Evan and I are far from being the biggest fans of group/organized trips, sometimes its nice to have everything already taken care of as far as itinerary, money, and transportation are concerned. They are professional and reliable, and their trips are just good fun.
Korail – Korea Rail System
I’ll always say that one of my favorite things about living in Korea is the transportation. You can get anywhere in this country for super cheap and in comfort. The Korail site can be viewed in full English, and they let you book right online. Super simple, super convenient.
Korea Tourism Organization
One thing you’re sure to do when you’re living in Korea is go to festivals! Koreans LOVE their holidays and festivals, and you will too. There is always something going on, and the Korea Tourism Organization will tell you what’s up. Their site is easy to navigate, and has all kinds of useful information – where to stay, what to eat, how to get there, and more.
BusanHaps
Not all of us live in Seoul. For those on the coastal metropolis down south, there is Busan Haps. This magazine and it’s attendant website are a great resource for what’s going on, where to go, what to see and what to do in Busan and the surrounding areas. They also sport a classifieds section and some great articles!

How to Cook Banana Bread in a Rice Cooker

Rachel — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 14:56:08 +0000

My latest hobby is experimenting with our rice cooker! We both love to cook and try new things, but until this year neither of us had ever cooked with a rice cooker! As you saw in our first episode of Cooking Time with Evan and Rachel, we had NO idea what we were doing!! But since then I’ve had a lot of practice and tried a lot of new things in the rice cooker. Banana bread is something we both miss from home and so after 3 tries, I have perfected the recipe and want to share it with everyone!

RECIPE:
1 cup of wheat flour (or 1 1/2 cups of white flour)
3/4 cups brown sugar (or the same amount of white sugar)
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (2-3 med./lg bananas)
1/3 cups softened butter
1/4 cups milk
1 egg
1/2 tsp. vanilla
cinammon to taste

STEP 1:
Line the rice cooker bowl with butter or oil
(Let the butter soften beforehand)

STEP 2:
Add the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking soda, salt. Mix

STEP 3:
Mash the bananas

STEP 4: Add the wet ingredients: bananas, butter, milk, egg. Mix.

Step 5: Add cinnamon or other ingredients

Step 6: Start the rice cooker!
(2 cycles)

If you have any questions, leave a comment! If you need basic help with the rice cooker, see our last post on “How to Use a Korean Rice Cooker”.
Enjoy! ^-^

~Rachel

How to Use a Korean Rice Cooker

Rachel — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 14:06:53 +0000

Did you arrive in Korea recently, and still find yourself staring at your rice cooker in overwhelming confusion?
Of if you’re like us, are you way late to the world of rice cookery?
Here is a quick rundown of what the buttons on your rice cooker do in English and Korean!
All rice cookers are different, but I think a lot of the buttons will be the same.

보온/재가열 – warm/reheat
예약 – timer (only use if you don’t want to cook it right away)
압력 취사 – cook/pressure cook (It will be the biggest, usually colorful button on your rice cooker!)
취소 – cancel

백미고압 – high pressure, white rice
백미쾌속 – fast, turbo cook
백미저압 – low pressure, white glutinous rice
현미/잡곡 – brown rice, wild rice, long grain, etc. (on some rice cookers called “special rice”)

If you have anymore questions, leave a comment and we’ll be glad to help with explanations or other translations!
Also, I found a manual for a cuckoo rice cooker online that is in English and Korean. I think it will be really helpful to anyone who has never used a rice cooker before, especially one in another language! Here are screenshots of the two most helpful pages, but if you would like the full manual, I’d be happy to email it to you if you send us a message.
How to measure the water in the rice cooker
Explanation of buttons on a slightly different rice cooker

Good luck!

Talk to Me in Korean Meet Up!

Evan — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 14:15:22 +0000

We went to the first ever Talk to Me in Korean Meet Up! It was really fun. We got to meet TONS of cool people! The meet up started in a bowling alley in Seoul in the Hongdae neighborhood. After some rounds of bowling, the crowd moved down to an excellent sam gyeop sal place and feasted for lunch. Good times!

Check out the Talk to Me in Korean website here: http://www.talktomeinkorean.com

A few of the awesome people who were there:
http://www.youtube.com/ever4one — Hyunwoo’s channel
http://www.youtube.com/noealz1 — Noe’s channel
http://www.youtube.com/jinseokjin — Seokjin’s channel
http://www.youtube.com/kyeongeunchoi — Kyeongeun’s channel

Ryan and his sweet camera
http://ryancabal.500px.com/#/0

Thanks for watching! Come join us next time.

Five Hours in Fukuoka, Japan

Evan — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 13:20:24 +0000

I had to leave Korea to renew my visa this week. I’ve done this a few times before and gone to Hiroshima and Osaka. I really enjoyed those places. This time, though, I couldn’t spend a lot of time there. I ended up flying in and out on the same day! I decided to do that in Fukuoka. The airport in Fukuoka is right in the middle of the city, so I was able to get off the plane and walk around during my short time there. Check out the full set of pictures here, and watch the video below!