I've always had a love for coffee. It wasn't until I moved to South Korea that I realized just how strong my love was. Before I knew it, I graduated from 'candy coffees' into sipping iced americanos in the summer. I supposed it's healthier for me. I never was into making coffee at home very much, but that was due to not having a coffee maker! Then, we met Jared and Amber. They're quite the coffee experts...growing up with only the best! They not only have a french press back home, but they have a drip coffee maker, AND an espresso machine! After hanging out multiple times, I've quickly adapted and became a part of their coffee drinking 'club.' Then, they bought me my own french press! I've never had one before, so I was quite excited to ... Read More
Recipes: grandma knows best
I don't know if you're like me, but the perfect Christmas cookie recipe is hard to find. Well, look no further. Everyone knows that gingerbread cookies are an American holiday favorite. The soft and spicy cookie is just what anyone needs for the cold holidays...especially paired with a cup of tea or hot cocoa. I was a bit hesitant to share my cherished gingerbread recipe, passed down to me from my Grandmother, with you at first...after all, it's been in the family for years. But being in the holiday spirit, one cannot be greedy and selfish. Also, this recipe is achievable from KOREA with a little help from iherb.com. If you're in for some warm (actually these are even good frozen), soft, and all around darn good cookies...give these a ... Read More
11/11
I couldn't help but chuckle as I looked down at the description of the box I held in my hand, "Strawberry chocolate attached fragrant biscuit." This isn't my first time dealing with Peperos...I was introduced to them by my friend of 12 years, Alexis and her husband Jordan. I'm not sure if they knew what they were...but they were good so that's all that mattered. Peperos originated in South Korea (or so they say) by the mega-brand Lotte. They are made from a long piece of sweet biscuit and dipped in chocolate. They remind me of chocolate covered pretzel sticks. Now what I didn't know until last Friday was, 11/11 is national Pepero Day. I found out about it though my students' thoughtful gifts as they brought me boxes of these sweet little ... Read More
Foreign
This week's Weekly Photo Challenge asks readers to post a photo of something 'foreign' to them. As most of you know, I live in South Korea as an English teacher, and have been for the last eight months. Seriously, everything is foreign to me. I'm constantly caught of guard by little things, and this reminds me even more that I'm an alien in a strange land. I've gotten pretty used to the food...but sometimes a certain side dish can throw me of guard. It's quite normal to get a side dish of pickled radishes, seaweed, kimchi, rice, cabbage salad, and some sort of grass salad with red paste on it. What I wasn't expecting was, when we went to a BBQ restaurant, to get a side dish of chilled octopus tentacles covered with red paste and served on ... Read More
Expat resources
Hey readers...especially expats! Check out the new page above labeled 'Expat Resources!' I've started compiling a list of online resources that ship to Korea/Worldwide! This not only helps me, but it may help you. Enjoy. :) ... Read More
Where do i get it? 10/4
Due to the inspiration of one of my friends, I've decided to write a post about using a certain resource as a means of comfort here in South Korea as an expat. What may that be? The internet. The internet holds a vast amount of information...as well as resources that are able to help a person no matter where and what walk of life they are on. Being an expat, I've tried to make life as comfortable as possible...trying to find little things to make our time in Asia a little more 'Western' (the region of the world, not the cowboy style). I've recently stumbled upon some websites that have allowed me to maintain a slight level of 'normalicy' in an otherwise crazy and foreign world. Honestly, I never thought I would write a blog post about ... Read More
[Bali] late night cruisin’
Wednesday night, after our lovely and adventurous 'water day,' we headed out yet again on the ocean. This time in style, on a banana yellow yacht. The day was perfect: not to hot,not to cold. To make it even better, we met up with Harriet (my good friend that teaches in South Africa with me here in Korea...well for 5 more days. :( ) and her bestie Engela and they joined us on the cruise! Overall, we had a blast on the cruise. Probably because 80% of it was joking and laughing with our friends. To be honest, I dont think we'd do it again if we go back to Bali, but it was a fun thing to do once! ... Read More
Grand mirage…a piece of paradise. [bali]
Grand Mirage. It lives up to it's name. It's a little chunk of heaven/bliss/all things good among everything else. All the food you can eat. All the drinks you can drink. All the watersports you can handle. Shows, live music, London Olympic coverage, and most importantly 24 hour room service. Derik and I opted to do this all-inclusive amazingness as the first few days of our trip...that way we'd have time to unwind before we headed out across Bali to explore and do fun things. We were not bored in the least at the Grand Mirage, in fact, we were almost always up to doing something! The first day we got up early ate a fantastic breakfast, went kayaking, ate a good lunch (which included swordfish and salmon), chilled on the beach, ate ... Read More
That BBQ Chicken…
Derik and I are starting to get into the groove of things. We no longer stumble around hoping we get to the right place at the right time,in Gohyeon anyway. Just wait until we start exploring other parts of Geoje Island. We know the best place to buy tools, the right store to grab a quick carton of milk, and of course we know that McDonalds has a happy hour from 11-2 everyday (of which we visit this every couple weeks, maybe more frequently soon...my husband has rapidly dropped 20 pounds in the last month). We know our schedules at work, we know how much time it takes us to get there walking, and riding the bike. We know some Korean words such as: "Hello/Goodbye," "Thank-you," "Yes," and of course "Sexual Predator," and "Poop." Thank you ... Read More
