We do a lot of shopping at the local Korean grocery store. It isn't that local--about 40 minutes away--but whenever we are in the neighborhood we stock up on the essentials, namely, 라면, 초코파이, 김, 된장/고추장, and 김치. We typically buy our 김치 rather than make it more out of convenience than anything. My wife does make good 김치 but finding the time to get it all done is the hardest part, so we buy. Usually the 김치 is pretty good, not great, and the flavor changes according to the season. The flavors can change according to what part of the 배추 leaf is used as well. This last bottle of 김치 was not my wife's favorite. She likes the yellow leafy 배추 but that bottle of 김치had green leaves. She said it was not as flavorful and it went sour in a bad way.... Show more

For your reading pleasure my daughter is going to tell us all about her experience at a 찜질방.  So, in Korea, there are these things called 찜질방. usually, there's a 목욕탕 there too. When I went to korea a few years ago, a few of my friends had talked about a 찜질방, but I didn't know what it was, only that it was 'fun'. So this year I got to find out. I went there with a couple of my friends and upon entering the building, it appeared to be just a 목욕탕. The person at the counter gave us some  pink uniforms (shorts and a T-shirt kind of thing). Then we went up a few flights of stairs and put our things in some lockers and changed into our uniforms outside of a small 목욕탕. Then we went up more stairs and into a big room. There were people (men,... Show more

When my wife and I first had children (child actually since you have to start somewhere) we decided to try to raise her by speaking Korean to her at home. This worked for a while, her first spoken words were in Korean (although I can't remember exactly what they were -shame-). She probably said 마마, I'll have to look this up in her baby book now... Some of her first sentences were in Korean as well. I think that my parents were frustrated and amused at her bilingualness. Once her socialization expanded beyond our immediate family her Korean language use decreased to the point that after beginning school she hardly spoke it at all. Now, as a teenager, she is trying to regain her Korean ability. With our younger two children we have... Show more

This past summer we hosted the 여도초등학교 traditional Korean orchestra. The students ages ranged from 8 to 12 years (3rd through 7th grade). The 여도 elementary school is a private school funded by multiple chemical companies in the 여천공단. The orchestra came to the United States to promote the World Ocean Expo 2012 bid. (Congratulations to 여수시 for winning the bid!) For the two weeks that the students spent here we had two boys, two girls, and the school principle and his wife stay at our house. We arranged for the remaining 40 students to stay with various families in the area. Finding host families was not easy in this small community but everyone that hosted these children had a very memorable if not experience. The children had a total of... Show more

Most of my family was in Korea for three weeks prior to my arrival. I travelled with my parents and my oldest daughter. My younger children attended elementary school while in Korea and generally were treated very well. Since we were travelling with my parents and only in Korea for a short period of time, we wanted to do as much sightseeing as possible. We started our tour from 여수 and worked our way back up to 서울. While in 여수 my parents did a separate tour while I took care of some dental work. I am not that fond of dentists and generally have pretty good teeth but I did have to get a crown two years ago. It cost a small fortune and didn't last all that long. I fell out two days before I left for Korea. I did not have time to get it... Show more