IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A BIT LIKE CHRISTMAS
I was pleasantly surprised to see this Christmas tree already out.
Yesterday,"Black Friday" as it is known in the States, found us out shopping for bargains. It wasn't because there were any special sales or early bird specials; Friday was just a normal day in Seoul.
However, Merilee had asked us if we would take her parents to see some of the sights we enjoy here. We took them to Gyeongbokgung(the main palace) where we watched a changing of the guard ceremony and toured the buildings.
From there we walked a few blocks to Insa-dong, a delightful shopping street filled with all sorts of "artsy" stuff. There are also many stands selling delicious snacks such as "hodduk" a pancake-like fried dough that is filled with brown sugar.
We ended our day with a pleasant meal at Outback Steakhouse. We then walked along the Cheongye Stream before riding the subway back home.
MIGUK** CHUSEOK
We Americans often refer to the Korean harvest festival(Chuseok) as "Korean Thanksgiving." In turn some Koreans refer to our Thanksgiving as Miguk(American) Chuseok.
We hosted the "neighborhood miguks" (fellow teachers at SCS) for a traditional Thanksgiving feast. We had roasted turkey($3.70 lb.!), mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole, corn and carrots, two kinds of dressing, fruit salad, cranberry sauce, freshly baked rolls(2 kinds), and assorted desserts.
We began our meal by singing "Come, Ye Thankful People, Come" followed by prayer. After our meal, we eached shared something for which we are thankful. Merilee, our fourth grade teacher, had some after dinner games--nothing strenuous! By the way, her parents(seated beside and across from Elizabeth) are here visiting for a week.
We played games and chatted into the evening and had a very pleasant day.
**miguk(me-gook)
D-DAY FOR HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS
Today nearly 600,000 high school seniors and graduates took the Korean College Scholastic Ability Test, which began at 8:40 a.m.and lasted until 6:15 p.m. The once-a-year test is truly a life-changing matter because the outcome of the test is used to determine which university a student may attend or whether or not he will attend university at all.
Students spend many late nights in study rooms cramming for this test. The test has five parts including three required subjects:mathematics, Korean and English. Students also test over two optional subjects from social science, natural sciences, occupational studies, optional tests in a second foreign language or Chinese characters.
To help students reach the testing centers on time, the government set the starting time for work at all government offices and private firms at 10 a.m., an hour later than the usual time. In addition, over 10,000 police were stationed near test centers, and subway stations throughout the country had 7,000 volunteers available to help students get to the venues on time.
Planes were banned from taking off or landing for two brief periods in the morning and afternoon to prevent the noise from distracting students during the listening comprehension test, and honking car horns was prohibited. The Defense Ministry also halted all military drills during test hours.
On this day, everyone it seemed was pulling for the students. All public schools were cancelled. Radio stations played songs especially to cheer the students. Bakeries sold special breads and decorated cakes. Mothers went to early prayer services, and then many stood outside the test center gates to offer their children special lunches and to wish them success. Subway stops that are usually annouced via tape recording were today personally annouced by the conductor to let students know which testing center was at a particular stop.
Students will be notified of their CSAT scores on Dec. 13.
PEPERO DAY
Pepero Day is a Sweetest Day-type of celebration just in Korea. Typically, school-aged children and young couples observe this day. Students share pepero with classmates and teachers. For the romantic (and richer), pepero is often combined with jewelry and other accesories as gift sets.
November 11 is the date because the numerical representation of the date(11/11) resembles four pepero sticks. Pepero is a cookie stick dipped in chocolate; however, many variations exist. Other flavors include dark chocolate and strawberry. Crushed nuts are sometimes in the chocolate coating. The size of pepero also varies; in fact, one bakery company offers a baguette dipped in chocolate.
Although it was purportedly started several years ago by a group of girls in middle school, Pepero Day--in a manner similar to the "Hallmark holidays" in the U.S.--receives its greatest promotion from the confectionary companies such as Lotte.
Whatever the reason for it, I like Pepero Day. Unlike greeting cards, pepero can be eaten.
SALMON FEST!
Jerred admires his hand-caught salmon
A.J.'s first balloon
Joanna by the sea (like Mentor-on-the-Lake?)
Autumn in northern Japan offers many festivals and opportunities for outdoor adventures. The Mitchells like to take advantage of such activities. They sent us these photos from their trip last Saturday.
