Another Menu Monday

Hey y'all! What's on your menu for this week?

Here's mine:

Monday- Leftovers

Tuesday- Smothered Chicken with Mashed Potatoes

Wednesday- Out

Thursday- Bulgolgi Pork Chops with Mandu

Friday- Spicy Pork Stir-fry with Sweet Potatoes

Saturday- Sausages with Potatoes and Beans

Sunday- Chopped Pork and Broccoli Stir-fry with Rice
01 02 12

Meal Plan Monday

What are you planning for dinner this week?

Here's what we've got coming up on the menu this week.

Monday- Hawaiian Chicken

Tuesday- Marinated Pork and Onions with Sweet Potatoes

Wednesday- Chicken Galbi and Mandu (dumplings)

Thursday: Beef with Mashed Potatoes

Friday: Leftovers

We've recently introduced sweet potatoes into our diets as they are very popular here. We'd both had them in sweet potato casserole before and we didn't like them. Here, we tried them grilled and in curry and liked them. If you have any recipes for sweet potatoes that aren't a sweet casserole I'd love to see them! We're always on the lookout for new things to try. 01 02 12

Moving to Mokpo: Another Example of God's Grace

We recently relocated to Mokpo. It is a much smaller city than where we were before. There are a lot more parks and places to enjoy nature. There's a hill by our apartment with a nature trail as well as plenty of bike paths and places to explore. I really like it here.                           


Getting here was a bit of a different story. About a week in advance we bought bus tickets for a 3 hour bus ride.

When we brought our suitcases down from our third floor apartment, we realized that an apartment on the second floor was flooding with sewage. It was cascading down the stairs!

We had to physically carry the suitcases down the stairs and try to avoid the sewage waterfall.  Yuck!

We had a lot of suitcases and a small cooler with perishables so we had to take two taxis. My husband took 2 suitcases and I took the other 5. We showed our taxi driver the bus tickets, which say the name of the terminal at the top and repeated the phrase "We want to go to the bus terminal" that we studied. My taxi driver nodded, and repeated bus terminal-ok.

So, we take off. And my taxi takes me to the train station and keeps repeating bus terminal and insisting we are there.  Fortunately, I know that we are only about 10 blocks from the bus terminal so I give him the last of my cash. Unfortunately, I have 5 huge suitcases to take with me.

I started praying. I knew we had an hour before our bus left. Surely, I could make it in an hour. So, I started walking.  And kept praying. I walked with 2 suitcases until I could just barely see the others, went back for them and kept repeating the process.

2 construction workers stopped and asked me in perfect English if they could help me. They carried my suitcases about 3-4 blocks, to a major intersection.

I started wheeling two bags across the intersection when a random German man and his Korean girlfriend appeared. They each wheeled a suitcase across with me. That left one suitcase on the other side of the street. As I stood watching it a small group of school children appeared.

"Is this yours?" They yelled across the lanes of traffic. I shouted back that it was and they formed a little ring around my suitcase. When they light changed they took off running and met me in the middle of the large intersection.

I crossed another small street. I could see the bus terminal and I could see my husband frantically pacing around. I knew he was worried. We don't have cell phones here so he couldn't call to check on me.

I screamed and hollered his name. I jumped up and down. I waved my arms.

Nothing.

So, I started walking, still about 4 blocks away. After 1 trip with the suitcases I shouted his name again. Nothing. And then the idea came to me.

And so I shouted my name.

Instantly he turned and saw me at the top of the hill. He came and we carried the suitcases down together. We still had 25-30 minutes before our bus left.

Halleluiah!

So, long story short, we are here and happy to be here.

Here are some pictures of our new place:

our apartment...we've since upgraded to a full size fridge and a trundle bed

 the park a few blocks away

the view from the top of the hill

 

hiking a small mountain

out and about

01 02 12

New Routines

I'm getting used to my new schedule. I work 1:30-9 MF, 1:30-9, 10-11 W and 2-10 on TuTh. Mike usually works 2-9.

My head teacher, Nina goes grocery shopping at the big store on Friday nights so I'll be joining her for a weekly shopping trip.

So, I shopped Friday night, we ate leftovers today and I put together our meal plan until our next shopping trip.

Sunday-  lunch omelets
            -dinner Samgypsal Leftovers

Monday- Smoked Duck, Cabbage and Beans

Tuesday- Smothered Chicken, Mashed Potatoes and Honey Carrots

Wednesday- Tuna Helper

Thursday-  Fried Pork Chops with  Seasoned Rice and Peas

Friday- Leftovers

These will be our lunches and for dinners we will have: ham and cheese sandwiches, tuna salad sandwiches, fruit and cereal and fruit with yogurt.

What are you making for dinner this week?


01 02 12

Meal Planning in the New Apartment

Back in the States I was a big meal planner. I made a monthly plan and did a big grocery shop. I'd run to the store as needed for fresh produce, dairy and bread. I love finding and trying new recipes. I was subscribed to several different recipe magazines, including Taste of Home and Rachael Ray. Also, we were big on leftovers. I would make a big dish of something and we would eat it for lunches the following days.

Meal planning in Korea is very different. It often involves trying to find something interesting to make using the same old ingredients: chicken, pork, rice, pasta, tuna, potatoes, corn and carrots. Yeah. Oh, and we eat a big lunch and small dinner because we work 2pm-9/10.

Last week we moved to a new job and with it a new apartment. The apartment is very tiny and it's kitchen consists of one burner, sink and a mini-fridge.  The mini-fridge is a challenge as it doesn't allow much space for leftovers.

We did a "big" grocery shop at Homeplus yesterday and here are the meals that are in our near future.

Tonight: Taco Pork Chili

Sunday lunch: Hotdogs with Baked Beans and Fried Potatoes (I am excited for this one as we were able to purchase American brand hotdogs as well as buns at the store. It's the first time I've seen buns for sale in Korea)

Sunday Dinner: Samgypsal Spaghetti (samgypsal is a cut similar to bacon and is very popular here)

Monday/Tuesday lunch: Pork and Beans or Hawaiian Pork (Hubby wants one, I want the other. He'll probably win)

Tuesday/Wednesday lunch: Curry Chicken and Rice

Wednesday/Thursday lunch: Pancakes, Omelets and Fried Potatoes

And then back to grocery shopping again!

What's on your meal plan this week?


01 02 12

Saying Goodbye

I was both sad and relieved (okay, mostly relieved) to leave our jobs in Daegu. I was relieved because we were under new management and the work environment was becoming increasingly stress inducing. I am extremely thankful for God's timing in regard to our contract.

I was sad to go because I taught two classes full of wonderful students. The first, my ninth graders. They are extremely bright and dedicated students. Their English level is very high. In fact, I had them read The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman during my last 2 weeks. They were able to discuss symbolism, themes and how the literature related to the time period. I was equally impressed and proud. Because of their fluency they were a great class to have a laugh with.

I also miss my class of seven or so elementary age girls. They were always a hoot! I loved being able to teach them songs and games in English. They loved role-playing and charades, and let's face it I loved watching and laughing with them. They are just so cute! I think they have the potential to walk in my ninth grader's shoes.

Here they are on my last day (posing with lipstick highlighters):

 

 

We also left 2 dear friends in Daegu. Our hagwon also had a Chinese program and so they taught Chinese. One teacher is from Korea and the other China. Hopefully, we can visit soon. 01 02 12