Freshness

Keep it fresh Don.  You're planning too much with these lesson plans.  The moment you start explaining something with too many words, then the more you start sounding like a Charlie Brown adult to the students.  Tomorrow, simplify and try more performance based lessons.  Keep your word games as aces in your pocket.  Use them too much, you'll start looking like a cerebral cortex.  Your activities require too much concentration for that age range, not including the geeks~  You know about simplification.  Keep that it mind champ.  You're depending on the computer a bit too much, eh?  Stay accurate, meaning keep the essence of the lesson, the topic of the chapter... don't worry about it.  Now get some rest. 

Easter Weekend

This weekend I plan to get much rest.  The weather is supposed to be sunny, but a winter chill lingers.  It's a bit of a tease.  You want to dress down and soak in the sun, but winter is still fighting.  I'm in a Starbucks doing mundane school work, tweaking lessons and making quizzes for mid-April.  My motor skills are the primary things being used.

Well, not much is going on since my last moody entry about my internal meter going up and down.  I gaze out into this tiny street in Sanbon, and I'm just staring really, nothing else.  I'm due for a trip to Insa-dong for some incense and to visit the vegetarian restaurant.  Later today, I hit the gym for my upper torso.

A whole chicken is defrosting in the fridge and still deciding to either cook it today or for Easter Sunday.  The bird is only about 4 oz.  The size is somewhere between a cornish hen and a typical roasting bird.

----  What I've been thinking about is my open class in October and also in September my cousin's wedding.  First, the principal is not allowing me to take a 2 day leave for the wedding.  The word is pretty much final because the event falls in the beginning of the new term.  But you know what?  I don't give a rat's ass.  I'm calling in sick, damn it.  This is a major family reunion, and my cousin is getting married to an awesome chap.

The open class for October is going to be interesting.  The youngest and the prettiest Korean English teacher was chosen for me to co-teach with for the open class.  The purpose of this event is for idea gathering.  ESL instructors from all over the region come to observe the class.  I've observed 4 classes so far.  It's a good opportunity for new teachers to witness different methods.  As for my open demonstration, it falls in the beginning of the term when I'm teaching the lower level students.  I must build rapport quickly with these kids.  I have plans, but it is definitely going to be challenging.

Now, off to the gym-->

Up & Down

There is a meter inside of me that goes up and down.  It's down now, and I'm not quite sure of anything.  My mind feels like that of a child- reaching out for attention and wanting to scream out "Look at me!".  It's been days since I've showered.  I somewhat like the odor of old spice and grit, the slight sting of alcohol nestled in my armpits, as I squeeze them tight.  Today I couldn't stop looking at the nurse's syringe when she drew blood this late afternoon.  I wanted to feel the pain, but only twilight.  While staring at the tip of the needle I was wondering if an air bubble would just so happen enter my blood stream.  It being knocked around my limbs, barging through arteries and finally ending up in my brain never to awake again.

Katie was in the elevator today, the banana spine girl and I wanted to peel through her chubby slit.  Curious of what her Korean boyfriend would think of when he smells the odor of spice left behind in the spine of Katie.  I blink.  The doors closed and she stepped out taking one last glance of my belt buckle.

A student calls me out at the Chinese restaurant wondering if I knew a girl.  He likes her and is feeling the grips of early love.  His smile is something I know of in children awestruck by the puffy allures between legs, the scent of fresh pine needles and such.  But his smile will only open a door for a second before his nose is smashed by the woody bridges young girls make with their friends.  It's all poetry, perhaps.

Perhaps the ups are when I'm drunken with sunshine.  I want to smash a whole flat of eggs on the ground.  Watch the yolks contort into shapes of forgotten umbrellas left like skeletons on the ground.  I want to hear a thud.  The kind when you know something went wrong~ and then the laughter in a dream takes you away to St. Michael's shoulder.  He gives you another chance and drops you off in Africa.  You melt away at the heat of the sand, and you wonder if it was worth it.

The bitch within~

This year, evidently I'm renewing my Korean working visa alone.  That means I go to immigration and the hospital alone, no translator.

This year, teaching so far has proven to be more about documentation and juggling schedules, than about creating lessons.  I'm looking at the calendar everyday, scanning for dates a month ahead and then making adjustments to my class schedules.  The funny part is that the text book has goofy pictures of English scenarios.

My sex life is non-existent.  My libido is running high because of the change in season.  I have no game, but my muscles are hard.  Man, I want to give my strength to a voluptuous lady~  all of it.

Too many reschedules this week because of stupid shit.  Young's train was oddly late one hour, the student's tomorrow have to wait another week for their reading because of a last minute notice of some stupid teacher's movie night (I can't believe it).  And then, next week, I have a four-day teacher's workshop that are for newbies to Korea.  I'm required to go because I didn't go last year.  Actually, I couldn't go because of scheduling stuff.

My list of bureaucratic events which I do not like:
1)  Meetings that simply read from a piece of paper.
2)  Dinner gatherings to introduce fresh meat
3)  Workshops for a specific kind of person
4)  Introduction sessions to show face
5)  Ceremonies where there are only mothers

Now if it were a Star Trek convention ~~~where do I sign!

A shift in taste & School is cool~

Okay, I haven't been following the Korean Mother's Cooking Notes.  I've discovered some interesting combinations of ingredients that are probably well known.  The first mixture being soy sauce and mustard.  Broccoli and Baby Bok Choy have been my vegetable staples for the past week.  I've been breaking the rules about how vegetable cookery was taught to me professionally so far.  I've just placed the greens in water and soy sauce and turned the burner on high.  When it begins to boil swirl in mustard, Korean red pepper powder, and sugar to your discretion.  Cook the hell out of the vegetables.  Make em' soft, squeeze them of all the nutrients!  Dull it down a few notches (God that sounds bad!).  For me, I feel like a cowboy in the tight kitchen.  Yoohoo!

This combination has been my base for oh-jengi (squid).  Soy sauce and mustard equate to salty and tangy.  I've experimented with squid during the height of winter and I've developed an awesome Mariners Stew.  Funny that I haven't documented my month long squid obsession.  There is something about the braising quality of squid.  Like the tendons in short ribs, which eventually breakdown into a gelatinous thickening agent (argh), squid acts the same way, except it takes less time to cook. 

Stir fry rice with garlic, kosari, and a touch of gochujang and serve with index-card-sized gim (nori-sheet in Japaneeze).  The little gochujang miraculously turns the rice crimson.  It's awesome if you're into colorful food, like Bobby Flay, but the flavor profile is delicious.  I'm experiencing, shall we say a definite shift in style of cooking.  I'm a fusion cook right now.  Although the term is cliche in the food turf- I don't care!  I'm feeling this style.  I'm grabbing for ingredients that I don't usually grab for.

I'm getting serious at work.  I'm ahead of schedule with lesson plans.  This is quiz week for them, and I'm satisfied with the results.  The kids are good test takers, but as for speaking it's still quite broken.  I smile at the dead silence in the classroom when everyone is concentrating on the quiz that yours truly made.  Of course there is going to be a crossword at the end.

For the past three weeks I've been recording students reading dialogs from the text.  The whole process is efficient.  Students choose the number of units they want to read.  The more units they read the higher the reward.  The rewards are cool.  Mostly stationary supplies.  But the stationary supplies are from Kosney, a really bourgeois home store that has Mason jars, passport holders, the whole bit.  Young professional couples go in there giggling at the blue elephant toothbrush hangers, or the pansy looking picnic boxes~ I love it!  I opted for the recycled made pencils and Japaneeze pens.  The stationary supplies are just so much better in Asia.  But back to the voices.  They normally choose 4 units.  They think it's fun at first, which it is.  But their pain level for reading in another language is low.  They begin to get jittery and impatient.  That's my cue to pep, to coach more, and be silly.  They did a great job, especially the 14 year-old kids.  One more week of recording and my lessons are going to be completely student voices heard.  Gumah-wha!

 As for the food~  I guess what I'm trying to get at is.  ...It's time for a dinner party.  The last one was in Paris.  And before that, it was almost a year.  Everything, a-la-minute as usual.

A Sunday Drive

Yesterday, after Korean Class, my brother and I take  his new company car for a spin.  We don't really agree on many things.  We never have, and it's okay to disagree but our differences run deep.  When we hike the mountain or take a drive, these are times we can really talk about things as adults instead of being nit-picking siblings.  His car looks like a car one of the guys from the Revenge of the Nerds would drive.  As we walk to his boxy ride, I instantly notice the front right tire needs air.  I ask him about the engine and he hasn't even popped the hood since he first got it four days ago.  I make a joke about dozens of mice spinning wheels as the engine, but things like this make me start decaying inside, especially when it comes from my brother.  He knows these kinds of protocols, and yet he is more excited about getting the car like a freakin' child.  Not only that, he was once a truck driver, so he knows about basic maintenance.  So, we take a 30 minute drive to Cheolsan Dong- his old stomping grounds.  The thing about my bro is that he knows about good restaurants, memorable restaurants which were either introduced to him through networking or just by him following his nose (he has the luck of the rabbit, too).

Inside Nolboo, the waitresses kindly greet him and eat up his smile.  They know what he likes.  The restaurant decor is sophisticated enough for both suits and casual dates.  Cute Korean kids dressed in Sunday wear are playing within the boundaries of their parent's eye sight.  We sit in a booth where we don't have to take off our shoes.  I'm thinking this place has a clean kitchen by the aroma of jujube in the air.  We order, and then my brother tells me that his knee has arthritis. 

He's had knee problems for almost 12 years since he tore his ACL playing basketball during a college pick up game.  We were a dynamic duo at the height of our b-ball days.  Till this day, he still brags about me being able to dunk the ball.  It was something I practiced since middle school.  He gets pleasure from talking about feats while I like to think about feats as pain levels.  I really don't like the fact that my brother's word doesn't account for much to me.  We talk about this and he tries to defend himself, always.  It's frustrating, and half the time we both revert to sibling bullshit.

The surgeon tells him about his arthritis, that the doctor from last year who performed the surgery for his ACL wasn't very good.  All the physical therapy has helped the stability in his knee, but somehow since the operation his cartilage has been wearing away.  I asked if he has spoken to our aunt or uncle, who are doctors, for their diagnosis.  He says no.  Did he ask the doctor how this happened, was there any malpractice in the surgery?  The question of how or why wasn't asked.  He is already thinking of cartilage replacement.  And even when the doctor tells him not to hike the mountain, his pride instantly starts blurting out defiant words.

The galbi tang comes, and it was delicious, the best I've ever had.  The kimchi and kkakdugi have just enough spice and zing for a king.  Even for a meat n' potatoes guy, my brother orders two salads.  It makes me smile when the power of food breaks through a comfort zone.  The namul (vegetable, in this case a kind Korean broccoli raab) is tossed with tofu that resembles clumps of feta.  I'm thinking it's feta, but the moment it enters your mouth images of beaches and lemons being squeezed in slow motion occur.  It was like a damn commercial.  I order another helping.  Yuggio!  Namul han-gae chuseo.  The meal was topped with an earthenware cup of Shik'hye.  This made my shik'hye taste like an amateur.  Mine was good, but this one was refined, clear as water and succulent as Greek honey.  You leave the restaurant with this flavor~ wow..

I get out of the car, laptop in tow as I'm joking about the mice in his hood.  I'm hoping his rickety knee will get better as he starts to lose some weight.

Shik'ye

It is time to make this drink, Shik'ye.  For the past 2 months, I've been buying the brand Birak Shik'ye.  I've been wanting to make a homemade bottle to test my skill.  Shik'ye, to me is the lemonade of Korea.  Who doesn't enjoy tiny bits of zesty lemon?  The mouth feel in Shik'ye comes from rice.  If you stir the drink, the rice looks like the snow in a miniature glass world.  

The recipe is quite simple, but the wait is longer than any braise or confit.   
You have to let the rice sit for three hours.
You have to let the yotkirum (Barley malt) sediment settle to the bottom.
You have to let the cooked rice ferment for six hours.
You have to wait,    ...and wait.
And then, scoop the rice out and boil the liquid with ginger and sugar.
Not yet ready, because now you have to chill it.

It is almost 2 am and the fermentation has begun, finally.

It looks like Mrs. Chang's recipe will yield a little over a quart.  That's not enough to delight my coworkers tomorrow, or... today, argh!

Quick notes:
I expanded on the recipe and will add a few things.  Instead of adding sugar during the final boil, I plan on adding a simple syrup fortified with ginger and jujube.  Mrs. Chang says that the rice drink becomes quite sweet without sugar if you use enough of the malt.  Her recipe doesn't even call for sugar, actually.  Just from asking the Koh-ree-ans here, they say to put sugar.  I'm going to add just enough of the syrup to make it not taste like a rice Koolaide.  AKMCN, pp. 60

...maybe I'll have dreams of glass snow worlds tonight~  Shik'ye, come to me.

Friday night in Asia~ Pacquiao fights in Dallas

Wow, I haven't drank a beer in a week and I am a fried egg right now.  My body is tighter and quicker since I've been training again.  There is something about sweating and groaning in the gym.  That last exertion of tension, when you're pulling or pushing on weight; or jabbing and dipping to ticking seconds- what does one think of to motivate yourself to...argh go that extra mile?  Some really buff guys spot each other and say things like, "Only the chosen, man!"; "Go where the crow goes!"; or "up! up!! up!!!".  If my spot would talk to me like that, I'd spit in his face from laughter, or God forbid drop the bar on my neck!  But I suppose it depends on your goal.  Besides, my spot is my left hand.

The Champ, Manny Pacquiao is fighting in about 9 hours in Dallas Texas against a huge underdog named Joshua Clottey from Ghana, Africa.  I'm not going to watch the fight this time.  I'll just catch the free replay later on.  But during one of his interviews, he described how he trained.  That being a boxer is a student of your opponent.  You train to take advantage of your opponent's weakness(s).  You train to react to their strengths.  Manny's trainer, Freddie Roach is a wizard, and has prepared Manny throughout.  He has pretty much knocked out every top boxer from every major nation.  He's not very eloquent or outspoken, but he gets the job done.  No, more than that, his fights are electrifying~ he's swift, powerful, and accurate.  You either go down or your face starts growing nodules from Pacquiao's combos.

Manny describes boxing as a job~ It's kind of weird listening to the man speak, because he is so modest and level headed.  I don't know, you'd think after winning millions of dollars and all the publicity, you'd get self centered.  He is thinking of retiring and becoming a congressmen (or something) in the Philippines after this fight.  Probably not until after Mayweather.  Well see, but for now he's the greatest champ the Filippinos have seen since Corazan Aquino.

The kids are back! ~The fouth blink

Hello teacher!........Where are you from?............Nice to meet chew'!......Bye bye!....Handsome man!....Class is pinishee?....Do you like gimchee?....Don't listen, he crazy!.....Do you want to die?....PC Games!

This is what an ESL instructor in Korea will hear, all day long. It's a combination of headaches and laughter. Kids will be kids... Many cats turn to the bottle when they're here. I still do on some occasions, but it's not about work. Drinking for me is pleasure. If you liquor up on a work night, expect hell tomorrow. Some weeks with the kids are just outright tension builders, and despite the rat race expression, TGIF, well... TGIF. Even at age 32, there is something liberating about drinking boos and dancing it all off. Sadly, this only lasts for about 2 hours, and then my book starts nudging me back home. Okay, I'm lonely, oh well.

The 1st Blink~
West Village, NYC Spring 2000, Gourmet Garage Deli:
Don: What the hell is wrong with you? The lady asked for the balsamic chicken, and here you go talking about that trans-person! I know she has a weird smell, already. (Reaching with tongs for the chilled dark-laced chicken with perfect grill marks) Here you are. Yeah, we joke about trans gender all day. This guy may look tall, but actually that beard is rooted in hormone tablets. Enjoy your lunch.
Mike: Good one, little brown fukcer. Hey, let me ask you a question. You ever see yourself doing this while you were a kid? I mean, wearing this fukcin' deli cap, and you wearing that gay ass hair net, we workin' with two transvestite bitches, Martin always up our asses about doing this and that? We only getting paid, shit. I set my clock to the damn Gormee Garaj' punch clock, for heavens sake!
Don: But I actually take pride in designing this deli case. We get to smell the bread, when it's first delivered each morning. Damn this case looks awesome. Blink, absolutely nothing~~~ silence in pure perfection, acceptance. I suppose you're right. We still shootin' pool after this?

The 2nd Blink~
Upper West Side, Compass Kitchen, 2003:
Raul: We need 3 Copper River, 4 Bass in 3 minutes. After that, 3 Cod and 4 more Bass. Go ahead and start the trout. Wait! Wait! We need more time on Table 35!
Don are you ready!?
Don: Yes! Go ahead and plate the Salmon, Your bass is hot, damn it! I need pans! Okay, bali, let's go. shhhhh, clank, rattle, shhh, phhhhhh...

Raul: Don! fire the trout, we need two on the fly! and a cod. Yo man, do you have a cod ready?
Don: What, it takes 8 minutes for a cod. Your lucky day pal! Anytime you,re ready, that n' a trout in one minute.
shhhh, rattle rattle, phhhh blink~ I know exactly what I'm doing!

The 3rd Blink~
Downtown Charleston, S.Carolina, 2006:
What am I doing here living with this girl? I need to jog. Run and breathe. Everything here is so damn beautiful and cozy. There is a pain in my lower back. Her lips are soft. What am I going to do, what are we going to do? Where am I again? I love you, and I always will L. Fly high baby, fly high k? ~blink

The 4th Blink~
Gunpo-si, S.Korea, 2010:
Mrs. Lee: Don, the principal asks for us to start the after school program again. He specifically asked for you to be the foreign teacher.
Don: Doesn't he understand that we already have so many lesson plans to do? I was already told that we weren't going to continue the Myung-poon program this year, since Ju-Young teacher left. God, I hope that we don't start the program with Mrs. Lee as the director. Look at her, she doesn't even have a plan. What say do I really have? My contract binds me to any program held by the school. I just want to know whether this is the principal's plan, or the board of education's plan.
Mrs. Lee: It's higher than the principal. And the student's like you.
Don: Mrs. Lee, it's not even about that. Yeah, they are bright, and they are usually the ones that stand out in the regular classes... but the work. Frankly, it took so much out of me last term. I was kinda hoping I'd have the chance to take the Korean Classes offered to GEPIK Teachers, whatever. I'll do it. They're not even considering the other foreign teacher, argh. I wouldn't either.
Mrs. Lee: You are The foreign teacher here.
~Blink... titles, they mean nothing.

A game of 9-Ball?

Sugar Cane Kid-

Your daddy was called 'schoolboy'. Sugar makes the ball spin, it's the style of the cue, the impact of collisions- whatever it may be, the ball sinks and for that second nothing else matters.

Some say that a kid that plays in their youth, the table gives them a blink of purpose. The green calms their heart. So therefore, one can say that hope is focused on the now. I bet you that I'll make this ball. If I don't, then break my fingers, b/c who really cares. It's a symbol of a troubled youth, some may say?

A geek that plays the pocket has a yearning for the alternative. Smoke a cigarette. I may be 80 years old, but if my kid challenges me to a game... then I'm going to give it all I got, right? Who cares, but at that very moment of apathy, then the other person may have more. A second, a carom, a bank more, and more... how can you teach this to somebody that doesn't care?

In the end, it's silent. The place might be empty and the sun is about to rise. Rack it again, cause' my luck is on. I'll take what I can. But when we leave, I'll buy the round. No promises. Will she understand?

Sugarcane kid, write a song about it... for me, k?

Yukkaejang~ 20 Cups?

One should know the volumes of their pots. I didn't know mine, but now I do. They are as follows:

Wok 4 cups; Pot 6 cups; Pot 8 cups.

In short the pots are now labeled as 4-pot, 6-pot, and 8-pot. Considering the power, which is a bit limited, of my electric burners these volumes are the maximum volumes for each pot to maintain a full boil. Chang Sun-Young's recipe calls for 20 cups of water to make the broth and she uses a pound of bones...

This is the unlearning part, but the standard ratios for a gallon of stock is:
Bones 8 lbs.
water 5-6 Qts. (24 Cups)
mirepoix 1 lb.
** I didn't remember this ratio and had to look it up on the CIA website, like a good student I am~ argh! But no one really measures out the liquid when making a gallon of stock. The water should be just above the bones.

Flavor profile:
Slightly spicy, fatty, and Kosari Kosari Kosari. Not satisfied with what I did. The flavors were not balanced.

Mistake:
1) Negligent with the Kosari when adding to the soup~ too much.
2) The fat from the bones and the meat were overpowering. It was good for the barbarian in me, though.
3) Hesitant with the gochujang.

On Kosari:
Kosari when prepared correctly is outright delicious. I believe it is something unique to Korea, and is served as a side dish among a whole array of vegetables (Namul). The vegetables here are served like tapas in Spain. Vegetable cookery (the word cookery irks me sometimes) in Korea is very different than the 'SlowFood' style of preparation which I have adopted. There is something to learn here. Kosari is a a fern, which translates into bracken fiddleheads. They are either fresh or dried. I used the dried ones which need to be hydrated before cooking, dah. Easy to say, but walk the walk~ mine were bitter. I always like a little extra Kosari on my bibimpap, so I'd better get the preparation down pat.

On bones:
Dear Don,
Remember to trim the extra fat from the bones the next time you prepare stock, ok?
Also, don't sell yourself short on bones and go for the cheapest one. Do a quality check on the bones, and make sure there are no tinges of black on them next time. It's okay, though. Try another butcher, the selection at Kim's Club is a bit pricey, or better yet for every recipe that has meat, cut the amount by half...

Gochujang:
This stuff is good. I've never owned my own before, but it can be used to marinate proteins. I remember a cute nurse that told me to not consume too much of this stuff when she took my blood pressure. Word from the wise, take it or leave it...

Cooks Note:
To answer my own question-- Instinct told me to prepare more stock than what was actually needed. Although Mrs. Chang doesn't say to reserve liquid for other uses, the 20 cups would have completely dampened her seasoning measurements. I took into account that the recipe said to boil both the bones and brisket at the same time. The broth I used for the Yukkaejang consisted of half beef stock and half water. The brisket was fatty and instead of poaching it, I seared it first (Bicolano style, Philippines) and then added half stock/half water. I returned the used bones into this broth and simmered for about half an hour. Since I bought 3 pounds of bones, I used a little over a pound. I think the richness either came from the egg or the bones. A scale would be handy. A keen palate would have said that it was too rich. A hungry guy would have loved it.

The technique Mrs. Chang introduced to me was her seasoning method. After boiling the meat until it was tender enough, you remove the meat from the liquid. In a mixing bowl you toss the meat in gochujang, red pepper powder, soy sauce, s/p, sesame oil, and scalded green onions. Everything turns into an aromatic crimson blob. With experience, I think it is in this step that one can smell the correct proportions. Finish by dusting it with flour. Return this fine mixture into the broth and bring to a boil. Overall, this seasoning method of transferring the meat into a mixing bowl allows the cook to control the seasoning. If too much is added, you can wash off the meat and repeat, instead of adding more liquid into the soup~ intriguing.

Yukkaejang, Spicy Beef Soup ~intro

Recipe: Yukkaejang, AKMCNotes, pp. 47.
Weather: Rainy
Grocery List: Bones, Brisket, Green Onions, Gojujang-red pepper paste, and kosari.
Budget: 40,000 KRW ~ 34.28 USD
Focus: * Making a Korean style soup. **Handling Kosari. ***Using the verb 'issuh-yo'.

Joke:
A: Anyoung-haseyo, Kosari issuh-yo? (hello, is there Kosari?)
B: Kosari?
A: Gosari listee, Kosari issuh-yo?
B: Ha ha! you cutie, yeogi issuh-yo.