A Year Ago Today: The 27th of June

A year ago today, the Harrington's embarked on a trip that they had counted down for a number of days, weeks, months and quite possibly years. At the close of May, the couple had moved out of their unforgettable 519 home and began working the Summer High School Institute to gather up a last bit of cash prior to taking off for a bit of a World Tour: Guatemala, South Africa and Thailand being the main stops but Qatar, Malaysia, Japan and a quick San Fran trip all made their way into the mix as well. The tour would end soon as the Harrington's were in South Korea in order to teach English for a year (or more).

Now a year has passed. There are many things which are deserving of pause and reflection. However, one thing has been with-held from The Harrington Time readers until this very day. A sort of reward for those who saw the Harrington's off, supported their journey and has remained loyal to tuning in. This one thing also, simply put, got lost in the files and, is ultimately a bit of a disappointment. Yet, let us not give up and lose heart, because while it may not be all that it could have been, it is still a shining example of who the Harrington's are and who they carry with them (specifically Chris Livingston and the HSI crews of 2009 and 2010).

The following is what began as a worthy attempt to recreate the joy that is Where the Hell is Matt? and ended up as a few random shots of the Livingston style Gogo-Dance!

Enjoy!

Celebrating a Life in Clear Blue Skies

About a month ago, the Harrington's received news that a beloved man, Mike's grandfather, had passed away. Mike Harrington made the heartfelt decision to return to Wyoming for the funeral services and spend a couple of days with his loved ones. He spent his time being loved on by family and friends, celebrating an honorable life and capturing pieces of the people and land that the couple so affectionately call home.

Ladies and gentleman, enjoy a quick glimpse of a few faces and places the Harrington's love and miss and are counting down days until their next visit (which, at the time of posting is 41 days!!!)

Daedunsan or Bust

June 6 is Korea's Memorial Day and offered Guest English Teachers one more day for catching some morning Zzzz's and/or seeing a bit of the country. The Harrington's teamed up with their dear friends the Callaway's and made their way to the nearby Daedunsan Provinical Park. This park is similar to other parks, such as Wolchulsan, with it's steep staircases and suspended bridge. Additonally, this provincial park boasts a Cable Car which allows visitors easy access to the mid-way point on the steep mountain. The cable car is 5,000 won one way or 8,000 won round-trip - The Harrington's and Callaway's opted for the one-way...up the cliff side. Fortunately, the day was not too much of a scorcher and the trek down the mountainside was well shaded and at times refreshing.

As the hike came to an end, the couples made their way back into town for mak-guk-su - a cold, buckwheat noodle soup with some fresh veggies and half a boiled egg, absoultely refreshing at the end of a day on the mountain!

Getting There: (copy/paste from www.meetup.com)

Daejeon (Seobu Terminal) to Daedunsan (45 minutes to an hour) OR
Daejeon (Dongbu Terminal) to Nonsan, Nonsan to Daedunsan (city bus, the bus stop is right next to the Nonsan terminal)

Sunday Coffee (and Random Events): May 2011

Coffee dates have morphed a little. Moving out of Gung-dong and covering more than just sitting and sipping nice coffee drinks. Part of the morphing is due to warmer weather. Another part is simply a need for other things: skin products, clothing, this-and-that, haircuts, etc. A few highlights from May coffee dates include a homemade iced chai from a cafe nearish to Tanbang Station/Rodeo Town and an AMAZING dish of Pat-bing-su (shaved ice topped with sweet red beans, ice cream, nuts, chocolate sauce, rice-cake, fresh fruit and so much more!) The place we received pat-bing-su was near the same cafe with the fabulouse iced chai AND the sweet barista gifted the two coffee drinkers of the afternoon the most beautiful and fabulous iced cafe latte! (both cafes could be re-located by Mrs. Harrington, so if you're desparate, send her message and she'll meet up!)

Homemade Iced Chai



Pat-bing-su



Iced Cafe Latte

Another highlight of the month (or potentially of April...) was stumbling across some mighty performances in a park near Seodaejeon station. This is the way life is in Daejeon, seemingly unexciting until you hear Rap music blaring across the park and stumble upon some impressive moves!

Tuesday Nights with Girls and the Lady

Tuesday nights, the Harrington's continue to make their way to the OEC Coffee house just out of Galma exit #2 for some of Daejeon's best hot/iced choco and green tea lattes -- not to mention, a fabulous and kind Barista! But it's not just choco and green tea and sweet friends that lure the couple to the coffee shop on Tuesday nights, it's the prospect of spending some time with a few Middle School girls, playing Uno and chatting. Special bonus, now that the weather is warm (vergeing on swealtering), the couple can bring Lady Annyeong along and sit with her outside of the coffee shop. Not only do they get to enjoy the Lady's company, but the Middle School girls are all to eager to help the Lady maintain her 'girlish' figure by running her around and wearing her down!

100 and Some Bottles of Beer on the Wall (and on the floor)

The Brewing Operations continue and are in full swing at '519' Galma! Mike Harrington took a trip to a local recycling center, hoping to grab 30 bottles for his next bottling session and came home with a hundred and some odd bottles! He's worked out a deal for trading home made brews for the bottles...however, the recycling center folks really liked the beer and wanted more, stating they would pay for it. Turns out, they meant they would pay for the beer by offering more bottles - the Harrington's should have guessed as much!

For now, 519 Galma is filled to the brink with bottles filled with an 'award-winning' Belgium (no joke!), a Nut Brown Ale, a Wheat, a recently bottled Pilsner and an IPA in the brew tank. Go Big or Go Home, that's what the Man Harrington always says ^_^

Should you find yourself in the city of Daejeon and craving a 'better-than-Cass/Hite/Max' beer take yourself on over to Beer for Babies a Facebook Page and start placing some orders! (all proceeds to benefit the adoption of friends of the Harrington's living in the good ole US of A).

Chopsticks: Not just for Ramen and Kimbap!

Always wanting this 'home' to feel a little more like a home the Mrs. is always looking for ways to spruce things up and create a more home-like atmosphere without spending much cash. (Let's face it, the Harrington's will probably never spend much cash to create a more home-like atmosphere). However, following the arrival of a super-sweet gift that serves as a constant reminder of their 'forever' home - 519, the Mrs. was even more encouraged to spruce up the 'brick wall' (read: brick wall papered wall) with some photos in 'frames'... And when living in the land of Kimchi what better to make frames with than left over chopsticks and twine from winter camps?

Would the Mrs. had a bit more foresight, she likely would have painted the chopsticks so as to prevent them from blending into the brick wall - regardless, chopstick picture frames are not a difficult craft to take on at all! Simply collect some disposable chopsticks and twine or string of choice. Wrap the chopsticks criss-cross with twine using the non-stuck-together-end to 'squeeze' the twine. Continue until you have a nice little square frame. The Mrs. just taped photos to the frames as the frames will likely not make their way to the states upon the Harrington's ending their time in Korea, whereas the photos will for sure accompany the couple back home.

Now, go out and enjoy some kimbap or sesame chicken and put those chopsticks to use!

Sports Day at Nameson Middle School

If readers want a story to go with these photos, they'll have to petition the male editor of The Harrington Times. You can petition him by leaving your pleading, desparate-for-more remarks in the comments box.

Sports Day at Bongam Elementary School

Sports Day is quite the phenomena. Filled with songs, dancing, saluting, synchronized stretching and a wide variety of relays the day is a day that students can kick-back a little and enjoy life as a child, as opposed to a student. Highlights of Sports Day at Bongam Elementary school include:

• Kindergarten students paired with their parents rolling a giant ball down the field.
• Melissa Teacher being paired up with the one foreigner (Chinese) student as his 'step-in' parent for two relay races:
• Race #1: Pair up with another family, each individual grab a corner of a sheet, carry a large ball to a mid-way point, set down ball and sheet, scurry through small tunnel like thing, run back to ball and sheet, run back to start point.
• Race #2: Child sacrifice one shoe. All shoes scattered in the middle of the field, adult carry child to center of field and find child's shoe - both run back to starting point.
• (Please Note: Student is approximately the same size as Melissa Teacher)
• Mother's competing for Fabric Softener by keeping the hula-hoop in motion.
• Father's competing for Toothpaste in a game of singles hacky-'golden-pom-pom'-sack.
• All students gathering in the field, hula-hoops in hand to conduct a song and dance routine.
• Kindergarten students and their teachers busting out a K-Pop Routine with white gloves and matching yellow shirts and white socks pulled up to the knees.

Days such as these are always welcome when one has been teaching in South Korea for a few months (or longer). It's great to see the students outside of the classroom environment having a good time competing and performing for each other, their parents and themselves.

It's not all Adventures and Cute Children: Issues of Safety

This was never intended to be a series. There was never a desire or expectation that this place should be filled with stories of pain and ugliness. Nor is there a desire to sugar-coat what composes the full spectrum of an international-living experience. There are countless opportunities to see new things, enjoy adventures, interact with sweet children and so much more. Then, there are a handful of opportunities to be broken down, vulnerable, exposed, and violated.

The first time The Harrington Times addressed one of the more difficult aspects of living abroad was following the third death the Harrington's faced while living abroad. This next difficult aspect occurred on Friday, May 27th later after Mike had left the country. That evening a Korean man followed Mrs. Harrington (quite stealthily) to her door and was merrily flashing his man parts and a ridiculous grin when she turned to close the door and get Lady back inside. Shocked and unprepared for such an encounter, the Mrs. slammed the door and frantically called some friends who were quick to offer their presence and a safe place to vent and be upset. The time while the Man was out of the house was particularly trying as Mrs. Harrington feared a possible second-sighting of this man.

The encounter has left the Lady of the house thinking and reflecting about a number of things, most which do not fit the theme of this blog. However, one is the expectations that so many people bring with them to South Korea - specifically the expectation of being safe. Being flashed outside one's home may not constitute the highest threat on safety but surely raises questions regarding what is a culturally appropriate response. On nearly any given day, safety in South Korea is a sure thing, regardless, women and others who choose to travel to South Korea should maintain a sense of awareness regarding their surroundings and what to do in case of emergency or uncomfortable encounter.

The following provides links and information regarding safety in Korea, emergency protocol, a few legal matters and articles detailing a few of these not so welcome incidents.

• Police Number: 112
• Safety in South Korea (full-detailed record from the UK)
• Legality of Pepper Spray
• Short article: "Burberry Man" Arrested Near Elementary School
• Account of a more serious incident - reveals some of the legal processes involved in such incident
  
  

A side note to friends and family back home: Melissa is safe leaving and returning from her home. She would have accessed her ninja-like skills were it not for a heavy bag of groceries in her hands. However, such skills may have caused a bigger issue as self-defense may not be seen in the same vein as it is stateside. The Man has returned home and there is no need to worry endlessly about their safety and comfort, although prayers of such are always welcome. Our home/building is one of five in a neighborhood of 30-40 that has a locking front entrance as well as a key-coded personal door. The Harrington's are definitely safe and don't expect to face any additional problems such as this. Family and friends, remain calm and confident that the couple is in a safe place.

In the Kitchen: May 2011

Striaght from 519 Kitchen come the 'Top 5' Recipes of the month of May - for more check out http://www.519kitchen.blogspot.com/

5. Baba-Ganoush Hummus Pasta - this a recipe revisit from the days of abundant 'second-hand' eggplants. Delicious with fresh eggplants as well, take a trip to any of Korea's (Daejeon's) international markets or check out Korea's online grocers to snag ingredients such as chickpeas and tahini.

4. Kimchi Fried Rice - A bit tight on cash after enjoying a fun and exciting weekend in Seoul, left the Lady of the house siding with Korean foods as a more 'affordable' at home option than such exotic treats as Baba-Ganoush Hummus Pasta.

3. Cinnamon Pull-Apart Bread - Simply...amazing. Worth buying an oven and sitting around for a morning/afternoon at home while the yeast does it's business.

2. Bulgogi Cheese Steak Sandwich - another take on Korean food...but with a bit of 'western' flare!

1. Chocolate Peanut Butter Rolls - Delectable. End. of. Story. (Also worth investing in an oven and time for yeast to rise)