Korean Food Delivery

Ordering delivery is South Korea may be one of the grandest experiences I know. I'm no fan of disposable dishes/cutlery. I hate feeling wasteful. However, I never feel this way when I order Korean delivery. Why? Because it arrives in real dishes.

Tonight we ordered bibimbap for two. After making the call, we waited little more than 5 minutes before our bell rang announcing the arrival of our nom-noms (yum-yums). When I opened the door the delivery man unpacked his insulated container and laid out our supper: two bowls of bibimbap, two small bowls of soup, a bowl of rice, kimchi, and pickled radish... all served on proper kitchenware (spoons included!)

All the dishes are covered in plastic wrap so they stay fresh while making their trip to our apartment.

Upon finishing out delicious Korean fast food feast, we piled our dishes together, opened our front door and set them in the hallway. When you order delivery in Korea you don't do the dishes. The delivery person comes and picks up your mess. Very convenient.

dirty dishes

When you are too tired to make dinner, or even to go out for it, Korean delivery is the way to go: your food arrives quickly, it's hot, it's delicious, it's healthy, and the only thing you have to do is eat it. Another bonus is that if you can't finish your meal you can save it for the morning - there is nothing like fried bibimbap mixed with kimchi for breakfast.   

Breakfast of Champions

For more information on Korea Food Delivery, check out this video by Eat Your Kimchi: 

Jimjillbang: The Korean Public Bath

My artistic interpretation of the jimjillbang symbol. These symbols are all over Korea and they indicate a jimjillbang is near.

Jimjillbangs (찜질방) are Korean public bathing houses. As a person who loves the spa, but rarely indulges in such lavishness, I found this inexpensive Korean recreation enticing. Although I am a pro-jimjillbanger now, my first excursion was a little confusing. I hope the following piece will help make your first time getting naked and bathing with, possibly, 100+ others a positive experience.

Jimjillbang means hot-water-room. However, it's much more than that. They have baths, showers, massage tables, saunas, steam rooms, and mud rooms in what is called a mok-yok-tang. The term Jimjillbang actually refers to the building which usually has a bathing floor, a game floor, an eatery, and a sleeping area*. Men and women are separated and they bathe/sleep separately. Koreans are familial. Middle-aged women take their old mothers and help them bath and relax. Young mothers take their babies and let them splash around with their siblings. Teenagers go with their friends** and I always find that we foreigners are welcomed in a spirit of kinship.

*Travellers on a budget take note of this inexpensive option for shelter over night.

**While discussing pastimes in conversation class one of my students said he enjoyed showering with his friends. Although I was initially taken aback by this comment, I now believe he was referring to visiting the jimjillbang.

Etiquette & Materials: Come Prepared

My beautiful blue jimjillbang basket

Mok-yok-tangs are for bathing. Of course, you will also be indulging in mineral baths and saunas and perhaps, if you are adventurous, a massage. But firstly, in order to keep the environment pure and chlorine free, you should get clean. Although communal soap is provided, you may want to bring your personal favourite, natural, organic, handmade soap. You may also need shampoo, conditioner, a toothbrush & toothpaste, perhaps a facial mask, foot scrubbers are always nice, a razor, a loufa, a comb, and something nice to drink like juice or milk* (water is provided). Worried about trucking all these things around and then packing them up all wet to go home? Never fear. Since this is such a prominent part of Korea culture plastic baskets are made especially to tote around your jimjillbang items.

* Milk is not just delicious it is also great for your skin. I have observed jimjillbangers filling their basins with milk and doing a body scrub with it. 

Arrival

Say “mok-yok-tang” and the clerk will know you are only using the baths and will not charge you the additional sleeping fee or give you lounge clothes. If you choose to spend the night and don't speak Korean you can indicate that by making sleeping gestures and they should get the idea.

In either case, you will be given a wrist band for your locker. Women are given 2 small towels and men are given one. On my first visit, I made the mistake of going all the way to my locker...shoes in hand. I was followed by a head shaking attendant who proceeded to show me where I should have parted with them. Now that you are informed this should be pretty obvious...

Now take your clothes off, stow them in your locker, and get ready to bathe. If it's not too busy you should be able to get a sitting shower. These go fast. On a busy Sunday, if you arrive at peak times, you may be stuck standing: this is not as relaxing.

If there is a free sitting shower stool, wash it off with the communal soap. Scrub your skin. Shampoo and condition your hair. Get nice and clean so you don't contaminate the baths.

Now For The Good Part

At the Jimjillbang in our town I like to start off in the big hot tub. You can sit on the outside ledges or move in and splash around in the jets. Next, I usually go to the cold tub. This is a deep bath with powerful jets and really cold water pouring down from the ceiling. It is very refreshing after 10 minutes in the hot tub. After getting cooled off, I move to the really hot tub: It's smaller, hotter, and jet-less. It's scalding and, if you're like me, you will turn a fresh-out-of-the-pot-lobstery red. This is, at first, painful; but it gets better, and eventually it should become almost bearable, even enjoyable. I have been told this bath is very good for women. Moving back and forth from cold tub to hot tub is similar to a sitz bath which encourages the blood to flow in therapeutic ways. It is relaxing to follow this up with a more temperate bath.

After the baths, I enjoy the saunas. There is a marble one where you can lie or nap on the warm stone floor before moving to the so-hot-it-may-kill-you wooden benched sauna. Please be sure to rinse off after each visit.

Post-sauna is a great time to exfoliate: your skin will be very soft and any dead pieces will be easily scrubbed away. Korean women scrub the crap out of each other: They take exfoliation seriously, painfully seriously. Someone may even offer to give your back a scrub - bare in mind - the philosophy is: "I scrub your back, you scrub mine".

Getting Ready

Jimjillbangs are great places to get ready for a night out. There are scales, mirrors, hairdryers, straighteners, curling irons, combs, brushes, q-tips, cotton swabs, lotions, and hair products. You can also take your own beautifying equipment*. Of course, if you are heading home you can simply throw in the towel, get dressed, return your bracelet lock, and go on your way.

* For you men: My sources tell me that aftershave, refreshing skin lotion, and hair gel are provided.

Jimjillbangs are one of my favourite aspects of Korean culture. They provide an easy, inexpensive, and enjoyable way to relax after a long hard day at school. A trip to the jimillbang will set you back 5000 won (under 5 dollars CAD) and you can stay as long as you wish.

My Favourite Jimjillbang Story

Korean Hospitality: We are family

For our first visit to Seoul, we decided to stay the night at a very famous JimJillbang near Yongsan Station (Korea's Grand Central). This place is called Yongsan Dragon Hill Spa. I can't recommend this place enough, especially if you live outside of Seoul and need a cheap place to spend the night. We arrived with a group of friends late Saturday night (after 2:00am). For 12000 won(under 12 dollars CAD) we were provided with a place to sleep and a lovely way to wind down after a long night.

The place was packed. I loved the idea of sleeping in a room with grandmothers, mothers, babies, teenagers, and those in the gaps between. It really seemed like Korea was one big family. And although sleeping in a room with a group of strangers didn't bother me, being in anything other than 100% darkness did.

Struggling to find something to block out the light, I saw a lady and, in her hand, a mask. I approached her and, in broken Korean combined with gestures, asked her where one could purchase such a coveted item. Without hesitating she offered me her own. I tried to explain that I just wanted to buy one. A young bilingual girl nearby explained to me that the lady wanted to give me her mask “so you can sleep well – it is a gift”.

I love Koreans and I still sleep with that lovely mask and memory every night.

Divide and Conquer: Four classroom management tips that work

Mid August marks the beginning of the second term in the Korean public school system. During the first term I assessed the issues I was having with students. After thinking long and hard, and researching longer and harder, I devised 4 extremely effective class room management and language teaching techniques.

Please note: I am privileged with a very large classroom. In the back of my room there are 5 computers, a comfy couch, to benches, and two drawing tables.

The middle of the class is the seating area for my students. I have anywhere from 15-28 students per class and about 35 desks and chairs.

At the front of my classroom I have 2 of my own personal computers. One of these computers is hooked up to a projector. 

I also have 6 fantastic co-teachers at my disposal.

1. U-shaped seating arrangement

During the first semester I kept my classroom as I had found it. There were 6 different groups of desks. In each group three students sat facing three other students. Although this arrangement can be very effective for a multi-lingual class where students are eager to speak English with their classmates, it is not the best arrangement to manage a rowdy, mono-lingual, high school classroom. I rearranged my class into a U-shape. This way I can easily make eye-contact with all my students and get their attention quickly or stare down any chit-chatters.

2. Individual Folders for English Class

English Conversation teachers do not give grades and a student could easily approach the course in a throw-away manner. I decided I would need to instill some alternative sort of value after I watched my students crumple up worksheets and toss them in the garbage. I made a request that the school purchase a folder and name-tag for each of my students. I have a very supportive team and the purchases were at my disposal within a week. Now, I still cannot give my students a mark, but I can facilitate the creation of a valuable English portfolio with vocabulary pages, slang pages, and revised copies of their writing which can be used as future educational tools. I keep the portfolios in my classroom. Students take their portfolios when they arrive in class and return them to me when they leave.

3. English Names

I had initially decided against “naming” my students. I felt it would be possible for me to learn their Korean names and not interfere with their identity by insisting they answer to a foreign name. However, by the end of first semester, I had only managed to memorize three of my five hundred student's names. Two of these students were disruptive troublemakers and the other one’s name was U-gin (which sounds like Eugene). Many of my students had asked me to give them English names and I decided the first class back to school after summer vacation would be naming day. I wanted my students to be as involved as possible in this process; however, I refused to spend the duration of the school year addressing "Lady Gaga" and "Obama". So, I presented 100 popular boys names and 100 popular girls names. Students were given 10 minutes to choose a name while my co-teacher and I walked around and helped any students wanting name suggestions.  Once they chose a name they were instructed to take a portfolio and personalize it with a name tag. I try to have students move around as much as possible during my class. Rather than passing out worksheets, I find it is better to instruct students  to stand up, stretch, and walk to the materials.

4. The Final and Most Important Tip:  

Divide and Conquer                   

Divide et impera: It's effective in war, and it's effective in a high school classroom.

After a 10 minute introduction to the topic of a class, I divide my students into three groups. Each group rotates  between 3 stations and spends between 10-12 minutes researching, discussing, and writing about the theme of the day .

1. Computers

I give the students a simple research assignment that matches the lessons topic. I insist they research in English and use google rather than naver (the preferred Korean search engine).

2. Conversation

Station 2 is conversation with me. I introduce a discussion question and highlight new vocabulary and grammatical structures.  These  conversations have proved to be fun, engaging, and have helped me to develop deeper relationships with my students*. Even the quietest students prove to be much better at speaking when in small groups.

*Me: What's your mother's job? 

 student: My mother's job is a business man. 

 Me: Really?

3. Reading & Writing

In this station students are 

given a topic to write about and a sample piece. Creative writing can be a very difficult endeavor and it is very helpful to have a co-teacher at this station.

Side note: Korean students and nicknames.

My co-teacher & friend informed me that students will often have nicknames for their teachers. Some of the funny & clever ones she’d heard were Submarine (for a short bald teacher), and Upside-down Tri-angle (for a teacher with a big chest and small lower-body). I asked her if I had a nickname and she laughed: Water-purifier.  I wasn’t flattered or insulted. I was simply confused. She explained that there is a Korean commercial that advertises a water purifier that takes all the bad elements out of the water and leaves it in a purified, drinkable state. Apparently, the analogy applies to my class. Clever students.