Maedeup Monday!!

My maedeup shop also sells finished jewelry made by students.  I saw this and it was only 20,000 WON ($18 USD) and I just had to have it.  I still need to go back there and restock my supplies.

This is what I had for lunch today before I did a little shopping at Home Plus.  Kimbap Heaven is right next door and they make all the Korean comfort food from jjigaes to kimbap.  I mainly videotaped this for myself to remember just how hot (temperature) kimchi jjigae is when it is served.  It honestly takes 15-20 minutes for it to cool and I have burned my mouth many times.  But it is so worth it and it really tastes a little like heaven.  It was a perfect meal for a cold day in Korea:

Korean Miniature Class - Street Food Cart

This is the Korean street food cart that we were going to construct in class.  Everything you see is handmade.  It was the largest class yet for me with six students including myself.  It was also the first class I had ever had that was taught by the owner.  You can see her to the right of this photo on her smartphone.

                           The first thing we did was to cut out the stools and glue them.

Next we cut out the tops of the stools and had to sand them.

                          These are my stools, spraypainted and glued together.

Next was welding.  We welded the top of the cart.  My teacher had a chart and all the pieces were cut to size.  I was lucky that she used constructing mine as the demo so I didn't actually do any welding.

The top was first cut out in cardboard and then the awning was cut out.  Both were patterns we traced.  Then we used doublestick tape to attach.

This was a piece of foamcore board without the cardboard on top which makes it soft and easy to score.  That gave the bricks their realistic look but I never know it could be so easy.  I used a pencil to score it.

                  This is what it looked like when finished and it will be the base for the display.

                                                   Next we made the fence.

The last thing we did was make the cart top.  I had a great time and I can't wait for next week when we finish the cart and make all the street food.  I don't know how we will get it all done in six hours.

I usually find it difficult to catch a taxi after class but today I got lucky.  When I got in, the taxi driver immediately understood where I wanted to go (maybe my Korean is improving).  Then he did something surprising, he changed the radio station from Korean trot to American music.  He smiled at me when he did it and I told him thank you in Korean. 

It would have been a perfect day except Rocketman left this morning shortly after 7 am to fly to Japan.  If you are keeping track, he's been gone for the past three weeks.  But at least he is home for part of the weekend, usually arriving Saturday afternoon and leaving Sunday morning.  But it's better than if we were in the States because he would be gone the entire time including weekends.  He is also less fatigued, instead of the 14 hours, it's 3.  He figures it will be crazy like this for 4-6 months.

Amazing Ajosshis!

This video is of an amazing ajosshi who makes the coolest bento lunches.  It is very popular here in

Shopping for Fabric at Gwangjung Market

Today I went into Seoul to meet up with KJ, my bojagi teacher, to do some serious fabric shopping at her favorite place to shop, Gwangjung Market.  The day sure didn't start out like I had hoped.  I was waiting to cross the street to catch the bus to Seoul when I saw my bus pull up.  I hate when that happens but I was finally able to cross the street and I took up the spot as first in line for the 7770 bus which goes to Sadang Station in Seoul.  There is a sign for the bus since it is a popular bus and people always line up for it.  As I waited the line grew to about eight.

An ajumma (older Korean woman) came to the stop and took a look at the line and came to stand right beside me.  I have a really hard time with people cutting in line.  It just makes me fume so I stood there fuming waiting for the bus.  The bus approached and as luck would have it, the bus driver stopped right in front of me.  As I started to enter the bus, the ajumma tried to shove me out of the way but she didn't realize that I was also an ajumma and i wasn't going to let her.  I was able to shove her back and entered the bus.

The bus was really empty which surprised me for being 9 in the morning and I took a seat in the second row next to the window.  Guess who sat next to me?  Would you believe it was the ajumma?  I was shocked since there were many open seats including a seat in the same row on the opposite side.  Then she put both feet into the aisle and also leaned her head and body into the aisle.  This made it difficult for people to enter the bus since they had to step over her feet and maneuver around her body.  This went on at each stop until we arrived in Sadang.

I was shocked, angry and disgusted.  Ever time someone got onto the bus and encounter her they first looked at her and then looked at me.  It was embarassing.  I don't know what possessed her to act this way but she sure hightailed it off the bus as soon as she could.  Reflecting back on it, I should have just let her cut in front of the line but it seems to be hard for me to do that.  I always hope that she will remember what happened and not do this to someone else.  Rocketman says that I'm dreaming and that ajummas will never change.

Enough abou that, let's talk fabric.  I met KJ at Dongdaemun and we walked towards Gwangjung Market.  Right on the way is my maedeup shop and she really wanted to visit it so we stopped it.  The owners were soooo glad to see me and I wished I had made a list of things I wanted to get but I know I will visit again.  KJ was surprised and how happy they were to see me.  We truly are like old friends.  She loved the place and was surprised that I had known about it and she didn't.

Then it was off to the satin lady.  She was on the second floor of Gwangjung Market, Booth 1103.  She had beautiful satin which was very high quality.  The prices were 13,000-14,000 WON ($11-12 USD) per meter.  She even gave me something to drink as we oooed and ahhhed over the fabric.  We both bought quite a bit.

Next it was Ramie Guy.  I felt bad for him.  KJ had him climbing the walls to retrieve rolls of ramie.  I thought the white all looked the same but KJ definitely could tell the difference.  I bought a roll of white and a roll of off white and then a meter of a bunch of colors.  He charged 5000 ($4.70 USD) a meter. He even gave me a special price on one of the rolls because he said the fabric was uneven.  I honestly couldn't tell.  KJ did tell him that I felt sorry for him and he thought that was hilarious.  His booth is on the first floor, cell phone #011-742-5638. He didn't have a booth number.

Nearby there is underground shopping.  It is huge and she took me to a place that sells satin in tons of colors as you can see.

Here is the outside of the shop.  We didn't end up buying anything this time.  The fabric in the front are remnants.

I suggested lunch since it was that time.  KJ said that there was a mandu guk restaurant in Insadong that was delicious so we grabbed a taxi to get there.  On the way, I saw this coffee shop.

The mandu was spectacular!  So flavorful and homemade.  I definitely need to bring Rocketman.  After lunch, we visited a few galleries in Insadong and then I made my way home. 

                                                        This is all the fabric I bought.

This is what I got free.  It's good to be a foreigner!!!  I had a great time but came home so tired. I definitely want to go back soon.

Hanji (Korean Papercrafting) Class

 I finished my latest hanji project.  Everyone loved the turquoise and black.  Originally my hanji teacher wanted me to cover the knobs with turquoise paper but I thought the black would be nicer.  Then she decided I should cover the sides with this funky, wrinkly black hanji paper with silver streaks in it.  I used this paper to also cover the knobs.

                            I love how this turned out which was made by a fellow student.  It is gorgeous.

 I also made a small box.  I am bringing several of these forms home to make some hanji boxes to sell in my Etsy store.

 I've been meaning to take a picture of how the hanji shop is heated.  This is the only heat she uses and it also doubles as a tea warmer so we always have hot tea available at all times.

Usually there isn't a pan of water under the tea kettle but one hanji students was putting another student's hand in the hot water and then she was pinching a couple of her fingers hard enough that the girl yelled out.

I asked my teacher about it thinking she had a sore hand from cutting out hanji patterns.  But no, she actually had a sore lower back.  The lady then came over to me and took my hand and started pinching me pointing to what part of the hand related to what part of the body from stomach to head to heart.  It was really interesting but my fingers really hurt where she was pinching me.  I learn something new just about every day here in Korea.

I finally had all my girls together with me.  It had been a long, long time.  I think it's been a year and a half since Hellena was with us from Quatar.  From the left: Jennifer, Me, Hannah and Hellena.  Jennifer and Hellena had to leave around 12:30 am to head back to Seoul.  Hannah stayed overnight.

Rocketman's flight got in late and for some reason all the foreigners in immigration were required to have their suitcases xrayed.  He was royally you know what.  He also counted and his suitcase was the 341st off the plane.  Not a happy camper.  He arrived home at 11 am but his mood quickly changed when he saw the girls.

We were stayed up until 1:30 am and both Rocketman and Hannah were up before 7 am.  Rocketman had a teleconference at 7 am, the first of three for the day.  I made a bunch of American food and we eat and laughed a lot.  We all wished we could do this more often but I'm so glad we were able to do it.

Bojagi (Korean Quilting) Class

               I finally had some downtime and was able to finish this bojagi.  It turned out great.

This was the original plan and if you look closely things didn't go according to plan.  There was a few pieces that are backwards but nobody knows that but me.

My bojagi teacher, KJ, is meeting me in Seoul on Friday to take me fabric shopping to all her favorite places.  I make sure to take pictures and get booth numbers.  She says that prices go up every January so you want to get your fabric before January 1st.  I'm so excited.

I'm going to have a full house here in a few hours.  Hellena just called and she is on the bus on her way to our apartment.  She flew in from Quatar where she works as a flight attendant.  Hannah, Jennifer and maybe Jeff are coming after work and Rocketman should be landing around 8:30 pm.  He should be home by 10 pm.

Hellena will only be here until 12 am and then she has to go to her sister's place in Seoul.  She is leaving for Busan early tomorrow morning for her best friend's wedding.  I worry about her because every time she has returned to Korea she has become very sick.  She doesn't understand it either.

I'll try to remember to take lots of pictures.  I made some food but we'll also order some delivery.  It's something we can't do here and the food is fantastic.

Hanji (Korean Papercrafting) Class

This was my honmework.  I had to cut through three layers of hanji paper and the hanji paper was pretty thick.  It also didn't help that the pattern was incredibly small.  The one above is showing what I went home with and I was suppose to cut out all the white area.  I did pretty good until I got to the center and  then I had a terrible time of it.  I had three of these to do to make the nine drawer coverings.

I did complete the first one but it looked horrible in the center.  I knew that I had two more to do and then I got to thinking.  Hey, most of that will be covered with the hole and the knob so why waste my time and I cut out the center out. 

I was a little nervous to show my teacher because nobody does that.  They do their best and cut out what they should.  But I worried for naught, she laughed a little and showed everyone but said that it was okay.  The knob will be in the center and I think it will look great.

                                        This is what my box looked like when I got to class.

These are the drawers after I glued the patterns.  I really like the turquoise and black.  I don't know why more girls don't use the turquoise but maybe they will now after seeing this.  They all really liked it.  I had to give everything a coat of hanji glue and that took most of the classtime.  I'll be going back on Thursday to finish it up with a coat of varnish.

Today I had an appointment at the jewelry doctor (he's really a dermatologist).  I was scheduled for some more laser work on my chicken pox scar and I also had developed a painful plantar's wart that I needed to have removed.  I had it for months but it was getting very painful.  I had looked on the Internet for home remedies and I did try the duct tape for one week and it didn't work.

I hadn't had one since I was a teenager and even then I think it was only once and I had to have it burned off with liquid nitrogen.  I had hoped treatment had changed by then but I wasn't so lucky.  I went in for my appointment and I told jewelry doctor about it.  He wanted to look at it.  He said that in Korea, they are called corns.  I thought it was caused by a virus but he said that in Korea they are caused by wearing high heels.  I didn't tell him that I only wear high heels maybe once a year.

He confirmed that they use liquid nitrogen to remove it but that it might take several treatments and if I continue to wear high heels, it most certainly will come back.  No worries there.  We went into a treatment room and he said he was first going to cut some of the dead skin away.  I asked if they numbed it at all and he said that it didn't work in this case.  I was really nervous then and when he started cutting, the cutting didn't hurt but he was pressing on the wart and that really hurt.

Then a nurse brought in a little canister and he warned that it may hurt a little.  Right.  He started and it hurt terribly.  I thought it would be quick but it went on and on.  He went back again and again.  I don't remember it being like that when I had been treated before when I was young.  He finished and they put a bandaid on it.

Then the numbing cream for my chicken pox scar and a 20 minute wait that turned into an hour since a patient wanted to talk.  I was put in a different treatment room than the one I had always had. One of the nurses speaks good English and she came and told me what was going on and kept me company along with two other nurses. He finally came in and apologized for the delay.

I had been there many times before so I knew what to expect but when he started it hurt like he was using a knife.  He did it for a few minutes and I must have had tears in my eyes and didn't know it because he suddenly stopped and a nurse was drying my eyes.  He felt so bad and had me moved immediately into my old room and he began with that laser.  No pain.  I don't know what the difference was with the lasers but if I need anymore in the future, I'm avoiding that other room.

We finished and he wants to see me in three weeks unless there is a blister on my foot then he wants me to come in tomorrow.  But I think if you have the liquid nitrogen it creates a blister so I don't know what I'm going to do. I sure don't want him poking around down there again. 

I also picked up these socks awhile ago and they really applied to the day I was having.  Here in Korea instead of saying "good luck" or "break a leg," they say  화이팅 hwaiting which sounds a lot like fighting.  There is no "f" in the Korean language.

I've been taking it easy since I've been home and keeping my leg up.  It feels better that way.  Tomorrow I have bojagi at my apartment so it's an easy day.  And the girls are coming over!!!  Hannah, Hellena (from Quatar and if she can get a flight) and Jennifer are coming for a sleepover.  It's been too long.  Rocketman also returns and he should get in by 10 pm.