Teaching English in Korea Blog

Hey everyone, for those who have actually typed in “thedailykimchi.com” into their browsers, you’ve probably come across this blog. Yes, it is run by me, Gdog. I have actually been tweaking my domain for The Daily Kimchi to make a transition to Wordpress. I had plans to return to Korea so I wanted to use Wordpress as my new blogging platform–it’s much better. Anyways, since I’m back in Canada, I haven’t had much time to update my blog.

As you can see, I had this blog redesigned through the help of ilker, from The Thinking Blog. ilker designed that cool looking header you see above (the image was taken by yours truly) and some other things with CSS coding. I’d like to say thanks to him for helping me out. If you want to check out his blog, please do so as it’s very interesting and thought provoking!

So yeah…right now, I am in a transition phase…it’s not yet official, but I will let you know when it’s done. Until next time…

For those that are near the end of their teaching contracts in Korea, there is always one big question that stays in the back of your mind: “How am I going to get rid of all my stuff in my officetel/apartment?” After living in a country for a year, you tend to accumulate a lot of “things”. These could consist of plants, kitchen utensils, furniture, books, clothes, kimchi cutters, chairs, etc.

Well, I’m going to tell you what I did to get rid of our stuff after our year of teaching English in Korea came to an end. To start off, we didn’t really need anything in our officetel as it came fully furnished. We did end up acquiring some “things” over the year and by the time it came to sell or give away our stuff, we realized we had some work to do!

There are a few ways for you to sell your used “junk”…they’ve worked for me in the past so they might work for you too.

1) Dave’s ESL Cafe: Buy/Sell/Trade Korea Forums - if you haven’t registered for an account with these forums, I suggest you do so. The website receives a lot of steady traffic, so by creating your advertisement “post” there will generate some sales. Lots of goods are bought and sold through these forums (just watch out for some of the bitter and lonely weirdos there! Avoid them like the plague!).

2) Work N’ Play Classifieds: these forums don’t have as much traffic, but it’s worth posting as I have sold and purchased items here in the past. It’s a great way to find some good items for cheap as some moving sales are posted here, but nobody shows up–leaving the deals for you!

3) Facebook: Ahh, Facebook. What would my life be without you? Here, you can take advantage of the massive Korea network and post your stuff up for sale. Then, once you get a lead, you can “poke” (or Superpoke!) the other person to death until they give in and buy your third-hand rice cooker that doesn’t really work. Awesome!

4) Craigslist Seoul: Ahh, Craigslist. The perfect marketplace for shady transactions, such as that discounted iPod that “fell off the back of a truck”. I’m surprised there aren’t more people using Craigslist in Seoul. Looking at the Books & Magazines section, there have only been 1 or 2 ads every 3 or 4 days…it’s still worth a shot.

5) Post a list up at work…this is one of the easiest ways. New teachers are always looking for kitchen appliances and other stuff.

Okay, so you’ve read my long-winded rant about the above marketplaces. Now what? I’m going to make this easy and list it for you step by step.

1. Pictures: You need some decent pictures of your stuff, so try to at least clean or make your stuff presentable, then snap a picture of it. If you’re running Windows XP, download and install the free Image Resizer from the Microsoft PowerToys page. Resize your pictures (this makes the biggest difference in the world when you’re emailing them to someone) to 640×480 resolution.

2. List your stuff with pictures: go to the above mentioned websites and start listing your stuff. Make a brief description of what you have for sale (its condition) and how much you want for it. This will save you time answering emails from strangers. Willing to take offers? Add in “OBO” (or best offer). Post some pictures by hosting them for free at ImageShack. Take a picture of a few items at once to save time…Put down a contact number or email so people can contact you.

3. Sell smart: try to sell all your kitchen stuff for a flat rate, or all the plants you have in a set. This makes it easier for you and the buyer.

4. Give away stuff: mention that the first three buyers will get something for free to attract attention.

5. Have your buyers come meet you close to your house. Trust me, you don’t want to be the one lugging a toaster oven half way across the city to make 20,000w.

6. Too lazy to sell? Good on you, and welcome to the club. Just pass on the good fortune to the next group of teachers coming to your school. That’s what we did we the stuff we weren’t able to sell. This will keep the circle of love going…yay.

Remember this bad boy I picked up off the streets coming home from a haircut? Well, with all garbage in Seoul, you’re supposed to get a sticker so the garbage men can come pick it up. We didn’t have time to get rid of this with packing and all, so we ended up abandoning it in the lobby of our building the night before.

We were like ninjas as we gingerly moved it downstairs and into the corner without any of the security guards spotting us. Yes, I know, we’re bad, slap me on the wrist for the idea. I’m sure someone will pick it up and make good use of it–I hope!

Happy Selling (or happy littering your stuff downstairs in the alley next door)!

Any vegetarians out there? Any vegetarians out there in South Korea? Recently, one of our coworkers asked us if we’d want to join her at a vegetarian restaurant located at Sinsa Station, near Apgujeong. We decided to make it an adventure and last weekend we made the long trek to eat some…veggies. I have never visited a vegetarian restaurant before, as I am a pure carnivore at heart (Veggies have feelings too when you cut them up…)!

Anyways, we finally made it to our destination, a vegetarian restaurant that was recommended by one of the Seoul tourism websites. What we saw when we went in was not very appetizing. We either came at the wrong time of day, or they just weren’t busy enough to keep their “buffet” stocked with fresh items. It was not a memorable meal, but since it was only 6000w per person we decided to give it a go anyways!

There were four of us in this restaurant on the second floor of a building…along with three others:

Here are some pictures of the buffet…you know food is no longer “good” when it’s been sitting on a warmer for the entire day!

“Make your own salad” gone wrong…

Some more veggie dishes for your viewing pleasure. Notice the refrigeration unit in place to keep the dishes at a safe temperature–oh wait, there is no cooling unit!

Near the end of the line…we have some dessert. Remember to keep an eye on that watermelon platter:

This was my plate: some rice, veggies, a bun, samjang, a pepper, some lettuce, and half a bun. I now know how a rabbit feels…

Remember the watermelon platter? Well, that was by far the best part! It was the only tray they refilled and when I saw the “fresh” platter I pounced on it…this was the aftermath on my plate:

…and here’s my dish being placed at the “SELF SERVICE” window…now that I think about it, I definitely got my money’s worth in watermelon!

I know there are better vegetarian restaurants out there, as one of our coworkers had raved about a couple in Insadong. I think this time it was just unfortunate we went to the wrong place–doh! In the future, I will stick with my meat-eating ways…and avoid vegetarian restaurants!