Variety: The Spice of Life

Before coming to Korea, I didn't really have much in the way of experiences with Korean food. Part of the reason being that my mother really doesn't make it due to a bad experience with it in the past and because Korean restaurants aren't that common in the US; sure, there are some here and there, especially near military installations and where there are a lot of them, but, regardless, they are few and far between. So my stay in Korea definitely has been a bit of an adventure on the food front.

A nice thing, though, is that the cafeteria/canteen in the building in which I work serves a very cheap, often filling lunch (3500 won, equivalent to US$3.20 or so). So, while the quality may not be the best, it's a good introduction to decent Korean cuisine for not very much.

Pretty much, here's a rundown of some of the Korean food I've encountered:
kimchi: Fermented cabbage, radish, or cucumber, usually covered in red chilis. In some form or another, expect it to appear at every meal.
rice (bap): Appears also in many different forms, whether white or black (and the black rice is very good).
gochujang: Red pepper paste made from slightly fermented red chilis. Common to top rice. Good gochujang is really nice and not overly spicy, but the most common one they serve tends to be just hot.
naengmyeon: Cold noodle soup, featuring cooked noodles and a frequently spicy broth. Normally also served with vegetables and/or egg.
bibimbap: A mixed rice dish where rice is combined with vegetables and (sometimes) meat or another protein, sometimes topped with egg, and served with gochujang. Comes in lots of different kinds, with a classic one being dolsot bibimbap (where the meal comes in a hot ceramic bown and, if topped with an egg, the egg cooks in front of your eyes).
Korean barbecue: Thinly-sliced meats, like pork rashers and/or beef, and chopped vegetables grilled at your table. By your own hands. Normally served with a sweeter sauce, salt, and lots of soju.
soju: Korean distilled rice liquor, very similar to vodka but with half the alcoholic content. Plentiful and cheap here, so it's the go-to booze when people want to get totally smashed.

Also notable are the numerous written and unwritten conventions when one goes out for food and drinking. For one, unlike in France or Germany where a person going out to eat alone isn't really looked at funnily, eating in Korea is very much a social activity: in most Korean-style restaurants, individual plates aren't prepared for each person. Instead, while each person normally gets their own bowl of rice or noodles, the dishes are set down to be consumed communally; using your chopsticks, you pull bits off the communal plate to your own plate before consuming it. And the normal method of serving seems to be many small dishes in sequence rather than all the dishes for the appetizer, main course, dessert, or whatever coming out simultaneously. So the effect appears as if it's a lot of small, quick courses. For example, when I went to a restaurant with a lot of the people from my lab this past Friday, there was so much food and in so many courses; soups, salads, vegetables of all kinds, meats, fish dishes, and so forth. It's a very different style of eating, one that I'm not completely used to, but it's sorta growing on me. A bit.

Using chopsticks has also turned out to be a bit of an adventure here in Korea. Most meals have two utensils involved: a set of metal chopsticks and a matching metal spoon. Unlike in China and Japan, the spoon is used actually for eating rice, but also used for soups and messy things. Chopsticks are used for most other applications. And living in Korea is the first time I've really had to use chopsticks, so... it's been a learning experience. That said, the border between "chopstick dish" and "spoon dish" is a bit blurry sometimes, so you just look around at what the other Koreans are doing, smile, and continue on with what you were doing. Normally, offense isn't taken if you make a good-faith effort to not be offensive... I think. And the normal things with chopsticks apply here: never leave chopsticks standing upright in a bowl of rice, never position them in a certain way...

Otherwise, things here in Korea seem to be going rather slowly. Might be because of the weather and the humidity: arriving during the monsoon season wasn't, in retrospect, the best idea. But things here are just so different from other places I've lived, both with the sights, sounds, and sensory overload with all the flashing lights. This place really does feel like a melding pot of traditions and cultures; people seem to want to hold on tightly to the traditions like the hierarchy, food, dress (in some cases), and ceremony while wanting to modernize and become powerful and prosperous. Whether or not both can be accomplished at the same time... I dunno.

So, yeah, that's it from here. There may be some pics coming soon, especially with more exploration on the horizon. And, with that, have a good rest of your week.

Thawing Out

This blog in meant to be a blog of my experiences in travelling abroad and the such; I started it back in May of 2011 before I went to Germany and France. Once I returned to the US, though, I stopped blogging because it didn't seem "necessary" anymore. But I always thought that, were I to go out of the country, the blog would be revived on that occasion.

And... that occasion has come. In about one month's time, I will be going to the Republic of Korea for a month-long scientific project in collaboration with some people there, the topic being electrospinning. I don't know too much about it, but I'm sure I'll get an earful/eyeful very soon. Not to mention it'll be a potentially interesting destination: I've never been to Asia. The furthest east I've been is Romania, so this'll be a very different experience altogether.

So, yeah. That's about it for now. More info to come.

Back Stateside Again

This post is coming a bit late, but, after 10½ months in Europe, all things had to come to an end and, a week ago, I left France and came back to the US.

However, I didn't go quietly; since I had to go to Lyon to go to the airport, I decided to make a nice trip out of it. So I spent four days in Lyon combined with a daytrip to Geneva, Switzerland. Lyon is quite pretty and easy to get around; probably as much to see as in Paris, but without the size of the French capital. And a lot of the good things in Lyon are free, so there was no need to hemorrhage money left and right. Definitely a plus.
Geneva was cute and adorable... and very expensive. I went there with the express purpose of spending money and sightseeing (I had a large number of Swiss Francs I wanted to get rid of), and both missions were accomplished, but it's amazing how much prices jump once you enter the tiny little country. Still, though, the added benefit of Switzerland is that the product selection is very different compared to that in France... seems more like a hybrid of what you'd find in Germany and what you'd find in France, all squished into a single package. In any event, I got lotsa good pictures and had a very good time before...

On the 1st of May, however, it was time to return to the US. Leaving on the first, however, was a mistake logistically... because, in France, 1 May is la fête du travail, or Labor Day. For most French public holidays, things, like public transport, still run; I arrived back in France after winter break on 1 January, and that wasn't a problem. However, Labor Day in France is special and, as a result, the Lyon public transport network was completely non-operational that day.

Fortunately, what wasn't offline was the express tram from Lyon to the airport. So, I took a taxi from my hostel to the train station and the tram from the Lyon Part-Dieu station to the Lyon St-Exupéry Airport. And, with it being a holiday (perhaps), the airport was practically deserted. Definitely a plus.

Getting checked in and through security in Lyon was fairly straightforward and painless, and the airport seemed to operate a lot like a US airport in layout. Not much airside, but still a decent amount. The flight from there to Paris was short (1 hour), so it wasn't bad at all.

Connecting in Paris, however, was... fun. I was in one terminal and had to go to another. Fortunately, there was a pedestrian route, so I started following that. First, there was exit control; guy took my passport, turned to a blank page, and stamped it in a matter-of-fact manner. I then thought, cool, the gate shouldn't be far away. That was a misjudgment... it took about 20 minutes to walk to another surprise security control. And after that was the gate.

Airside was, fortunately, a bit less deserted than the first time I went through de Gaulle airport, but still overpriced and with not a good selection. Fortunately, I didn't have too long until I got to board the plane. This plane was the largest I had been on... an Airbus 380. A fully double-decked plane... I was on the lower level, but it was still awesome. The flight was long, the food wasn't too bad, and the seat neighbors weren't too horrible... just like usual.

When we landed at JFK airport, it felt a bit like Heathrow all over again... a bit of a walk to Immigration, and the line I didn't go to was jam-packed with people waiting. Getting through immigration and customs was fast and painless (and, fortunately, not very unfriendly) and the terminal I arrived at and the one I needed to go to weren't separated by much, so it was a short walk. And more waiting once through security. The flight from JFK back into Charlotte arrived... early. By about an hour. So I needed to wait around a bit for my father to arrive and, after he got me, we made the three-hour drive back to Stedman.

It fortunately hasn't been too hard to adjust to being back in the US. I do miss France (a lot), but being nice and relaxed and having time to relax has really been good. Only really strange thing is that, now, I'm running errands on my own (driving!) and that my brother isn't yet here. In a week, though, that'll be changed. I have a few more things coming up soon, like a trip to Wisconsin and one to Colorado; I might fit a Canada trip in somewhere this summer; and... I might be headed back to France this fall. Turns out that my paperwork for the renewal wasn't rejected after all! Unfortunately, the number of posts for assistants was reduced by 20%, but there's still that glimmer of hope that I'll get to return. For that would be awesome.

So, with that, this blog shall probably lie dormant for a while until more fun adventures occur. While I didn't post as regularly as I would've liked to, I thank anyone who read this for... reading this (yeah) and, additionally, all the people in Germany and France for making my stay awesome and wonderful. It's always funny to see how things differed from what I anticipated, and it's almost always been different for the better.

Bis bald / À plus,

Larry

Four Countries, Four Very Different Experiences

France is the fourth different country that I've lived in. Living in a place, naturally, gives you a very different view and experience compared to visiting as a tourist, and thinking about how that experience differs from those in your home country or other places you've lived can be, at minimum, somewhat different.

Not to mention that, since I don't have much longer in France, I wanted to review some of the pluses from each country that I lived in on this stay in Europe.

Germany

• Germany's public transport system is peerless in many regards: it runs on time and has very, very good coverage. Not to mention that long-distance express trains are fairly reasonably priced.
• If you don't understand something, many Germans seem more than willing to help you to understand. Or speak in English if possible. Speaking of that...
• Germans, in general, have a fairly decent level of English. It's not like in Denmark or Sweden where everybody speaks it, but finding an English speaker isn't too daunting or impossible of a task.
• Shops are generally open continuously until 8 p.m. on weekdays and Saturdays. Granted, they are almost all closed on Sundays, but that's workable. In comparison, shops in France normally close at 7 and sometimes close on other days, like Mondays (or Monday mornings).
• German bakeries are excellent. As are German meats. And candies. And food in general, truth be told.
• Food in Germany, generally, is quite a bit cheaper in comparison with France. Especially if you eat out. The fact that both France and Germany use the same currency make this even more visible.
• German bureaucracy, while it can be tiresome at times, generally runs efficiently and, in addition, assures that you will have an answer if you have a question. And that said answer will be correct. And it's easier to navigate than the French.

France

• Contrary to the stereotypes, the French (I've dealt with) are friendly and polite. Not rude. And they're delighted to hear a foreigner speaking French.
• There's a lot more of a regional identity in France: especially in Auvergne, where I currently live, people are proud to be Auvergnat and promote local products and culture to a very great degree.
• Public transit may not be as good between cities or once you get outside the city center, but it's workable and generally cheaper within the cities. (ex. €2.40 for a single ticket in Frankfurt am Main compared to €1.70 for one in Paris and €1.60-ish in Lyon). In any event, it's still much cheaper than Copenhagen.
• France has excellent bakeries and lots of delicious things.
• By and large, the French seem to prefer smaller shops a lot more to the larger ones. It's much easier to find farmers' markets here and, really, they're held with a lot more frequency.
• Where I live, temperatures are quite moderate and rarely ever horribly cold. Granted, it's not very warm right now, but that's minor.
• Local trains are nice and spacious... a bit more pleasant than the ones in Germany.

I mean, though, the experiences I've had are quite different from a social aspect: as my French is much better than my German, I'm able to (and willing to) communicate a lot more without needing to ask "Sprechen Sie Englisch?" (or "Parlez-vous anglais?") all the time. And I hate having to ask others to speak English, so it's a great asset to be able to communicate more easily here.

But, all in all, it's hard to say what I like more. I grew up in Germany, yeah, but I'm living on my own here in France and doing a job that I really love. So is the experience better here in France? In a way, probably. And yet asking me to choose which I like better is like asking if I like cake or pie more. I like them each in their own way, but I can't say I like one more than the other.

Ah, whatever. Anyways, I'm off to do a bit more exploring and wandering; without much time left before the 1st of May, I've quite a bit more I want to do. And that's part of why I want to return next year... really, why I'd prefer to do that rather than immediately heading off to grad school.

Coming soon (maybe): French election stuff! Yes, it's going on right now, and comparing it to the US Election allows for interesting comparisons to be made. It's great to discuss it with my students.

Écosse, Alba, Scotland...

Because spending time in France for vacation, while potentially fun, can be rather tiring after a while, I am presently in Scotland. 'Twas a long, long day of travel with about 11 hours in all on trains (including a late train into Paris and the RER D not properly functioning!), but I was surprised with much warmer temperatures here than in France. And, despite the delays, everything went surprisingly well coming here (very fast and painless passage through Immigration, very friendly staff otherwise), so that puts me in an even better mood. Joy.

In all, I'll be in Edinburgh for four nights, after which point I'll head southward to Cardiff, Wales, for a few days... then London... then back to France. In all, I'm looking forward to this being a nice, relaxing vacation with lots of pictures taken and the ability to get lots of stuff for sending to the US and for sharing with people I like in Clermont-Ferrand. Like food.

Anyways, more will come later, but I just felt like making a quick update. With that, have a good week.

The Snow in France Falls Mainly... Somewhere

While, indeed, it is winter here in Auvergne, we haven't had any snow. That is, until this week.

On Monday, while there was a rather light dusting, it wasn't anything major; it seemed a lot like what one would have in North Carolina, if anything. Tuesday, however, brought with it a significantly greater amount: approximately 10 centimetres (4 inches). And it's still continued through today. In fact, as I type this post, snow is still coming down; not a deluge, fortunately, but still in a significant quantity. Yes, it does disrupt some things, like public transport (thus meaning students don't come to school), but, at the very least, the scenery can be very pretty.

Also, in strange things today, due to absences of many of the teachers I work with at my collège, I didn't end up working there today. Which made me sad; I really do like working there. In exchange, though, I got to meet with another group of BTS/sandwich course students who made me wish I could see them on a regular basis instead of the one class who doesn't like to open their mouths. Yeah, their level of English wasn't the best, but they tried! And that's the most important thing: being willing to try, and being open to taking chances. In fact, three of the students decided that they wanted to go to the UK for the Easter Vacation, and I'm rather happy. I'm not British, but I just love hearing about people travelling and people willing to get out and see the world, even if it is just a few hundred kilometres away from home. (Then again, here in France, a few hundred kilometres can easily put you in another country.)

The planning for the big trip to the UK is going well; I'm still trying to figure out what to do for the Wales legs, but I do have the train tickets and passes. This is a very good thing, so now I don't have to pay an arm and a leg for travelling within the UK. I certainly won't be driving, and buying the train tickets on the day of travel is really, really expensive there (unlike Germany, where, even on the day of travel, the ticket prices still don't go up too much, save for the express trains).

In between continuing the grad school applications and other fun things, I might get another post in soon on more of the behaviors of the wild Frenchmen. Though, on a positive note, I did submit my paperwork for my contract renewal, so, now, I just need to wait for the evaluation to be done and, after that, wait to hear back from them. Hopefully, I'll get a response from someone, school or CIEP, soon, because I really want to know what I'll be up to next year. I did get something from another school wanting me to apply to them, and we'll see how that works out as well.

So, with that, have a good rest of your week.

Let the Fun Continue...

The program I'm on in France allows U.S. citizens to participate twice, either in two consecutive years in the same Académie or two nonconsecutive years in either the same or different regions. Of course, for the second consecutive year, one normally gets placed towards the bottom of the queue for receiving an assignment (as the intention is to first give an opportunity to the people who applied for a first year over the people who are applying for a renewal), so it's not guaranteed. Which is why I'm applying to graduate schools (admittedly, though, not very hard... Minnesota and Florida State are the big ones for now) as a back-up plan.

However, I am applying for a second year in France. I know, I'm crazy, but there are several reasons:
1.) I like my job and I like where I'm at here in France. If I like the situation I'm in, why change it?
2.) Giving myself an extra year will allow me a bit more time to earn some cash and also to get some more experience working abroad, plus it'll also give me the chance to get the other test that many graduate schools in Physics want or require. It's a test that's only offered thrice a year, and, to be honest, it was impossible to get it done last year.
3.) Another year in France will give me more of a chance to improve my French, which desperately needs improvement.

But I'm not going to do the Germany-France two-step that I did last year. Simply put, the issue with the visas and residence permits arises again: I'd have to get an entry visa for Germany due to my stay in France, and that's a fun adventure requiring a trip to Paris or Atlanta (depending on where I'd be at the time). As much as I love Germany, it's probably not a good idea. Not to mention my passport is almost full, and I intend to do at least a bit of travelling this summer.

Speaking of this summer, I'm thinking of giving myself a self-birthday present with a trip out of the US. I'm thinking Canada, Mexico, or someplace in the Western Hemisphere this time, but definitely out of the US. But we'll see.

Swiss Vacation... and French Paperwork Hell

Last week, I decided that I really wanted to go to Switzerland. And here I am, writing this from Zürich.

To elaborate further, the main reason for this trip, other than wanting to go to Switzerland and take lots of pretty pictures, actually arises from the fact that I go to apply for my French visa on Tuesday. While my application is being processed, however, the consulate probably will have my passport. The processing could take a few days or a few weeks. And, while they have my passport, I won't legally be able to leave Germany to go elsewhere in the Schengen zone, even though there aren't any immigration checks. Accordingly, I figured that getting a quick trip in before I lose my passport is probably not a bad idea, in the long run.

Like the last time I visited, Switzerland is very pretty. And the number of Swiss flags in the streets and wherever you go is pretty impressive, particularly since German flags are not very common where I've lived in Germany. Only drawback to the trip, though, is that everything is expensive... and even moreso now with the much stronger Swiss Franc. As a comparison, when I went to Basel in 2009, it was CHF 1.50 per euro (CHF 1.06 per dollar) and, now, it's CHF 1.07 per euro ($1.30 per Franc). For example, McDonald's meals run about CHF 15 (EUR 13, USD 20), a 1.5 litre bottle of soda is about CHF 2 (EUR 1.90, USD 2.50) at its cheapest... regardless, though, while I'll take my usual travel "precautions" (avoiding restaurants and taxis as much as possible), I'll do my best to avoid letting the rather high prices get to me.

Today was mostly reserved for getting here and lots of wandering around (yes, lots of pictures). Tomorrow will probably feature more wandering, a trip to the Zoo (Zürich Zoo is very renowned) and possibly a few museums, and acquiring souvenirs that people I know might want. Like chocolate. And I'll be out of here on Sunday morning.

So, yeah, that's it from here. Another post might be coming soon-ish. And have a good weekend.