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Korea -Big Brother Peter described Pusan as the "biggest city he had never heard of." |
In the fall of '97 I accepted the first of two year long contracts to teach in Korea, a country I knew very little about. I was going to live in the city of Pusan, population about 5 million. It is a very active port city with a bit of cosmopolitan-flair-meets-traditional. |
Just minutes after being picked up at the airport by the school's director, I was chauffered to the famous Chilgalchi fish market in the heart of downtown. We strolled by hundreds of buckets filled with the strangest display of live seafood I have ever seen...some looked like male parts, some like brain. Then to toast my arrival, we sat down between fish stalls andI was presented a wide sampling of freshly killed sealife followed by many shots of Soju and a big smile. |
Teaching in Korea isn't for everyone. I had researched well before I made my decision but I still learned the work ethic and hierarchy is very different from the states. I was the only foreign teacher in my school and had to quickly learn to read and write Hangul (the Korean alphabet) in order to order meals or ride buses. |
The ladies that work in the Chigalchi fish market speak a very unique dialect which actually sounds like they are yelling and arguing with each other but is really just harmless. |
One of the more shocking site was these women who were skinning eels.. they still squirmed around even after they lost their hides. They are cooked on a grill and can make quite a stink. |
Okay, this was actually more disturbing than the eels. |
Some of the streets were filled with boxes and boxes of dried sardines like this. They are used in many soups. |
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