Absolut Anise

Day Nine?? Smells wonderful. Tomorrow will be another test sip.

Day Six

Day Five

Day Four

Day Three

Day Two

Day One

The beginning of homemade pastis (or maybe just anise infused vodka). 

Buy a bottle of vodka. 

Crush some anise seed. 

Put crushed anise seed in bottle.

Mix.

Let sit for at least a week.

If you would like a little more background on "Why?!" please read my post: Pastis and Rosé.

Pastis and Rosé

During my two week escape to Marseille in June, I fell in love with pastis and rosé. Pastis is a Marseillaise aperitif that tastes like anise. Rosé is a pink colored wine and is a lovely alternative to a red wine in the summer because you drink it chilled or on ice. If you like wine, you will probably like rosé, especially if it comes from Marseille. If you like black licorice, you will probably like pastis. Not only does pastis taste good, as an aperitif, it boasts the ability to aid digestion. Best consumed before eating a big meal, with a few savory snacks, pastis gets things going, and rosé keeps it going.

Thus when I returned to Korea, from my dream in the south of France, I had in tow a bottle of pastis, two bottles of rosé and two bottles of red wine, along with cheese, of course!

The wine was gone in less than two weeks. I kept two bottles of wine, one rosé and one red, at home for my own consumption, and I took two bottles, one rosé and one red, to school to share with my Korean coworkers. I had promised them wine as a thank you, and I delivered.

Little did I know, most Koreans do not like real, good wine. They want sweet wine. So their first response to both bottles of wine was a funny look on their faces and a comment about how dry and not sweet it was. I tried to accept their tastes calmly and talk to them about what I knew about wines, but I almost freaked out when one of my coworkers said, "This would be better with cider."

Cider is basically a lemon-lime type soda.

That was the end of sharing things that I truly love with my coworkers.

The cheese was gone in a few weeks. I did not share it with my coworkers, even though it went fabulously with the wine, mainly because they were stronger cheeses and Korean taste is accustomed to Kraft Singles style cheese.

The pastis I kept to myself, and I tried to make it last as long as possible. Slowly but surely, my attempt to conserve this lovely aperitif turned into a nightly ritual. My schedule did not allow for a leisurely two or three hour French lunch in the middle of the day, so I settled on a bit of popcorn and pastis while winding down before bed.

My empty bottle of pastis

After almost two months of nursing the bottle of pastis, I had finished it. It was a sad day, and I am convinced that my digestive tract is still trying to survive without it. So, while in Seoul, when we found a French restaurant, my first question to the waiter was ... "Do you have pastis?"

And they did.

While the aperitif part of our meal was a bit rushed, I still enjoyed the pastis. A taste of heaven.

I am now on the hunt for a bottle of Marseillaise pastis to share with my family when I return to the States. While I'm not certain I will be able to find it here in Korea, I am crossing my fingers that somehow, somewhere, I can at least order it on the internet in America.

The rest of my dream will just have to wait until January.

Seoul is to Korea as ... ______ is to ______

... Moscow is to Russia.
... Boise is to Idaho.

After eleven months in Korea, I finally made it to Seoul. It's not really Korea. People speak English. There's a huge variety of foreign food, not just the regular pasta and waffles. And the number of foreigners is astounding.

Before visiting, I was skeptical. I knew it would be a huge city, with lots of people, and whenever I thought of this in comparison to the lovely, closer option of Busan, I ALWAYS opted for the beach. So, when I finally made it to Seoul, I was pleasantly surprised.


Ulsan, marked in the white circle, is where I am located. Busan (the blue circle) is the second largest city in South Korea and boasts a few lovely beaches. Seoul (the yellow star) is "really" far away.

I had low expectations for Seoul. I thought of a crowded, overpopulated mess of people. I lived in Moscow for nearly two years. I knew what a city was like. But as with all things in life, you do not really know it until you try it.

One of the best discoveries in Seoul, was a design museum / cafe combination in Hongdae. While it can be a bit tricky to find the first time, it is well worth the journey. aA Cafe is a simple, modernist style building full of custom furniture and designed like an old warehouse, brewery, or art school. The large windows let in as much light as possible, and the feeling of the exterior and interior made me think of Frank Lloyd Wright's work and a smattering of other modernist architecture and interior design that I was briefly exposed to at University.

Sitting in aA Cafe

Unlike (or the same as) similar places in America, I do not think this place was EVER anything other than what it is now, but that does not lessen it's charm or character. The ambiance is created by lofty ceilings, huge hanging lights, brick walls, and mismatch furniture. The knowledge that there is a museum directly underneath the cafe, which houses a variety of "antiques" and modern creations, and the assumption that there is a studio above the cafe where people create beautiful, yet simple, furniture contribute to the illusion that Korea, full of it's nearly formulaic glitter and cuteness, has been left far behind.

Part of the museum ... no sitting here.

Rivaling the discovery of aA Cafe, away from the noise and chaos of the city, the Han River provides a calm that cannot be found in the overcrowded shopping districts. The old river stretches off into the distance and allows for windsurfers, jet skiers, and sail boaters to enjoy a lovely Sunday afternoon. A paved path runs along the river and connects the various districts of Seoul in a non commercial space. Young and old, families, couples, and a variety of others utilize this path. As I walked along the river near Itaewon toward the 63 Building, enjoying my solitude and the peace and quiet, a realization dawned. Unlike Ulsan's Taewha River path, the path along the Han lacks speakers. There is NO K-Pop blaring. There is NO classical music. There is absolutely NO manufactured, constant sound, and the effect is refreshing. In the stretches of path away from bridges, the main sounds that could be heard were the river, crickets, and cars and trains in the distance.

Before arriving in Seoul, my expectations were low if not nonexistent. I knew it would be a city. I knew it would be different from Ulsan because there would be a variety of foreign food, though I had no idea the extent of that variety - Itaewon boasts everything from Mexican to Thai to French to Arabic and more. I knew at times I would feel claustrophobic because of the shear number of people, but I had no idea how much I would enjoy it. A lovely cosmopolitan change from the more conservative and isolated areas of Korea, Seoul has character, and I would highly recommend it, in small doses, for anyone living in Korea.

Art class in Ulsan: Eric Carle Style books

Surprisingly, the end of the Summer Art Class came faster than I expected.

Halfway through the class, the girls asked if they were JUST making a book. They had seen the work of the Winter Art Class and were a bit disappointed by how few projects we were tackling, but as they began to see their stories and books take shape, all their reservations disappeared.

The girls did an excellent job, especially considering the lag in the middle of the course, when they weren't quite sure what they were working toward. During this class, I wanted to avoid giving too much direction, so I didn't have a finished book for the students to look at, at all. In retrospect a bit more direction, perhaps with an "empty" book, might have been a happy middle ground. It would have provided motivation, but it also might have taken away the surprise at the end!

After much work in class, and hours spent at home binding the books, the Eric Carle style, illustrated books are finished!

Here are the results:

Lena's book: Caterpillar's Story

One day there lived a caterpillar. The caterpillar wanted to be a butterfly.

So the caterpillar ate many leaves.

But the caterpillar just got bigger and bigger.

The caterpillar was sad.

So, the caterpillar visited a butterfly. The caterpillar asked, and the butterfly answered.

"Go to the branch." The caterpillar listened. She went to the branch.

At last the caterpillar changed into a butterfly.

At last the caterpillar changed into a butterfly.

About the author.

Emma's book: The Ladybug's Adventure

One day, the ladybug lived in a leaf, but the ladybug didn't eat anything. So the ladybug was hungry, and she found some food with friends.

First the ladybug found an apple at the fruit store. The ladybug said, "Umm ... It's yummy!" but they were still hungry.

The ladybugs found a leaf in the woods. "Yuck!" The leaf was so bad!

And the leaf was next to the honey. "Wow, this is sweet!" They ate the honey and ate snacks too.

So the ladybug was full.

The ladybug said, "Oh! I am a happy ladybug!"

About the author.

Ana's book: Bunny Has Many Friends

One day, there was a bunny. The bunny didn't have friends and the bunny wanted friends.

But, it had only one friend. It was a squirrel. One day the bunny visited the bird's house.

The bunny said to the bird, "I want to be friends with you." So the bird said, "I don't want to be your friend because you can't fly."

So, the bunny was sad, but the bunny didn't cry.

And the bunny went to the squirrel's house. "Hello, squirrel. I don't have any friends."

The bunny was very sad, so the bunny wept.

The bunny grew, and now the bunny is a rabbit, so now the bunny has four friends.

Two squirrels and two birds. The rabbit was so happy!

About the author.

Art class in Ulsan: Eric Carle Style Illustrations

As stated previously, Korean students study ALL the time. Even during break they go to academy or sign up for extra classes at their school. For me this has resulted in the wonderful benefit of an art class. (See Art class in Ulsan for pictures and information about the winter art class with four boys.)

The summer art class has taken a different turn entirely. This is partly due to higher expectations of the students involved and partly due to their longer attention spans and increased patience. What started as a seemingly simple idea to create books, has evolved into a full out course on Eric Carle style illustrations.

With the help of Eric Carle's website and a slideshow on his books, I introduced my students to the concept of creating illustrations and making stories in the style of Eric Carle. We did not have access to his actual books. Yet it all worked out for the best.

Based on Carle's illustrations, I had the students brainstorm and discuss what they thought the stories were about. I discovered that this opened a door to the creative process. They couldn't copy the stories because the stories weren't there to copy! Many students, especially studious Korean girls, want to do everything "perfectly", but in art nothing is right or wrong. Not having an "answer" available created a bit of confusion at first, but they have begun an awesome journey toward original stories.

After the students decided on a main character and worked on their stories a bit, we painted tissue paper.

The students were a bit surprised at what happened to the table underneath their tissue paper, but it was easily wiped off.

At home, I was lazy and didn't wipe between each piece of tissue paper. This is the result.

Unfortunately the time allowed in class for painting tissue paper wasn't quite enough, so I went home and painted MORE tissue paper because of our time constraints.