Korean Street Food: 오뎅

오뎅 is also known as fish cake. You can find these in carts all over Korea. They are usually very cheap. You usually get one for 500 won (about 50 cents) or 1000 won for 2 (about 1 dollar)

It is a processed seafood product made of ground white fish and other ingredients such as potato starch, sugar and vegetable

Korean Street Food: 호떡

호떡 is a type of pancake that can have a variety of fillings. Usually there is brown sugar, honey, chopped nuts and cinnamon. I have also had some that were filled with chocolate and vegetables.

These usually cost about 1000 won (about 1 dollar)

호떡 is usually eaten in the winter season. They usually fold it and put it in a cup.

Pictures:

this one is a typical one you will find with a sweet filling

야채호떡

Filled with vegetables and noodles

똥아호떡

This one is in the shape of poo

It is filled with chocolate

PyeongChang Olympics 2018: Team Event Figure Skating

On Feb 9 I was able to attend an Olympic event!! I attended the Team Event for Figure Skating-Men's single short program and Pairs short program. It was held in the Gangneung Ice Arena from 10:00-1;25. I had a Category C ticket which costed 150,000 won ($138 USD at the time of purchase). This was the only Olympic ticket that I bought.

10 countries participated in the event: United States, Italy, Korea, China, Japan, Germany, France, Canada, OAR (athletes from Russia), and Isreal.

After the competition was over the standings were:

1st Canada
2nd USA
3rd Japan
4th OAR
5th Isreal
6th China
7th Italy
8th Germany
9th France
10th Korea

Pictures:

Figure Skating Pictures

PyeongChang Olympics 2018: Day 1 South Korea Medal Count

Day 1-Feb 10

South Korea won 1 medal on the first day of the Olympics

Medal Counts

Bronze
Silver   0
Gold    1

Medal Winners:

Lim Hyojun-Short Track Speed Skating-Men's 1500m


South Korea is in 3rd place by number of Gold Medals.

PyeongChang Olympics 2018: South Korean Olympians

The Winter Olympics will be held in PyeongChang in South Korea this year from February 9-25. South Korea and North Korea will enter together at the opening ceremony.

This year South Korea has 146 Olympians in 15 sports.

Alpine Skiing

Men
Jung Dong-hyun
Kim Dong-woo

Women
Gim So-hui
Kang Young-seo

Biathlon

Men
Timofey Lapshin

Women
Ekaterina Avvakumova
Anna Frolina
Jung Ju-mi
Ko Eun-jung
Mun Ji-hee

Bobsleigh

Two-Man
Won Yun-jong
Seo Young-woo

Four-man
Jun Jung-lin
Kim Dong-hyun
Seo Young-woo
Won Yun-jong

Two-women
Kim Min-seong
Kim Yoo-ran

Cross-country skiing

Men
Kim Eun-ho
Magnus Kim

Women
Ju Hye-ri

Lee Chae-won

Curling

Men's Tournament
Kim Chang-min
Seong Se-hyeon
Oh Eun-Su
Lee Ki-bok
Kim Min-chan

Women's Tournament
Kim Eun-jung
Kim Kyeong-ae
Kim Seon-yeong
Kim Yeong-mi
Kim Cho-hi

Mixed Doubles
Jang Hye-ji
Lee Ki-jeong

Figure Skating

Men's Singles
Cha Jun-hwan

Ladies Singles
Choi Da-bin
Kim Ha-nul

Pairs
Kim Kyu-eun / Alex Kangchan Kam

Ice Dancing
Yura Min / Alexander Gamelin

Freestyle Skiing

Aerials

Women's Aerials
Kim Kyoung-eun

Halfpipe

Men's Halfpipe
Lee Kang-bok

Women's Halfpipe
Jang Yu-jin

Moguls

Men's Moguls
Choi Jae-woo
Seo Myung-joon S
Women's Moguls
Seo Jee-won
Seo Jung-hwa
Slopestyle
Women's Slopestyle
Lee Mee-hyun

Luge

Men's Singles
Lim Namkyu

Doubles
Cho Jung Myung
Park Jinyong

Women's Singles
Aileen Frisch
Sung Eunryung

Nordic Combined

Park Je-un

Short Track Speed Skating

Men
Hwang Dae-heon
Kim Do-kyoum
Kwak Yoon-gy
Lim Hyo-jun
Seo Yi-ra

Women
Choi Min-jeong
Kim A-lang
Kim Ye-jin
Lee Yu-bin
Shim Suk-hee

Skeleton

Men's
Kim Jisoo
Yun Sungbin

Women's
Jeong Sophia

Ski Jumping

Men
Choi Se-ou
Kim Hyun-ki

Women
Park Guy-lim

Snowboarding

Men
Freestyle
Big Air and Slopestyle
Lee Minsik

Halfpipe
Kim Ho Jun
Kweon Leejun
Lee Kwang Ki

Women
Freestyle
Big Air
Chung Ji Hye

Halfpipe
Kwon Sunoo

Parallel
Men's Giant Slalom
Choi Bogun
Kim Sangkyum
Lee Sangho

Women's Giant Slalom
Jeong Haerim
Shin Dahae

Speed Skating

Men
Cha Minkyu 500m, 1000m
Chung Jaewon mass start
Chung Jaewoong 1000m
Joo Hyongjun 1500m
Kim Junho 500m
Kim Minseok 1500m, mass start
Kim Taeyun 500m, 1000m
Lee Seunghoon 5000m, 10,000m, mass start
Mo Taebum 500m, 1000m

Women
Kim Boreum 1500m, mass start
Kim Hyunyung 500m, 1000m
Kim Hyunyung 500m, 1000m
Lee Sanghwa 500m, 1000m
Noh Seonyeong 1500m, mass start
Park Jiwoo mass start
Park Seunghi 500m, 1000m

Team Pursuit
Men's Team Pursuit
Chung Jaewon
Joo Hyongjun
Kim Minseok
Lee Seunghoon

Women's Team Pursuit
Kim Boreum
Noh Seonyeong
Park Jiwoo
Park Seunghi

Music Video: Rain "Gang"

Rain used to be my favorite K-pop artist, but I don't keep up with him anymore because he hasn't been putting much music out lately. Is he still as popular now as he was in the past? I don't hear much about him anymore. I feel like he hasn't really done much since he got out of the army a few years ago.


 

Visiting Korea in 2018....

I left Korea 3 years ago. I was determined to go back to Korea for the 2018 winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. This week I asked my employer for 2 weeks off in February and they approved!!

I have already booked my flight, accommodations, and a ticket to one of the figure skating sessions. I'm very excited to be back. My flight leaves from the USA on February 3rd and departs Korea on February 17. I will be staying at a hostel in Seoul near Dongdaemun.

I was able to find a flight package on Travelocity for $1,035 USD. The package included a round trip flight and 12 days in a hostel in Seoul. I will be sharing a room at the hostel with 2 other females. I wish the price was lower, but I think the price is good for flight and accommodations.

I bought a ticket to the Men's short program/pair short program on February 9th for $138 from the Fan to Fan ticket resale website. I will be sitting in the nosebleed section, but at least I will be there. I've always wanted to go to the Olympics and figure skating is one of my favorite events. I am still searching for a ticket to the opening ceremony. I know its in high demand.

I still have a lot of things to plan. I will have many more blog posts on the Olympics, Korean food, places to visit and what i was doing on my trip. I will space out the posts so I don't have so much at one time.

While I am in Korea I plan to visit new places, try new food, revisit former  places where I worked and lived, and visit with friends that I met. I also  plan to make some new videos for my YouTube channel.

Korean Drama: 굿 닥터 Good Doctor

Genre: Medical Drama, Romance, Comedy
Year Aired: 2013
Episodes: 20
Network: KBS
Where Can I watch: Dramafever

Cast (Main)
Joo Won as Park Shi-on
Moon Chae-won as Cha Yoon-soo
Joo Sang-wook as Kim Do-han
Kim Min-seo as Yoo Chae-kyung

Plot:

Park Shi-on is a pediatric surgery medical resident who is an autistic savant. The hospital officials are hesitant to give him a job at the hospital because of his condition. They give him 6 months to prove himself. He has to overcome many struggles along the way.

There is a remake of this drama that aired in the USA starting in 2017 on the ABC network.


**I really enjoyed this drama. The main character had to endure a lot of hardship in his life. I didn't like how he was treated by a lot of people especially his dad. There are a lot of sad and funny moments. I won't give away anything, but there is a really good ending.  I am also watching the American version. Both versions have a main character with autism. I can see the similarities between the two.

I definitely recommend this drama!