FOOD!

Sorry it's taken me so long to write about this. I have been too busy stuffing my face.

Korean food is delicious. I had actually had it a few times in the States and I knew I would not have a problem with the food here. It is so good and it's pretty inexpensive, so add that to my lack of cooking ability and that equals to eating out and trying just about everything! Plus, what better way to immerse yourself in a culture than through the food?  Also, I eat lunch with my students which is a great way to try a lot of different things.

Here's a little bit of information and then pictures!

Side dishes: Korean food has many side dishes. The side dishes can range anywhere from 2 to 12, but all meals feature at least a few. When you eat at a restaurant, various side dishes will come to you before your meal in small bowls and it can range from vegetables to meat to seafood prepared in a variety of ways. Korean dishes are all served at the same time (not separate as in the West). The side dishes are all served family-style in the middle of the table.


Rice: Rice is basically the backbone of all Korean meals. It is eaten with every meal which is good for me because I love rice.

Jjigae (Stews): Usually, each person will have their own bowl of soup or stew (the stews here are SO good!).  The stews are thicker than soups and are usually served sizzling in a stone hotpot with plenty of spices. My mouth is usually on fire when I have the stews but it's worth it!

(The egg on top boils because the stew is so hot)

Kimchi: This is a cold, side dish which is served at nearly every Korean meal. It is generally made with pickled and fermented cabbage seasoned with garlic and red chilli. It can also be made from cucumbers, white radish and other vegetables. There are many different forms of kimchi. Kimchi is a favorite of mine and I've liked it since the first time I tried it  back home. I was excited to see that it really IS eaten during every meal here.







Now for a few pictures....

One of my first meals! This was at a department store food court.

Street food! Good and cheap! 

 Ramen-type soup. I have this at a little place by where I live. PS: It costs about USD$ 2.00. Score!

 Dumpling soup

 Bibimbap (mixture of rice, vegetables, beef with an egg on top)

Korean BBQ! Another favorite!

 My favorite jjigae: doenjang Jjigae (Fermented Bean Paste Stew)

 Nakji Bokkeum (Stir-fried Baby Octopus)

 More Korean BBQ...YUM

Okay so this one is actually Vietnamese Pho but I had to point out the octopus! It's yummy and not scary. (Side note: Since being here I've had Vietnamese, Indian and Thai food. I am mostly planning on trying as much Korean food as I can!)

 I am getting better at using the chopsticks! 

 Bibimbap and Jjigae

Check out all of those side dishes!

 YUM!

Korean BBQ: A lot of the food pictures are of Korean barbecue. These dishes are often prepared at the diner's table on gas or charcoal grills that are built into the center of the table itself. This is my absolute favorite! 


I found this online and it explains it perfectly! :)

Ya llegó diciembre (y el frío) :)

Oh ven, oh ven Bendito Emanuel de la maldad rescata a Israel que llora en triste desolación y espera ansioso su liberación ¡Cantad!,¡Cantad! pues vuestro Emanuel vendrá a Ti muy pronto Israel. "Oh ven, oh ven glorioso Rey de Sión y ten Tú Trono en cada Corazón Disipa toda la Oscuridad y enseñanos Tu santa Voluntad. ¡Cantad!... En Home Plus.... Comiendo en VIPS  Nieve en Seúl

Japan

Tokyo, Japan

There are a few countries in Asia that I would really like to visit while I'm on this side of the world.  Japan was definitely on that list. Thankfully, Tokyo is only a 2 hour flight from Seoul so it worked out well 

A few highlights:
It's a pricey city. I knew this from the beginning but I'm used to Seoul's inexpensive food and transportation system that it was still a bit of a shocker. We found a lot of free/inexpensive things to do though.
The subway system was confusing. There are so many lines (of course, it's a HUGE city) but then there are also separate tickets for separate lines.  I guess I should've done my research more!
We couldn't find free Wi-Fi anywhere but then we found the Apple Store. :)
The only sushi we had was on the flight there (we did eat a lot other good things, too!)

A few pictures:

Tokyo Tower!

Japanese Yen. Cha-ching!

 Imperial Gardens

 I was able to scratch "Take a picture in the center of Tokyo" from my Bucket List:)

 After walking around in Ginza, we went to a little coffee place where I got Japanese Green Tea. Note: it was the most expensive cup of tea I have ever had;)

Shibuya: the world's busiest crosswalk (or something like that) 

Thanksgiving

The  holidays are upon us! I love this time of year!

We had a little celebration at school for the kids. The week of Thanksgiving, they learned about the pilgrims, the Mayflower and the food that is eaten on Thanksgiving. They even made little pilgrim hats and bonnets. Thursday finally came, and we had a little Thanksgiving dinner. It's hard to get turkey here so we had to substitute with chicken. We also had fruit salad, corn and mushroom gravy. Pumpkin pie was the dessert.

The kids were hesitant to eat at first and one student even asked, "No rice?" I explained that they should try everything to see whether they liked it or not. They made strange faces when I served the pumpkin pie and I explained that many people love pumpkin pie. They still didn't get it. I then explained that many children in the USA and other countries might not like things that they eat like kimchi or seaweed soup. They all gasped in horror. :)

 Did you use chopsticks on Thanksgiving? :)

I did get to have a really good Thanksgiving, too! My church sponsored a Thanksgiving Dinner at the US military base. They provided transportation and then the meal was catered by a hotel on the US base. For a little bit, it felt as if I was on American soil again. There were stand-alone fast-food restaurants and everything! It was worth the W40,000! :)


Rachel was happy to be able to use a fork and knife again!

 Waiting to eat...

 YUM!

  Bright's first American Thanksgiving experience!

 Food babies!

 

 This picture is a bit dark but it says "In Remembrance of September 11, 2001 Serving those who serve"

On the actual Thanksgiving Day, I met up with my friend Jessica and we headed to the Wangsimni Plaza and looked for a place to eat. We knew we couldn't find any traditional Thanksgiving meals so we thought about eating another great American dish: the burger.

We ate at Krazee Burger (it reminds me of Five Guys). This was my first burger in over 3 months and it was good!

Then, I came home and skyped with my family and we watched the Macy's Day Parade together.