Thanksgiving: Take 2

Thanksgiving meal at church again this year. Always a pleasure to have a little taste of home with my "Korean family." ^^

Bonus: I got to have some even BETTER thanksgiving food in a real home with my friend and former co-worker Nancy! Yay!

Her husband is from FL, so even though she's Canadian they pulled off American thanksgiving American-style. = YUM

They even had candied yams... the one thing my church thanksgiving was missing. hehe

It's a little sad that this will be my last Thanksgiving in Korea, but then I remember all the joys of American living... ;)

This year (and this moment) I'm thankful for:

-friends that are stand-in family

-candied yams

-being able to live so "extravagantly" in Korea

-being able to travel on a whim

-friends from home that miss me

-my mistakes not coming back to bite me in the butt

-God's faithfulness, love and grace

~*~

For my classroom celebration, I had the kids make hand-turkeys. It was SO cute. ^^ Not only had they never seen a turkey before in their lives, but they were not aware of the "hand-turkey" Thanksgiving tradition. I had a lot of fun teaching them how to do it. It's nice to pass on the tradition. ;) Ahhh... nostalgia.

Kyung-ju visit

Kyung-ju: Old Korean capital city back when there was a King. Obviously one of the oldest cities in Korea, and also one of the most rural. It has famous temples, farms, and old tombs. A very interesting place to visit. ^^

Hong Sung's family lives in Kyung-ju and he grew up there, so he invited me out to tour the sites. When we got to Kyung-ju one of the first things we did was eat! :D We had ssam-bap: meat wrapped in lettuce with a ton of side dishes... as you can see. haha

In the restaurant there were all these cute miniatures of traditional Korean "village life." A lot of the scenes had cows in them, since they were considered part of the family way back when you depended on them for your life. Since Kyung-ju is still very rural, we saw a whole bunch of cows. ^^ There were also fun game scenes depicted as well.

All these old people are playing yut-nol-i, a traditional Korean game. I'll teach you how to play when I'm back. ^^

After eating, we visited a park. Or what I thought was a park. It's actually a huge cemetery where all the old royalty is buried. See those mounds? Those are tombs.

The tombs were all different sizes. It all depended on how important you were. They're like the pyramids, except more natural. And I don't think it took thousands of slaves to make them.

Across from the graveyard was another graveyard, except bigger and more spread out. This one was definitely like a park. People were playing and eating and flying kites! An old man was selling kites he had made, and it was the perfect weather for it. Since I am the year of the tiger and this year is also the year of the tiger, I thought it was pretty cool that I could have my own "special" kite.

The tombs are about 2 inches high. And that man is just veeeeeeeeeeeery small. hehe

After the tombs, we stopped by one of the most famous temples in Korea: Bulguksa. At the entrance gate they have these huge statues on either side. They're the guarding gods, making sure the temple remains safe from evil spirits. They are definitely formidable-looking!

Temples in Korea usually have the same architecture, like churches in America. But every once in a while you come across one that has a unique quality; just like our famous churches in the world. They're special for some reason. Bulgulsa is special because it houses some of Korea's "national treasures," and is a World Heritage site.

I do like the architecture. It's unique and something I wont get to see back in the States.

After our adventures, we headed back to Hong Sung's home to eat with his family. His mom had made a special bulgogi just for my visit! One of my favorite Korean foods is bulgogi. ^^

Kyung-ju is completely different from Daegu. I was going to compare it to going from the city of Chicago out to the suburbs where my relatives live... but that's not even close enough. Kyung-ju is very refreshing; everything is natural and clean. A huge difference from the city smells of Daegu!

Success!

I ordered food in Korean on the phone without the help of anyone else. And it came, too.

:D

I'm so proud of myself. hehe

Cherry Blossom Festival

At my roomie Tharine's suggestion we went to Jinhae (진해시) to see the Cherry Blossom Festival. Cherry blossoms come out in the spring and watching them bloom is pretty amazing. In about a week or two Korea goes from bare brown trees to green buds and white blossoms everywhere! It's definitely something worth seeing. Everyone goes out even if it's still a little chilly because you can feel the change.

So there's mountains (of course) in Jinhae and a beautiful walking bridge with cherry blossom trees planted all along the sides of it. The brochures call it "romantic." haha. Either way it was pretty. As like everywhere else in Korea, there were a lot of street vendors there. We got some cotton candy and some yut (엿), also called "pumpkin caramels" in English. The yut is kinda like taffy, but not as soft. And it comes in many different varieties. We bought it cause the Korean with us (ie. my roomie Eli) loves it. hehe. It's pretty tough on the teeth though.

There's also this great view of Jinhae from a tower near the downtown area, but to get up you either have to take a cable car or climb 365 steps. The line for the cable car was sooooooooooo long; it was ridiculous! So we definitely opted for the steps. Even though there are a lot of steps, honestly it's not as bad as climbing an actual mountain! In other words, it was do-able. ^^
To sum it up: It was a nice day to walk around and enjoy the fresh air with my best friends here in Korea.

Summary of FL

1. Weather was wonderful and I love FL sunsets and walks in general

2. Shopping is wonderful... except when you have to do a bunch of it in a week...

3. Friendships are complicated! (But worth it)

4. I really do miss American food. There wasn't enough time to eat all I wanted to.

5. It was really hard leaving home, and I cried... but being back here isn't so horrible.

***One thing I regret is having to sleep. I tried not to, but my body wouldn't listen.

****And I hate jet lag.

I'll Be Home for Christmas!

With only one more week to go before I'm HOME... I can't stop thinking about it. It's weird being in a culture that doesn't celebrate Christmas.

PEOPLE here celebrate Christmas... but the culture doesn't. There's a few decorations up in some stores, and one or two major streets have lights on them... but it's SO not the same. It makes me REALLY miss America. And so glad I'm going there soon!

I've been sinking a little into culture shock once again. (Not sure if that's possible...?) But getting definitely homesick with each passing day, and less tolerant of things I don't understand in Korea.

The first thing I'm going to do (besides see my best friends and family) is go to Best Buy and get my freakin computer fixed! I tried to figure out the process of getting it fixed overseas... WOW. It sucks. I'd have to pay for all the costs and then they'd pay me back in about 2 months. Yuck. I'm just praying they can get it fixed before I leave!

And then the next thing I'm going to do is go shopping at a drug store for necessities... that are in ENGLISH! And then I'm going to have something amazing for dinner. And then grocery shopping. And then Christmas.

Ugh... I am so homesick... I can hardly wait!

Church Thanksgiving

I really missed having Thanksgiving in America. Our church did make a great substitue though! It was a big Thanksgiving meal after the service the weekend before actual Thanksgiving.

We all got together and bought turkeys and mashed potatoes and corn and baked beans and bread and salad and cranberry sauce... However, fun little fact: (Most) Koreans hate turkey. Its too "gamey" for them! Needless to say, the turkeys were very difficult to find because of this.


We had a lot of set-up and cooking the day of. Trying to make sure we have enough for everyone to eat! And informing people in both English and Korean... haha. That was also my first time tearing apart a turkey with my bear hands! (Or, "carving" the turkey... haha)

Our kitchen crew was fun and I loved seeing everyone enjoy our delicious food! I am definitely having "real" Thanksgiving food when I go home though... ㅋㅋ

Food...

So I have a little over a month till I will be back in America again! And besides my family and friends, all I can think about is food. hehe. I really miss the variety of America!

Here is a short list of things I will DEFINITELY eat during my short 10-day trip:

Planet Smoothie
Ben & Jerrys
Mexican food (REAL chips and dip, and quesadillas!)
Lasagna
Banana bread
American Chinese take-out! (specifically: Orange chicken and Pad thai)
Meatballs
FRESH veggies! (No more fermented kimchi)

...And that's just a short list off the top of my head. I'm sure when I go home there will be plenty more. ^^

I can't wait!

First Birthday Party

Apparently first birthday's are a big deal here in Korea. It's like a mini-wedding. Or a Bar-Mitzpha. Or a Quincenaera. First birthday's here are called "Dol"s. They're a big deal because babies didn't use to make it to 1 year. The daughter of our Pastor (Andy) and his wife (Hyun-jin) was turning 1! So we had a perfect chance to see what all the fuss was about.

Sienna and her mother looked like Princesses! They were all dressed up for the occasion.

The decorations were pretty elaborate too.
Sienna will never be so spoiled again in all her life! haha

Father and daughter, the perfect combination.

One of the things they do at a baby's first birthday is foretell their future. It's tradition that the baby is shown a tray of various things and the child picks one out to see what their life will be like.

On the tray their was:
Microphone - she'll be an entertainer
Money - she will be wealthy
String - for long life
Computer mouse - she'll be a computer major
Pencil - she'll be a scholar
Bowl of rice - she'll have her needs met (food, shelter...)

Being shown most of them and having no interest, Sienna chose the microphone! She'll be an entertainer! I'm almost surprised they didn't put a Bible on the tray though... ^^

We all had a great time dressing up and celebrating Hyun-jin and baby Sienna--who is a baby no more! I love birthdays. <3

Church Picnic!

I love church picnics and I really miss them. It makes me nostalgic for the days when I was just a lil girl and my church did the huge picnic/potluck-everybody-bring-a-ton-of-food thing. *sigh* Those were the days. This time my roomies and I were apart of the "bring food" group. We were in charge of... salads! Yay! lol. Not the most exciting, I know. But I think we did a pretty good job.


Our favorite was a fruit salad. Tharine cut up most of the fruit, and I mixed the delicious "coating"... vanilla pudding powder with pineapple juice from the can! It tasted SO delicious...! I wasn't too thrilled about having to make a pasta salad though. Especially since Korea is very limited on what kind of dressing you can find. I like the things that GO in pasta salad, but cold pasta is just SO not appealing to me. Or apparently to most people, I think, considering how much left there always is!

Well we actually grilled out at this park on the side of a mountain... and it was beautiful. I think I'm definitely getting spoiled by all the natural beauty around here.

I am enjoying my new church family a lot, and I hope this just keeps on.

A Proud Moment

Yesterday I ordered delivery for the first time here in Korea!!!

I wasn't completely on my own, which was a good thing. Jin was there to help and coach me! He taught me what to say and how to order, what their responses might be... etc.

It's a little difficult because even though I know what to say to order... I'm not exactly sure what they're saying back to me. (Eek!) So potentially that could cause problems. But Jin encouraged me to just hang up if it happens. hehe.

So we did a few practice runs with Jin being the "delivery guy," and then the moment of truth came. I was so nervous! But I called the store... and after a little while (and one call-back) our food was on its way! Success!

Needless to say, I feel like I might be able to survive at least partially on my own in this country. ;)

More Food... More Fun

So this past weekend included more food and shopping downtown! Jin decided to be brave and try something new for lunch and got a sweet pumpkin sandwich... and let me try some! It actually wasn't too bad!

Then we filled our Saturday with shopping! *For him* At a shoe store I was so impressed by a certain display of Gortex hiking shoes...

Which turned out to be fake! UGH! The nerve...

Soon after, Jin forced me to take a picture with some Korean historical reinactors--which I'm glad he did cause it was pretty funny! I just wish I knew who they were supposed to be...

Then for dinner we stopped by a Korean BBQ place. Delish! They had a salad bar that came with the meal (which, btw, are NOTHING like American salad bars). Well, at this salad bar... they had banana pudding! I was super excited, until I saw this:

This slimy, jello-y, milky white substance... is NOT pudding. And it barely tasted like bananas.

I tried to explain this to Jin, but to no avail. He's a stubborn Korean that will not accept the Western truth. haha.

On Sunday Jin introduced me to another strange and slightly disgusting phemonena in Korea called a snowcone sundae. When he first told me about snowcones here, I was excited because they're fun for the summertime! However, this is what he actually meant:

Ingredients include: Vanilla softserve ice cream, milky snowcone ice-flakes, red beans, cornflakes, small pieces of pineapple and peaches (?), and balls of rice cake rolled in powdered sugar. YUM!

We did see a funny sight from the store though! It had started to rain just a bit outside, and apparently a few girls didn't have their umbrellas with them. ^^ (Koreans do tend to pull out their umbrellas at the slightest sprinkle of rain...)

Conclusion: Good weekend! (Strange food and all!)

Food!

Recently, I've had a few new experiences with food.

There's a place by my work called "2900" and they boast that everything on their menu is less than 3,000 won. (Which it isn't.) But it's not bad for how cheap it actually is! Jin and I went because they advertised Korean curry... but apparently they had run out of it for the day. So... I got "omu rice" (오무라이스)--which is basically a rice omelet with some chicken on the side. And Jin got "deop-bob" (덮밥) which was a bit like fried rice, with veggies and meat.

Then yesterday, Jin took me to this Korean flea market! It was pretty amazing and so funny because all I could think of was my mom and how she would've loved it. haha.

But there was this guy at the entrance by the food tents, and he was making this "snack." It looked like a feathery cookie! It's called "kkool-tae-rae" and means "bunch of honey." Jin said it used to be a favorite snack of the king. I was curious, so I went over and the guy (with Jin translating) explained to me how he made it. I had forgotten my camera so I couldn't film it and I was so upset with myself because this was so cool! BUT being the resourceful person I am, I found it on youtube!

Step 1: takes a small ball of dough and throws it into this big bucket of cornstarch
Step 2: molds the dough into a small donut shape
Step 3: heats up the dough with his body heat so it's malliable (otherwise it's as hard as a rock!)
Step 4: then--almost like magic--twists the dough and doubles it so many times over!
Step 5: breaks the thousands of little feathery strings into smaller chunks
Step 6: fills it with a honey/nut mix that tastes almost like a sweet peanut butter!

Yum! ^^

Bulgogi!

Yesterday, I finally had bulgogi! It's the most "famous" dish that Koreans have... it's their Korean BBQ. Marinated grilled beef. Yum!

I begged Jin to take me to get some real Korean food so he could explain things to me, so on Saturday we searched for an hour to find a place that had what we were looking for! We had to wander all around downtown (and almost gave up completely!) before we found a hole-in-the-wall place tucked into a back corner down an alley. It was definitely an experience.

This is almost the complete spread of what we had for lunch. It was pretty amazing too! You order one main dish and you get 15 side dishes "for free!" Which is how they do it here. In the middle you can see the bulgogi on the grill plate. Then in the little tins is the rice. Directly left of the rice is one kind of kimchi--we were served two different kinds. Neither of which I'd had before! But Jin couldn't tell me what plants they were made from. Apparently it wasn't the typical cabbage though.

Then there's the spicy tofu soup that is commonly served and which I never eat. haha. Jin tried it and even his mouth was on fire! --Which tells me that if I want to live, I will never eat that.

Next to the soup by the bulgogi is the dipping sauce, which is mainly onions and soy sauce. Other things in the picture that you can't really see are: diced mushrooms, spicy pickled radishes and spicy cucumbers (both of which Jin "gave a bath" for me so I could eat them! haha), and deep fried peppers...which are not spicy except if you eat the puffy end.

In the back of this picture is the cooked ham smothered in ketchup, then there's a better shot of the spicy cucumbers. There's also the different kind of kimchi along with some acorn noodles... which were slippery and slightly strange. Then on the bottom right is chopped up dried squid in red bean sauce, and that was actually good! Kinda difficult with the texture... but all in all not bad. But the red sauce with the jalepenoes floating around in it I definitely did not touch!

The meal was definitely an adventure in and of itself. And, again, it was perfect to have a friend there to help me out! I'm finding that I enjoy this culture so much more when I can learn what is going on!

Samduk sol!

For dinner one night, my friend and coworker Nicole took me to have my first Korean dinner done right! It's called samduck sol (pronounced sam-duck-sol). It's pork, and you cook it over a grill in the middle of your table! It comes with sides you're supposed to eat it with/on.

First, you cook the pork. It comes in strips and you have to cut it with scissors when it's been cooked enough. Then you put the pork in the lettuce leaf, with rice, a red bean paste, bean sprouts, kimchi, garlic (roasted if you want), and onions soaked in soy sauce with a lil wasabi on the side. You roll it into the lettuce leaf and shove it all in your mouth! It's actually pretty delicious.

However... one thing was not so delicious. Apparently a much-loved side dish here is bundaegi. Basically, it's cooked silk worm larve. And you just pop them into your mouth. Yep, you eat them. When the lady first brought them out... I was so naieve and was like "oh, what's this? Do we put this in the leaf too?" haha. Thankfully, I took a closer second look. And noticed they had legs. Ew.

Also, I realized that I took a video of the Buddhist prayers and forgot to post it! So here it is: