tonight after our korean language class (which is going great, by the way! we are learning to write the alphabet! i feel like i'm in kindergarten again!), i piped up that i wanted to try some korean BBQ! soon i had four others on board and we took off in search of a restaurant with a charcoal grill in the center of each table! we found one that was packed, so we decided that was a good sign and went on in! we took our shoes off and sat down on the floor at a table. within a couple of minutes we had many little bowls brought to us, all filled with various veggies (burdock root, soybean sprouts, eggplant) and kimchi (김치), which is usually made of cabbage, white radish or cucumber that has been fermented in a brine of ginger, garlic, green onion and chili pepper. we also received two sidedishes of kimchi jjigae (김치찌개), which is a soup made with kimchi, pork and tofu. it is served in a stone pot, still boiling and steaming when it arrives to the table. it is wonderful to put a couple of spoonfuls on rice and eat it that way. it is very spicy (along with everything else in korea). on tuesday i offered my assistant teacher in goryeong some chocolate. she said, "oh, no thank you, i like spicy food!" i have not come to the right place to satisfy my nagging sweet tooth, although the ice cream bars are keeping me pretty happy, but don't even begin to ask me what's in them....i can't read the ingredients yet!!
anyway our main course this evening was samgyeopsal (삼겹살), which consists of thin slices of pork belly meat, similar to uncured bacon. the meat is flavored with garlic, salt and sesame oil. we cooked it ourselves on the grill at our table. after the meat is cooked, you take a piece, dip it in the delicious sauce and wrap it in a sesame leaf or piece of lettuce along with half a clove of grilled garlic, some grilled mushrooms, onion and rice if you so choose. then you stuff it in your mouth! it is TO DIE FOR. i couldn't believe the state of bliss i was in midway through that meal!
on our walk home, which was all of 100 yards, we saw some doggies in the window.....a couple of us went inside and i fell instantly in love. chris got out her electronic dictionary and asked the pet shop owner how much the puppies cost. 200,000 won. a little over $200. i might cave in....these dogs are so unbelievably cute! the ones i got a picture of are not the ones who stole my heart....yes, they are cute too, but the little, tiny, itty bitty, fluffy ones.....aaahhh, they are the ones i want to take home with me.....
kate and chris acting like melon-heads! :)
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