Greetings to All,

Happy 2010! It's hard to believe another year has gone. Hope everyone had a joyous holiday season with their families! They do celebrate Christmas in Korea but in the most commercial way. Plenty of lights and trees but when I asked my students if they celebrate Christmas they said "Oh, Yes! We get presents" my next question was, "Are you Christian?" and they replied "No, we just get presents!" Their version of Christmas is pretty much like American kids.

Anyway, I really wanted to blog about my adventures in dining in authentic Korean restaurants not Outback Steakhouse. My friend Jihee came to visit from Seoul and took me to a very nice restaurant in an upscale neighborhood. Koreans seem to enjoy cooking their own food. Similar to cooking fondue. There was a recessed pot in the table and they proceeded to bring platters of vegetables to the table which were then dropped into the pot in the table filled with boiling water. After a few minutes of cooking time we ate the vegetables like soup. They also brought side dishes of pickled vegetables, salads and of course Kimchee. Next, came a platter of rolled slices of beef about the thickness of sliced luncheon meat. Yes, you guessed it, it also was dropped into the boiling pot of water and cooked. Then came a huge plate of noodles, which were next plopped into the water and cooked. One pot cooking. We slurped up the soup and left quite full. But, just a few hours later we decided to try yet another Korean restaurant specializing in Bulgogi. Bulgogi, is Korean barbecue. The meat is sometimes seasoned and grilled at the table and sometime the meat is brought raw to the table to be cooked. They seem to like to play with their food. Bulgogi looks like bacon and is about the same thickness of thick sliced bacon. You place it on the grill and after its cooked you cut it with scissor into bite size pieces. Jihee did all the ordering and I just tasted along. They brought out little side dishes of pickled things, sauces and an unusual looking little round things is a soy sauce. Jihee urged me to try them. I will try anything once especially if I don't know what it is. I popped one in my mouth, not bad until I got to the end and it tasted a little earthy. When finally I asked what it was I just ate, she told me a silkworm cocoon. YIKES! She said during the war when they had no food Koreans started eating them for protein. I'm sure production and demand for silk was way down as well. It's an acquired taste that even Jihee's mom doesn't enjoy any more. Thanks Jihee. The rest of the meal there were no surprises. The meat is grilled, then placed in a lettuce leaf with sesame paste, jalapeno peppers or raw garlic, wrapped and eaten. Good! We also had a soup made of zucchini and tofu. Tasty but scalding hot. You can pour the broth over rice. Their rice is like sushi rice, sticky and short grains so it is often wraped in seaweed. I like the seasoned fried seaweed wrappers and seaweed is supppose to have many nutrients in it.

The food I've had so far, I've come to the conclusion is either healthy or like eating liquid fire. I think I need to taste more. Fish is king here and it's everywhere. I walked past a store front for the first two weeks that had a huge tank in it with the biggest fish I've ever seen. I thought it was a pet store until one day the fish was gone. When I looked closer it dawned on me this was a fish market and not a pet store and I'd seen that fish for the last time. There are many restaurants downtown with these tanks that you can pick your dinner. Tebokki, is another Korean dish that has dried pollack in it, quite pungent and spicy. They love squid and octopus. Another delicacy I've heard about but not tried, is eating live baby octopus with a piece of kimchee and the octopus dies in your mouth as you eat it. I'm still working up to trying the kimchee donuts. More later! Enjoy !

I came, I saw, I conquered Costco!

Wow! What is up with the snow in Denver? It's suppose to stay in the mountains isn't it?

No worries it will be gone in two day. The ski resorts must be estatic.

Well, I have experienced Costco in Korea. I thought I had stepped into a Costco in the US, same brands, same gigantic sizes, same everything. Priced a little higher of course. I understand it is for upscale shopping in Korean and only the wealthiest shop there. I bought the biggest jar of Skippy peanut butter I've seen in my life so every meal for the next month will contain peanut butter in some form, yes even salad dressing. I'm soliciting your best peanut butter recipes this month. It was quite an experience especially when you have to lug everything home in a taxi.

I found a pair of pants for 22,000won, which is around $20.00 bucks. There were only a couple of pairs left so for once I thanked God for making me a big boned girl. I'm sure they were left because they were to big for any Koreans.

A little about the city of Daegu. Some argue it is the 3rd largest while others say it is the 4th largest. Regardless it is 2.5-3 million people and while you are not on top of each other everywhere you look you see towering skyscraper apartment buildings. I asked a native how many people she thought lived in her apartment complex and she said about 10,000 and that's just one building. They have underground grocery stores and shopping under these complexes.

They have quite efficient and clean subway system as well. They also have the KTX bullet train that travels at about 200 kilometers and hour. You definitely need to step back when that train comes through the station. From what I hear rent is expensive here especially in the newer apartment complexes. Daegu is surrounded by mountains so hiking is quite popular here. The mountains are also where all of the temples are located. The monks have the right idea. A native told me the way to experience Korea was to go to the mountains.

Well since pictures are worth a thousand words I have posted some photos for you. Keep the emails coming. It's great to hear any news of the western world.

All the Best

Greetings from Korea!
I can't believe I have been here already 6 weeks! Its amazing how quickly time goes. I feel like I am getting to know my way around the city of Daegu. I can take the bus to school, a major accomplishment in my book. It's an interesting experience since the buses are stick shift. You definitely can tell the rookie bus drivers. Globalization has hit Korea and yes American fast food is everywhere. Dunkin Donuts, Pizza, Outback Steak House, Baskin Robins, and yes McDonalds and Burger King are here as well. I could live here the entire year and never eat Korean food. Aside from the fact that I can't speak Korean to order in a Korean restuarant I would have to point and hope. My friend Jihee from Seoul is planning on coming to visit and since she went to the university here she knows some great Korean places. We plan on eating our way through Daegu when she comes. Get out the tums! Korean food can be extremely hot! The most interesting food I've had so far is acorn pudding. You would see elderly people on the streets, almost getting decapitated by crazy Korean bus drivers, picking up acorns from the curbs to make this delicacy. It's consistency is like tofu with a very delicate flavor. Lovely but I don't know if it is worth risking your life.
I teach Monday-Saturday from 3:45-10:30 at night. It's taken some getting use to working late and having half of the day off. Most teachers sleep in until at least noon but I'm a morning person and up and ready to go by 9:00. Korean's are late nighters. Most people are out and about until at least midnight. Since, Korea has such a low crime rate you often see children as young as twelve out taking the bus or walking home at 10:00 or 11:00 at night. Students attend school in the evening to learn English and high school students are often out until 11:30 taking classes. I'm beginning to adjust to my classes and starting to recognize faces. I have students from seven years old to high school. Lesson plans have been a challenge with such a diverse age group. Children in Korea are no different from anywhere else in the world and they will definitely challenge you. They get a great kick out of my attempts at Korean.
This is our first three day weekend in six weeks so I intend to take full advantage of the time off.
I have had a chance to get to a couple of mountains so see some temples. They are quite beautiful in the mountains. We were fortunate to take a teachers outing to Haesinsa Temple and the monks were at prayer. We also watched them drum which is a way to prepare themselves for concentration on prayer and meditation. The mountains were beautiful with the leaves starting to change colors. I wish we could have stayed longer but we had to get back for our classes.
Korea is on the same latitude as North Carolina, so they say Daegu rarely gets snow. Daegu is surrounded by mountains but certainly nothing like the Rockies. The weather now is starting to change to damp cooler nights. I hear the summer is quite humid.
Please stay in touch! I would love to hear from all of you. More later!
All the Best,
Cellini