Gangster's paradise

As always, I am fascinated by cultural differences, and I think I should post more about them. For example, a building close to us was bought out by some Korean mob group and they kicked all of the tenants out without notice. A day later construction equipment was there and they began tearing down the whole building. No one really knows what is in it for the mob, but the newly office and store-less tenants obviously didn't like it and began protesting and using fire extinguishers to break through the security and fight their way back in. I know, this happens everywhere. BUT, when I asked, "so aren't they afraid of getting shot by the mob when they break in?" I was met by strange looks and then a Korean said "no one here has guns."

What? What kind of sick world do we live in where gangsters don't even have guns? It really makes us good folks seem less good. So, I thought I'd buy the Godfather, parts 1 and 2, and offer free "English Lessons" to those poor wanna-be's and teach them a thing or two about gangstering. Honest to Pete.

My new Kitchen!

Gone are the days of throwing something on the BBQ, coming home to the smell of baked cookies, putting something in the oven to keep warm, sticking the dishes in the dishwasher, cleaning out the refrigerator only 3 times a year, and making large meals for guests. These are the things I miss about having an actual kitchen. But as I have been told, whenever there is a struggle there is opportunity. So hello to take-out!

A Night on the Town

I've been told that I need to blog more (as if 4 posts in 3 months isn't enough), so alas, I've made a commitment to myself to blog once a day everyday until tomorrow. And I plan to come through on that promise.

So let me tell you about our nice Sunday yesterday (complete with pictures, because when I say I'm going to do something, by golly I do it well). This was really our first 'guided' tour around Seoul. After church, one of Maria's students, Mo, and his girlfriend SueMi picked us up and took us to two large open markets. It was a great place to walk through as everything to buy was very cheap (and also a head-ache to large brand names such as Nike, Levi, Chanel, and Gouchi). But along with cheap knock-offs came some amazing street food, full of live octopus, dried fish jerky, snails, and of course, french fries. Nothing new there, just some fried up potatoes that looked good. I will have to go back and eat each one of these things, but as for yesterday, I didn't want to ruin my dinner.

And speaking of dinner, Mo and SueMi graciously treated us to a traditional Korean style meal. I've heard that there are some Korean style restaurants in the states, but I've never been to one. Most Korean food I like(bulgogi, fish soups, even the seafood-vegetable soup that I couldn't tell which ingredients were vegetables and which were seafood), some I can do withough (Bipimbap is a little too much). Mo said we would surely like what they got, and he was right! They ordered for us Samgyeopsal, which is thick pieces of pork. Here's a little picture:

Traditionally, Koreans sit on the floor criss-crossed (I'm still sore, not joking), and open cook their meat and vegetables on a cooker in the middle of the table. Side dishes are placed around the table (which are free if yo want more) and usuaully include lettuce to wrap the meat in, garlic, some vegetables, ALWAYS kimchi, some pickled radishes, hot sauce, salty sauce, peppers, and maybe tofu. By the way, fried Kimchi is MUCH better than cold. Add that with a little soju or a cold beer, and it was like heaven. Soju is like vodka, but much weaker, cheaper, tastes much worse, and everyone drinks it, often too much. And to top off the meal, some cold noodles in some sweet water for dessert. Ahhh, so good.

So after we all (ok, just me) ate way too much, we headed back on a crowded bus through a tunnel, over a river, and home. It was a great evening and so much better being with someone who knows where they are going and what to order on a menu. Next time I told Mo that if he took us to get Dog soup next, we would treat! That will be a good blog!