I tried eel for the first time with some friends. SSSOOOOO delicious. If you ever have a chance to eat eel, go for it!!! It has a very unique taste to it. It's not too fishy but if one were to eat it under a blinded taste test, one would know it lives in the water. Simply delicious. At this restaurant, they cover two eels with a semi-sweet sauce and the third is sprinkled with sea salt. Simply Divine.
Over my winter vacation, I spent a few days in Seoul with my Koren friends that I met at my university. We had originally planned to take a trip out to the East Sea but quickly realized that it was way too cold for such an excursion. (At that time, the temperatures were about -15 degrees C.) We thought about going ice skating but realized that that idea was much worse than the primary one. So the 5 of us gathered in Seoul together and huddled together on the sidewalk of Seoul without any plan. We decided to walk around the open market. (?!) I think we've made better decisions.... It. Was. FRREEEEZZIINNGG!!!! Seoul has 2 open markets and this is the smaller of the two. Venders are selling all sorts of things ranging from underwear to veggie pancakes. Most of the open market has food for sale; some is meant to be eaten then and there while some other is produce for you to take home. Here is where the food culture of Korea comes alive. You can find any part of a pig possible, chopped up and made edible...well....I suppose edible is subjective...
And now!...For the weather!....
It's been cold here. Average temperatures are about 15-20 degrees F. Not as much snow as the States have gotten but enough to make it glisten! ^.^
A random find in Seoul that made me really happy
Z-O-U!
These types of machines are everywhere around Korea. This one was one that I spotted in Icheon, my hometown. They start the kids young, huh? Wow...
I celebrated a friend's birthday with the same group of friends that accompanied me at the open market in Seoul--Korean style. It is a Korean birthday tradition to drink a one-of-a-kind birthday concoction. The process of this is quite grotesque but a lot of fun. The birthday boy/girl must drink the beverage that their friends have made for them but this birthday drink is not comprised of just alcohol like you may find in the states but rather it's more like a double-dog-dare from a teenage girl sleepover party. The drink is made up of whatever is available and whatever the friends decide to use. The one we gave to my friend, Mun, followed this recipe: beer, birthday cake, kimchi, chicken skin, chicken bone, mustard, pickles, pickle juice, ketchup and rice. I think that's all...might have been more. The guest of honor then has to drink the entire thing. However, we decided to do things a little differently. There is a popular drinking game in Korea where two teams go head to head (using Rock, Paper, Scissors, of course) to decide who will be the "it" team. The "it" team then must do RPS amongst themselves to decide who is "the looser". Then the "it" team drinks beer from a large bowl and leaves "the looser" to drink last. Each team member can drink as little or as much as they choose to--it's basically a test of friendship, or so they say, because if you are really good friends with "the looser" then you will drink a fair share of the beer along with everyone else. However, if you don't feel that close to "the looser" than you will take a mere sip, leaving others with the beer burden. This would never work in America because "the looser" would always be left with nothing to drink because their "friends" drank it all! We incorporated this game into the birthday drink. We passed the cup around the table, giving each person a chance to show our love for Mun. We each took a drink of the birthday delight and left her with a mere gulp. ^.^ Happy Birthday, Mun!!!
I went for a second ski trip in late January. I actually spent some time with my foreign friends (non-Koreans). Myself and 5 guy friends left from Seoul on a Saturday morning on a tour bus full of foreigners. I felt very out of my element. Too...many...foreigners....
We drove northeast and hour and a half before landing at our destination. We skied all day and all night. It was freezing but incredible. The slopes are armature compared to Colorado but I'm not picky; I'm just happy to be able to ski in Korea! Get this: the cost for day and night ski lift, transportation to and from, lodging, one meal, and drinks was 100 bucks. Incredible. We topped off our day with a raging bonfire.
The Lunar New Year came on Feb 2,3,4 and it wasn't at all what I was expecting. There was no festival, parade or free candy. Dang it. The Chinese New Year (Lunar New Year) is celebrated in full force by Korea but not in the same force Americans celebrate the calendar new year. Koreans take this holiday time to go back home and spend time with their family. The country basically shuts down with the exception of the all means of transportation, which make the roads a REAL Charlie Foxtrot this time of year. A voyage to a destination doubles in time if not triples due to traffic. People are not out in the streets celebrating but rather they are in their homes with their family having a modest meal together. Children receive money from their grandparents to wish them good fortune in the future and everyone eats Duk Guk soup, the traditional soup for New Years. I finally got to eat some at school on Tuesday. It's made with eggs, beef, and rice cakes. It's very delicious!
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