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| Ryan and Josephine - gracious hosts |
The best part of Korea was the people. Getting to visit with Ryan and to hear him speaking Korean - wow, he is really impressive. We were treated with amazing kindness and generosity throughout our time in Korea - especially by Josephine -- Thank you for every thoughtful thing you did for us.
Below are some photos/videos of our visit to Jes Island School, some video of Mike eating silkworms and a still wriggling octopus. Check the city tabs above under the banner to see photos from each city on our trip around Korea.
On Korean Food - Delicious but Different I was pleasantly surprised by all the good Korean food. It is generally pretty different from food that I have eaten before. We had Bibimbap on Asiana Air on the way to Incheon Airport and also at lunch near the Palace in Seoul - it was a bowl with rice that had vegetables arranged on top and then a soft boiled egg. It was pretty good - but I have to say my favorite Korean foods are the ones cooked at the table - various types of BBQ. Galbi is grilled meat. We had various types from yummy duck to pork, beef, and pork cheek (this was actually very tasty, even though it sounded unusual) Small portions of grilled meat are served with little dishes of food (called Banchan) that always includes kimchi - so you cook the meat and dip it in sauce, put some little portion of side dish on it and wrap it in lettuce or sesame leaf. Tasty morsel. I am a big fan of the sesame leaves. Very tasty. We also had really great pots of soup. My favorite soup was probably the Samgyetang - Ginseng chicken soup - a small whole chicken stuffed with rice and ginseng and other yummies.
Here is a crab soup we had at a small restaurant that we had after we left our place in Jiri-san - the soup comes to the table literally boiling.
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| Yummy Samgyetang |
Here is a crab soup we had at a small restaurant that we had after we left our place in Jiri-san - the soup comes to the table literally boiling.
The food I liked the least was what we had in Busan. Photos of the various forms of raw fish are on the Busan Tab at the top of the page. It was a bit too unfamilar - and I did not try any of the unusual looking seafood - only the sliced raw fish. This was also where we were served the silk worms as a side dish. Here is a video of Mike eating these worms, called bundaygee -- yummy.
Busan was also where we ate a fresh octopus - bought live - cut up and still wriggling. Here is a video of that interesting experience. I always knew that Mike would eat absolutely anything. He was really great about trying all the foods. I did take one bite - it was pretty chewy. My favorite part of the video is the beginning which captures Ryan speaking Korean to the owner. Truly we could not have gone to the places we did and experienced what we did in Korea without Ryan's ability to communicate - we loved watching the many people that Ryan can communicate with because he has worked hard to speak Korean well. Proud of you.
Another one of our awesome meals came quite by accident when we were not with Ryan to help translate. After we toured the War Museum in Seoul - we walked down a small alley to find a place to eat. Entering a restaurant late in the afternoon, we pointed to the photo of the BBQ. The woman shook her head "no" and said Shabu Shabu. So we pointed to the photo of the ginseng chicken soup (the only other photo on the wall menu) and she shook her head no again, and said Shabu Shabu. So Mike turned to her and nodded yes - well then I guess it is Shabu Shabu. We did not know what to expect and this turned out to be one of our most delightful experiences. This woman brought out a large soup pot to put on the burner in the table. It was filled with some liquid and large pieces of fresh greens and mushrooms. She also brought out side dishes. She showed Mike how to turn on the burner. Well, Mike started cutting up the greens inside the pot. We'd seen Ryan use scissors to cut up the BBQ meats, but I pointed out to Mike that he did so AFTER it was cooked, not before. Pretty soon the lady came over and obviously was scolding us in Korean. Mike was not supposed to cut up the veggies and he was also not supposed to take the lid off the pot. She left and Mike tried to turn on the burner, but could not. So we had to get her attention - I did learn how to say Please help me in Korean, so I used that - it sounds like this Dough Wa Jew Saw Yo. So she came over and turned on the pot. After the veggies had cooked awhile she came back and showed us how to cut up the food. Well, we thought this was some type of tasty soup. So I was trying to eat the soup broth, and she came back over and scolded us again. She demonstrated that we were supposed to take the cooked veggies out and put them on our plate to eat them. The broth was just what they were cooked in. We noticed that she had large bowls of food that she placed on the table behind us and figured out that normally this would go on the table for us to cook. But, by now, she had determined that we obviously did not know what were doing. So she cooked everything for us. The second item to go in the pot was a large helping of noodles - very similar to hearty egg noodles. When those cooked, she demonstrated that we took them out to eat. Then she put in very thinly sliced beef which cooked in seconds and we ate that. After we had eaten all the items out of the bowl, she poured off most of the broth, leaving just a little. She took the bowl to another table to make the final dish - cooked rice with egg and some scallions - that was cooked until it absorbed the broth and fried a little on the bottom. That was so delicious. In the meantime, she brought us this wonderful milky white drink with rice in the bottom. We had such a wonderful time with this kind woman. And Shabu Shabu is the name of this meal - it is originally a Japanese dish that has been given a Korean touch.
Our last nights in South Korea we stayed at Hotel Bobo in Hongdae, an area that has several universities nearby. Great little shops and restaurants. We had some good times with Ryan, Josephine and Jessica on our last evening. We came across this band in an area where there are street venders selling jewelry, calligraphy, etc.
Busan was also where we ate a fresh octopus - bought live - cut up and still wriggling. Here is a video of that interesting experience. I always knew that Mike would eat absolutely anything. He was really great about trying all the foods. I did take one bite - it was pretty chewy. My favorite part of the video is the beginning which captures Ryan speaking Korean to the owner. Truly we could not have gone to the places we did and experienced what we did in Korea without Ryan's ability to communicate - we loved watching the many people that Ryan can communicate with because he has worked hard to speak Korean well. Proud of you.
Another one of our awesome meals came quite by accident when we were not with Ryan to help translate. After we toured the War Museum in Seoul - we walked down a small alley to find a place to eat. Entering a restaurant late in the afternoon, we pointed to the photo of the BBQ. The woman shook her head "no" and said Shabu Shabu. So we pointed to the photo of the ginseng chicken soup (the only other photo on the wall menu) and she shook her head no again, and said Shabu Shabu. So Mike turned to her and nodded yes - well then I guess it is Shabu Shabu. We did not know what to expect and this turned out to be one of our most delightful experiences. This woman brought out a large soup pot to put on the burner in the table. It was filled with some liquid and large pieces of fresh greens and mushrooms. She also brought out side dishes. She showed Mike how to turn on the burner. Well, Mike started cutting up the greens inside the pot. We'd seen Ryan use scissors to cut up the BBQ meats, but I pointed out to Mike that he did so AFTER it was cooked, not before. Pretty soon the lady came over and obviously was scolding us in Korean. Mike was not supposed to cut up the veggies and he was also not supposed to take the lid off the pot. She left and Mike tried to turn on the burner, but could not. So we had to get her attention - I did learn how to say Please help me in Korean, so I used that - it sounds like this Dough Wa Jew Saw Yo. So she came over and turned on the pot. After the veggies had cooked awhile she came back and showed us how to cut up the food. Well, we thought this was some type of tasty soup. So I was trying to eat the soup broth, and she came back over and scolded us again. She demonstrated that we were supposed to take the cooked veggies out and put them on our plate to eat them. The broth was just what they were cooked in. We noticed that she had large bowls of food that she placed on the table behind us and figured out that normally this would go on the table for us to cook. But, by now, she had determined that we obviously did not know what were doing. So she cooked everything for us. The second item to go in the pot was a large helping of noodles - very similar to hearty egg noodles. When those cooked, she demonstrated that we took them out to eat. Then she put in very thinly sliced beef which cooked in seconds and we ate that. After we had eaten all the items out of the bowl, she poured off most of the broth, leaving just a little. She took the bowl to another table to make the final dish - cooked rice with egg and some scallions - that was cooked until it absorbed the broth and fried a little on the bottom. That was so delicious. In the meantime, she brought us this wonderful milky white drink with rice in the bottom. We had such a wonderful time with this kind woman. And Shabu Shabu is the name of this meal - it is originally a Japanese dish that has been given a Korean touch.
In Hongdae near the University - a little music
Our last nights in South Korea we stayed at Hotel Bobo in Hongdae, an area that has several universities nearby. Great little shops and restaurants. We had some good times with Ryan, Josephine and Jessica on our last evening. We came across this band in an area where there are street venders selling jewelry, calligraphy, etc.