It's a Wonderful Life!

Did everyone have a tryptophantastic turkey day?!

When we first arrived in Korea, we spent a lot of time discovering the glories of it's gas stations. Snack foods seemingly so familiar, yet so disappointingly surprising ('peanut butter sandwiches' where by peanut butter they meant peanut mousse, ice cream sandwiches made from beans, etc). Then, of course, there are drinks of the same nature (what I thought was delicious fruit cocktail, turned out to be a less-than-refreshing corn liquid), and then there are the oddities you feel you probably should avoid, yet are drawn to like a kid in a spicy fish-candy store (dried squid of every variety {yes, there are many varieties of dried squid}, a tube of gray matter labeled cheese sausage, canned silkworm pupa, you get the idea). In general, I think it's safest to stick with your instinct. However, while searching for a last minute dinner in those first few weeks, I discovered one of these oddities and bought it, thinking, or rather hoping, it was turkey. It was too big to be a chicken, but too small to be anything else I could think of, but I decided to give it a shot. Upon cracking it open and determining it to be edible enough, I cooked it up, and despite it's mysterious nature, turned out to be pretty tasty. So, being the closest thing to turkey I've seen since leaving it's natural habitat for the other side of the World, this little mystery meat became our T-day main course, as overseen by Chef Dunny. There aren't a ton of herbs to be had here (at all), so he stuffed it with ginger, onions and garlic, and sure enough it came out pretty darn good!




Doesn't look so appetizing, guess I should practice my 'food styling' skills. I was in charge of the cheese plate (little sticks of colby jack, also courtesy of the gas station- the only place to find cheese for some reason, walnuts, and crackers), spinach salad, (somebody's) homemade rolls, and mashed sweet taters, which I'm especially proud of.


I used this recipe for orange ginger mashed sweet potatoes, and kicked it up a notch, pretty much by putting more of everything in it, as well as fresh ginger and walnuts (and a wee bit of margarine and salt, being the good southern gal that I am. I know, margarine is blasphemous, but it's sadly our only option).

And here's the final product! Complete with D's hand and foot turkey he created with his students during Korean Thanksgiving (Chuseok) in October. You gotta love the dining chair/feather pillow combo.

Yeah, I know. Nerd alert. We have a lot of time on our hands. A little taste of home, and I'm a very proud (and thankful) gal.

Finally, following the mandatory food coma, I whipped up some apple cider! Straight from the orchard (to the press, to the bottle, to the store, to my shopping bag) and into the pot, with cinnamon, brown sugar and rum to top off the lovely night of comforts. I had plans for a no-bake apple pie (made with digestives in place of graham crackers, ha), but sadly it never came to fruition (wink).

I'm about to settle in to watch 'It's a Wonderful Life', and I can't possibly think of a better phrase to sum up my disposition.

Merry Happy!

"Fighting!"

Anyeong! Life's still truckin' on here, although things seem to be slowing slightly as it gets colder... (and it has definitely been getting colder.) There have been a few outings worth mention, though, so that's where we're headed.

Recently we were taken on a 'cultural experience' field trip by the coordinators of our program. We certainly did experience a lot of Korean culture, starting with...

...smashing rice to make dduk, rice cakes rolled in bean powder:

(tastes pretty much like it sounds)

...picking cabbage and making kimchi with it:

You rinse with salt, stuff with salt, let it soak overnight and rub with spicy salt the next day. (No wonder it's so delicious... well, an acquired kind of delicious)

...digging up and roasting sweet potatoes:

(we had so much fun digging them up, I didn't get a picture. We must have picked three pounds of taters, though.)

...trying our hand at traditional-style arts and crafts:

(getting a little too into the flower smashing craft)

...as well as at this addictive volleyball/kickball combo game:


The farm owners made a huge meal for us, complete with whole roasted pig.

It was devoured at light speed. After dinner, the boys even put the skin back on the fire and crispi-fied it for bonfire snacks. The little old couple seemed a bit shocked- I guess they haven't experienced the wonders of the Amazing American Appetite.

After dinner, they had a little 'talent show', and Dunny performed. I can't seem to get the video to work on here, though, so if you would like to see it it is on my Facebook page. (He was the best, but I don't think anyone's surprised I say that)

Later in the evening, seven or so of the boys and I played some poker... I'd like to let my dad know that I won. Both rounds. Ha! Ya taught me well, Pops! Boy, were there some bruised egos sulking around after that.

The most fun, yet somewhat embarrassing, part was when the farm owner pulled us aside to make traditional wedding ceremony crowns for us. (No big news, I promise! We're just the only couple in the group.) Made of leaves held together with toothpicks, adorned with flowers, and complete with flower petal make-up, we were quite a sight.




I say embarrassing because the lady made us pose for 10 minutes with everyone watching. We eventually just started doing prom poses. It made me giggle.


She was a super sweet lady, though, and all around we had a great time.


Last weekend, for some ungodly reason, we decided to push ourselves to the edge of health and sanity by hiking up a mountain Saturday morning, and then immediately jumping on a bus to travel 3 hours to Busan for a friend's birthday that night. I'm still physically paying for it, but it was definitely worth it.

This is the view of Gayasan Mountain from Haeinsa, the temple at the base of it.


And three hours later, this is the view from the top:

We found a quiet little ledge on the opposite side of the mountain to rest our weary dogs. "Fighting" is an English phrase Koreans use all the time. Basically, it means 'Suck it up'. I've been telling it to myself for the past few days while walking with peg legs and sore knees. It hasn't helped.

There's a video on Facebook of this, as well. It was hard to capture it on film as it was a bit hazy, but it was a breathtaking 360 degree view of the beautiful rolling hills you are constantly surrounded by here. Just a wonderful way to start a weekend, sore muscles and all.