As some of you might know, I'm currently in the grand U.S. of A to visit family and attend two fabulous weddings. I got all caught up on packing and preparing for my trip, I forgot to update our blog on our latest Korean adventures. Even though I'm having way too much fun with my family, I decided to do this post before it was too late especially since it includes one of Trevor's favorite things: soccer!
Trevor works for a school funded by Hyundai which sometimes comes with random hidden perks. One such perk included free tickets to a soccer game featuring Ulsan's Hyundai team and some other team I can't remember (that's what the hubby's for but we are half a world apart right now). The night was full of fog and rain but despite the gloom, I could hear from quite a distance a grand noise coming from the stadium. There weren't a whole lot of people there but there were die-hard fans supporting their team. There was even a guy on a platform leading the fan section in various chants and songs throughout the WHOLE GAME! You'd think it would be just annoying but it was kind of fun even though I couldn't understand what they were saying.
Leading the crowd in chants
Sadly, I'm still not sure if our team won or not. The other team had scored a goal during the first 15 minutes of the game and the score remained throughout the rest of the game. Not wanting to be caught in the after game rush, Trevor and I decided to leave when there was a minute or two left on the clock. Bad mistake! As we were leaving the stadium we heard a bunch of cheering loud enough to indicate a goal had been made. I wasn't sure if this was the case or if the game had simply ended and the fans were just giving supporting cheers to their team even though they lost. Either way, I can't say for sure the exact outcome of the game. I'm sure Trevor was more devastated than I was that we didn't see the cause of the commotion right after we left but I will say it was his idea to get out of there before everyone else.
Overall it was a pretty fun evening experiencing a pro-Korean sports event with my sweet husband.
Another mentionable event that happened before I left was the visitation of a friend Trevor met while he served his mission several years ago. His name is Raphael (well at least that's his English name, I'm still bad at remembering Korean names, sorry Raphael!). He was accompanied by his pretty wife and their adorable son. We spent time chatting and getting to know one another while Trevor and Raphael exchanged memories of people they both knew while Trevor was a missionary. The family was so kind to us and even treated us to dinner which was some spicy chicken which was quite delicious! Unfortunately there was a big storm coming into Ulsan and they had to leave before it got worse but we sure did enjoy our time while they were here.
The rest of the week is a blur because I was making preparations for my trip so if I missed anything I'm sorry. Maybe the next post can come from Trevor of any Korean adventures he has while I'm away ;) Miss you baby!
The 4th of July is a time in America when we reflect on the greatness of our country. We ponder the freedoms we enjoy and revere those who made it all possible. So, what did we do to celebrate such a fine occasion? We went to ancient Korean Buddhist temples... But hey, can you blame us considering there are no parades, barbecues, or fireworks in Korea during America's Independence Day?
Don't worry though, we did enjoy delicious cheeseburgers and fries! Good hamburgers are hard to come by here but luckily we have a friend here whose brother runs an American-style restaurant mainly featuring burgers. It's called Burger Mugger but reading it in Korean characters it sounds more like bogo mugga to me. I hadn't had a burger besides McDonald's since we left so that might have factored into how delicious it tasted to me.
The temples we visited are better described in pictures as opposed to words but I'll try my best. The first temple we visited consisted of a bus ride up a curvy mountain road, a nice walk through lush forestry leading to the temple, and several rather skiddish monks. Ok so we didn't actually see any real monks but there were quite a few chipmunks! I know, I'm hilarious!
At the end of the trail there were hundreds of colorful lanterns strung together in countless rows. Naturally I gravitated toward the pink ones while Trevor went straight for the green. There was a fountain whose purpose was unknown to us but it was accompanied by ladles for those who wanted to drink from the fountain. Up a little further was the actual temple. Inside, pictures were prohibited (sorry!). There was another little site that had artifacts accessible for picture-taking which we of course took advantage of.
The view from the top of the "mountain" (more like big hills for a girl who's used to Utah mountains) was absolutely breathtaking as you could see the overlapping hills cascading down to a valley below. The weather was somewhat downcast but I told Trevor that was ok because I had always pictured ancient Asian temples in a mountain coming through the fog like a mysterious ghost of ancient times.
The second temple we visited was much larger and had more to see. It was more like the temple was structured as an open courtyard and the various rooms throughout the courtyard contained places of worship and ancient statues and artifacts. Once again, most of the insides of the rooms had photography restrictions so I'll show what I can.
A few things I'd like to note about the temple include coloration, intricacy, and symbolism. Both temples we visited used a light blue and orangy-red coloration. I'm not sure what I expected as far as color, but I just hadn't pictured bright blue hues mixed with reds and browns. Aside from unexpected colors, I also noticed how intricate the designs were not only in the painting, but also in the architecture carved into the structures.
There were also several nuances throughout the temples that all had some job to do. For example, one section of the courtyard was dedicated to stacks of rocks which when stacked successfully without toppling any stones allows for a wish. Of course, if you topple any of the other rocks, you ruin the wish of the person whose pile you ruined. There are so many things to see that you just have to experience it for yourself to really understand.
That being said, let us know when you want to come visit! ;) We will surely take you to a traditional temple while you're here! Hurry now before we're booked! :D But really, come visit us!
WARNING: this post includes a graphic description of a near death experience. Ok, not near death but still gross. ;)
The main spread
This weekend we were invited by a family from church to have dinner at their house on Sunday. Upon accepting the invitation, little did I know what my Sunday evening would actually entail. That night, the father from the family that had invited us to dinner picked us up to take us to his house. We got in the car and he said we had a change of destination. Turns out we were having dinner at the house of another church member (the branch president's house for my Mormon friends) and we would be joined by the elder and sister missionaries from our area as well as one other family.
Whole chicken and seafood platter
When we got to our destination, the tables were all set (and when I say tables I mean the little Korean tables that are inches off the floor meaning we get to spend the evening cross-legged while we eat). Excitement filled my soul as I love more than anything to sit on a hard floor for hours on end (please please please note the sarcasm there). My excitement soon doubled as Trevor indicates that the sauce set is commonly used for seafood dishes. Anyone who knows me is already understanding how uncomfortable I must feel by this time.
I'm not so sure about all of this
To thank our hosts, Trevor and I brought some fruit to dinner. To add to my anxiety, I handed over the fruit to the Korean lady who in turn took the bag I presented and said something to me in Korean. Nobody was there to translate for me so I just awkwardly smiled and slightly chuckled not saying anything as she walked away to the kitchen. Another Korean lady who speaks English later came up to me and said "She was asking what you brought". All I could think was "WHY DID YOU NOT TELL ME THIS SOONER???? If you heard her say that and saw me standing there baffled as a baboon, why didn't you say something?!?!" So basically I presented our fruit to the host, she took it, asked me what we brought and I smiled awkwardly and chuckled. How embarrassing!
Somewhere throughout all the embarrassment, it had been affirmed that we were having seafood. Great. Just great. I almost toppled over with joy to find out chicken was also part of the meal. Finally, all the food was ready and everyone sat down at the tables and started eating. Of course, I get to be even more awkward as I use my very poor chopstick skills in attempting to pry the meat off of the bones of my chicken (it is common here that meat is left on the bones and that you pick out the bones as you go along). I guess in a way I was lucky because I spent as much time trying to use my chopsticks as everyone else did eating all the seafood. I tried to stay quiet and slowly pick apart at my chicken hoping my avoidance of all seafood would go unnoticed.
Unfortunately, the main attraction of the night was causing too much ruckus that anyone who didn't try it was quickly pointed out. All the other foreigners (a.k.a. the missionaries who were already used to trying strange Korean dishes) had already tried it. It was now my turn. What is this dish that was causing such a scene? Eight letters. Oh wait, I mean eight arms (or tentacles if you prefer). Octopus. And not cooked. And let me tell you, freshly chopped octopus is far from dead. Let me share a video of the liveliness of our meal.
I also have a video of the writhing critter going down my throat which I'll share later. Let me just give you a written explanation of my experience.
One of the sister missionaries dug around in the glob of squirming appendages to find me one of the smaller pieces. Now to clarify, the piece she found was shorter than the others but it was fatter. Fatter means bigger suction cups which means a greater chance of it sticking to the inside of my mouth or down my throat. And of course, the solution to this fear is that you just have to chomp down on it to make sure it's dead as it goes down. Just to give an idea of the strength of these guys, let me tell you how difficult it was to pry my selected piece from the dish. I probably could have picked up the octopus and the bowl would have come with it if we hadn't held it down.
After some encouraging (more like taunting peer pressure actually), I shoved it into my mouth and chomped down several times to make sure it wouldn't kill me on the way down. Imagine a slimy piece of rubber with a salty oily seafoody flavor squishing between your teeth. The texture was so rubbery in fact, that it actually didn't break apart in my mouth. It was still one big glob. Upon realizing I didn't have much of a chance at getting it broken down, I knew I only had one option: to swallow. The nasty thing slowly slid down my throat like a slimy, goopy glob of awful rubbery meat carrying the chance of suctioning to any part of my mouth or throat.
Here's the video I promised!
The taste was gross, the texture was almost debilitating, and the fact that I had to kill my own food before I swallowed made for quite the experience. Let's just say it's something I'll never have to try again. But hey, now I can at least say I've eaten a piece of a wiggling octopus leg. Looking back now, not sure if it was worth it.
In true Korean fashion, after the main meal was finished, our hosts brought out a rice and potato soup. After that was done, they then brought out huge plates of watermelon. Although I'm not much of a fan of watermelon, this one seemed particularly savory just because of the fact that it was something recognizable. Even better, after the watermelon they brought out ice cream bars which I took with much gratitude.
Well, I hope you all were entertained by my story and have a refreshed sense of courage to try new things.
Unfortunately Trevor and I have been taking turns being sick this week so this post won't be all that exciting. After being cooped up all week, we decided to venture outside to go see the bamboo forest near the river in Ulsan. I guess the sky had a cold too because once we got there, it started dripping almost as much as my nose has been all week. Ok, maybe the downpour of rain was a bit more drastic than my sickness but the amount of times I've had to blow my nose makes it seem comparable to a midsummer monsoon.
Rain doesn't always render frowns :)
FEEL the art Kelsey. BE the art.
We were able to walk around for a while and admire an outdoor art show by the edge of the river and walk on the outside of part of the bamboo forest but the rain soon came down relentlessly and our single umbrella just wasn't making the cut. So, we hopped back on the bus and stayed indoors the rest of the weekend. Whoopee! Just goes to show you that just because you live in a foreign country doesn't mean you'll be constantly surrounded by mind-blowing adventures. Sorry for the boring post and hope you enjoy a couple of these pictures!
1 year ago, I was sealed forever to my best friend! I can't believe time has gone by so fast and that so much has happened within a year. To celebrate the occasion, Trevor and I spent a marvelous weekend in Busan, the 2nd largest city in South Korea. Busan is about an hour away which makes it a convenient place for a quick vacation.
degi gookbap
hoduck
The first evening there we spent time walking around exploring the area around our hotel and then going to the big downtown area that had a lot of fun shops and food stands and lots and lots of people. That night we indulged in several tasty treats. A new favorite snack of mine is called hoduck and is best described as a fried pancake with caramelizedpeanut cinnamon flavored goodness on the inside. We also went to a little mom and pop Korean restaurant and had one of Trevor's favorites, degi gookbap which is a pork soup dish. The downtown area featured many snacks and treats such as the blueberry-whipped cream-honey waffle we both shared. YUM!
The second day was mostly spent shopping in a very large area full of assorted shacks selling any assortment of things your heart desires. Even though it makes me a grandma or "harmay", I've wanted to get a parasol that almost every older lady owns here. They are generally lacy and sparkly and above all, dainty. I found a beautiful one in one of the shacks filled floor to ceiling with parasols and umbrellas (yes they are different things, especially here). As if carrying around a parasol wasn't enough protection from the sun, we also visited several hat shacks searching for one I didn't feel too ridiculous in. I finally did it Kelley! I have a large brimmed sun hat to protect my pale face! If you know Trevor (or even if you don't know him you could probably guess), you know he isn't much fond of shopping. He has been wanting a new pair of sunglasses though and we found some that suited him well. It was so interesting to see everything that people were offering for sale in these hut-like shops and each store owner had their own interesting personality.
Seriously, floor to ceiling
That evening we hit up a "Mexican" restaurant where I had two "chipotle chicken tacos" and Trevor had a "chipotle chicken chimichanga" Although when they were brought out to us they looked like regular Mexican food, it wasn't as close to what you can find in Mexico or America as I had hoped. Don't get me wrong, my meal was pretty tasty but it was certainly made by Koreans (and I include portion size in the comparison as well).
The night was ended at the Busan International Dance Festival which was held on a stage on the beach which was amazing to be able to attend! My sweetheart is so good to me, letting me go to a dance event on our anniversary weekend! There were dances from several other countries and I've put together a conglomeration of all the video I took that night. I will include the link at the end of this post. The other video I will post is the entire clip of probably my favorite dance of the night which was a dance about the life of Edith Piaf, who was a very famous French singer. It might have been the choreography, the music, or simply the fact that it was about Edith Piaf that made me LOVE this dance. Nobody said anything about no filming or picture taking and everyone else was filming so I assume these videos aren't illegal ;) Hope you enjoy them and sorry about the poor videography, the fact that my camera can't focus very well especially with the lighting, and the fact that we were at the very back of the seating. I did my best in capturing the artistic beauty of the night.
Hey! Happy 1 month anniversary, Korea! :D
The big adventure for this week was going to the Rose Festival at this huge park here in Ulsan. I didn't change any of the color settings on my little point-and-shoot camera so it's a pretty good depiction of what we actually saw. P.S. If anyone has any hints on formatting pictures on blogger, please please please let me know because I can't ever get pictures to go where I want them!
For now, I'll just put an album on Google Drive and give you the link.
also, let me know if the link doesn't work! Thanks!
The pictures should be ordered by number so here are some explanations:
17-18: An entertainer dressed like Mario doing some fun tricks for the crowd. Here's a quick video Trevor captured.
24: Write a wish on a heart and attach it to one of the flower tunnels
40-41: Different types of squash hanging from the walls and ceiling. Pretty cool :D
47. There was a tiny little zoo at the end of the park and they had an albino peacock. Had to get a pic when it fluffed its feathers!
48. We actually discovered this windmill on a different night at the other end of the park. Thought I'd still include it in the post though
A lot of people I've met in Korea usually all have the same question for me: What is the biggest difference between here and the U.S? There are many answers to this question but usually my response includes something about food. I have yet to try a Korean dish that is just like a dish I've already tried before. Here are some examples of the food we've had here (including some from our trip to Japan)
Bokgumbap
Red Pepper Paste
Rice cooking and veggies frying!
This is a dish that some of our friends may be familiar with because Trevor made it several times while we were in Cedar City. This dish is really simple, quite satisfying, and not terribly different flavor wise from what I'm used to. It is made by frying up various vegetables (we usually use potatoes, carrots, onions, peppers, and minced garlic) along with your choice of meat (we've been using ham as it is the least expensive meat here) and if you'd like you can add an egg or two (which we usually do). Meanwhile, you start with about 2 cups of uncooked rice (we us sticky rice for this recipe) and get it going while you are frying your veggies. Once the rice and veggies are both done, you combine them and then add some red pepper paste. This stuff smells kind of weird and has a really weird texture but when mixed in a dish, it creates a decent spicy flavor. Once the red pepper paste is incorporated, you're ready to eat!
Finished!
Curry over Rice and Kimchi Mondu (Dumplings)
Curry over Rice and Kimchi Mondu
This dish is also very simple. Prepare some rice, boil a packet or two of pre-made curry sauce, and fry up some pre-packaged dumplings (the ones Trevor decided to use were Kimchi dumplings...). Once the rice is cooked, and the curry is heated, just dump the curry over the rice and mix! The fried dumplings act as a side dish. For me, the curry was ok, just different than what I'm used to and the dumplings kind of reminded me of opening a tupperware of mystery leftovers and being hit in the face with month-old rot. Sorry Trev, not my favorite! We will have to try a different filling for the next dumplings we get!
Donggassu (the good kind)
Donggassu
There are many variations of preparing donggassu (fried pork cutlet) but this particular one was served with egg over rice, some kimchi, and served with special donggassu sauce for dipping (the closest resemblance I could think of was like bbq sauce. This form of donggassu was really good. I actually really enjoyed the sauce (a lot of sauces here have been quite strange for me), and how could you go wrong with some fried pork cutlet? Well actually ended up having some in Japan and I couldn't finish all of mine. We were pretty sure it was just smothered in soy sauce which really took away from the pork flavor as well as the usual crispy texture of the donggassu we had in Korea. I didn't take a picture of the donggassu in Japan so sorry there is no compare and contrast visual. You'll just have to take my word on it ;)
Jajangmyun Supposedly this is a Chinese dish that a Korean brought over but this dish is not normally eaten in China. All I know for sure is that it is very common here and is fairly cheap. I've had it 3 times now I think and it's pretty much the same every time. As far as Trevor or I know, it's simply noodles with a black sauce which is like a sweetened soy sauce that is generally cooked with some onions and maybe a little bit of meat. The noodles are fairly thick they are a different feeling than other noodles I've had and the black sauce is kind of gooey feeling so sometimes it feels weird to eat. I always feel like I'm getting black goo all over my face when I slurp up the noodles but I guess not since nothing really comes off on the napkin when I wipe my face. Jajangmyun is strange to me for all these reasons. I don't mind eating it but it's not necessarily something I would pick right away off a menu. It is also usually served with these yellow radishes that are prepared in some way that seems kind of like pickling. Trevor and I both hate them.
Shish-ka-bobs (don't know what they are called)
Side dishes
some of the chicken ones
These shish-ka-bobs come from our trip to Japan. They are exactly what they look like. Grilled pieces of meat with onion between each piece. We tried the chicken ones and the beef ones and they were both pretty delicious. They were juicy and grilled really well with great flavor. They were served with some sort of side dish that looked like maybe some kind of mushroom but had a fishy smell/taste. There was also some potato salad and some cabbage with dressing. The potato salad was good but not special in any way. The strange tan substances were not too tasty, and well, cabbage is cabbage... The meat was great but ended up costing quite a bit more than expected due to our inability to understand Japanese. The shish-ka-bobs were pretty small and we still left slightly hungry even though we had just payed for the amount of two hearty meals. Trevor was pretty sad because he loves food and he loved the shish-ka-bobs but they were so pricey!
Darkbokgumtang This is best described as a type of chicken soup. It contained big pieces of chicken (often with the bone included that had to be picked out), several different types of mushrooms, and a few assorted veggies. The flavor is pretty good but can get annoying after having for leftovers 5 times (we received a large portion of this from the sister missionaries). The soup is also served with flat glass noodles just for added substance and texture.
Shabu Shabu I'll try to explain this one without scrambling your brains. A couple of kind sisters in the ward here invited me to lunch with them and the sister missionaries. We went to this restaurant that looks normal until you enter one of the special rooms with all the shabu shabu "stuff" all set up. The seats were on the ground and I had the pleasure of my first cross legged meal with my shoes off. The best way to describe shabu shabu is kind of like a Korean version of a taco. The waitress brings in this orange liquid which is poured into one of the cooking bowls in the middle of the table. There is another bowl that is heating up water. There are vegetables and leaves and meat and a whole assortment of things that I still don't quite know what they are spread all over the table. Once the orange liquid gets hot enough, you start putting things into the bowl for them to start boiling. There are thin rolls of what I assumed was beef that you put in the boiling orange liquid that come out as cooked pieces of deliciousness. Now comes the cool part. You get these little round translucent circles that I thought were napkins (oops!) which are actually rice sheets. You dip them in the heated water and they become kind of soft and pliable. You then take out whatever ingredients from the boiling orange pot and put it in your little rice shell thing. You wrap it all up in this slightly sticky rice cocoon and then have 3 options of sauce to dip it in. It was fun playing with all the different flavors and options and sometimes I had a really good "taco" and sometimes I had a really weird "taco". Meanwhile there are other side dishes around the table that everyone shares that you just grab a piece here and there with your chopsticks whenever you feel like it. This is a very social meal as you are reaching across the table, and putting together your shabu shabu along with the others at the table. I wish I would have taken more pictures but I got really involved with trying to communicate to the relief society sisters who had invited me to lunch. They were so chatty and really nice and wanted to know EVERYTHING about me! Hopefully you can see from the picture what I mean by everything described above.
Japchae
I've also found many variations of this dish. The one I made consisted of fried vegetables (carrots, onions (yellow and scallions), and red peppers. These are combined with glass noodles and a soy sauce based sauce with sesame seed oil, sugar, and sesame seeds. I chose to garnish the dish with a fried egg. Everything is simply mixed all together and eaten with chopsticks (by now I should be a pro but I'm not :( ). Pretty simple and tastes fine but isn't the best meal I've ever made.
Tangsuyuk
This dish surprised me with it's great flavor and texture. It's often served along with the Jajangmyun. It is definitely a preference of mine over Jajangmyun. It's pretty much just sweet and sour pork. The pork was sort of crunchy on the outside and the sauce was kind of gooey and the two together made a pretty satisfying texture. A lot of Korean dishes don't have a huge abundance of flavor but this dish was refreshingly satisfying in terms of flavor. I'll have to learn how to make it!
Cake!
This past Saturday, Trevor and I spent the evening with our friends Janelle and Ryan who are living in Pohang about an hour north of us. We found a cute little cake factory that has all sorts of decorations so you can decorate your own cake to your hearts desire. They make the cake for you and frost it with a base frosting. You pick out a second frosting flavor and a frosting tip and then go pick your decorations. We picked a chocolate frosting (of course ;) ) which we expected to be a darker brown than it ended up being. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves here. It was really fun creating our cake even though Janelle and Ryan strongly outdid us in the creativity/artistic department! The cake was really airy and not extremely flavorful. It was really simple although it did have a few fruit pieces to add some sweetness. The base frosting was a simple cream-based frosting and also didn't have much flavor. The decorations were just colored hardened sugar made into different shapes. Not the best cake I've had but it was nice to have something sweet to eat as sweetness seems scarce here :(
As some of you might know, I'm currently in the grand U.S. of A to visit family and attend two fabulous weddings. I got all caught up on packing and preparing for my trip, I forgot to update our blog on our latest Korean adventures. Even though I'm having way too much fun with my family, I decided to do this post before it was too late especially since it includes one of Trevor's favorite things: soccer!
Sadly, I'm still not sure if our team won or not. The other team had scored a goal during the first 15 minutes of the game and the score remained throughout the rest of the game. Not wanting to be caught in the after game rush, Trevor and I decided to leave when there was a minute or two left on the clock. Bad mistake! As we were leaving the stadium we heard a bunch of cheering loud enough to indicate a goal had been made. I wasn't sure if this was the case or if the game had simply ended and the fans were just giving supporting cheers to their team even though they lost. Either way, I can't say for sure the exact outcome of the game. I'm sure Trevor was more devastated than I was that we didn't see the cause of the commotion right after we left but I will say it was his idea to get out of there before everyone else. 
Another mentionable event that happened before I left was the visitation of a friend Trevor met while he served his mission several years ago. His name is Raphael (well at least that's his English name, I'm still bad at remembering Korean names, sorry Raphael!). He was accompanied by his pretty wife and their adorable son. We spent time chatting and getting to know one another while Trevor and Raphael exchanged memories of people they both knew while Trevor was a missionary. The family was so kind to us and even treated us to dinner which was some spicy chicken which was quite delicious! Unfortunately there was a big storm coming into Ulsan and they had to leave before it got worse but we sure did enjoy our time while they were here.
