Hairy Bikers Asian Adventure

The Hairy Bikers did a series in Asia. The 6th and final episode was done in South Korea. I liked it.

Unlike a lot of shows that went to South Korea it didn't focus on the bizarre. It focused on what is normal there. Samkyubsal, fried chicken, traditional markets and street food. It was pretty good and had me reminiscing. Watching the market scenes had my mouth watering.

I liked how they talked about what food would be a hit back in the UK. And talked about what was actually popular in the West.

The kimchi making was well done. It reminded me of the time I made sauerkraut with my Great Aunt. Damn I miss her. :(

I really enjoyed the way they looked at Korean history too.

Strangely enough I even liked the way Gangnam Style kept showing up. :)

Damn I want some bibimbap now. And samkyubsal. And yangyum chicken. Sundae!!!!

Buh Bye Kozilla

Wow ... watched Episode 5 of The Great Food Truck Race and the ending was a bit of a shocker. Yet not completely surprising. Why? The Korean team was disqualified for cheating. They added $2700 of their own money to their till. Strangely enough they DIDN'T NEED IT! They still would have finished in the top and not have been eliminated. Morons.

Sejong the Burgermeister

I was watching the 2nd season of The Great Food Truck Race and there is a Korean (by way of NYC) based truck in it. The guys are phenomenal! The food, I wish was available here.

In epsiode 4 they are are in Manhattan, Kansas taking part in a challenge. They have to make a dish based on a maximum of $5. They make a burger and have the hutzpahs to tell the celebrity taster that Sejong Taehwan was the first person to ever taste a burger. THAT is thinking outside the box! I wish they had won that challenge.

Ramyon

I was in Sobey's a week ago and what did I see ... ramyon from Korea. Holy fuck ... kimchi ramyon!!! That is what I am talking about baby!

It has been over 2 years since I had any ramyon. After looking at the sodium levels on the packages here in Canada I was turned off. When I saw the stuff from South Korea, especially the spicy one I always got when I lived in Cheongju, I had to get it.

I added some veg and some jalapeno sausage. Gourmet fucking ramyon! Damn!

The Layover: Los Angeles

God Damn! I am watching The Layover: Los Angeles, the latest Anthony Bourdain show. He is in Korea Town being taught where to go by Roy Choi. (Korea Town LA has the LARGEST number of Koreans outside of Seoul.) They met at Ham Ji Park and my taste bud's memory started to go into overload.

The banchan looked good, but like Chef Choi said it isn't the same as being in Korea. The samkyubsal brought a nostalgic tear to my eye. But the kamjatang was a kick in the balls to remind me of something I miss. :(  I REALLY miss kamjatang.

He then went on to have chicknangmyoung. Now I never really got into nangmyoung. Something about the texture turned me off. But it tasted ok.

They even show pojangmachas and drink makkeolli!!! I am seriously missing Korea right now. Yeah, I admitted it. There are things I miss. :) The slurping, I didn't miss. ;)

I ate at a Korean restaurant in Halifax almost 2 years to the day I returned home. That will require another post. Anyway, I digress. Watch the show if you haven't. If you have, watch it again! ;)

Living In Korea

Korean Adventure (September 20, 2002 Chautauqua)

I'm going to try and reflect some facets of my life here, in the hopes that they may complete a picture, and show what I am experiencing.
I live in a one-room flat, in a three-story building. The other foreign teacher at my school has her apartment next door. Most schools provide the apartment rent-free, and all the teacher has to pay for is the utilities and the TV. As you walk in the door, there is a small area to leave your shoes. It is impolite to walk into a Korean house with your shoes on. I like to walk around in my slippers at home and at work. It is very comfortable.
I have a fridge, which is fairly large compared to other fridges I have known. Opposite is the sink/stove/cupboard area. It's all one unit, and that's my kitchen. I've gotten fairly good at preparing delicious meals on a two-burner gas range. It's pretty standard for most Korean households. Ovens are a rarity. Most Korean dishes are prepared without one.

One of the roads up to my con-apt, which was a block to the right. I did get a lot of what Flint calls 'Christers' visiting my con-apt. I was never as... curt as Flint was, but I did learn to shut the door on them after a while.

I have a TV/VCR unit, and I am limited to watching movies or whatever programs are part of the American Army's channel. They get most of the shows that are part of the lineup I was used to, but they can be some months behind. They have no paid advertising, but a lot of service announcements that let the soldiers know what's going on in their area. There are a lot of reminders about what it means to be a soldier. These are produced by the soldiers themselves, and some of them can be a little amateurish. I get a lot of laughs in this way.
The bathroom is a tiled room, with a toilet, a tap with showerhead attachment, and that's it. There's a drain in the middle of the floor, and that's where all the water drains. I've gotten used to washing my hands while standing back from the tap. It will be strange to return home and get used to water that drains "normally."

The street leading up to my building, which was on the right, the last building but one.

There are taps in my bathroom that would usually hook up to a washing machine. The other teacher has to deal with this, but my washer has been installed in the "back room," which is like a storage area. I have no dryer, and I take care of that job by hanging my clothes on a rack, which is standard issue for most teachers' apartments. Some buildings have a tap out front, and I have seen some Koreans using this to wash their dishes and their clothes.
I was really lucky to have a double bed in my place. Most flats have single beds (my first one did). Koreans, of course, sleep on the floor, and one of my friends (tired of the cramped and lumpy single) has switched to this with satisfactory results. I also scored a microwave, which comes in handy when I want to cook up some popcorn. That is one of the snacks that I really missed when I came here.

There were two busy streets that I had to cross on the way to work. North of this one was the neighbourhood where my con-apt was situated, which was mainly three-story one- and two-room buildings. South was full of those huge blocks that marched off into the distance.

Koreans don't usually eat popcorn. They have some... different...flavours for their chips, too. Some of them are really spicy, and can cause your tongue to dial the fire department if you're not careful. Some of their chips are sweet-tasting, as well. I remember a comedy sketch from a while back about a man who gave a snack bar attendant fits by asking for "Raspberry Ripple" flavored chips, and so on. He would have got on well here.
I live approximately fifteen minutes away from the school (by foot). There is a big hill behind the building, where I like to go hiking on the weekends. The trails are well maintained and travelled. Hiking is a favorite activity for many people, and there are camping areas that feature equipment for the serious hiker. You can do chin-ups, sit-ups, play badminton; there's even a set of barbells to do some press-ups.

This is the second busy road I had to cross. Right on the corner, almost at my feet as I took this picture, there was always a pile of tofu for sale. It sat on the corner every day, absorbing the exhaust fumes, burps and farts, narrowly missing being spat on by some mook. I... never really liked tofu after that.

The area I live in is predominantly three- and four-story apartment buildings. There are a couple of private dwellings, but these are scarcer than hen's teeth in a space-premium country like South Korea. I imagine you have to be wealthier than Croesus to afford a private dwelling. Surrounding the neighbourhood where I dwell, is the main living space for Koreans, the high rise, which go on for miles. I tried to get a picture that would show these buildings stretching to the horizon.
I pass through these on my way to work, and they are like little villages. The buildings are about 15-20 stories high, and about 10-15 apartments wide. They each have their own little strip malls, and "police" forces to keep an eye on traffic. There is a lot of foot traffic going through, mostly mothers with their kids in hand. Foreigners have a lot of eyes on them.

The building where my hagwon lurked. The PC room I used was across the street. The hagwon's name was New York, and the lobby featured a mural of the city skyline featuring the twin towers of the World Trade Centre front and centre. I worked here the year after 9/11, and it was always a little jarring to see that photo every day.

I've heard that this type of dwelling is more expensive than the one I live in. They don't seem much different inside, and I'm not sure I would want to live in an area so crowded, with people on either side, and on top as well as below you. You have to deal with a substantial loss of "personal space" when you come to Korea. There is no such thing as waiting patiently in line for anything. It's every man for himself, and don't be afraid to use those elbows.
Still, there are perks. I use a computer at a "PC Room," and the owners have gotten very good at arranging for a monitor away from the smokers. I get a nice comfy chair, and an iced tea. Being served in a restaurant is a pleasant experience, and you get a lot of "service" (free stuff!) if you become a regular.
And the beer! Ah, the beer. Their draft comes in inexpensive pitchers that always taste like another one. A night out with a group of teachers looking for a way to unwind can go on for a long time, with no appreciable dent made in your wallet. Most bars like to try and sell you a side dish to go along with your beer, and it's not unusual to see a table of Koreans enjoying a nice array of ... fruit?... to go with their beer. Or if that's not to your taste, you can always try the seaweed. Dip it into a little soy sauce. Mmmmm.
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I've had a couple of hagwons try to get away with just supplying me a beer fridge. They look at me strangely when I tell them I need a regular sized fridge. When you consider they have fridges just for kimchi, I don't think it too much to ask.
I remember in my first year, my roommate's girlfriend kept kimchi in the fridge, and whenever you opened the door, the smell would hit you like a punch in the face.
I was always impressed with the relentless way Koreans exercised. I was never able to get motivated enough to follow their example. I'm flabby and out of shape, and I would be of no use in a crisis. I thought, 'Either get in shape or hope there is never a crisis.' I always hoped there was never a crisis.
I remember going to one teacher's wedding. He invited me up to their con-apt. They were just moving in. The place was chock-a-block with all the newest appliances and electronics still in their boxes. It was too bad when she gave him the boot the day after the wedding, but he deserved it. He romanced a foreign teacher and then dumped her on the advice of a fortune teller.
What a douchebag.
I almost lived in one of those highrises during my third year, but was lucky enough to get a solo con-apt. For me, it's the only way to go.
I still didn't have a 'puter, and I didn't get one until my third year. The PC room I used in my second year was a pretty good one, and the owners were very nice to me. But having your own 'puter is the bomb. I was really happy when I got my first laptop.
This neighbourhood was in West Daegu, and the local bar we went to was called Elvis. More often than not, the waitress would insist we order a side with our pitcher. I got to like the dried squid with peanuts. You could dip the pieces of squid in mayonnaise, or hot sauce, or both. Mmmmmmmmmm.
But getting used to the side dishes that most Koreans took for granted was difficult for me. I missed the usual salty snacks that we get back here in The World. There were a few places that served popcorn, like the Hollywood Bar in Cheongju, but then you'd go to a place like The Berkeley in Daegu, which served squid-flavoured crisps.
Eurgh.

Shopping In Korea

Korean Adventure (June 21, 2002 Chautauqua)

Shopping in Korea can be an interesting experience. There are many modern western-style supermarkets, including Wal-Mart, Costco, and Homeplus. It is a great temptation to stick to these convenient mega-stores. They carry most of the goods we are used to, and the prices are fairly reasonable. There are subtle differences, though.

The newly constructed (ca. 2008) Busan Fish Market

There is an entire aisle devoted to seaweed. It is dried and compressed into sheets of various sizes, from postage stamp to full human length. Koreans mainly use it to make "kimbap", which is like sushi. You lay out some seaweed, cover it with rice, and then various fillings like meat, fish, or vegetables. You then roll it up into a cylinder, approximately 12"long and 1" in diameter. Slice into pieces, and that is a meal. I enjoy having kimbap for lunch every once in a while. The price is more reasonable than the usual hamburger and fries, and it is filling, too.
There are also differences in the kinds of vegetables that are available. Koreans' favorite accompaniment to any (and every) meal is kimchi. It's a spicy cabbage. I’ve seen it made from a variety of vegetables, but the cabbage is my favorite. There is usually an island in the produce section where they make and display the various kimchis.

There is a lot of fresh fish available; any kind you could imagine, and some you could not. Squid and octopus are big sellers, and they are usually displayed live (in tanks) so you can be sure it's fresh.

Yes, the department stores are convenient, and have just about everything you could want, but the real "Korean Experience" demands that you go out and shop at the open air markets that are in every corner of the city. Some of them specialize in dry goods, furniture, food, what have you. There are some very good deals to be had, if you know where to look. A person can spend a whole day just wandering around, seeing the many sights and sounds. Buying something becomes a secondary consideration.


There are some interesting corners that some people might want to avoid. Really fresh meat and poultry in the form of caged ducks, chickens, and rabbits should not be confused with pet stores. I remember walking around the Chil-sung market (in Daegu) with my friends last summer. We rounded a corner deep inside the market, far from the main thoroughfare. There, laid out for display was a freshly slaughtered dog. How fresh do you ask? The muscles were still twitching.

Yes, the Koreans do eat dog. Some of the people I have talked to do not see anything wrong with it, and are nonplussed by some western reactions. There was even some talk of setting up dog-meat booths at the World Cup venues in order to introduce foreigners to this local delicacy. One foreigner, a teacher I believe, wrote a letter to the Korea Herald, denouncing this intention in a near-hysterical rage. I have not heard if the booths were set up. Maybe more PR-conscious heads intervened.

These open-air markets have been a staple of the Korean life-style for hundreds of years. Many of the structures look as if they have been there that long. People continue to flock to them, just as many go to the more modern establishments. This combination of the old and the new, makes for a fascinating experience for the traveller willing to explore beyond the beaten path.

Living In Korea

Korean Adventure (June 7, 2002 Chautauqua)

A foreigner, coming to Korea to teach English, is a bit at sea on first arrival. It's a foreign country, where people speak a different language. If you don't know anyone, there's only the staff at your school (or "hagwon") to rely on. Sometimes this can be a blessing, as I have met some really good people over here.
I remember when I first got off the plane, I was met by my director and his assistant, who oversaw the teaching staff. They loaded my luggage into the car, and took me for a drive through the nighttime streets of Taegue. Korean cities at night remind me of Las Vegas somewhat. It's not quite that gaudy, but it's close. Koreans like a lot of signage on every available space. The neon lights and banners with the strange symbols are everywhere. It's pretty, but you don't know what they mean.

The street entrance to my second con-apt building.

Eventually, we arrived at the apartment I was to share with another teacher. I was so tired after travelling, I just hit the sack for a couple of days. Most hagwons provide their teachers with housing. Some of it is shared, and some teachers are provided with a place of their own. The apartment I was sharing had an entranceway, where all shoes are left. Koreans only walk around in special house slippers, and leave outside shoes by the door. It's very bad manners to wear your shoes in the house.

The courtyard inside the street entrance. The door into the building leads to a hallway. My door was the last on the left.

The common areas of the apartment were the bathroom, the TV room, and the kitchen. The bathroom had a sink, a toilet, and a shower attachment on the wall. There was no tub, and there was no shower curtain. There wasn't even a drainpipe attached to the sink. The water just emptied onto the floor, and down the same drain as the shower water. I had to get used to not keeping my feet well away from the sink when I returned to Canada.

The door to my con-apt from the inside. The "kitchen" is to the left.

In my last two apartments, I have not even had sinks, just a combination tap and shower sticking out of the wall. It's a bit odd at first, but you get used to it, and even enjoy the space that a whole "shower room" affords. There are even separate slippers that you wear in the bathroom, just to keep your feet out of the water that's there after your shower.

The door into my bathroom. Just a toilet and a tap/shower attachment.Note the fan in the lower right corner. This was just before they installed an air conditioner (my first in Korea).

Sometimes the washing machine is installed in the bathroom. I haven't lived in an apartment like that yet, but I know people who have. One girl even had an electrical outlet almost directly beneath her shower head. Yikes!

The door to the storage room at the rear of my con-apt.


Inside the storage room, with the washing machine in the foreground.


The modern Korean dryer, the latest in technology!

The television is an adventure, as well. There are about 70 channels. Most of them are Korean, naturally, but there are a few movie channels that show English films. There are also American sitcoms shown on various channels. "Friends," "Third Rock," "Seinfeld," and "Married, With Children" just to name a few.

The TV in my second con-apt. The bulge on the top is a VCR. This is before my first computer and the joys of downloading.

There is also the Armed Forces channel, which shows all the regular programming available back home. There are no paid commercials, just service announcements that the GIs film themselves. Some of them are fairly amusing in their amateurishness, and we all get a good laugh at the (unintentionally funny) antics of the American Army.
The kitchen area has a fridge, some counter and cupboard space, and a two-burner gas range for all of our cooking. One of the things I have missed over here is baking or roasting some of my favorite foods. But Korean cooking is very good, and I have no problem with the local delicacies.
Now, the school looks after the rent, but the teachers are responsible for their own utilities. This means TV, water, electricity, and gas for the cooker. There is also a fee for the oil heater. This heats up water for the underfloor heating system (called "ondol"), and the sinks and shower. Unless the school's troubleshooter instructs you on its proper use, you can have trouble getting enough hot water. I remember we had that problem until we figured out which buttons to push, and what dials to turn. Since then I have had no trouble with getting enough hot water.
The only rooms left in the apartment were the two bedrooms. My first roommate had the bigger of the two, which I got when he moved out after one month of our sharing the place. I got another roommate a few months later, and he was a good guy. We really got on well, shared the cooking, and hosted some good parties. Since then, I have had only single apartments for myself.
Next time I will talk about shopping, cinemas, and beer. Mmmmmmm, beer.
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I remember that first nighttime drive. It seemed everywhere I looked, there was a flourescent orange cross. I wondered just what I was getting into.

The Top Ten Ways To Amuse Yourself In Korea

Korean Adventurer (May 3, 2002 Chautauqua)

The Top 10 Ways to Amuse Yourself In Korea

This list was sent to me by my friend, Blondie. It provides some insights about what life in general is like over here.

10.) Play chicken with cars on the sidewalk. This is a fairly common occurrence. Koreans park just about anywhere they damn well please. Cars, motorcycles, and bikes take advantage of any opening anywhere, road or sidewalk, to beat the traffic. I remember walking home from the store the other night, and I heard an engine behind me. I was almost up to a space between two other parked vehicles, and I didn't bother moving aside, as I thought the space was too small for the following vehicle to pass through. I was startled to hear the motor continue close behind me. I looked, and was confronted with the smallest car I have ever seen. It gave new meaning to the word "compact".

9.)Order Steak and Potato with Fiddleheads at EVERY Korean restaurant. I'm not exactly sure what this means, as I've not had this particular delicacy. I think it makes reference to the fact that "fiddleheads" can make you sick if you're not careful. It's not really funny, as there was a story in the "Korean Herald" last week, saying that the food in six different fast food chains (KFC and McDonald's among them) had tested positive for staph infections in the foods. Bad news for westerners who do not like Korean food.

8.) While sitting in a public spot, pretend to catch a fly with chopsticks. Celebrate loudly. Koreans are intensely interested in everything we westerners do, and do not hesitate to stare when they so you. They also like to examine the contents of your shopping basket. It's nothing hostile, just innocent curiosity.

7.) When something is said by one Korean to another that is slightly amusing, laugh hysterically. Don't stop. Well, this is just plain mean. Hee hee hee.

6.) Stand outside a Korean electronics store where the TVs are playing. Pretend to understand every word. Again, just mean. The kids in my school get very excited when I display any knowledge of their language, and it is difficult to stop them from testing me, and turn the lesson back to learning English.

5.) Remind a Korean man that he is short. Do this repeatedly. Be prepared for an a** kicking. It's true that there are a lot of short people here, but they are also very thin. One of the first things that struck me when I returned home last year was how many obese people there were, myself included. Most Koreans like to get out and do some regular physical activity, for which they should be commended. Also, there are quite a few who are as tall, if not taller than some westerners.

4. Convince them that both of your parents are Korean (oh yes, it can be done). The trick to arguing with Koreans is to remain calm at all times. Once you lose your temper, you've lost the argument.

3.) Wear Japanese flags. The Koreans really are very touchy when it comes to anything Japanese. A person who makes a reference to the "Sea of Japan" will be provided with the correct title, the "East Sea". There has always been some tension in their relations. Last year it was some textbooks, approved for use in Japanese schools, that did not deal adequately with Japan's conquests and behaviour during it's Imperial phase. It only just got smoothed over when the Japanese premier paid a visit to the shrine for Japanese war dead. Some of those memorialized are considered war criminals over here, and the visit has cast a pall over the upcoming joint Japanese/Korean hosting of the World Cup.

2.) Go to the cinema. After the preview for a Korean film, pump your fists in the air and yell, "I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE THAT!". Actually, there have been some very good films made here recently. A few years back, a film called "JSA" won an Academy Award for best foreign film. It was a tense thriller about a South Korean soldier accused of murdering some North Korean counterparts. Another film, called "Friends", dealt with four rookie firemen that featured some thrilling firefighting scenes.

1.) Fix something. It always seems like there is something to be done when foreigners move into their (school-supplied) apartment. Usually, it's fairly simple to make it seem homey. My friends and I have managed to make our places comfy enough to be a close substitute for "home". We are convinced that we are the only ones to take the time and trouble. Some of the people we've had as room-mates have been less than...clean. Oh well, it takes all kinds, I guess.

Anyway, there is a lot more to tell about life in Korea. I hope I have not rambled on too long, and I hope you look forward to the next installment. Until then, anyong assayo (Peace be with you).
________________________________________

Ask Flint about the shopping basket thing, and then duck.
My description of the movie "Friends" is erroneous. It's actually about four Koreans who grew up in Busan. One became a cop and another became a criminal, with tragic results.
I remember helping Mick and Jane clean an apartment after another teacher had left. The filth was indescribable. I remember scrubbing layers of grime off of the tile in the bathroom and wondering how anyone could stand it.

Duck Me!

I was watching Grill It with Bobby Flay and they were doing duck. It got me thinking back to food in Korea. I never really enjoyed duck until I was in Korea.

The first time I had it was nothing fancy, duck pieces grilled kind of like samkyubsal. The grill was more of a dome than a grill so a lot of the fat ran off. The duck was not gamey at all. The problem I had with duck in Canada the few times I ate it was that it was too gamey. I don't mind a little gamey but it just didn't work with the duck I had.

Another great way of having duck was Ori Ros, which is roast duck. It really isn't roasted. You get a huge pan full of veg and cut up pieces of duck and they all fry together. (Kind of like some of the chicken we had at Chicken Palace Stig.) It was damn good.

I had duck soup a few times but it wasn't that special. It wasn't bad but it wasn't something I would go out of my way to eat.

Now I find myself wanting some Ori Ros.

Travelling Abroad

"Do we really want to travel in hermetically sealed popemobiles through the rural provinces of France, Mexico and the Far East, eating only in Hard Rock Cafes and McDonalds? Or do we want to eat without fear, tearing into the local stew, the humble taqueria's mystery meat, the sincerely offered gift of a lightly grilled fish head? I know what I want. I want it all. I want to try everything once."

— Anthony Bourdain (Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly)

This quote really made me think of Koreans I know who travelled abroad. Most of them went on package tours where everything was prepared for them. For the most part they only ate at Korean style restaurants. They saw all the sites tourists are supposed to see, and had their pictures taken in front of them.

To me going to another country should be an experience of all your senses. Not some antiseptic prepared tour where nothing is really a surprise and all you experience is the familiar. I believe you need to experience all the culture and food is a major part of that. I would be gobsmacked when I talked with friends and students who travelled abroad but never sampled the food. In many cases they brought Korean rice and kimchi with them.

I would look at them as if they were insane when they talked about going to Thailand but not even trying Thai food. They would say it tastes too strong or too hot. But ... how the kimchi would they know? They never tried it! One of the biggest complaints I heard was about how all Chinese food is too oily, too greasy. Yet this would be said after telling you they have NEVER eaten it. They never even tried a nibble. Why? Because they were TOLD, by Koreans, that the food was like that. So why bother trying it? To which I would say why bother going abroad if you are just going to see Korean related or approved sites and only eating Korean food?

Rainy Day Food

It has been pretty rainy here lately. Mind you it is Spring and that is pretty much the norm for spring here. Except early spring when we sometimes get snow instead of rain. The rain had me thinking of Korea and missing some of the cuisine.

My friend SY introduced me to a Korean rainy day tradition in my 1st year. When it is raining you should eat pajeon and drink makkeoli. It was my 1st time trying makkeoli and I enjoyed the whole experience.

We went to a place across from my apartment called Jae Yu Boen. That is supposed to translate to Free Woman and was the title of a popular Korean movie 30-40 years ago.

The makkeoli was ice cold. A sheen of persperation covered the copper kettle it came in. While wisps of mist came off the kettle as the cold met the warm humid air. We had kimchijeon and hameuljeon (seafood) with it. Between the sound of the rain falling, the flavour of the food and drink, and the company it was a good relaxing time.

After that it became a rainy day tradition to go for mekkeoli and pajeon. Good times.

Making Prime Steak

All the talk on 3gyubsal's about steak prodded my memory. Years back a friend gave me a link to a webpage that taught you how to turn cheap steak in prime steak. I never tried it but my friend did and he said it worked.

No Reservations - South Korea

I made a post on Flint's Follies that really could have been posted here since it was about South Korea. Anothony Bourdain does a travel/food show called No Reservations and did an episode in South Korea. I will have to write about it more some time.

Anyway, there is a great quote about soju from that episode.

"You know, when I get back to New York I am going to be pouring that stuff on my cheerios in the morning."

I could picture him doing just that. :)

I try to keep this site to just South Korea related stuff but I do find there is some crossover, like talking about the Amazing Race episode in South Korea. I only posted it in FF, not here, but it is Korea related. Maybe I should have just stuck to one blog?

KopJang

KopJang, or is it GopJang, is cow intestine. No surprise that it is considered "healthy" food in Korea. I haven't had a Korean food that some Korean didn't try to tell me was healthy for you, or good for men's stamina. According to one web site;

"Eating beef intestines does have health benefits she says. “It’s good for your complexion and digestion because it contains collagen.” According to the book Dong Eui Bogam, written by Joseon Dynasty doctor Hojun, in 1610, 곱장 (beef intestine) has more iron and vitamins than other meat, it’s not too expensive and it tastes unique. Weak or sick people eat it to give them strength. In addition, Hojun says, consuming beef intestines enhances your stamina, helps prevent diabetes and is good for your skin. "

Damn it sounds like it could give kimchi a run for it's money when it comes to curative powers.

It may sound disgusting to a Western who is not used to eating tripe or offal. The first time I encountered it a Korean friend was getting some at a restaurant near my apartment. It smelled like shit burning. Reluctantly I tried a piece and it tasted as bad as it smelled.

Flash forward about 5 years. After work we went to a restaurant in GaGyoung dong. It wasn't big. Your typical hole in the wall Korean restaurant. Nothing fancy in terms of decor but usually good food.

It turned out to be a KopJang restaurant. The food didn't smell bad. It came with sides that included raw liver and stomach. The Koreans ate the liver and stomach as soon as the plate touched the table and asked for more. I like liver but I hadn't eaten it raw before. I had raw stomach once and din't think that much of it. So, I was prepared for a bad meal.

Boy was I surprised. The 1st KopJang restaurant must have been run by people who didn't know how to cook. Not only did this KopJang NOT smell like shit ... it tasted fantastic. The restaurant became one of my favourite work dinner spots.

If you can find a restaurant that knows what it is doing I would recommend trying KopJang.

(Unfortunately, thanks to the great computer crash of '09 I lost most of 3.5 years worth of pictures. So these pictures aren't from that restaurant. I am going to ask some friends in korea to get me pictures of it.)

Year 1 - Dog Day Afternoon

Howdy

Not much new to talk about. I am moving August 3rd. For some reason our director is making us all move to new apartments further away. Ours is not to reason why. Typically, she asked us if we wanted to leave our apartments. We are spread out between 3 buildings. None of us wanted to. Next she wanted us to look at a building and see if we would like it. We still didn't want to move. Next she tells us we are moving. To a building a 20 minute walk away. During the hottest days of summer.

Yesterday was the middle of the "dog days of summer" as we call it in the west. In Korea it is the second of 3 days to eat dog. The first day was 2 weeks ago, 2nd yesterday, the third is at the end of the hottest days of summer in 2-3 weeks. So, I ate some dog.

The dish is called Boshintang. Basically, dog soup. I went with 3 other westerners and 2 Koreans. Hilda, Dave, and John had planned on doing this for 2 weeks. BumSuk and a friend of his chose the place and were taking them there. My plans with Eun Young got cancelled due to her hangover so I figured what the hell.

It was disappointing. I had expected it to taste as good as other dishes I had. However, it was kind of bland, and a little fatty. Some of the fatty meat was skin. As spicy dishes go it was medium, and had WAY to much green onion in it. Dog meat tastes kind of like goat and is a bit gamey. It was very tender though. We also got some boiled dog that gets dipped in a spicy sauce. The boshingtang could have been spicier. While it wasn't the worst tasting dish I have ever had, it isn't something I would go out of my way to get. It was average and the taste doesn't warrant it.

While the food was disappointing the experience wasn't. When I get the pictures from BumSuk I will show you some of them. I was the first to dig into my meal. Hilda and Dave just kind of watched at first before trying it. Dave was pretty queasy. Once they had some, and the faces were finished, they were able to joke about it. Before that they didn't want to hear ANY jokes. We had a few bottles of soju with the meal.

The Koreans at the restaurant treated us like Celebrities at first. All the staff was greeting us, and they all said goodbye. They don't get many westerners there, and wanted to show their appreciation at us at least trying boshingtang before condemning it, or them, like a lot of people do. They made us feel comfortable. We were told that Older Koreans, and some of the younger generation, believe that eating dog boosts your stamina. I also ran into some new friends, friends of Eun Young, that I met the night before. Like I said, the experience was better than the meal.

I wonder if the dogs will look at me differently when I go back to Canada in 3 months. :)


Take care,
Flint

*****

The reason for the move was the director had an argument with one of the apartment owners and didn't want to be giving him money anymore. It was a damn inconvenience.

Eating dog ... I lost a supposed friend back home because I ate dog. I guess they weren't actually a friend just an acquaintance.

What the ... crappy food?!?!?

My hagwon actually buys food for the teachers. Unfortunately, it is catered from some lousy Korean catering place. It is usually barely palatable.

For the 3rd fucking day in a row it was ALL veg. Not just all veg but pretty much all veg done the same bloody way. Cucumber and gochujang. carrots, onion, and gochujang. Bean sprouts in gochujang. You get the idea eh? Not only bean sprouts that way but the soup was spicy bean sprout soup. What the kimchi? And the rice was pre-cooked! What the fucking kimchi?!?!? We have a god damn rice cooker!

Oh and when there is meat it isn't that good. They consider hot dogs sliced up and slathered in gochujang to be a dinner meat. No idea what the meat was one day but it was ... gray. I took one look and couldn't eat it.

How about some fucking variety? Oh wait, where am I? The land of lousy rice, lousy kimchi, and lousy soup being the focus of EVERY lousy meal. (Sorry Lousy Korea, I was channeling you while typing that.) Variety!!!!!

Usually I bring something of my own. Sandwhiches (Thank you nicedeli.com!!! You are the best!) Or lunch is enough to tide me over. This week life has been more hectic, or I have been lazier, and have had to see what there was to eat here.

The Koreans hate the food but none of them will say anything to the boss. And as much as they hate it they STILL chow down every night. Stuffing their mouths full and eating with them open. Making fucking disgusting crunching, slurping, and smacking sounds. Gotta stop there or I will start digressing too much.

A couple of them said I should complain to the boss and ask for better food. Fuck that, Grow a set and do it yourself. I will just have to bring my own in as per usual or suffer through until I finish work and can eat.

There is good food to be found in Korea. Just not at my workplace.

Year 1 - Grand Buffet and Chicken Feet

Howdy

Not much new to report. Life here continues to be interesting, although that isn't always good. ;)

Lately I have been doing some extra work for one of the TOEIC teachers, Mr. Kim. TOEIC is basically a course that prepares you for the TOEIC exam, which mainly uses business English. It provides you with certification of your ability in English. Some universities require you to have at least one TOEIC score top graduate. Some require 3 or more. When you apply for a job you can submit your best score. The course requires a lot of listening in class to tapes of people speaking in English. Usually they have a booklet with the dialouge in it, and can follow along.

Mr. Kim needed quite a bit of taping done. He asked me if I would do it, and I said yes. Some of the other teachers had done taping for him so I figured what the hey. After doing one tape he wanted me to do the tapings for him exclusively, and he said he would pay me for it. Cool. :) So, I get to do something different, that can break up the routine of a day, and be paid for it. Plus it was kind of fun.

Yesterday he treated me, Hilda, and Matt to supper at Grand Buffet. I have NEVER seen a buffet place like this in my life. It makes any I have seen in Halifax, Toronto, and anywhere else look tiny. There were too many selections to list them all here. It took in traditional Korean food, as well as some dishes from other countries. The sushi was fantastic. Even Matt, a vegetarian, couldn't get over the selections. I don't think he had the same thing twice on his plate. After that supper I don't need to eat again for a few days. ;)

The place itself was as interesting as the food. The building it is in is around 6 stories high. Everything in the building is geared towards weddings, or special occaissons, but mainly weddings. The shops, the restaurants, everything. While we were there eating about 6 people celebrated birthdays. Lots of people there, but the place was so large it was easy to move around.

Hmmm, since i am talking about food I suppose I should mention what I had to eat friday night. After work we got together at our Soju Bar for dinner, Garanmari, rice, side dishes. We were joined by 2 Korean TOEIC teachers, and 2 of the receptionists. They ate some garanmari, but were still hungry. So, they ordered a delicay, chickens feet.

The chickens feet are de-boned before being cooked. they are served with veggies, and in a hot sauce. A VERY hot sauce. They ended up having noodles added to absorb some of the sauce. I decided to try them, and ... I liked it. :) The sauce was very spicy, and the feet were kind of chewy and crunchy at the same time. I am not sure if it was the cartiledge in the feet that made it crunchy, or maybe the tendons. I will have to ask my physio therapists back in Dartmouth. Regardless of the crunch, or the thought of it being chicken feet, I enjoyed a few feet. ;)

I suppose I could talk about the Olympics. While I haven't actually watched any of them, I have followed them somewhat over the internet. Thursday night my class was hijacked by discussion about the Olympics, and a LOT of anti-American feeling after what happened to the Korean short track skater who would have had the gold. Should have had it depending on who you talk to. There has always been controversy at the Olympics, but it really seems to me like the officiating has NEVER been as bad as it these Olympics. Whether it is the corrupt judging in Figure Skating (which has been a problem for years), some good calls that look bad, or the many bad calls that make officials look biased, it all looks bad for the Olympics. Does anyone REALLY expect them to "clean" up the judging or refereeing? Hell, the new head of the IOC, Rogge, was one of the people who took bribes to get the games in Salt Lake City. The Olympics hasn't really been about the sports for a long time. It is about the money.

Take care

Flint

*******

It is kind of funny reading this email and looking at the Olympics that just happened. 8 years has passed yet the Koreans are still reacting badly to pretty much the same thing. And bad calls are still happening.

Mmmmmmmmmmmm Ribs

Flint and I have been talking about posting some food reviews. Mostly it's Flint urging me to get off my lazy ass and contribute more to this blog.

But we have had some pretty good food here in Korea, and we'd like to share our culinary experiences with the rest of you, just in case you need a particular type, and are wondering where to go.

Flint and I both love ribs, and have a couple of excellent places to go for delicious savoury pork ribs. You can go to a western style restaurant like Outback or VIPS, and be perfectly satisfied, but the Korean offerings are just as good, if not better.

The first alternative, for take-out ribs, is the rib truck. This is a Bongo-type vehicle fitted out with a wood-fueled rotisserie where the owners cook up ribs and sam gyup sal. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water.

I don't know what kind of wood they use (Flint?), but it gives the meat a particular flavour that keeps us coming back for more. I remember having to wait for some ribs to finish cooking once, and the owners invited me to sit in the back of the truck next to the fire. My coat still has that smell...

For 10,000won you get a generous rack of ribs, some pickled onions, hot peppers, and a savoury sauce that compliments the ribs to perfection. The owner usually throws in a few slices of sam gyup sal as "service," but I usually pick up an order of that with the ribs (10,000won) anyway.

The rib truck we go to sets up next to the OK Mart in Gagyoung-dong in Cheongju every Tuesday.

There're also trucks that sell BBQ chicken, but the main focus of this article is ribs, so we'll go on to the second of our suppliers.



This is a restaurant called "Cho Shim," which is located in Habukdae just down the street from my con-apt. It's on the ground floor of a ship-shaped building known as "Casa Bianca." It's the landmark I always give to cab drivers when I'm wending my way home from a night on the town. Most of them know it.

The restaurant has an equal number of tables with chairs and floor seats. Flint and I don't do floor seating, so we usually get a table next to the grill where they pre-cook the ribs.

My mouth is watering again.


Each table has a grill in the middle, so the patrons get to finish cooking the ribs for themselves. The ribs come with the usual multitude of side dishes, and especially a bowl of sweet sauce for dipping the ribs. You prepare the sauce by adding sliced onions and (in my case) grilled garlic slices.

I also like to grill the kimchi and the few slices of pa-jon that come with the side dishes. I also get to eat the "salad" (coleslaw) as Flint is not particularly enamored.

Flint commandeers the tongs, and makes sure the ribs are cooked to a turn. Each patron is given a cotton glove to wear on one hand, which helps protect against burns from the fresh, hot-off-the-grill ribs.

The set-up is fairly simple, like most Korean restaurants. You go in, order what you want, and are cooking it at your table within five minutes. There's not much else to it, besides the enjoyment of a very good meal.






The staff at this restaurant has come to know us, and the boss man even speaks good English. We sometimes see each other when he comes out for a smoke, and we are sitting on the benches, enjoying a good cigar and shamelessly ogling all the Korean hotties out on the street.

After a good long feed of ribs, there's nothing like a good cigar along with some scotch or rummmmmmmmm.

Year 1 - Seasons Greetings

Season's Greetings, again!

When I last left off it was the day before the night before Christmas.

Christmas Eve caught me at my best and worst. I had supper with Don and Mary, the owners of the hagwon as well as the 2 South African teachers. We went to a meat and side dish place and hade Galbi. Galbi is beef on the bone. Actually a strip of beef attached to the bone, which you grill up in front of everyone with garlic, onion, Korean sweet potato, and mushrooms. Plus you have a plethora of side dishes. Several types of kimchi, duenjoen chigae, oysters, miniature clams, large peppers to dip in a bean paste, sweet potato noodles, daikon radish, things like that. It was a pretty good time. Even with a bit of a suck up fest I had to put up with from one of the other teachers.

The night took a downturn after dinner. Hilda and the gang who went to Cheju Island called. After talking with them I started getting depressed. All my friends in Korea were either on Cheju Island or off snowboarding. All my family and other friends are in Canada and the US, far away. Yeah, I got a case of the "poor me's". So, I promptly smacked myself one and decided to go out. It turned out that a teacher (Patrick) from another Hagwon and his brother Gordon were still in town. He had hurt his ankle so the snowboarding trip ended up being one night. I ended up joining them at a nearby bar.

Along comes Flint, with his Santa Hat on, and the festivities began. There was a table with 7 Korean women at it. They kept looking over at us. So, mainly due to Patrick, we ended up joining them, and picking up all 7 of them for most of the night. :) What can I say, it was amusing to see other guys try to come over, and the girls send them away to stay with us.

It turns out all 7 of them had been in Canada. They had each spent time, some a year, in British Columbia. Several even sported Canadian flag decals on their phones. They also all spoke English fairly well. We ended up at a nurae-bang (karaoke room) with 4 of them. I got home after 5AM Christmas morning. It was a great night. Odds are we will be getting together with them tomorrow night, New Years Eve. ;)

Mind you it is pretty much impossible to have a social life right now. Actually for the next month. It is winter break here, so all the parents send their kids to private schools. My January hours will be 11 hours a day teaching. 6:30-11:00Am and back from 2:30-9:00PM. Weekends are free, and we have a four day break at the end of the month. Which we will definitely need. I am thinking of spending some time in Seoul.

New Years Eve should be fun. Mind you, it will also be a little sad. It will be our farewell, again, send off for a teacher, Dave. He will be leaving January 2nd for Prague to take a course, and teach. He is a pretty cool guy, one of the better teachers, and people here. We will miss him.

Tonight we took him to the same place I went to Christmas Eve for a send off dinner. Damn it was good. :) Here is a price comparison for you. For 7 of us to eat it cost a whopping 43,000 won. Lets say $43 CDN. It cost 4 people $120 CDN to have a similar, but smaller, dinner at a Korean restaurant in Halifax. Quite the difference.

I hope everyone has a great New Year!

Take care

Flint

*****

I will have to devote a post to the other 2 teachers at the school. I don't really mention them because they were assholes. (Done.)

Heh ... the 7 girls was ALL Patrick's work. Not mainly due to ... all due to. One of the most outgoing people I have ever known and just a great person over-all.