Introduction to Korean Food

On this day associated with a lot of eating I will start to tackle the subject of Korean cuisine.  This is going to be a multiple post subject because there is a lot of stuff that does go along with food.  I have been here around seven months and so of course I have been eating Korean food for some time now.  I have waited in order to gather some pictures and to figure out how to describe the food.  For this post I will start with the very basics of Korean food.   

First thing to talk about regarding Korean food is the utensils used to eat Korean food.  Every meal you get a spoon and two sticks.  Of course these sticks you work together in order to form chopsticks and eat with them, but they essentially are sticks that are a tiny bit thinner on one side of the sticks.  This thinner side is where you pick up the food with and grip with the thicker side of the chopsticks.  When I first did get to Korea I wasn’t that good with chopsticks and essentially had to learn fresh.  By now though they are no issue and I can pick up anything even all the way down to a single grain of rice.  There is one dish that you do get a fork, but to my knowledge that is the only exception.   To cut stuff in Korea you do use the chopsticks or for some dishes you do get scissors. 

After the utensils the next biggest point in Korean cuisine is the side dishes.  Some people may have heard of Korea being the “land of the morning calm,” which is true.  Another accurate known thing about Korea is that it is the “land of the side dishes.”  Koreans pride themselves on their side dishes and it isn’t quite the same as back home.  So side dishes come with every single meal and they are endless.  Essentially meaning you can get as much as you want and there is no charge to these side dishes.  They usually come on little white plates and fill up the table.  There are multiple different side dishes but going from one restaurant to another you will have overlap of the side dishes.  Some side dishes range from: onions, garlic, bean sprouts, anchovies, seaweed, mushrooms, fish cake, pickles, corn, rice cake, radishes, spam, and the list goes on.  Some of these side dishes are by themselves or are mixed with a red sauce.

The main side dish of Korea is known as ‘kimchi.’  In fact it is known as their national dish.  When people think of Korean food usually kimchi is the first thing that comes to their mind.  There are many different types of kimchi but essentially it is: vegetables mixed with spices and a chili paste left to ferment for some time.  By the time you eat kimchi it can have a pickled kind of taste, along with a spicy, or sour taste.  The traditional way to prepare kimchi is to bury it in the ground for some time.  Of course it is in a container but it stays in the ground to ferment and turn into kimchi.  Some main ingredients for some different types of kimchi include: cabbage, radish, scallion, and cucumber.  Kimchi does come with every single meal.  At first I didn’t touch the kimchi because I didn’t like it at all.  Now slowly I can tolerate it a little bit.  It does help mixing it with some rice or other piece of food, but still not my first choice. 

Last thing for this post is the ‘button.’  The button is essentially a button that is at every table which is used to get a hold of a server.  After walking into a place and sitting down you simply take your time thinking of what to order and push the button.  This button does a ringing noise and then you know someone will be over shortly.  The button basically means you won’t be bothered unless you need something.  Now keep in mind, there is no tipping at all in Korea.  So before thinking you need this button in the United States the servers here don’t need to work extra for any type of tip.  So back home if your service is good don’t forget to tip your servers. 

This post has started to look at the food situation in Korea.  Start practicing with chopsticks, be aware of side dishes, and of course the button is important, or you will never be served.  A future post will look at some different types of food that is commonly eaten.  Then eventually work my way to the crazy food that can be eaten.  Some of this food might not be considered ‘normal,’ but who is to say what is ‘normal?’  Snow is officially here.  Monday night I did see a little bit falling, but last night there was a lot.  It is currently snowing right now!  Not white out conditions but enough to stick around for some time.  Pictures aren't cooperating and loading up.  Will write later.

     

Season Change

One interesting fact about Korea that is different from back home in Arizona is that here there are four seasons.  Sure I have heard multiple times that the spring and autumn season are becoming shorter the last couple of years, but either way they still do have these seasons.  This last week alone I have noticed a big change in the weather and for about a month it is noticeable in the surrounding nature.  The leaves have been falling off trees for some time now.  Not only falling off but also changing colors that are quite bright. 

This picture was taken in a city by the name of Asan.  On Saturday I planned on going hiking around Boryeong because I never did make it last weekend.  I was walking towards the small mountain when a friend of mine pulled up in his car and said he is going up to Asan if I want to join.  It is about a two and half drive up to the Northeast of Boryeong.  Our destination was this temple that is also known to have some good Fall colors.  It was a fun little adventure.  

Not only the trees give the hint that it has been autumn but the main give away is the weather.  A couple of nights ago it did get into freezing temperatures and it is only November.  The forecast in the next week or so has the average high somewhere in the mid-forties to the low-fifties.   While on the other hand the average lows is around low forties to the low thirties.  So if you are reading the Celsius scale that would put some of the numbers on some of the nights at 0 and below.  It is just beginning and probably will be a long cold winter here in Korea.  Definitely something new for me to experience.  No snow is in the forecast yet, but looking at past years, snow does start around November.  Then December is when the snow will actually stick around and not simply melt away right away.  Most likely January will bring most of the snow.

It is kind of funny seeing what the students are wearing at school already.  They all have on these big jackets.  The heat isn’t on yet and I don’t even know if we will ever get heat turned on in the classrooms.  Koreans are kind of strange with how they deal with the weather.  They will have windows wide open but at the same time multiple layers including a big jacket.  So typically if the windows are closed in the classroom then it will be a little bit warmer than out in the hallways which are all tile and cement.  This isn’t always the case and sometimes a window will be open.  It is kind of strange and doesn’t make much sense.     

I will report later when it does snow.  For now though the colors are nice to enjoy especially knowing it will eventually lead to a dead looking environment that is really cold.  This week has been a typical week at school with not that many changes.  I didn’t make it hiking two weeks ago because of playing football on Saturday and proceeding to hurt my ankle a little bit more.  This week I have been good and haven’t participated in any sports or strenuous activities on my ankle.  It hasn’t been easy and I can’t wait for next week when I will be giving myself the go ahead to start playing again.  Here are some more pictures of the scenery this time of the year.  I will write later.      

*Snow Update-I originally wrote this post over this past weekend but pictures weren't loading so I didn't post it right away.  Yesterday morning and even today there were traces of snowfall over the night.  A mountain close by does have a small dusting, even now after a whole day of sunshine/ cloud coverage.  

Trees by my school in Spring

Trees by my school in Summer

Trees by my school in Autumn 

Busan Fireworks Festival

A couple of weekends ago I took a trip down to Busan.  This is the second time heading down to the coastal town of Busan.  I went down there for a weekend away plus there was also a fireworks festival happening.  It was a good weekend with a chance to ride a bullet train, visit a temple, visit a bigger city, and see a firework show.

To get down to Busan a few friends and I took the train on Friday night.  In Korea there are different types of trains but for saving time we ended up going down on the bullet train.  It is a quick train where the average speed is around 300 kilometres per hour.  Once we finally do get on the bullet train it does only take two hours to get down to Busan, but it is two hours before that for a slow train and a layover.  For math deficient people that does add up to a four hour commute.  Once down in Busan we went out for some dinner and walked out by the beach setting off our own fireworks.  Of course our little show was nothing in comparison to the show the next night, but still was fun setting off fireworks along the beach.  We were staying at a hostel that is about a two minute walk to the beach and so that is even closer than my place back in Boryeong.

On Saturday we did get up in order to go see some of the sites in Busan.  Our first stop was a temple.  This temple is an older temple but at the same time one of the busier temples when it comes to having tourist visit it.  It was my first temple in Korea of that size.  It was neat to see how old the buildings were but at the same time still had a commanding presence.  I still don't know much about what each building or statue signifies in regards to the Budhist Temple, but I will describe what I did see.  Walking along the path towards the main building there were different statues that resembled each different symbol in the different Chinese years.  Then we walked down this path that eventually led to the biggest building where it looked like prayers or meditation happens.  Next to this building there was some smaller building that looked like shrines for different things.  Plus there were a few bigger statues that were of figures of importance.  The only one that I did recognize was Buddha.  Plus throughout the whole thing there were mini Buddha figurines just sitting or laying on the rocks.  The whole time we were there some music that was more like chanting was happening by the monks.  I am sure I will visit other temples while in Korea because the temples are all over the place.

After the temple we headed back into town to grab some food.  Shortly after that we heard from other people we have better get down to the beach where the fireworks are going to be because it is starting to fill up.  We ended up on Gwanghali beach about four-thirty in the afternoon, and about ten minutes later there might not have been room for us.  It was the busiest and most unorganised crowd of people I have ever been amongst.  Obviously we had to wait around for dark for the fireworks so one person would leave our spot at a time to go get various items such as: food, drinks, and blankets.  Only one left at a time for fear of losing our spot, but leaving and getting back wasn't easy with the crowd of people.  Eventually the show started at 8:00 and it went on for a constant 50 minutes.  They also did have some music that was synced with the fireworks.  Plus there were a few fireworks I have never seen before.  Overall it was an amazing show and well worth the wait and crowd.

That was a pretty fun weekend down in Busan.  This week has been normal classes for the students until tomorrow.  Tomorrow is a huge test for all high schoolers and is basically the college entrance exam.  How well they do tomorrow could potentially have an affect for many years down the road.  Basically saying if they can go to college and if so what they can study.  So it will be interesting to see how that changes things tomorrow.  This weekend I am going to try to go hiking somewhere to see the Autumn colors.  I wanted to go last week but I rolled my ankle playing soccer so I needed to rest.  I am sure there still will be some leaves left before the cold comes and ushers everything away.  Below are some pictures from the weekend in Busan.  Will write later.  

Statues representing Chinese years 

Little figurines on bottom right were all over the place

Interesting dragon, deer, snake looking creature.  Notice little figurines all aver the rocks below creature. 

All of the people still weren't there.  You couldn't see a single piece of sand on the beach.