korea

 
how fortunate we are to have a korean in our home while we explore korea
(ok, it wasn't that fortunate - i planned it that that way).
anyhow, it WAS interesting to follow-up our 'time' in Japan with When my Name was Keiko, a book that describes the last years of the 35 year japanese occupation of korea. in pepper's words: i used to love the japanese, now this book is making me hate them.
it's good to view the world from a variety of lens

we rediscovered NAXOS and listened to korean music, read some sijo (like haiku, but with it's own set of rules), and learned that Linda Sue Parks pretty much has the market cornered where korean juvenile fiction is concerned :)

inspired by the Bee-Bim-Bop book, we made our own for Yoon's celebration goodbye dinner. it was ALOT of work! no wonder Yoon's mother doesn't like to cook. Koreans have so many side dishes. it's a good thing that most items aren't expected to be hot - it would be near impossible to arrange that; like a christmas supper every night.
 
we've got carrots, spinach...
 
...beef...
 
...mung bean sprouts, rice, egg, ko-chee-chang...
 
... and how could it be a korean meal without kimchee?
 
here, pepper is removing our pot of kimchee from it's usual toxic waste container :)
i don't even allowed rob to eat it, uncooked, in the house - the smell is that strong.
 
bosco wanted noseplugs, but - yes, rob you were right - i got used to it quickly
 
 
we used almost every bowl we had - we had to resort to the pasta bowls
and,voila - BEE BIM BOP
 
while we're at the table (and not a low one that the books incorrectly led us to believe are common in korea - Yoon tells us it's just the korean restaurants), here are a few korean table manners:
- unlike the japanese, never hold the rice bowl or soup bowl in your hand
- never hold the spoon and chopsticks at the same time
- don't make noises with spoon or chopsticks hitting the bowls
- hot food on the right, cold food on the left
- don't leave the table while eating - take note, Bosco!

there are also drinking manners(!) that govern how to drink alcohol. there's korean a saying that goes: il bul, sam so, o ui, chil gwa, meaning "don't stop with one glass, 3 glasses lacks, 5 glasses is proper, and 7 glasses is over drinking"
! ! thank goodness Yoon was here to show us how small the glasses are ! !
(is this why koreans are known as the irish of asia? nope, it's because of that other irish trait: their temper)