Today is a good day. It's Wednesday at work and all my classes were canceled (not very uncommon), tomorrow starts a six day stretch with no work, followed by another three day week. I need this break! Lots of fun things are on the docket, I will dutifully report on those next week..... For now I will fill you in on the many ways Josh and I spend our time and fill our thoughts! 
We have been very explorative and adventurous in the kitchen these days, embarking upon new recipes and revamping old ones. It is quite an escapade to go to a Korean grocery store seeking many basic, easy-to-find ingredients, to realize everything is in Korean (duh), and they don't use the same stuff to cook here. Buying flour was a guessing game.... we might end up with pancake mix or dried and powdered squid for all we knew... Success! With a bag of flour and a bunch of potatoes in hand we set out to make homemade gnocchi, a first for both of us.
It went great, and more importantly was so much fun and very messy; flour every where. It began with boiling potatoes, add egg, flour, and spices to make a dough, roll them out and cut them to size before cooking. Josh made a killer white sauce with tons of veggies and I made big bowls of spinach salad to go with it.... mmm, I think this one will be repeated. Here are some pictures of the process:
other recent cooking thrills have included Josh's homemade bbq sauce with lots of mustard in it and some toaster oven baked chicken nuggets from my side of the kitchen. Its fun and allows us to have some tastes from home for when the kimchi and rice get old.
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Well after a few months here our apartment is finally feeling homey and put together. Thanks to our *ahem* street score from a few weeks ago. We were out again for one of our epic walks when in a front parking lot area of some businesses we saw two couches.... which we've been on the market for for some time now. One of those would be perfect we thought, but we didn't know what exactly they were doing out there. Were they to be cleaned? Airing out from being inside a bar? Or were they one man's trash, and our found treasure? We literally walked away three times and went back, so unsure what to do. We were only about ten blocks from home, so we could carry it if need be, but we didn't want to pick it up only to be chased down by some business owner, for stealing his couch! Josh went in to inquire, down several flights of stairs, into an unknown business where he played a ridiculous game of charades with the man there, returning with no new information. We decided to go for it, noticing a layer of dust on the leather couch, making it seem that it had been outside for a few days. We moved quickly, awkwardly carrying the couch home a new way, so as to avoid the main line of sight from the businesses. The couch is perfect, fits in our tiny place just wonderfully, and after a quick cleaning it's good as new!
I am coming to love our view, and all the ways I have seen it. I am trying to take a photo a day of it, to make some kind of stop animation video down the road a ways. Here are some recent ones:
This storm was so incredible. the thunder went on through the whole night, echoing off all the buildings, shaking the whole city a little. Waking up to the loud kaboom's were sometimes really startling, and it took a moment to remember that it was just the effect of lightening in the sky. It is a strange phenomenon living in South Korea, so close to the dangerous border with the North. While tensions have certainly eased up, it is still a reality that there is a rouge nation just a few miles away. About 99% of the time I don't think of this, life is normal, I feel safe, I have all the comforts I need to live an easy life, but there are those moments... Being so foreign to this city, or a big city in general I am not used to the sounds, nor can I understand the language. These fearful moments come unexpectedly, perhaps there will be shouting from all directions on loud speakers, and people scurrying everywhere, this can be alarming! But it might just be the farmers in from the outskirts selling their produce and a lot of people late for work, it's the not knowing that sometimes stirs me. One night I woke up to the sound of a car accident outside, wow, that was the worst! I thought it was a bomb, or some explosion, it was so loud and people started making such commotion afterwards. Every subway station is equipped with cases filled with gas masks and flashlights and emergency rations of food and water, such a good idea (But lets my imagination run wild sometimes)! The emergency drills at our schools have a loud siren that sounds like and air raid or something, while it is clear that everything is okay, it still is an eerie experience to be rushing outside to crouch down and hide behind the tennis courts. Okay... well Josh and I joked about playing paintball near the DMZ, wearing camouflage (yeah right!). Making light of a potentially awful situation is the best tactic, because in reality, no matter where in the world one is there are dangers and threats if you choose to see it that way.... So we keep our ears and eyes open, but remember always to laugh!
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We have been really busy helping Nathan and Irina plan the wedding, seeing new and old friends, and exploring our giant city. But this has not interfered with our trip planning! We are planning to spend a few days next week in Chuncheon, a city NE of Seoul, and famous for Dakgalbi (my favorite Korean food, more on that later). Japan in early June and ten days in Veitnam in August! I'll surely keep you abreast of our journeys....
Love Love Love!
Just to add to the couch story...the experience of trying to communicate with a person who speaks a different language naturally leads one to a game of charades, a cultural experience you may or may not have encountered. This can be delightful when you are motioning that you would like to buy the skewer of chicken to the vender at the other side of a street cart, and even "how much?" is surprisingly global.
ReplyDeleteIn Korea, I've had to adopt an adventurers spirit exploring stairways that are lined with boxes, which look like store overstock, with boxes everywhere, to peek my head around the corner and finding an awesome store. These "employee only" feelings have to be overcome to discover what is in your neighborhood. This is the same for restaurants, most good ones are up many flights or down many, and when you enter, you don't know if it will be closed, very fancy, a tailor, or even a brothel!
All this to say, when you play charades, you pick out a card and some are more difficult than others. My card was descending 3 flights of granite steps that led to a man at a big wooden standing desk and a bunch of rooms with the lights off and door opened (and of course the feeling that I didn't belong). My fears that he didn't speak English were quickly confirmed. My charades card read: "Ask the man if the couches 3 flights up and on the street were being thrown out and could be taken." I did my best. I think there is one Korean man who thinks foreigners are a bit silly as a result.
Another notable comment is that not only did we find the couch, but also a beautiful wall hanging that Nicole spotted in the trash. There are benefits of living in a rich neighborhood!
Anyway, don't be surprised if I talk with my hands even more than I did before when we meet next...it's a matter of learned survival now.