The weekend as an english teacher in Korea can be a time for mundane activities such as laundry, a time to restock the fridge with sustenance to get you through the week or a time for the wonderfully sporadic, exciting and unexpected to occur. Last weekend myself and 4 other teachers from my school decided to make Saturday at time for the latter.
Our mission: head out to the outskirts of the city, find a place called, "Herb Hills" and zipline.
We got started a little late in the afternoon and after waiting a bit longer than expected for a our bus from Dongdaegu Station (the main train station in Daegu) to arrive we were finally on our way to the fantastic world of eco-tourism brought to you by, "Herb Hills" Upon our arrival we were met by an outdoor adventure theme park that was half wonderfully tacky and half completely bizarre. On one side of the path up toward our eco-zipline adventures would be bumper cars surrounded by large, beautiful flowers and on the other would be a singing pirate ship carnival ride with a small bear and monkey leashed up and fighting each other for the park-goer's enjoyment.
We finally made our way to the rope/zipline course where we got suited up with harnesses, helmets and gloves, signed our lives away, went through a 5 minute "how not to die" training crash course and then we were on our way. The course was difficult to quite difficult and lasted about 45mins-1 hr. I didn't bring my camera with so all I have to show you is a video I found on youtube that documents some other people's time at the park. Sorry. Just cut out a picture of me and put it on the screen and you can basically get a sense of me at the park.
It was well worth the journey out and ziplining was a blast. However, one of the funnest things we did was the bumper cars as we were about to leave the park. We were half way out, we saw the bumper cars sitting sadly in the dark under the tent, we all gave each other a look and soon were saddled up and ready to whiplash the heck out of each other. By far the longest bumper car session i've ever been a part of, by far the fastest and most high impact bumper car session i've ever been a part of. Lots of fun.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feXdSA7becE
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Pass the lips, through the gums, look out stomach, WELCOME TO KOREA!
It's interesting how travel always boils down to food. When someone goes anywhere food is most likely the first and, if not, second things discussed. Let's face it, we like to eat. Nuff said. So, in the spirit of this human tradition, this post will be all about food.
First off, i'm not Andrew Zimmerman or Anthony Bourdain and nor will I ever parade myself around as either. However, i'd like to think that my pallet is open to most anything served on a plate, in a bowl, in a cup or in a hand.
After arriving in Korea, one of the first things people ask you is, "what have you been eating?" Unfortunately for me, my answer for my first few weeks in Korea was, "bread, jam, and dry cereal." (Context alert!! Although I love all three, the reason my diet was comprised of these "staples" was basically because these items were what the school provided me in my apartment for my first month on the job. And, to those who know me, i'm not a HUGE spender, and waiting for my first paycheck while surviving on the small wad of cash I brought with me was enough reason for me to postpone my culinary adventures until I could support such an expedition.
So, that brings us to today, August 21st, 2010 and I am happy to say that the expedition has begun and has thus far been a major success.
Sampling new food in Korea can be an exciting "to-do" but an intimidating "to-do" when the language barrier is substantial and thrown in your face at every turn. Even back home ordering can be a bit of an ordeal. Now add the element that everything on the menu is in code and you lack the "decoder ring" in which to crack said code. This can make venturing out a bit tough at first. Thankfully for me i've been blessed with some great friends/guides so far that have baby-stepped me through "eating out 101" in korea.
The korean dining experience is quite diverse and adventurous but one thing is consistent. It is an experience. Back home my family and I have broken down the "eating out experience" to something closer to a marathon runner grabbing a cup of water while running at top speed and never looking back. It's not quite drive-thru, but when we're all waiting for the food to come amidst the clearly audible growls of our stomachs we'd be lying if we weren't all wishing it was. Then, ALAS, the food comes! What happens next? We eat. No talking. We eat. Then at the beep of the stopwatch we toss our napkins on the pearly white plates that only minutes prior held the miracle of the chef's long and arduous efforts, we toss some a card at the wait staff and our peeling out before the mere idea of "offering dessert" is even processed by the wait staff.
Ok, a little loose with the facts, but you get the gist.
So now take that entire account and pull a George Costanza reverse psychology action where,"...up was down, black was white, good was bad, day was night."
Eating out in korea is a "dining experience." It includes a HUGE array and variety of side dishes which on their own would stuff you to the brim. There is plenty of the main course in addition to MANY courses that follow the "main" course and one sits and enjoys the experience. Needless to say, my natural instincts to dine, pay of course and dash took a while to control but now i've become completely comfortable with this new practice.
The side dishes that come with almost every big meal in a restaurant are a combination or vegetables (pickled everything), noodle dishes, soups, salads and, of course, kimchi which always enjoyed.
The wait-staff:
First off, they are extremely helpful and accomodating. It's no secret that when they see me or a group of us walk through the door, they say to each other, "ok, who wants to babysit?" But, regardless of their view towards catering to foreigners to the likes of me, they put on a smile and are very kind.
One thing that takes some getting used to is how to actually request assistance in a restaurant. In the more modern restaurants each table has a red circular button at the end of the table and you simply push it and out comes your waiter/waitress. No exactly Larry David's "bell" concept but quite convenient nonetheless. In some of the older restaurants there is only one thing to do when you need some help and this is not for the shy hermit of crab of a diner. When you need help you simply take a deep breath and scream as loud as you can, "YOGEEYO!!!" At first scream you'd think you'd get a look from the wait-staff fired back at you with contempt. However, they simply come out to your table with a smile looking to see what you need. Pretty interesting.
Dining out options:
Well, in Daegu alone there are hundreds and hundreds of restaurants. Western and Korean. So, you can get basically anything you want. Obviously some western fare won't be of the quality from back home, but it'll all get the job done more or less. I've yet to really crave western food but so far i've only had Korean Coldstone. This visit was a reminder of our over-indulgent portion practice back home. At the same price from home, the "like it" (smallest size of cup) was about the same size as the "sample" cup back home. And the"like it" from home is about the size of their "gotta have it" (biggest size for one person).
The most western food i've had was during my time on the army base Camp Carrol where I volunteered for their week long Vacation Bible School. On base I had subway which was a nce reminder of home.
Most of my dining out so far has been korean. When most people eat out in Korea you either go to a sit-down restaurant, or what a lot of people do is grab some food from what us "foreigners" call the "Orange Shop." There are tons of these around the city and you can identify them because, well, they're orange. There you can find some great tasting korean dishes at insanely low prices. The dishes i've sample so far are fried dumplings and steamed dumplings called "mandu," a cold noodle soup which I forget the name of, "kimbap" which is a long role of rice, vegetables and some sort o meat wrapped in seaweed and "bibimbap" which is a mix of noodles, rice and vegetables. All dishes go for 3 dollars and under and the portion is what you'd expect at a restaurant back home. Pretty amazing!
Eating out, a popular type of food is meat grilled on a grill on top of the table. So far i've had pork which is called, "samgyeopsal" and duck meat which I don't know the name of. The pork is served in thick "bacon like" strips of meat. The duck was served in large chunks of meat. Both extremely tasty. I've yet to try the beef ribs on the grill which i've heard are tasty as well.
Outside of the grill I had my first real bizarre foray into Korean cusine. A friend from work took me out to a seafood place that specialized in raw seafood. There I dined on raw sea squirt called, "mungay" which had a very iodiny tast, raw "still squirming" sea slug, raw fish and temporo vegetables. Everything was actually very good and for the price of $9 the portions and quality was unbelievable. With drinks included, it would easily have been over $100 in a restaurant back home.
Probably the strangest thing i've had so far went into my stomach last night. Amongst the company of 3 guys from my school, we all flexed our machismo stomach muscles and dined on pig intestine called, "makchang." We had pork on the grill as well but the main star of the show was the intestine. I'd heard a lot of testimonials about the experience but wanted to try it for myself. The intestine was thankfully grilled, cut up and then served. Upon first tasting it it tasted a lot like the consistency of gristle or fat off of a steak. However, the inside of each little ring of intestinal goodness was soft, squishy and, how do i put this.................rather poopy. Sorry, but there was not other way to put that. When all was said and done and we all successfully all downed our portions of the 30 pieces of intestine, i'm glad I tried it but wouldn't say it worked it's way up my favorite things to eat when i'm hungry list. I'd have it again but might wait a while.
Pizza in Korea:
Pizza and Italian food is surprisingly popular in Korea. When I ask my kids what their favorite foods are, at least 4 of the 13 in the class will say pizza or spaghetti.
In terms of pizza, Pizza Hut and Domino's have successfully crossed the ocean and staked their claim on the asian continent. However, for a pizza the size of a medium back home you're looking to pay about $20!!! Needless to say, my craving for either chain's product has easily been held at bay for the time being. In the meanwhile i've tried to check out some local pie joints. In my neighborhood there are two main pizzerias, Pizza Maru and Pizza Bing. So far i've only had Pizza Maru but have hear that Pizza Bingo is quality as well. The pizza is about the size of a medium/large pizza back home and will put you back $6. Muuuuuuch better.
The pizza was freshly baked and at Maru they use a green tea leaf based pie crust which was pretty tasty. After the korean pizza "mama" loaded my pizza in the box, tied a bow around it like a present and put it in the hands of the hungry pizza fiend, I was on my way to sample some Korean pizza. Overall opinion, quite good for the price. Not my favorite pizza of all time but for $6 it was pretty good. The korean pizza is very light on the sauce and they use a lot of vegetables, especially adding corn on many of their pizzas, and the cheese was somewhat bland. But with that said, it tasted like pizza, I ate it all and was full at the end.
Well, that's all for food so far but i'll keep you updated on more culinary adventures as they disappear from my plate. Love you all.
First off, i'm not Andrew Zimmerman or Anthony Bourdain and nor will I ever parade myself around as either. However, i'd like to think that my pallet is open to most anything served on a plate, in a bowl, in a cup or in a hand.
After arriving in Korea, one of the first things people ask you is, "what have you been eating?" Unfortunately for me, my answer for my first few weeks in Korea was, "bread, jam, and dry cereal." (Context alert!! Although I love all three, the reason my diet was comprised of these "staples" was basically because these items were what the school provided me in my apartment for my first month on the job. And, to those who know me, i'm not a HUGE spender, and waiting for my first paycheck while surviving on the small wad of cash I brought with me was enough reason for me to postpone my culinary adventures until I could support such an expedition.
So, that brings us to today, August 21st, 2010 and I am happy to say that the expedition has begun and has thus far been a major success.
Sampling new food in Korea can be an exciting "to-do" but an intimidating "to-do" when the language barrier is substantial and thrown in your face at every turn. Even back home ordering can be a bit of an ordeal. Now add the element that everything on the menu is in code and you lack the "decoder ring" in which to crack said code. This can make venturing out a bit tough at first. Thankfully for me i've been blessed with some great friends/guides so far that have baby-stepped me through "eating out 101" in korea.
The korean dining experience is quite diverse and adventurous but one thing is consistent. It is an experience. Back home my family and I have broken down the "eating out experience" to something closer to a marathon runner grabbing a cup of water while running at top speed and never looking back. It's not quite drive-thru, but when we're all waiting for the food to come amidst the clearly audible growls of our stomachs we'd be lying if we weren't all wishing it was. Then, ALAS, the food comes! What happens next? We eat. No talking. We eat. Then at the beep of the stopwatch we toss our napkins on the pearly white plates that only minutes prior held the miracle of the chef's long and arduous efforts, we toss some a card at the wait staff and our peeling out before the mere idea of "offering dessert" is even processed by the wait staff.
Ok, a little loose with the facts, but you get the gist.
So now take that entire account and pull a George Costanza reverse psychology action where,"...up was down, black was white, good was bad, day was night."
Eating out in korea is a "dining experience." It includes a HUGE array and variety of side dishes which on their own would stuff you to the brim. There is plenty of the main course in addition to MANY courses that follow the "main" course and one sits and enjoys the experience. Needless to say, my natural instincts to dine, pay of course and dash took a while to control but now i've become completely comfortable with this new practice.
The side dishes that come with almost every big meal in a restaurant are a combination or vegetables (pickled everything), noodle dishes, soups, salads and, of course, kimchi which always enjoyed.
The wait-staff:
First off, they are extremely helpful and accomodating. It's no secret that when they see me or a group of us walk through the door, they say to each other, "ok, who wants to babysit?" But, regardless of their view towards catering to foreigners to the likes of me, they put on a smile and are very kind.
One thing that takes some getting used to is how to actually request assistance in a restaurant. In the more modern restaurants each table has a red circular button at the end of the table and you simply push it and out comes your waiter/waitress. No exactly Larry David's "bell" concept but quite convenient nonetheless. In some of the older restaurants there is only one thing to do when you need some help and this is not for the shy hermit of crab of a diner. When you need help you simply take a deep breath and scream as loud as you can, "YOGEEYO!!!" At first scream you'd think you'd get a look from the wait-staff fired back at you with contempt. However, they simply come out to your table with a smile looking to see what you need. Pretty interesting.
Dining out options:
Well, in Daegu alone there are hundreds and hundreds of restaurants. Western and Korean. So, you can get basically anything you want. Obviously some western fare won't be of the quality from back home, but it'll all get the job done more or less. I've yet to really crave western food but so far i've only had Korean Coldstone. This visit was a reminder of our over-indulgent portion practice back home. At the same price from home, the "like it" (smallest size of cup) was about the same size as the "sample" cup back home. And the"like it" from home is about the size of their "gotta have it" (biggest size for one person).
The most western food i've had was during my time on the army base Camp Carrol where I volunteered for their week long Vacation Bible School. On base I had subway which was a nce reminder of home.
Most of my dining out so far has been korean. When most people eat out in Korea you either go to a sit-down restaurant, or what a lot of people do is grab some food from what us "foreigners" call the "Orange Shop." There are tons of these around the city and you can identify them because, well, they're orange. There you can find some great tasting korean dishes at insanely low prices. The dishes i've sample so far are fried dumplings and steamed dumplings called "mandu," a cold noodle soup which I forget the name of, "kimbap" which is a long role of rice, vegetables and some sort o meat wrapped in seaweed and "bibimbap" which is a mix of noodles, rice and vegetables. All dishes go for 3 dollars and under and the portion is what you'd expect at a restaurant back home. Pretty amazing!
Eating out, a popular type of food is meat grilled on a grill on top of the table. So far i've had pork which is called, "samgyeopsal" and duck meat which I don't know the name of. The pork is served in thick "bacon like" strips of meat. The duck was served in large chunks of meat. Both extremely tasty. I've yet to try the beef ribs on the grill which i've heard are tasty as well.
Outside of the grill I had my first real bizarre foray into Korean cusine. A friend from work took me out to a seafood place that specialized in raw seafood. There I dined on raw sea squirt called, "mungay" which had a very iodiny tast, raw "still squirming" sea slug, raw fish and temporo vegetables. Everything was actually very good and for the price of $9 the portions and quality was unbelievable. With drinks included, it would easily have been over $100 in a restaurant back home.
Probably the strangest thing i've had so far went into my stomach last night. Amongst the company of 3 guys from my school, we all flexed our machismo stomach muscles and dined on pig intestine called, "makchang." We had pork on the grill as well but the main star of the show was the intestine. I'd heard a lot of testimonials about the experience but wanted to try it for myself. The intestine was thankfully grilled, cut up and then served. Upon first tasting it it tasted a lot like the consistency of gristle or fat off of a steak. However, the inside of each little ring of intestinal goodness was soft, squishy and, how do i put this.................rather poopy. Sorry, but there was not other way to put that. When all was said and done and we all successfully all downed our portions of the 30 pieces of intestine, i'm glad I tried it but wouldn't say it worked it's way up my favorite things to eat when i'm hungry list. I'd have it again but might wait a while.
Pizza in Korea:
Pizza and Italian food is surprisingly popular in Korea. When I ask my kids what their favorite foods are, at least 4 of the 13 in the class will say pizza or spaghetti.
In terms of pizza, Pizza Hut and Domino's have successfully crossed the ocean and staked their claim on the asian continent. However, for a pizza the size of a medium back home you're looking to pay about $20!!! Needless to say, my craving for either chain's product has easily been held at bay for the time being. In the meanwhile i've tried to check out some local pie joints. In my neighborhood there are two main pizzerias, Pizza Maru and Pizza Bing. So far i've only had Pizza Maru but have hear that Pizza Bingo is quality as well. The pizza is about the size of a medium/large pizza back home and will put you back $6. Muuuuuuch better.
The pizza was freshly baked and at Maru they use a green tea leaf based pie crust which was pretty tasty. After the korean pizza "mama" loaded my pizza in the box, tied a bow around it like a present and put it in the hands of the hungry pizza fiend, I was on my way to sample some Korean pizza. Overall opinion, quite good for the price. Not my favorite pizza of all time but for $6 it was pretty good. The korean pizza is very light on the sauce and they use a lot of vegetables, especially adding corn on many of their pizzas, and the cheese was somewhat bland. But with that said, it tasted like pizza, I ate it all and was full at the end.
Well, that's all for food so far but i'll keep you updated on more culinary adventures as they disappear from my plate. Love you all.
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