And the eating begins...well, sort of.

Fully prepared to start checking off the items on my Korean Food Bucket List, I set off last Sunday with my friend Jason and a piece of paper. I had written down a few dishes I thought I could easily find in my neighborhood. But after walking around for 20 minutes, I realized why I hadn't checked them off sooner. I definitely need to do a bit more prep work.

Tired of hearing my California-blooded pal moaning about the cold, I called off my quest and settled for a new restaurant called "The Meat Tree." It was traditional Korean dining meets New York butcher shop--various cuts of beef and pork neatly displayed behind a glass case in the back, and heated floors with mats waiting for you after you made your selection. We were in meat heaven.

I ordered galbitang (갈비탕), a slow-simmered beef short rib soup. Jason had a thicker, spicier variety. Both were rich, delicious and exactly what we (especially him) needed on a cold autumn day.


Before moving to Korea, I would have never considered going to a restaurant and ordering soup. In fact, if I did, I'd probably have a bit of my server's saliva mixed with it. However, since any meal in Korea is served with a variety of side dishes and rice, soups have become a staple in Korean cuisine. Soups are known as guk (국) and tang (탕), while Jjigae (찌개) refers to a wide variety of stews. There are easily 30 soups and stews that are well known and eaten regularly in Korea. I have no idea of the number that actually exist.

I don't know how much I'll miss eating rice for every meal, or having some sort of tiny fish or octopus in nearly everything I eat, but I will definitely miss ordering a big bowl of soup for dinner. At a restaurant. For less than five dollars.

Tea Time

Every so often, the lights of the big city get too bright, the cars too loud and the people too rude. Lucky for me, there are a few groups of people (meetup.com) who are always looking to get away.

Last weekend, about 35 foreigners and I took a 5-hour bus ride to Naejangsan--a mountain south of Seoul, known for its beautiful fall foliage. We spent most of Saturday hiking the mountain, then headed to Nagan Folk Village to spend the night in traditional Korean huts.The village was amazing, and so were the people. But sleeping on the floor, even after a year and some-odd months doing it, left something to be desired.

The next day, we visited a nearby green tea farm to pick flowers and drink tea. We also learned how to properly serve and drink the beverage, then took turns pressing and drying the leaves. As a reward, we got a box of loose leaf tea, a bag of green tea flowers and a big bowl of green tea bibimbap.Afterwards, we purchased green tea ice cream and an assortment of rice cakes and cookies for the ride home.

It was a good weekend.




Picking green tea flowers.

Some of my hard work.

The green tea leaves we pressed into shapes to dry.

Green tea bibimbap.