Friday lunches

I usually have lunch with Professor Kim on Fridays. It's fun because he thinks of places that foods or cooking style I have not tried. Last week we were at a place with no shoes and sitting on the floor (not unusual). There were about 10 ban chan (side dishes), some fish (the whole thing - so I am getting better at using my chopsticks to find the flesh and avoiding the bones) and a new rice style. The rice comes in a thick cast iron type bowl that is very hot. Most of the rice is removed to a dish, and then some very hot water is poured in the bowl and lid replaced. The crunchy rice stuck to the bottom and sides comes off, and then it is like soup.

Today (after practicing my Korean with one of my students for 45 minutes after class), Professor Kim and I went to a shabu place (regular tables). There is a gas heat source in the middle of the table and a fairly shallow dish/pot with oil is put there. Thin-sliced raw beef, shrooms, and some cabbage is cooked. There was a large plate of veggies sliced very small - sprouts, carrots, and others. Then one takes a flat circular item that looks like plastic (diameter maybe 6 inches) and dips it quickly in a bowl of hot water. It is actually made of rice (a Vietnamese item). It softens up (and is clear), and then the cooked meat and veggies are wrapped inside. Three delicious dipping sauces were provided. Then some noodles are cooked. And then, of course because it is Korea, there is some rice. The waitress took the bowl of cooked rice, some pumpkin, and a raw egg and stirred it around in the oil. Tasty!! (A funny p.s. to this part of the note is that I took one of the flat things home and Michael thought it was for opening jars. It definitely got him interested in going to a shabu place. Prof. Kim got on his iPhone after lunch and showed me on a map where we can walk to a place in our neighborhood.)

We then walked a bit behind campus where there is a nice hike. I told Prof. Kim it's funny that moving to a city of 1 million people is providing such easy hiking opportunities. I knew Munsusan (san means mountain) was basically behind campus, but I didn't know how to get to a trail. What a great way to take a break.

Tomorrow we are going with the Jangs to .... Costco!! There is one in Busan. It's reallly not my kind of place, but I consider it an outing. I asked Justin a few weeks ago if his mom goes, and he said she had asked him if he thought I would want to go. Many of the expats at the foreigner compound take a trip over there every few months. I think the Jangs might think it's strange if I don't buy anything, so I will be on the look out for some difficult-to-find items or good bargains. We will also have lunch.

Time for language studying!! I want to learn some new places (bank, post office, park, grocery store, department store) so I can expand my answers to "Where are you going?" to include some places I really go.

It's a beautiful fall day here with a good forecast for our long weekend. God bless!
Kim and Michael