Look. Look! LOOK!!

What a wonderful filling this dumpling has!  Stephen, Bethany and Cammon flew all the way from Texas to Korea for a visit.  What  venturous and intrepid intrepid travellers,  Bethany especially, as she also brought baby Courtlynn - due in July - along with her.  They were here for 2 weeks, and we hope they enjoyed their visit as much as we enjoyed having them. Despite wacky weather and the logisitcs of living in the provinces, between the 5 of us we did and saw a lot - too much to cover in one blog. So, here are some highlights, but don't be surprised if these wonderful people show up here from time to time in the future.

 

From bulgogi burgers at McDonald's, to fabulous Korean spreads, one thing everyone enjoyed was eating! 

Cammon, with his big round blue eyes, his long eyelashes, and his sweet smile, charmed the Koreans everywhere he went.  Here, he is admiring himself in the back of a spoon at the blacksmith shop in the Folk Village. 

Bethany and Cammon make themselves "at home."

Stephen, who recently earned his Black Belt in Taekwondo, demonstrates a kick at the World Taekwondo headquarters in Seoul.

Cammon and Stephen enjoying a ride on the Seoul Metro.

Stephen in North Korea - on the news we have heard that North Korea wants all tours of the DMZ to cease, so this could be a thing of the past - one never knows when it comes to that country.

Bethany, Cammon, and Sarah explore Seoul, while Layden and Stephen make a quick trip to Gyeongju, a very historic site on the southeast side of the peninsula.

This sculpture is outside Nokyang station, "our" metro stop.  Layden has been waiting for the chance to get Cammon up on the horse.  He liked it up there.  And we liked having them here - it was a quick two weeks and over too soon.  Thanks, kids, for making the effort.  We love you!

Oh - a short note about the weather we enjoyed during the visit...

Who has seen the wind?

Neither you nor I -

but if your kids many miles do fly,

Cold breezes go whipping by.

Who has seen the rain?

Many people, I am sure,

And when you want an outdoor tour,

The storm clouds will pour.

Who has seen the snow?

White, feathery and cold?

Us!  In March!

When sun was foretold!

Who has seen Yellow Sand?

From Mongolia it blows down -

Into your nose, and hair and clothes,

And turns the sky an eerie yellow-brown.

Only Layden...

...could go run errands in the neighborhood and end up with this story! 

It had been a busy day at our house, moving furniture and getting ready for our family to visit (which is happening Friday - I can hardly wait!).  We needed a couple of things from our local hardware store so Layden, who likes to visit there and is good buds with the proprietor, volunteered to go.  And since I was still cleaning, he said he would bring home something to eat.  He decided he wanted bi bim-bap, a rice dish with vegetables, red pepper paste, and often an egg on top. He asked Hardware Man for a recommendation and was personally escorted to a nearby restaurant, about 2 blocks from our house.  He ordered bi bim-bap.  As they were getting ready to serve it, he realized he had forgotten to say he wanted it to go.  The server was surprised - apparently they don't do take-out.  BUT, because he had come in with Hardware Man (and because he is Layden-I could have come in with the Queen of England and all I would have gotten was an "Oh so sorry") he did get it to go. 

Here is what came through the door.

1)

LARGE red and yellow carrying box.

2)

Covered stone dish containing our meal.

3)

Butane tabletop burner!

4)

DELICIOUS, piping hot bibim-bap!  YUM!!

All this, plus a ride home, no extra charge, and not even a deposit!  Way to go Layden!

What I Learned From My Microwave

We decided that we had been without a microwave long enough, so this last weekend we purchased one.  Our PX sells microwaves that operate on 110 and work on-post, but we live off post and Korea is a 220 country.  So we got a Korean microwave - a fairly basic model -  with lots of interesting buttons (Koreans like things with buttons) all labeled in Hangul.  Between the pictures in the instruction manual and help from a friend, I got the buttons identified.  Pre-programmed buttons on microwaves are a reflection of functions and food items that are most frequently used, which I knew.  What was surprising to me was how much cultural insight I have gained by knowing what these buttons do.  There are the usual on, off, timer and quick defrost buttons. There is one for cooking rice, one for soup, one for noodles and one for warming "baby milk."  The "mandu frozen" button made sense - mandu (little dumplings that look like won-tons) is popular but time consuming to make, so it is often sold frozen. No surprises so far, and an interesting reflection of common Korean foods. But there is more - a button for "frozen rice food", which is the equivalent of our "TV dinner" and which almost always contain rice.  I didn't know about these.   Then there was a button for frozen pizza.  I had no idea Koreans liked pizza enough to have a dedicated button.  I also didn't know you could get frozen pizza here.  Even more surprising was the popcorn button!   Maybe you just can't get a microwave without a popcorn button, no matter where you live.  These are the "food" buttons.  Next are the "utility" buttons.  There is one for santizing baby bottles.  And one for deodorizing the microwave.  And, perhaps my favorite - one for steamed towels!  Sometimes in a restaurant you will be given a warm towel for your face and hands before you eat.  This is not just a restaurant luxury but is done at home - another thing I learned from my microwave.  So - what does your microwave say about your culture?  Which buttons do you use the most?  While you figure that out, I am going out to see if I can find any of those little hand towels so that I, too, can set a proper Korean table.