Food

So far...

I don't like squid in things.  At all.  Tentacles are chewy and gross.

I like kimchi, but not a ton of it... I like a few bites per meal.  It's really good grilled, with galbi (see below).

I like bipimbap!  Especially the spicy red sauce that you stir in it... mmm :)

I like galbi, especailly when it's well-done.  There's this one place close-by that has egg cooking in a moat around the grate where you grill the meat on your table. With live coals.  I can't get over that; it's such a fire hazard!  But it's delicious, so who cares, right?

I like gimbap, which is a lot like sushi, but does not necessarily have raw fish in it.  The kind I had yesterday was made with cooked pork.  It was just rolled, though, not cut up into bites. 

I also like most sides that come with meals, especially bean sprouts and seaweed.  Seaweed's either been cooked or dried in sheets, so it's either a lot like steamed spinach or it's salty and sea-tasting and crunchy.  Like really healthy chips.  Delish! 

I'm really glad I liked using chopsticks back home.  That makes it really easy to get used to utensils here, since you're pretty much never offered a fork!  They almost always have metal chopsticks and a large spoon at your table setting.  Metal chopsticks are harder to use, since you can't get the grip on your food that you can with wooden chopsticks.  Sometimes wooden ones are offered, especially to-go.  I've seen kitchen shears at several meals already, which help you chop up whatever you're eating into chopstick-ready portions. 

We get free lunch at the school, which is awesome.  That makes it easy to try lots of Korean dishes and decide what I like or don't like.  That also means that sometimes it's gross, like the spam-and-potato stew Thursday or the squid Friday.  But hey, it's free!  The other teachers told me that lunch is usually really good, so when it's not, I'll be happy with the piles of rice that go with everything.  Then I can go buy some food after school is over!

I made my first real trip to the grocery store today to get a few things for my motel room, since I won't move into my apartment til later this week.  I liked getting to walk around the store and scope everything out.  I can't wait until I have a kitchen and I can get all set up!