Happy Korean New Year

Those of you still in Asia who get a chance to check up on the blog, I was fortunate enough to celebrate Korean New Year!  And it was a feast!  And it was tasty.  Sometimes, the food alone makes me want to go back to South Korea.  A friend of mine from high school and I met up last year while I was home for a bit.  I hadn't seen him in forever and it turned out he lived in Korea for quite some time.  Even crazier, his mom was from Korea.  Last year he invited me over to the feast, but for some reason I was unable to make it.  This year, I wasn't going to miss it.  The food was delicious and I ate way too much, which happens.  There's just something about it...  A special thank you to the Werner family for hosting as well as for the invitation.  It was greatly appreciated!

Happy New Year!

(Here you get a sense of the spread.  In addition to all of the food on the table we had duk mandu guk or rice cakes with dumplings soup.  It's a tradition in Korea and is supposed to bring good luck for the New Year, kind of like Pork and Sauerkraut for those Pennsylvania Dutch people out there.)

(There were a ton of little sides, mainly consisting of veggies, mandu, the dumplings, bit sized batter fish, galbi, which is marinated ribs, kimchi, kimchi pancakes, clear noodle pasta, fried zucchini, Korean shish kabobs, marinated tofu, and a lot of other food!  It was AWESOME!)

(Here you can see the fried zucchini, kimchi pancakes, and mushroom pancakes of sorts)

(Here's a plate of the mandu)

(The day before Stevie and I were on Mandu duty.  Here are all the mandu we made.  It took about 2 hours to make about 200 with 2 people.  I don't think we were the fastest mandu makers nor were we trying to set any records.)

(These mandu were stuffed with kimchi, clear noodles, tofu, which I hand pressed, some eggs, sesame oil, and a few secret ingredients...)

(Here were all the mandu wrappers - a bit overwhelming when we first started)

(Here's a close up of the mandu stuffing - tasty tasty tasty!)

Go Doosan!

We probably picked the game of the year to go to; 3-2 in extra innings with an inside the park home run!  Thankfully, Lina, the girlfriend of a guy I work with bought the tickets.  We were supposed to get there a little early but it seemed like everyone was running a bit late.  Drew and Lina got there at the right time and got perfect seats - front row in the outfield.  Unfortunately, I am a Doosan Bears fan.  Drew and Lina are LG Twins fans.  So, the seats were on the LG side.  That didn't stop me, or Katrina, or another one of our co-workers, Parham, for cheering for the Bears.  Thankfully, the Bears pulled it off in the end and squeaked out an awesome win.  If you haven't been to a game - go.  They are a lot different and a lot more exciting than games in the states. 

(Doosan Bears vs. LG Twins)

 

(Snacks before the game - squid jerky and adult beverages.  I didn't see anywhere to buy a hot dog.  However, you can take whatever food or drink you want into the games, not like in America.  Also, a tall adult beverage is 2,500 won in the stadium or about $2.25.  Remember, this is for a professional baseball game.  What's it cost in America - $10?)

 

(Batting practice)

 

 (Katrina before the game, soaking up the sun)

(Spenser, another LG fan)

 

(Drew in his cool Ray Bans)

 

 (I think this is what baseball games are all about...)

 (I believe these are supposed to be Twins?!?!)

 (LG Twin Super Fan who was not a fan of me because I was cheering for the other team)

(This poor child probably had been to 2 or 3 academies before the game even started)

 

 (LG Twin's fans cheering for something)

 (A better view of the stadium with Spenser's fish eye lens)

(From right to left: Spenser, my seat, Katrina, Parham, Drew, and Lina on the end)

(I liked this shot for some reason...)

 

(More LG Twin's fans cheering - not sure why though, they lost...)

 

 (Oh year - Christmas in July so Santa was there.  He made a few things for our group...)

(Katrina got this nice bracelet and hair piece)

 

 (Spenser got a hat, sword, a belt, which can't be seen in this photo)

(Wearing my Doosan colors)

 

(This people we kind enough to stand right in front of us at the end of the game)

After a month...

To be honest, winter in Korea is cold, brutally so. In fact, it makes it a bit difficult to do much of anything. Which, is why, I haven't updated in a month or so. For those of you that follow, here are some photos of a hike Katrina and I went on. Hopefully this will get me back in the flow of things and with warm weather right around the corner, hopefully there will be a few more events. Enjoy...

(Katrina hiking along)

(Nice view)

(No swimming? Warning: Deep Water. Ok, that makes sense...)

(Yep, you are on a mountain, it might drop off...)

(Interesting little bridge we found...)

(Same bridge, farther away)

(Frozen reservoir, just to give you an idea of how cold it was...)

(Interesting little wooden sculpture)

(Katrina with a nice background shot)

(A king or general of sorts that did something special)

(Plaza area before the hike)

(Yep, it's cold)