Chamchi Jiggae

This here is one of our favorite Korean dishes. Flavorful, healthy, cheap and easy to prepare. Chamchi Jiggae. Chamchi means tuna - jiiggae is stew. You can get a bowl of this for about $2 - only slightly less than it costs to make it.

To make Chamchi Jiggae it is very simple. You need:
Kimchi (Korean staple - served with every meal - fermented (or pickled?) cabbage with red pepper)
Water
A can of tuna
Onions
Garlic
sesame oil
chili paste
bean paste
vinegar
soy sauce
mushrooms
(any other spices or veggies you want....)
Throw it all in a boiling pot and cook for a while! Serve with rice! Yum!

A Six Dollar Meal

Our first meal on our own, without the assistance of others' recommendations or bank of Korean phrases. We tried to ask the lady what she recommended in Korean but we must have slaughtered the phrase because she didn't understand us. She asked some high schoolers next to us to translate. This is what we were served. We now know that the food in the big bowl is called Dolsot Bi Bim Bop. It's hot rice with a dash of oil, and a frying egg (still cooking in the hot rice) with tons of fresh, raw greens, sprouts, seaweed, kimchi, chili paste and radish served on top and meant to be all mixed thoroughly together. A side of free soup, kimchi and a plate of Dongassu - the Korean version of the Japanese dish Tonkatsu. Tasty, healthy (more or less) and only six dollars!

Mysterious Fish

One night we went to one of our favorite restaurants and the people next to us were eating this huge roasted fish that looked wonderful... When the waitress came we just pointed to what they had and hoped for the best. We'd been on a hunt for roasted fish ever since the chobap at Jagalchi included it as a side, but the name we had for it was completely different than the long unpronounceable one of this fish... Anyhow. We successfully got some roasted fish and it was this. It was delicious. Oh! And the bamboo standing up on the table next to me is actually the container for a delicious beverage called Daenamu - it's kind of like an alcoholic apple cider. All this cost about $10.


Ken enjoyed it so much he thought someone might steal it from him. :)


At the end of our meal we dissected the melted eyeballs and inside of one eyeball we found this very hard, perfectly white ball. Neat.

Bondiggi... Not so Delicious

This is bondiggi... Quite possibly one of the worst things Korea has to offer. Silk worm larvae. Packing the punch of a thousand dirty socks, impossible to get the taste out of your mouth.

Chobap at Jagalchi Fish Market

Ken enjoying this delicious meal of chobap (the more affordable Japanese version of raw fish aka sushi!)


This meal came with tons of sides (you can ascertain the quality of restaurant by how many sides they give you) and we got it all for about $20... Which we've actually found out since that we can get it cheaper off the main street - this area is kind of touristy (although we were still the only Westerners around).


Enjoying raw, baby squid! It had a neat texture - a little slimy, but kind of crunchy too! It really was good - Ken wasn't much of a fan though.


Shells! You pull out the insides with a toothpick. Bouncy, and tasting of tennis shoes. They weren't bad, but they weren't really good either.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

I think I still have about 40 minutes left until Thanksgiving is officially over (in America) so I'm going to squeeze in a quick post! Happy Thanksgiving friends and family! Thanksgiving was yesterday for us and it didn't really resemble Thanksgiving. We had to work and there was no turkey our Thanksgiving staples in sight. Actually we had a delicious and light soup called su jay bee for lunch and a big, puffy, steamy, kimchi dumpling for dinner. The only Thanksgivingy part to yesterday was a thanks-filled morning spent with God and talking to family last night on the phone. I gave many specific thanks for our friends and family... Our life is made rich because of you!

So, in honor of all the over-eating we didn't enjoy yesterday this is going to be a food post! Here are some of the highlights (and lowlights) of our eating experiences over here!

Our First Day at Work

Our first day at work was the Friday right before Halloween, so the day consisted of a Halloween party and many games. I'd say one of the highlights was watching the children compete for the best mummy wrap... Pin the tail on the cat was another favorite. In one of the pictures you see "Adrian teacher" dressed up as a scuba diver, and also "Lisa teacher" one of our three Korean coworkers. The age range of our students is mainly mid to late elementary (Ken having the youngest group - they are insane!) and then Middle School. For the most part they are good students, and discipline problems are fairly minimal. The rigor of their studies is rare to find in the states. Most students go to school for the normal 8 hour period, then go off to various academies in the evenings... We have students at our school until 9PM! Their homework load is enormous and they even regularly attend public school on some Saturdays. It seems to me that they live, and breathe schoolwork. I wonder if this is one of the main reasons crime is so low here... Maybe they are just too busy and work-focused to get into more distracting and less productive pursuits? I don't know.

Adventures on Our First Day

We actually had the rare (and much needed) privilege of getting to rest on our first day here rather than come straight in to work. (Some people have to go in to work the same day they arrive, straight off of the plane and after twenty some hours of traveling.)
...Soooo on our first day we leisurely explored our little pocket of Busan called Hwamyeong.
The main part of Hwamyeong consists of a busy area about three by three city blocks large. After a wonder-filled walk to this area, and desperately in need of coffee, we found a Dunkin Donuts where we tried to refuel. I say tried because the coffee consisted of much more cream than caffeine. Here we did find WiFi though and could check e-mails and some necessary Korean phrases for the day.

After nearly passing out in the "Lotte Mart" (our huge grocery/department store) we decided to head back home for a nap... After that we wandered out to find some lunch. We came in to this little restaurant where nobody spoke English (which is standard) and where they had these cast iron turtles at each table. We sat down (on the floor), ordered whatever looked good in the picture and ended up enjoying an incredibly delicious lunch of Korean BBQ. We meant to take a picture BEFORE we ate all the food, but we were to hungry and excited so we forgot.

At The Airport, Excited and Very Tired

Finally!

Finally, we are here, our computer has finally arrived and we can resume posting!!!

We've been in Busan for about two and a half weeks now, and the transitions have been smooth. Our first few days and week were excellent as we settled in and got acquainted with our area and work. (The past week was incredibly busy and tiring.) We had some overlap time in our apartment with the couple from Canada whom we are replacing: Adrian and Cara. They were wonderfully generous with their time, helpful, warm and friendly people we were glad to share our first few days with. They have introduced us to their favorite places, food and people here and plan to return to teach again some time in January.

Our provisions have been generous thus far. We live on the top floor (16th) of a high rise building about a fifteen minute walk away from the private school (hagwon) where we teach. Our apartment is at least as big as our home in Virginia was. Behind us are the mountains we have yet to explore and in front of us sprawls the city and a river... 45 minutes beyond is the Sea of Japan (or Sea of Korea, as our Korean students insist it is called.) The population of Busan is a little less than Houston's and it seems to be generally friendly, laid back, clean and safe. The food is fresh, delicious and cheap.

As far as our teaching goes: so far, so good.