Matt & Andrea Arrive!

Matt, one of Andrew's best friends since his Tri-City days, and his wife Andrea moved to South Korea in October.  Originally, they had planned to move and begin work at the end of August, like we had, but Korea jerked them about a bit, so that didn't happen, and they ended up missing Judy by a month.   That was sad, but they arrived just in time for Andrew because he was starting to have a bit too much alone time.  Had it been wintertime, it probably would have been a lot like The Shining:  "All Korean and no English makes Andrew a dull boy..."  No, it wasn't that bad, but he was very glad to have someone in Korean again that he's really close with. 

One of the scary/terrible things about coming to work in Korea, is that you really don't have much of a say as to where you go.  We were hoping they'd be placed at schools in Seoul, but since they missed the major hiring period, they were kind of at the mercy of the system and available positions.  Thankfully, they were placed in Gwangju-Si, a suburb of Seoul.  Door to door, they are about 2 hours away from Andrew's via subways and bus, which isn't too bad.  It's a little farther than we'd hoped, but their still close enough to meet regularly and for Andrew to basically fulfill the role of Korean host mom and tour guide!

Finally!  

To follow their adventures, and get a fresh, un-jaded account of Korea, check out their blog @ http://worldwalkabout.wordpress.com/

Life Without A Dryer

All you people with dryers, stop taking them for granted, right this instant.  It's time you really appreciate what you've got!  Dryers are a rare luxury in Korea, and it is something we've dearly missed since coming here.  Obviously, it's a little annoying for a load of laundry to take 2+ days (even more during the winter), but clothes just don't come out of the laundry feeling as soft or smelling as fresh when they're not put through the dryer.  Once it's finally all dry, its usually a little stiff and scratchy, which are two adjectives that should never describe cotton. 

Andrew picked this washcloth off the drying rack to find it rock hard!  He even put fabric softener in with the load, but that clearly had the opposite effect.  This stiffness of laundry seems to come down hardest (pun intended) on towels and jeans, especially older towels.  Jeans will soften up after a few minutes of body heat and movement, but there's nothing quite as refreshing as drying yourself off after a shower with a fresh, clean sheet of cotton sandpaper!

sk eats...Ribs Pizza

Pizza places in Korea are strange.  Period.  They offer the standard pizzas such as cheese, pepperoni and combination, but even those come with added Korean flare.  For example, it is just understood that those three always come with sweet corn on them, which is awesome!  Things get much less awesome when you venture into the 'new' or 'seasonal' menus...  

The toppings on these pizzas can be anything the chef dreams up.  We mean anything.  Some honorable mentions include, rice cakes, chicken wings, waffle fries, mashed sweet potatoes, steamed pumpkin, mussels (in the shell), unpeeled shrimp, potato wedges and pasta to list a few.  It sometimes seems as if the Korean pizza chefs eavesdropped on a room full of potheads, hungry and stoned out of their minds.  It's pretty amazing what they dream up!

One of our favorites, that was widespread and heavily advertised, was Ribs Pizza.  It was a 'standard' cheese pizza topped with one or two pork ribs per slice.  They marketed it as a great pizza innovation, showing how regular pizza only required one hand to eat where as Ribs Pizza ingeniously utilized both hands (as if that was a concern people had when eating pizza).  We discussed the merits and flaws of ribs on pizza for a while, until we finally worked up the courage (or the hangover) to try it ourselves. 

Pizza School's Ribs Pizza

Mmmm, bones and questionable bits of meat on pizza...a tasty addition!

As imagined, the verdict was:  Not so good.  The meal was essentially just a cheese pizza with a side order of ribs, only they didn't come on the side.  Since they had to be eaten separately, there was absolutely no point for them to be on the pizza in the first place.  Needless to say, that was our one and only Ribs Pizza, but we commend their adventuresome spirit!

즐거운 크리스마스 보내세요!!!!

 The tiny, battery powered Christmas tree in Andrew's apartment

Sonny Angel in front of the tree

Our 2011 Christmas Card!

Wishing you nothing but the best, and (as always) please indulge yourself in a delicious food not found in Korea and think of us while you do it!

           -Andrew & Judy

Final Wing & Wine

Sexy pose with the garbage outside of the apartment

Notice how into the wings we were.  Judy didn't feel the need to put down the wing for the photo.  At least she pulled it out of her mouth before smiling... 

...unlike in this one!

Before & After

Watch & Learn

We'd managed pretty well to avoid thinking about our impending separation until about this time.  Wing & Wine was one of our favorite activities, so we thought it would be a good 'last horah.'  A few days later Judy headed back to The States and Andrew continued Korean life solo  ☹ 

Home Sweet Home...

With Judy not renewing her contract, Andrew had to move out of the loft apartment her school provided and move into the new apartment his school found for him.  Our Banghwa apartment was spacious but in a terrible location on the outskirts of the city.  Andrew's new apartment is just the opposite of that.  It's pint-sized, but right in the center of the city. 

So, from here on out, this is the headquarters of ours (Andrew's) remaining adventures.

To help you gauge the actual size (or lack there of) of the space, here is a quick aerial view with dimensions.   

The total square footage here is around 142.  The average one-car garage in the United States is around 200-230 square feet.  If you'd like to get a feeling for how Andrew lives, walk out into your garage, imagine about 6 feet of it doesn't exist, then put a kitchen, a bathroom, a twin bed, a desk and a closet in the remaining space.  There you have it...home, sweet home!

Looking in from the hallway

The bedroom (with accent wall), the dining room, the living room & the mud room

Kitchen & laundry room

The spice rack, the pantry, the linen closet, the medicine cabinet, the entrance to the bathroom, the desk & the entertainment center

Ol' Dusty, lookin' good in his 4th home in Korea!

The bathroom

(Yes, you can sit on the toilet while showering)
((No, the toilet paper does not get wet))

The (hastily stitched together) view of the entire apartment from the bed

sk eats...빈대떡

빈대떡

Bindaetteok - Mung Bean Pancake

   Raw Mung Beans                         Mung Bean Sprouts

The mung bean, a standard ingredient in many Asian dishes, is widely consumed in South Korea.  Generally, the highest consumption comes in the form of it's sprout in soups and salads and kimchis, but it's most delicious culinary application comes in the form of the pancake, which we discovered completely by accident while exploring Seoul's Jongno neighborhood one day.   

While walking along the main street we passed a busy market mainly selling food (our favorite kind of market) so we decided to head in for a snack.  It offered the standard Korean market fare, fried things, scary cuts of pork, etc.  Luckily, it being pretty much the same food offered everywhere, we didn't make a quick decision and continued into the heart of the market.  In the center we saw lots of stalls selling a type of pancake we'd never had before.  It was thicker and looked like it wasn't flour based like most of the Korean pancakes we'd eaten.  Everyone around us seemed to be happily enjoying them, so we waited for a spot on a bench to open up so that we could get our turn.

Not knowing what they were called (or really even what it was), we just pointed to the older couple's plate next to us when the waitress came and said 'one, please.'  The couple really liked that we ordered it without knowing how to say what it was.  They didn't, however, like that we were eating our bindaetteok unaccompanied, so they ordered us a bottle of makgeolli (carbonated rice wine) to sip while we ate.  

We think they'd be proud to know that since then, we've taken many friends back to this same stall and have always ordered at least one bottle of makgeolli with our bindaetteok!

One of the table/benches in 광장 Market

Anxiously awaiting their treat

Working their magic

The batter is made of raw mung beans soaked in water and then ground with sprouts and green onions.  Once much of the water has been strained out, the mixture is ladled onto a hot, flattop grill and cooked until golden brown.  

If you are still confused about what a bindaetteok is, it's essentially a giant hashbrown fried on the flattop but made with beans instead of potatoes.  Delicious!

As a dip, you get a small bowl of soy sauce with white onions soaking in it.  The other two bowls in the picture are our makgeolli bowls!