Having moved into my apartment on Thursday, August 25th, and given the fact that Hampyeong Elementary classes did not start until the following week, I decided to kick the traveling off as quickly as possible. In all honesty, Hampyeong is a great, quiet place to live during the week...but I can't see myself staying on any given weekend--I see enough of it during the week that I think it'd be a shame if I ever felt like I couldn't get out for a weekend. Ya dig?
My first bus ticket purchase in South Korea! At the top, just above the date, is written Korean for "Hampyeong -- Gwangju." This ticket costs 3,400 Won, which is roughly $3.50 for those of you back home. Travel here is really cheap, and it's great to know that, although I'm out in the sticks, I can get to the big city so quickly and cheaply.
Here's a shot of the Hampyeong Bus Terminal, in all its glory. Always plenty of old people chirping, staring, and occasionally touching my face or asking where I'm from. This particular Saturday morning was a little busier than usual, as it was a market day in Hampyeong (market days run on all days ending in a 2 or 7...this Saturday, August 27th, for example). All buses that run throughout the county, as well as a few of the buses that run to other counties and cities, have the signature white frame with the blue, gold, green, and pink highlights you see on the sides.
Anyway, first thing on Saturday (August 27th) morning, Erik (fellow Hampyeong teacher from the Yukon Territories, one of the nicest people you'll ever come across) and I decided to hike to the bus station and grab 2 tickets to our orientation stomping grounds of Gwangju, about a 35-minute bus ride to the east. Erik's co-teacher Mina, as well as her friend Ahhn Mi (co-teacher of another Hampyeong English teacher, our friend Erin), decided to meet us at the Gwangju bus terminal and take us out to lunch. Not only was lunch delicious, but it was my first experience eating true Korean barbecue. It's a little different than the barbecue with which we're familiar, so I'll do my best to explain:
Korean barbecue would usually start with a customer asking for their choice of meat--we've pretty much seen chicken, pork, beef, and duck so far. I'm sure there are plenty of other creative options, but these are the four I can say I've had. I think duck has been my favorite (the flavor of duck in the first place is just unreal), followed by beef (can't go wrong here), followed by chicken (not as flavorful when barbecued, but still great), followed by pork (obviously still awesome, because it looks like giant slabs of bacon, but it's just a little too fatty and cooks awkwardly on the grill).
Immediately, before the meat is brought out, there will be several side dishes (sometimes kimchi, sometimes seaweed soup, sometimes just mixed greens, etc.) as well as materials for supplementing the meat--this includes various lettuce and leaves, sauces, garlic, red pepper paste, mushrooms, cabbage and other simple greens. When the meat is brought out, it's completely raw and ready to be cooked in the middle of the table; there's generally a hole in the middle of any given table, into which a portable grill with hot charcoal and a grilling rack is inserted. So you just throw your desired grill materials (the meat, often times mushrooms, garlic, and even kimchi) and do it all yourself:
This is our particular creation, or at least a sample of it--mushrooms and a little garlic hanging out in the oil on the sides, and our beef in the middle. You can see the flame from the charcoal in the little holes in the grill.
These are various kinds of lettuce in which to wrap your beef, or other meat. More often than not, this is the preferred way of eating barbecue--by wrapping it in these leaves along with other condiments. In the middle are some peppers, in the foreground are some romaine leaves, and the darker leaves in back are sesame leaves, which are a bit stronger in taste.
These are a couple kinds of sauces to throw on your beef, chicken, pork, etc.
This is an important addition to any lettuce wrap: basically cole slaw materials like cabbage and greens, soaked in a mango sauce. You'd take your chopsticks and add a little of this to your lettuce and piece of meat.
Finally, here are two other options: garlic chunks (grilled or not, always good) to add to your wrap, as well as some red pepper paste (gives it a little bit of a kick, I add it every time).
Some more red pepper paste as well as some milder peppers. The smaller peppers served on the lettuce plates seem to be hotter, whereas these larger ones are more mild. I've learned the hard way.
So there's your crash course on Korean barbecue. Here are a few more pictures of us devouring our beef. I should mention that, at just two weeks into our Korean experience, Erik and I felt pretty cool to be hanging out with two young, beautiful Korean women and getting the full tour of Gwangju. We felt like we more or less had it all figured out!
Erik with Mina and Ahnn Mi, enjoying our barbecue.
Loving our lives.
The next stop on our tour of Gwangju was, at the suggestion of Mina and Ahnn Mi, a board game cafe. This is essentially a one-room restaurant and place to play cards, games, and watch movies. Coffee drinks, beer, soda, and snacks are served, and the expectation is that you at least order a few of those, as the cafe doesn't charge for time logged gaming. We learned a game the girls play often, in which the loser of each hand has to wear some kind of embarrassing hat. Erik and I lost quite a bit...
Ahnn Mi finally lost a hand.
Erik digs it.
One of many losses.
After getting rocked at cards for a couple of hours, we made our final stop on what was a great day in Gwangju. This time, Erik and I made the suggestion, and we knew we had to check out a Kia Tigers baseball game. Erik came to orientation a little too late to go to the game the rest of our group saw, and Ahnn Mi had never been to a Tigers game, so our choice was an easy one. After purchasing all the fried chicken and beer we could carry, we grabbed some cheap seats in the outfield and had a great time.
Digging the scene.
Tigers warming up en route to a 8-2 stomping.
And thus ended a really solid Saturday with two really cool Korean ladies. We made our rounds at Bubble Bar, our favorite bar in Gwangju, and headed back to Hampyeong on Sunday afternoon ready to finally get a little serious and start work.
Thanks, as always, for reading, and I'll be back with another post really quickly--I'll break down my schools for all of you. Given that I have 5 schools, they're all really different and have their own quirks. That aside, I know some of you may also be wondering if I even came here to work, considering all I've done is wine and dine and travel and have fun for two weeks. I can assure you that I do indeed work here as well. Wait and see.
Love to all,
Sam
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