Ocean Animals

In the car going from the airport to the office talking about the interesting foods we might try:
Krista: "Well... I don't like fish, but Amy likes to eat ocean animals..."
Everyone else: "Huh? I think she means seafood..."

 Action shot of my first night using chopsticks (taken by Krista). Not my best picture, but you can see how I'm not holding the chopsticks right. And there's a whole bowl of kimchi in front of me. Oh, and in Korea you almost always use metal chopsticks which are longer and (obviously) heavier than the wooden ones we use in America.

Praise the Lord, as soon as I posted the last blog post about my lack of chopstick skillz, we went out to lunch. My chopstick skills miraculously tripled. I would say that at least 80% of the time I could pick up my food with the chopsticks on the first try! I'd call that an accomplishment! Then we went to a Japanese Bistro for dinner last night where the chopsticks are longer and way more frustrating... but I am okay with that now.

All that to say, I've eaten some pretty cool new foods. My favorite so far is squid! The kimchi only numbed my tongue for a minute. Octopus tasted fine, but it was really chewy and took insanely long to swallow. I'd eat it again... but only when I have time to chew and contemplate life before I can swallow. I have yet to eat anything that I immediately feel the urge to spit out.

We just got back from lunch. While chopsticks are still a little iffy, I have mastered the art of the spoon.

*Just so ya know... I don't merely sit around my laptop updating this blog. We are called for different tasks (including English tutoring with the Korean missionaries) throughout the day, so my time to work on these posts is very sporadic. So, even though I said I just finished lunch... now I've just finished breakfast the next day. And we're about to leave to help with the Awana games, so there might be a bigger gap within the writing of this post.*

For dinner last night we went to a seemingly American-style restaurant named Mr. Pizza. I've never had pizza like we did last night. One of our pizzas was barbecue with prime rib and barbecue sauce with cheese filled crust. The other was potato pizza with sweet potato filled crust. An interesting thing about Korean pizza is that corn is a very common topping.

Potato pizza with sweet potato filled crust

Prime rib pizza with cheese filled crust

Yogurt for dessert with cocoa puffs

everything is so pretty- takeout comes wrapped in an adorable Mr. Pizza ribbon.

*Huge gap in time*

At the Awana games, everyone was giving us food! As Americans we were like celebrities! We didn't need special passes to get on the floor or into the staff rooms because people could just look at us and know we're the Americans. Here are some of our snacks:

Kimbap! This is my favorite so far. It's like sushi, but without fish. I'm pretty sure this kimbap had pork. Or spam? It's delicious!

You can find canned coffee almost anywhere. Iced coffee is way more popular than hot. And almost all of the coffee I've had so far is pre-sweetened, even the packets of instant coffee.

I have no idea what this candy is, but it's fantastic! It tastes like a nougat and peanuts. 

Scott called these "Unicorn Dreams." 

Ice cream! It tasted like cotton candy! And this kind came in a wax bottle type container. Absolutely perfect for a hot and humid day full of Sparkies and T&T students running and competing.

Don't be deceived. This tastes nothing like what you would find at the Cheesecake Factory. This is a cheese flavored bread. (Dad. Maddison. I really hope you see this! It's half cheese half cake! haha)

Last night, after the Awana games, we went to a traditional Korean meal with the Awana missionaries. In America we have chicken noodle soup. In Korea they have chicken soup. In America we have chunks or shredded bits of chicken. In Korea they have a whole chicken in the pot of soup. 

This is Krista's picture. It's a whole chicken minus the head (thankfully!) with rice for stuffing. Katherine (another American intern) tried to tell me the stuffing was maggots, but after careful examination I determined that my original diagnosis of rice was indeed correct. 

Craziest part: they expect us to use chopsticks to attack the whole chicken. Praise the Lord, I sat next to Charlie, one of the Korean Awana missionaries, who pretty much cut everything up for me. Me: "How can you take apart the chicken so easily?" Charlie: "I am Korean!" I was like the 5 year old allowed to sit at the grown up table for the first time. It was so exciting! Very funny, very humbling, very delicious.

There are so many other fun foods and snacks that we've enjoyed, but I don't think you want to read my entire dietary plan for the summer. 

John 4:34, "'My food,' said Jesus, 'is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish His work.'"

-The Journaling Sparrow