DATING
We all know by now that couples who are dating like to dress alike. I like to follow them around to try to get a snapshot of their twin outfits! I was following a male and female college student and ran into a most interesting place for a weekend date:
It looks like arcade games... the whole thing is wall to wall glass booths filled with little stuffed animals and people waiting to put money into them. Using the "claws" to pick up an animal or toy, they try to get it out before it falls. As you can see, it is very popular. This one is very close to a big university, and it is crowded!
All of these students are having fun, waiting for a turn to try to pick up a little fluffy stuffed toy!
Here's another favorite place - this one in a subway station
Even (a little older) married couples enjoy the challenge!
It looks like the stuffed toys are color coordinated. Pick the color you want before you spend the big bucks! Notice, this boy is not on a date, but likes to come by himself to do some serious "clawing".
KIMCHI
is a phenomenon for which Korea is famous. It was created out of necessity. Koreans in the 20th Century were oppressed and embattled; their country ravaged. Many of the older generation can still remember terrible times of hunger. Consequently, the Koreans were very resourceful in finding ways to feed people by using available edibles: seaweed, ocean animals of all kinds, insect larvae, roots, fungus, bark, and leaves from the mountains and forests. They were taught not to be wasteful, so everything was eaten: pig intestines - large and small, pig feet, pig head; chicken feet, fish head, etc.
One major challenge was how to store vegetables through the cold winter months so that Koreans had vitamins and minerals and enough to eat to stay alive. Napa cabbage, which is plentiful and easily grown, is fermented and can be stored in large clay jars all year long without refrigeration. The large clay jars are outside every house or apartment, filled with things that do not need refrigeration: soybean paste, red chili paste, and kimchi, among other things. I had the opportunity to have a kimchi "lesson" one day from Sister Lee, the Mission cook extraordinaire.
First, the large cabbage heads are cut into quarters and washed thoroughly.
Niki Barrow (above) was visiting her parents in Korea for Christmas and we were lucky enough to have this joint lesson.
Next, with your hands you put a handful of coarse salt between every leaf, fill with water and let the cabbage soak in the brine (usually for a whole day). While it was soaking, we made the "sauce". Ingredients were: tops of green onion-like vegetable that tastes like garlic, tons of smashed garlic cloves, pureed apple pear, and the main ingredient is the very hot red chili paste, made from red chilies that have been dried, crushed, and cooked until thick.
The large white and green vegetable is a radish - it is chopped or grated into "sticks" and added to the red sauce. At this point, most kimchi cooks add anchovy paste, little shrimps that still have eyeballs, or raw oysters. We did not.
The red sauce is almost finished!
Now the cabbage is rinsed in clear water three times. After the third time, we squeezed the water out carefully with our gloved hands.
Now for the fun part! With gloves (the chili paste is so hot it will hurt your skin) you scoop out some red sauce with your hand and spread it on a leaf of cabbage. You continue spreading each leaf with your hands. Each leaf should have about the same amount.
If you used anchovies in the paste, the whole thing, including your entire house, will smell really bad. Same with raw oysters. When finished putting the red sauce evenly between each cabbage leaf, the kimchi is ready to store for the year. It can go in the clay pots outside. Most Koreans today have a "kimchi refrigerator", which is a special refrigerator that stays at about 40 degrees to keep the kimchi just perfect all year.
Making kimchi is such an important part of the culture, that sometimes during November - December, women will make a journey to their mother's or mother's-in-law to help them with the task. We did four heads of cabbage and it took one whole day. Usually families make enough to last all year. It takes about one full week to make. It is eaten with breakfast, lunch, and dinner!
Cooking lesson part B - we learned how to make "mandu", or dumplings. We mixed the ingredients in a large bowl, put spoonfuls of meat mixture into the dumpling dough, and sealed the dumpling.
The dumplings are steamed in a big pan with a rack to keep the dumplings out of the water, or they can be fried in oil.
CHICKEN HEAD
One very cold Saturday, we started at the East Gate of the Geumjeong mountain fortress and began hiking along a mountain trail. It was 7:30 a.m., which made it just a little colder.
The wintry forest was beautiful, and the sun was coming up over the ocean.
We could see the sunrise and the outline of the tall buildings of Haeundae Beach.
The higher we got, the foliage disappeared and we saw craggy granite peaks and boulders.
Bryan and Alma are admiring the view, and trying to soak in a little sunshine and warmth.
On one side of the mountain there was no sun, and a huge blast of wind hit my face. I thought, "This is the closest thing to climbing Mt. Everest that I will ever do".
More sharp granite crags on the way up:
At the very top, you can see why this mountain is called "Sanggyebong" or
Chicken Head!
Alma and I celebrate being on the highest rock.
I celebrate not freezing to death, and promise myself that I will go hiking again...
in March.
