our first dinner in Korea

Okay, so first, the sad truth is that there is no internet in my hotel room. As such, it’s very difficult to post photos on the blog. I’ll do my best, but I probably won’t get to post many photos until I get to Tokyo next week.

Tonight, after a relaxing afternoon at the hotel, Eli and I met Yosup, his wife Ju-Yah, and another company member Hee-Ren (let’s just agree that it’s okay that I’m butchering these names) for dinner at one of their favorite special-occasion restaurants. Eli met Yosup through Hee-Ren, whom he’s known for a few years, so for them, it was a nice reunion. Yosup picked us up at the hotel, and when we got to the restaurant, Ju-Yah and Hee-Ren had already ordered food. And so much food! Our table was approximately 6’x3’, and it would not hold all of the dishes of food that we ate. Let me see if I can remember all of the food on the table:

Three different kinds of mushrooms, red beans, pressed bean curd, bibimbap (a rice and greens dish), steamed bitter leaves, spicy squid, spicy grass, smoked duck, nasty meat dumplings, kimchee (spicy cabbage) dumplings, mochee (sticky sweet rice dessert, melon, steamed shrimp, spicy tofu, sweet pumpkin balls, soup, beer, ginseng, a cold noodle soup, and some other things that I’m forgetting.

The meal was unbelievable, and we had a great time. After dinner, we all walked to a supermarket (Ju-Yah described it as Korean Wal-Mart) to buy some groceries. That done, Hee-Ren took her leave, and Yosup and Ju-Yah drove us back to the hotel. I checked my email again, and then watched the Korea episode of No Reservations.

Unlike the Shanghai and Beijing episodes, the Korea episode does not mention specific restaurants. Instead, it mentions specific dishes and kinds of food. Sojou (rice liquor), korean bbq, spicy soup, kimchee, and fried unusual chicken parts all made the cut. Raw, still-wriggling, octopus tentacles made the cut (dipped in spicy sauce, of course). I’m looking forward to trying most of these things, with the likely exception of the chicken parts.

It’s 9.50pm now and I’m going to try to get a good night’s sleep. We catch a cab at 9.15 for a 9.30 top of day. We’ll meet for a few hours, and then start rehearsing at 1pm. Dinner at 5ish, and then rehearsal again from 7-9pm. Then... who knows? Sojou!