Korean food coma

It's funny how quickly you can adjust to something new. While we have only been here about four weeks, I feel like a seasoned pro. However, there are still thousands of things to be seen and to do. My goal for the next few weeks is to explore all of what Daegu has to offer. There are amazing mountains with beautiful trails, temples, and views that overlook the entire city. There are parts of the city that have bike trails, a lake, and amazing restaurants (so we hear anyway). A weekend is not enough time to do hardly anything it seems. While we have been getting a late start most Saturdays, it is time to make our quick weekends count. I feel like getting on a bus and seeing where it takes us.

This weekend was mostly eaten up by an open house at our school. However, our director did treat us to a traditional Korean lunch afterwards. It was amazing and I have never seen so much food in my life. The entire table was covered with a hundred tiny dishes and each was filled with little tidbits of something different. From fried fish and blue crabs to tiny peppers and bean sprouts, there was so much to try. The bulgogi was hot and amazing, and we had perfect purple rice that was made into a soup in a hot stone pot. We sat on the floor with all of our coworkers and enjoyed an awesome meal and definitely had a little bonding time. It was a real treat and I look forward to more meals like that.

Everything is communal on a Korean table, so you don't have your own plate. It seems that in a country paralyzed by fear of the swine flu it wouldn't be that way, but it is. You just stick your chopsticks into each dish, grabbing a bite of everything. That takes some time to adjust to, but you get over it pretty quickly. It is a great way to eat, it encourages quite a bit of conversation. I love Korean food and it is so filling I typically fall into a "Korean food coma" afterwards. I have learned to appreciate a good food coma, it soothes the soul.