I'm thankful for...

Last week, as many of you may know, was American Thanksgiving, where families (in accordance with American holiday tradition) gather together to stuff their faces and general remind each other of why they only do this once a year. Thanksgiving is, to me, a very important and special holiday for just that reason, so it's a pretty big bummer for me to not be with my family on Thanksgiving.

It was worse for me during my senior year in college, when I decided it wasn't worth the expense and time to fly to Houston (from DC), drive to Dallas, drive back, and fly back to DC all in the span of about 5 days, so I elected to stay in my apartment for the holiday. Of course, I was surrounded by all sorts of Thanksgiving stuff, so it killed me a little to not be with my family. (Thanks to a friend of mine staying in the city as well, there was still a wonderful dinner at a lovely restaurant.) This year, however, being in Korea made it a bit better, as I wasn't completely surrounded by American Thanksgiving (except in my classes, but that was all brought on by myself). That, plus my Korea family over here, made for Thursday that went by with only a small pang of homesickness.

That said, I DID have a thanksgiving with a family (albeit one to whom I am not related by a shared ancestry), and that's just one of the

THINGS I AM THANKFUL FOR

• I am thankful for bit torrenting and relatively fast download speeds. This way, I can keep up with my stories from afar and continue the slow, inevitable melting process that is consuming my brain.
• I am thankful for the Real Housewives franchise on Bravo, for reminding me just what a good person I really am.
• I am thankful for Regretsy (and specifically this post, very NSFW), because when you see it, you will shit bricks
• I am thankful for Sesame Street and the fine folks at PBS and the Children's Television Workshop, for making their content readily available on the internet, taking care of so much of my lesson planning for me.
• I am thankful to Korea for providing me with a cheap but fascinating place to live, endless sights to see, an abundance of delicious food, and a daily reminder of the importance of personal hygeine.
• I am thankful to the inventors of "time zones" for providing me with a wonderful experience in time travelling, so that I can live in the future (relative to people back in the States)
• Most of all, I am thankful to the amazing people I have met here, who have become, with no hyperbole, my Korea Family.
• What I'm really thankful for, however, was the Thanksgiving dinner this past weekend. 

I arrived at my friends Lionel and Mel's place on Friday evening to begin our American culinary adventure. Armed with (what seemed like) hundreds of pounds of groceries, a determined will, and Good Old-Fashioned American Ingenuity, we commenced our foray into creating a Thanksgiving in a country that does not cook western food. And Thanksgiving is, of course, ALL western.

Friday night started out...with some difficulties. Though our intention was to grab a quick bite to eat before heading up to Songtan to start baking, Jill's interesting bus ride (going the wrong way, finding the wrong bus terminal, taking seventy billion years to get to the Liomel's place) quickly nixed that plan. "Fine," I said to no one in particular (and likely worrying the natives about my mental state), "I shall simply head directly to Melionel's househome and hang out with them. And possibly eat dinner."

As a testament to what good friends they are, they even shared some of their dinner with me. 

The three of us - Lionel, Mel, and myself - lounged on the couch watching Arrested Development (the best show ever created) as we waited for Jill to arrive from her journey of terror. Finally, she made it, and I announced that the baking was indeed to commence.

Note the time: 8pm

The pie crusts started out fairly smoothly. The dough was made with little difficulty (but giant mess, as pie crust often makes), and I left the dough to cool while Melanie and Jill made their fillings for the pies. The first batch of pie crust came out beautifully. It rolled smoothly on the floured formica countertop, behaving completely appropriately as I lovingly laid it into the pie tins. The second dough...well, the second dough was made with a suspicious flour. It was NOT Gold brand all-purpose flour, but rather the Korean "Beksul" brand, which (though I am not sure) is likely made out of something ludicrous like dandelions. This dough simply would not roll. I cajoled and harassed, begged and pleaded, but NO DICE. Fortunately, there was enough dough left over from the first batch to complete the other two pie shells.

And then it was time for the macaroni and cheese. Naturally, I became completely unable to open a bag of pasta, and my first attempt successfully spilled about a half a cup all over myself, the counter, and the kitchen floor. Fortunately Lionel and Mel have a dog.

At some point, Meg showed up and bothered everyone (and also made stuffing, which was delish, and mashed potatoes (though those came later), which were also delish), and a pie was baked and another pie started and then it was 2:30am and OH EMME GEE IT IS TIME FOR BED. This was the plan: We would go to bed, and wake up at 8am to finish cooking in just enough time to put the turkey in at 9am. So I set my alarm, fully expecting other humans to wake up as well.

THIS DID NOT HAPPEN (I know, it's shocking). I woke up at 8:30...and no one else did. I threw the last pie in the oven (the tiny, tiny oven that could only hold a single pie at a time, but thank goodness it existed at all), and noticed our savior: the Butterball directions, which shaved two hours off our terrible estimate of the turkey cooking time. I sent Lionel back to bed (when he finally dragged himself out of bed), and collapsed on the couch to wait on the pie to finish.

The alarm buzzed and I checked the pie...in a cold oven. JESUS TAKE THE WHEEL.

Long story short (too late!), we put the turkey in the oven, and one by one the guests arrived. And you arrived and you arrived and you arrived and you arrived and--

GET ON WITH IT

Picture it: the turkey finishes to a delicious golden brown, and I am passed the drippings. I open the cornstarch to get started on the gravy, and BAM!

Cornstarch everywhere.

Chalk that up to another of Nolen's Thanksgiving (minor) Disasters.

The gravy's done, the table's set, and the 16 of us dig in to an incredible Thanksgiving feast. Special thanks to Andrea for her delicious cranberry sauce, sweet potato casserole, rolls and CINNAMON BUTTER.

The feast was amazing, the company better. Crashing on the couch after a marathon two days of cooking never felt so sweet. 

So the last thing I'm thankful for: I'm thankful for everyone who made this Thanksgiving the best Thanksgiving in Korea, EVER.

My seafood-venture!

Those of you who are at all averse to fish or other sea-dwelling creatures, be advised: THERE WILL BE NO ESCAPE FROM THIS POST.

So last night, I went to dinner with a friend of mine from college who is hear visiting her family. This was possibly my last opportunity to visit with her before she goes back to America, so I am really glad I got the opportunity. However, I might have been a bit more hesitant had I fully comprehended the tremendous undertaking this dinner would be.

I knew from the outset that it would likely involve raw fish, but I was wholly unaware that it would also involve five hours total in transit time. That was just a lovely surprise! Hurray! So I left my school at my normal time, knowing that it would take me at least an hour to make it to the station where I was to meet my friend Junghee. Once I arrived, I was informed that we'd be taking a bus to get to Sorae fish market near Incheon harbor, and that the bus would be about an hour. And let me tell you! I was super excited for all this transit time!

It turns out I should have been...guys, fish caught fresh from the ocean is just AMAZING. Especially when it's only been killed approximately 90 seconds before you eat it. So we started out with a quick walk around the fish market to see what was there, and also to get a few amuse-bouches, such as sweet black bean cakes or roasted boll weevils. I know, right? And yes, I did try some of the boll weevils. They tasted like meat-flavored lima beans. Not terrible, but not something I think I'll order on my own.

Then we began walking the outer stalls in earnest. These are the stalls where you select your fish that is swimming around in the tank, and the owner then plucks it from its temporary home, kills it, and fillets it for you to eat raw. I believe the Korean word for this is hoe (the hangul on this computer doesn't work so I can't write it out for you in Korean, sorry. You can see our delicacy here:

Our fish included whitefish, flounder, these gross pink things that looked like wangs, and conch

The darker fish on either side of the very white flounder was our white fish. He splashed us, so we ate him. SUCKA.The whitefish, the flounder, and the wang-looking fish were good. The conch was not my favorite. We also had, not pictured here, sea cucumber. It has a very interesting texture, much firmer than I was expecting, and not a bad flavor at all!

And then they brought out the surprise. Sannakji, which literally means "live octopus". This particular octopus was no longer alive, but that was a VERY recent development in its personal history. The tentacles were still furiously wriggling, and the suckers were still...sucking... It's a delicacy here, and one I was not sure I would actually try, and definitely not so soon!

They are still wriggling around on the plate! It was mildly terrifying.

But as you can see, I definitely went for it. Really, it wasn't that bad! You just have to chew furiously as the tentacles are wriggling around in your mouth so the suckers don't stick to your throat on the way down and the octopus takes its final revenge. Death to the land-walkers!

I was scared. I think it's reasonable.

The taste was surprisingly good. Very mild, and it easily picks up whatever sauce you dip it in.

Following our raw course, it was time to move on to the main meal: GRILLED CLAMS.

I think this photo says it all

We had: approximately 2 and a half pounds of clams, plus oysters, and about a pound of shrimp grilled on a bed of rock salt.

It was delicioius!

And we ate the whole danged thing. The ajumma taking our money looked at our check and said "Yuk man won??" with a tone of incredulity that these three people could possibly have eaten 60000 won worth of seafood. Oh but we most certainly did.

Three hours later and I'm back at home exhausted, stuffed, and thoroughly happy with my decisions for my evening. It was a win if there ever was one.

In which I go hiking and get the meat sweats

Before we get started with today's entry into the wonderful world of Nolen, let me apologize for the lack of photos. I promise to look for a new camera this weekend so I can actually show you all everything.

Anyway. Yesterday was finally time for some school bonding. Most of my other teacher friends had gone through this (some several times already), and now it was my turn. Yesterday, we went hiking. Hiking, for those of you who don't know, is basically the national sport in Korea. It consists of medium to large sized groups of people walking up predetermined, well-defined trails up and down a mountain, often times as fast as you can, pausing only briefly at various scenic outlooks along the way. Like everything else here, hiking can only be described as super dynamic.

Initially, I was looking forward to the hiking - it's something I particularly enjoy doing, and it would be nice to spend some awkward time with the coworkers outside of school. But last week I got a pretty severe cold which has decided to return with a vengance. So I was definitely in the mood for hiking. Add to that the heavy rains from the previous 36 hours making the ground basically a giant, sucking mudpit and the clammy conditions outside, and it made for just a great day all around. But we all climbed into cars for the half hour (ish) drive to Suwon and the mountain anyway.

Of course, about 10 minutes into the drive, I took a Korean Transportation Nap, which seemed to help my disposition a bit, and when we arrived, my co-teacher and I and a couple of other teachers decided to just do a short walk around the pond. Which was actually rather pleasant! The area was beautiful, and the humidity was bearable and the conversation was less awkward than it usually is.

Along the trail, my coworkers pointed out a few interesting things to me: First, along the beginning of the trail, there was a lined path filled with pebbles, on which one walks without shoes, the idea being that it acts as a foot massage. I elected not to try this one, but mostly because I didn't want to deal with taking off my shoes and putting them back on again. Tired and lazy = missing out on cultural experiences. Ah well, there will likely be a next time. As we walked by the pond, my coteacher pointed out to me the Biggest. Effing. Koi fish. I have ever seen in all my born days. Seriously, these things were about the size of a steel worker's forearm! As we walked back from the pond/dammed portion of the stream, we sat down by what is apparently a foot bath. At least, that's how it was explained to me. So, not wanting to miss out on another experience, I took off my shoes and socks and plunged my feet into water that must come directly from the icy tail of a comet floating through deepest space. What I'm trying to say here is YA'LL IT WAS COLD. It is a shocker that my feet did not fall off right then and there. Of course, one of the teachers with me challenged me to a contest to see who could keep their feet in the longest. I lost (but since I got to take my feet out sooner, who is the real loser here?).

So we continued our slow meander back, stopping here and there, including at a honey farm. Seriously. Right there, on the side of the trail, was a woman who was selling honey that came directly from the SWARM OF BEES RIGHT BEHIND HER WHY WASN'T EVERYONE RUNNING FOR THEIR LIVES???? Ugh. Bees.

I did not go up to the honey stand (but they brought me back a sample anyway! hooray! Also, it was DELICIOUS), but my coworkers did end up buying some. Honey: fresh from the bee's butt (is that how it works? I assume so).

And then it was dinner time. Well for us, because we were like an hour ahead of everyone else, it was pre-dinner snack time. And you guys, it was fantastic. We had a soup made out of fresh acorn jelly (which normally I'm not the biggest fan of, but made fresh it ROCKS...kind of earthy, nutty, and a little salty taste all at the same time) and a potato pancake with zucchini cooked in it. Great stuff.

NOW it was dinner time, and this time it was the entire school (well, all the teachers and admins, anyway) eating. We went in this restaurant that specializes in grilled meat and sat down for yet another edition of Gigantic Korean Dinner. Of course, I was lucky enough to end up next to the principal, which is always an awkward time. See the thing is, he speaks no English and I speak like two words of Korean. But this doesn't stop him from talking to me! Oh no, he talks my ear off! And I have NO IDEA what on earth he is saying. So that's awesome, and then dinner came. We had: Scallion potato pancake with squid, acorn jelly salad with sesame leaf, turnip kimchi, real grilled meat (I had not realized just how much I missed the wonderful smoky taste of meat from a grill) in K-style tacos, tofu, some kind of steaming tofu curd, bean curd, more grilled meat (some beef, some pork I believe), and then even more meat.

I ate So. Much. Meat. It was wonderful, and then it was awful. You know that overheated, uncomfortable feeling you get when you eat too much meat? Yeah. I was there. We call it the "meat sweats". It's a thing, look it up!

And then it was time for us to make our surreptitious exit from the restaurant so as not to get roped into a night of excessive drinking and further awkwardness with the principal, and sped off home to lay in bed and recover from the meat sweats. Shudder.

Quick haircut update

So last night I finally gave up and got my hair cut. You guys, it was getting pretty drastic...I was verging on mullet territory. So I talked to my friend who'd recently gotten her haircut from a great stylist who spoke English, and we set up an appointment for myself and a friend of mine whose situation was nearly as bad (think more sticking out at the sides than mullet), and we headed down to Seojeong-ri. Now, if you know anything about Korean (or East Asian hairstyles in general), you know they can be pretty dramatic...

Beast (top) and 2PM (bottom) showing off their style.

So I was just a little bit nervous headed in there. I just cannot pull off that look, no matter how much I try. I am just not dynamic enough. Fortunately for me, we sat down, were given some tea, and talked about what to do with our hair with Jieun, our stylist. Who, by the way, is awesome. I was very pleased with how my hairstyle turned out:

Strike a pose. Vogue.

While Mike's was decidedly more Korean. But without the pointy sideburns:

Deer in headlights. Vogue.

So afterwords, we headed to grab some dinner and decided on samgyeopsal. Which is basically bacon for dinner. It was delicious. The end.