olympic park

eat your nuts! (정월 대보름)

the first full moon in the lunar calendar occurs on january 15th and it is called daeboreum. koreans believe that this full moon is the biggest and brightest one of the year. traditionally, aka in the olden days, the highlight of daeborum celebrations and festivals was the greeting of the moon. people would compete with torches in hand and race to the top of a mountain. the first one to see the moon is blessed with good luck.

not only did it bring luck, but, the moon was also used to predict the yearly harvest. farmers believed that a pale moonlight would bring frequent rain and red moonlight draught. dim moonlight signified a year of good harvest and conversely, hazy moonlight indicated a bad harvest.

these days, to celebrate daeboreum day, koreans don't necessarily race to the mountaintops to greet the moon, but, they still keep up the tradition of eating nuts, aka bureom. apparently, you're supposed to crack the nuts open with your teeth and do it in a single bite. cracking nuts is supposed to drive away evil spirits and ironically, keep your teeth healthy. don't forget to eat your nuts!

shabu shabu time...again!

i know these look a bit, fingerling-like, but they are actually cheese-filled rice cakes. i know, right. say what?!? at first i was a bit skeptical as well, but after one bite, and i was sold. they essentially taste like cheese sticks only less fried and much chewier. yum!

close up of squid tentacles. this picture makes me think of some underwater dream world.

bean sprout mountain:

the broths! one mild, the other spicy. (guess which is which!)

beef. it was dinner.

when eating shabu shabu, you first let the vegetables simmer in the broth...

my friend, eun young, chopping up the vegetables, with...scissors!

once the vegetables are cooked, feast! i am gobbling away.

in the remaining broth, add the seafood and thinly sliced beef, dip into a sweet and spicy sauce and devour. the spread:

oh man, that was gooooooooooood!

a respite

i've decided to take a wee respite from korean classes. and by that i mean only the classes. since most of the grammar points i've been introduced to are still in that malleable silly putty stage, i'm taking my break to focus more intently on thoroughly reviewing and cementing what i've learned. everything needs to be much more solid. it may take some more self-motivation, but, i can do it! I. CAN. DO. IT!

from left to right,
me, our teacher, naomi and deepa:

say kimchi!

the best frozen yogurt in the world

because i'm crazy about red mango!

time for an upgrade

the best thing about my new phone is that it has a dictionary!