New Start Sunday!

My wife, my brood, and myself are going to the New Start Restaurant in Seoul Sunday. It is a vegetarian buffet, we have been there before, and it is pretty dang good. IT costs about 12,000 won per person. There is a Seoul veggie club meeting from 12pm-2pm, and that is why we are going.

Directions: From Seoulleung station (line 2 & Bundang line), take exit 2, walk straight a block to the light. Turn left on Seonneung-ro dong 53 gil (선릉로 동53길). It’s about half a block down on the right side. The building is recessed from the street; you’ll see the “New Start Restaurant 2F” sign. It’s on the second floor.New Start's phone: 02/565-4324 or 011-294-4324.

If any of my fan want to come meet us, well don't count on it. We are notorious for changing our minds at the last minute. Usually because my wife hates to go anywhere if its less than 60 degrees Fahrenheit outside. And my kids hate to go anywhere, if they have to walk more than 50 feet or so.

It has been historically difficult to go anywhere with three very moody, unhappy campers, and like Asmith's wife, mine likes to have me at home so she can keep her beady eyes on me so even though weather and walking don't bother me, I seldom go anywhere without them.

To sum up, we are going to the New Start Restaurant on Sunday. Or not. It depends on the temperature, the moods of my children, weather the moon is waxing or waning, the tides, the time of the month, which planets are in line or just a roll of the dice.

So we will see you there. Or not.

ROK on.

A whole new world

After the orientation last week, my new buddy Gary wanted to go to the foreign quarter. He wanted to pick up some ingredients to make some Jerked chicken. In Korea you can pretty much only get salt, pepper, garlic, onions, red chilly pepper, and a dozen types of soy sauce and rice vinegars.

Thats the funny thing about living in Korea, they dont use a hell of a lot of other spices. I had to go to about nine stores before I even found baking yeast, and I still have not seen a single bottle of vanilla extract or leaf of basil since I moved here. Things that are so common, they are available at every single store in the US are completely absent here on the peninsula.

I had not even realized it, but we have pretty much been eating stir frys and rice at every meal for the last two months. Not anymore, I am tired of using onions, garlic, red chillies, and salt at every meal. I decided to break out of the mold last week. My first step was acquiring cilantro. That was located in the foreign quarter, fresh cilantro at that, they also had dried cumin one of the basic spices for Mexican and Indian food. Then I found some garbanzo (chick peas) beans in the same store. That coupled with lemons would recreate our meal plans.

Now I had the ingredients for a food revolution. I first had to soak the chick peas overnight, but that did not stop me from making salsa! We had salsa, beans, and rice with a tofu-potato scramble that would knock your socks off! It was devoured in mere seconds.

Last night the chick peas were ready, I soaked some sesame seeds in water, then ground them up (tahinie), I cooked the garbanzo beans in the rice/pressure cooker. After adding garlic, olive oil, and salt I ground them all up to a creamy consistency, and boom! we had the delicious diarrhea like substance known as hummus. Beautiful hummus, once a staple in our lives, its as common in the northwest as rain in winter but it is all but absent in this strange foreign land.

Then I took some flour, water and baking powder, and created the simple flatbread known as tortillas. My wife asked me where I bought them! LOL! ROFL! LMAO! No, like god himself I created the tortillas in my own image, pasty and white.

So to recap, salsa, hummus, tortillas add those with a nice tofu potato scramble(yes again) and some salad and we had...well not really burritos, but more like a nice soft shelled taco thingy! And it was good!

My youngest normally eats like a bird, she will have a little salad and some rice, and maybe a little tofu but not much else. She kept asking me "Daddy can we have more than one?" Of course I told her yes, and she proceeded to eat like 4 burrito-taco thingies. I had to make a second batch of tortillas and more salsa.

My family devoured that stuff like a swarm of locusts. And I saw that it was good, then I rested.

I was so happy to make something not using chilly pepper, garlic, onions and vinegar for dinner, but then I realized that I actually used all those things in the salsa and hummus...

Triple fail!

So I left work yesterday, totally convinced I would finally feel the burn! I headed off to the gym, and ran into my wife on the way there. It was really cold, and she told me not to go to the gym. She said I should not join the gym, she told me to just come home with her.

"But I want big muscles!" I whined.

"Your muscles are big enough!" she said as the skinny 130lb. woman dragged me towards the bus stop with one hand.

I finally convinced her to stop womanhandeling me, and I went on my merry way. I reached the gym (no random bus attacks) and went inside. The man who stopped me from coming in last time looked up from behind the desk, ready to pounce the moment I put my filthy outside sneakers ohis pristine floor. Aha! I was prepared this time though! I pulled from the depths of a plastic sack, a pair of clean GYM SHOES! Take that tiny Mongol warrior! I slipped my shoes on, I was ready to face him!

I strode up to the desk confidently, I pulled out my wallet.

"I would like a one month membership, please"

"OK" he said "Just one montheu?"

"The four month offer was tempting, a lower rate plus a shiny new gym bag, but my history with consistent working out was shaky to say the least. I thought I better play it safe this time.

"Yes, one month"

"OK, what is your cerr phone numbereu?"

"Uh..." I had to think fast, the phone is new and I dont call myself. I could not remember it, maybe it would tell me? I opened my phone, on previous phones my number was always displayed when opened. This cursed mongol phone however, did no such thing. Blast! What now?
I thought to my self maybe my home # would work, it is in my phone.

"How about my home number? I cant remember my cell"

"No!" he screamed. Well, actually he did not scream, I was being dramatic. But he did say "Cerr phoneeu only prease!"

Shit, did I come all this way, just to fail now? NO! I did not give up I had to succeed! "How about my home phone?" I cleverly suggested again.

"OK, home phone OK" he conceded.

My power of persuasion is formidable indeed. I paid the man, and he showed me around the gym, where to put my stuff, and gave me an orange. Yeah an orange. He also said that I dont need to bring a towel because they provide them as a free service. Nice.

"You change in here OK?"

"OK!" I said after receiving a complimentary towel, roughly the size of a paper napkin. While putting my stuff away, and wondering roughly how much the towel would actually be able to conceal/dry off, tragedy struck!

My gym pants were gone! I could have swore I packed them last night! I checked again! Damn! they still were not in my backpack! Perhaps a triple check, would yeild a different result! NO! They still were not there! I had my money, check. I had my shoes, check. I had a phone #, check. I had my work out clothes, no check.

I hung my head in shame, I left the locker room, I gave back the towels, I left the gym, I put back on my street shoes and went home. All I had to show for 3 days of trying, and after paying 30,000 won for a membership was one tiny, albeit very tasty orange. It had better be fucking tasty for 30,000 won!

I'm lovin it.

I was teaching a class one day, and in the lesson there was a story about a dog named Yeppie who destroyed someone's flower garden. Naughty Yeppie! Well anyway, I was interacting with the class and asking what should the owner do with his dog? Should he keep Yeppie inside? Should he keep Yeppie on a leash?

One girl raised her hand and said "Eeh sherd eeet Yeppie."
Now I was pretty sure I misheard that. "He should beat yeppie? No you shouldn't beat your pets." I said.

"No" she said "Eeh sherd eeet Yeppie!" and then she mimed eating, a delicious albeit naughty dog.

I was shocked! I asked my co-teacher "You don't really still eat dogs here? Do you?" she just laughed and smiled. Then I asked the class who had actually eaten dog in the class, and half the students raised their hands.

People love to eat meat in Korea, almost as much as in the US. But they also eat dog, which is uncommon in the US, unless you count corn and hotdogs. Here they have restaurants that specialize in dog meat stew.

When I first decided to come to Korea, I thought that was a myth. That eating dog was a racist stereotype, that might have been true in the past but they are a civilized, modern country that would not do that now, right? For some reason I equated a modern public transportation system and abundantly available high speed internet with not eating dog.

For those who read my blog(both of you) it is important to realize that my family and I are Vegans. We are tree-hugging, earth saving, liberal, leftist, socialist, atheist, vegans and we love it. Although I was shocked to find out that they still eat dog here, when I stopped to think about it, it is really worse than eating any other animal?

My wife says yes definitely. It is more wrong to eat a smart animal. So according to her it would be worse to eat a pig (smarter than a dog) than a dog. Cow would fall below dog, but above chicken, who would be above fish. Fish would be above clams, and clams would be above Glen Beck fans.

She also says if it can love you, you shouldn't eat it. I say that I don't really believe that dogs love you, sure they might like you, but occasionally they rip our faces off. Is that love? Maybe a chicken could love you too. You never know unless you give it a chance.