Hungry?

Health clinics in Korea are quite an experience. The government expects you to go through a rigorous and, oddly thorough, health examination shortly after arrival in the country. The thing that struck me most about the process was how open it all was, there were no closed doors and you could sit there and watch people getting their blood drawn and people shuffled through the hallways in the flimsy hospital gowns. There were different stations you circulated through with your records and got the clearance to go onto the next station. Kind of reminded me of an obstacle course. The first station was body measurements where they weighed you, measured your height, blood pressure, sight and, for somereason, chest size. This information was recorded and then you were sent to the next station where you were asked to give a urine sample and then they drew blood for testing. The doctor in charge of this station had a difficult time finding my veins in the crook of my arm. After failed attempts, he drew blood from my wrist which was unpleasant. After that it was off to the radiology lab where your chest was x-rayed. Sadly, we didn't get to see the pictures. The last station was sitting in a doctor's office while he asked you questions about your health history.

Afterwords I tried this thing:

Yup...squid jerky

It was super chewy and hard. It had an interesting flavor and consistency. I didn't mind it but not the best snack I've had since coming to Korea. The first Korean snack I had when I got to Gimpo:

Shrimp chips.

They are pretty good, have a very mild flavor and are a bit greasy, but they taste like shrimp. My first dinner in Korea was kind of a cop-out but I had been on flights for about twenty four hours and was ready to sleep, so I picked up some ramen. I was surprised to find that there is a HUGE selection here. In the States we have pretty much two flavors chicken and shrimp. Here they have ones with different kinds of noodles, bits of beef, seaweed...it's pretty amazing. I can definitely say that Korean just-add-hot-water ramen trumps American ramen any day:

But still cheap: 1,000 KRW (roughly a dollar)

Speaking of food, during lunch today all the foreign teachers went as a group to eat and after we walked down to the local market. A huge tent covered the streets and there were stands where you could buy live eels, catfish and other kinds of fish in tanks in addition to vegetables, spices and fruit:


So many smells and things to see.

The reason for us going was to get these deep fried pastries that are served warm and are similiar to donuts. You add sugar and there is syrup and chopped walnuts inside. To die for. There are places there where you can choose your fish alive from one of the tanks and they cook and serve it to you.

After work, we all went out to get Korean barbeque at a place that the veteran teachers call "smiley's" because the owner is always smiling. The tables have a small fire pit in the middle where you cook thin slices of marinated beef yourself. They bring you tons of side dishes and leaves of lettuce and sesame leaves. You put whatever side dish you want along with the beef on a leaf and wrap it up. Kind of like a burrito or something. It was incredible and a really fun experience.

And of course, there is kimchi

Twas great food in a great city with great people. All in all, a great time. :)

XoXo