Korean Food

I know everyone has been waiting for this post... the post on Korean Food! It's my goal to try at least one Korean dish per week while I'm here. We'll see how that goes.

	Apparently the Korean's love chocolate about as much as we Americans do. Except, they have a different spin on it. This is green tea chocolate from Jeju Island, and it was delicious. I can't really describe the taste other than just pure awesomeness.
This will be my next chocolate purchase. I'm not sure how it will taste, but it's chocolate. If it's anything like the Green Tea chocolate was, I won't be disappointed.
	This is called a Korean "Choco-Pie." It's basically a Korean Moon pie, except they're smaller, and probably a little more healthy. They're absolutely delicious.
The Koreans love some Lattes, but they have a different take on it than we American's do. This one caught my eye since it was definitely a non-traditional drink. I haven't tried it yet, but it's on the to-try list.
	Funny story. We went on a field trip last week (See the post below this one). After we were done visiting the Hanowan facility, we stopped at a little soup restaurant where we had "Bone Marrow Soup." It sounds gross, but it's just beef broth. They boiled beef ribs, and this was the water left over.  Anyway, most of the Americans in our group refused to eat it. I thought it was delicious.... well... after I added a bunch of stuff to give it flavor. Otherwise, it just tasted like water.
Koreans are notorious for their love of Kimchi. The bowl of red stuff on the right of this picture is a type of "Radish Kimchi." It basically just taste like a pickled radish with Chili and Cayenne pepper sprinkled on it. The texture is similar to an uncooked potato. I think its tasty, and one of the few types of Kimchi I will actually eat. Oh yeah, I ate some tofu too. It's in the background.
	The funny thing is... I think the Korean members of our tour group and myself were the only ones who actually ate our lunch. I paid $10 for it, your durn skippy I'm going to finish it. Anyway, the other Americans in my group revolted and demanded that we stop at McDonald's on the way back. So we did.
Instead of going to McDonald's, I went next door to Starbucks where I got a Yogurt Avocado drink. JUST KIDDING! If you know me at all, you know I despise that clabbered milk product they call yogurt, and I despise avocado just as much. I got a green tea latte instead.
	While we were at the rest stop, one of our Korean Augments to the U.S. Army (KATUSA) gave me this little gem. It's translated as a "Walnut cake snack.' It's a deep fried ball of walnut dough with a red bean paste in the center, and it was delicious.

So that's it for the first months worth of the Korean food adventure! I'm sure there will be more to follow.

Spirituality and the North

A few days ago, because of my job, I was afforded an opportunity that very few Koreans, and even fewer Americans, get to partake in; I got to visit a facility where North Korean defectors to the South are trained in the ways of the rest of the world. I cannot and will not go into much detail about the facility, but there is something I wanted to share with you.

During the tour, we were shown the “Spiritual rooms.” These spiritual rooms were basically rooms designed for worship of different faiths; Christian, Catholic, and Buddhist. A member of our group asked “Since North Korea is an atheist country, which religion do they normally turn to?” The answer was “Christian.” This shocked the majority of the group, thinking that Buddhist would be the more popular choice. At first I thought to myself, “This doesn’t surprise me at all with the sheer number of missionaries in Asia.” Later, I realized I was wrong. The missionaries play a huge part in it, that I am sure of, but I think it’s something else.

Before I get into what I think that “something else” is, let’s look at a quick demographic of the No-Ko refugees; 75% of all the refugees coming into the South are women, and nearly all of them experienced some kind of physical or mental violence. According to the Yonsei University Graduate School of Social Welfare, out of 140 defectors age 20-50, 57.6% had PTSD and 45.7% had attempted suicide. So what does that say about what they have gone through?

So what faith allows a person to come as they are with no judgement? Christianity does! These No-Kos are in pain from the slavery of their government and sexual bondage. When they are introduced to the different religions, they seek the one that says "Come to me you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." How much lighter must Christ's yoke seem than that of an oppressive government and sexual slavery! No, I'm not surprised at all when I hear that Christianity is the religion chosen over the others that are offered. Not one bit.

There's more than one way to skin a cat...or preserve flowers...

The original flowers:

The preserved flowers:

But, of course, the originals are prettier. Thanks for the flowers, Liam.