kimchi...

I know that you have been waiting on this post. My life in the land of kimchi.

Things to note about this delectable food:
-Websters defines Kimchi as a vegetable pickle seasoned with garlic, red pepper, and ginger that is the national dish of Korea.
-Wikipedia says about kimchi: any one of numerous traditional Korean pickled dishes made of vegetables with varied seasonings. Its most common manifestation is the spicy baechu (cabbage) variety. Kimchi is so ubiquitous that the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) developed space kimchi to accompany the first Korean astronaut to the Russian-manned space ship Soyuz.
-Urban Dictionary states: A healthy, good tasting traditional Korean dish made with various herbal ingredients. May seem and smell offensive to foreigners. often insulted by prejudiced Japanese people for its strong smell. (This is excluding the rather harsh definitions posted by the Japanese.)

Many blogs and websites are dedicated to this scrumptious treat: The Daily Kimchi, Love that Kimchi, kimchi.com. There is even an iphone application for kimchi lovers!

Here is kimchi propaganda:

You hear a lot of talk about kimchi here. For instance, "they" will tell you that it is very healthy for you and fights against disease and cancer...this may be true. According to Health Magazine: Kimchi is made of various vegetables and contains a high concentration of dietary fiber, while being low in calories. One serving also provides up to 80% of the daily recommended amount of vitamin C and carotene. Kimchi is listed in the top five "World's Healthiest Foods" for being rich in vitamins, aiding digestion, and even possibly reducing cancer growth. Some research focused on high-sodium dietary dependence has found over consumption of kimchi and 된장 to be a risk factor in gastric cancer (most likely due to nitrates and salt). One oncological study found one type of kimchi to be a protective factor against gastric cancer while two other types of such high-sodium kimchi as dongchimi were risk factors. One study conducted by Seoul National University claimed that chickens infected with the H5N1 virus, avian flu, recovered after eating food containing the same bacteria found in kimchi. However, these results have been questioned due to the very small sample size of only a handful of chickens. During the 2003 SARS outbreak, many people believed that kimchi could protect against infection.

Walking through an alley last night with a friend, he spied the real hygienic making of kimchi. When you hear excitement in someone's voice over Kimchi drying o a garbage dumpster, you tend to lose your appeitate for the dish regardless of the nutritional qualities it possess. My friend remarked that the garbage dumpster is probably how Koreans achieve the smell that accompanies the rotting dish.

There are many festivals and contests held throughout the year here in Korea that celebrate this national dish. I plan to be the nest ex-pat Kimchi maker world winner! In the words of the EV Boys (check them out on itunes) Kimchi, Kimchi, it is good for you and me.

I do not want to leave you with a bad taste in your mouth, pun intended here as it is called for. Kimchi leaves the taste of rotting pepper in your mouth only remedied by large quantities of rice and soup. I am eating kimchi. I find that it really might prevent the flu and definitely warms you up on a cold day. Here are some pictures to keep you intrigued! JUST WAIT UNTIL I GET BACK! I am making it for all of you!

Recipes to come soon...

You know when you can't stop smiling...

If you aren't laughing right now, I feel sorry for you!!

So, this past week has been that week when I seriously can not stop smiling. EVERYthing is funny! Even frustration has been turning to laughter. Here are some stories from this past week...they are random and some "too much information" but I wanted to share some of these memorable moments with you...

Friday: My Korean co-teacher was out due to her daughter sick with swine flu, so I took over both the 5 years and 6 years classes. After lunch, I sent the students to an empty classroom to play with blocks. I walked in to check on them when all of a sudden the worst smell I have smelt yet singed my nose. Of course in Anlee fashion I scream, "WHAT IS THAT SMELL??" I did not have to wait long for an answer. One of my students, who will remain nameless for pride's sake, walked up to me after pulling his hand out of his pants and showed my this smelly substance on his fingers. The sad part is at first I thought he had forgotten to wash his hands after lunch as it resembled the sweet and sour squid legs that I had served them earlier. Nope, it was what you are thinking. My 6 (7 in America) year old had... himself. I immediately took him upstairs where I found the evidence in the urinal. His English was good enough to communicate to me his discomfort...[for propriety's sake, I am omitting some rather funny parts of this story]...while this is going on, one of the 4 year olds that I was also responsible for had just peed in his pants and was screaming bloody murder. Wait, the story gets even better...after handing off my student to a Korean teacher, a few hours go by and the "smell" returned. YEP! He did it again. Wow, you have to love squid legs for lunch!

Saturday on the train I had my skirt fondled by an older woman. I'm not sure if she liked the color or the cotton fabric. Needless to say, this is becoming normal in my life.

Thursday: My friends Derek and Chris are pretty amazing musicians, so we -- as their groupies -- were invited back to this private music club to watch them play. I have a mental challenge in my head now that telling me that someday I will play like them.

Tuesday: I brought my guitar to school...the kids loved it! I loved it! At first they made me really nervous! I felt like they were expecting something great, but just tuning my guitar brought on squeals of giggles and glee. They were precious. My younger classes learned the chorus to "Beautiful One," while my older classes learned the entire song. Koreans love to sing, so hearing them enjoy it and sing a song that makes me smile for the Lord was really great!

Bible study on Tuesday's continues to be my favorite day of the week. It's just a time of super encouragement. The funny part about this week was: somehow we ventured to that conversation of men and women. How we are different and why we think the way we do...I'm sure most of you know how I feel about women in general and the equality that I fight for, but in this conversation I am in whole-hearted agreement -- women are complex and rather difficult at times and men are emotional. This is coming off a conversation with a friend earlier in the week of why men "provide" for women and how women reciprocate this provision. Oh and the talk about Jesus was great as well! MOM: I shared my oreo's...they were great!

Sunday: It's Christmas here in Korea...seriously, the sign at Starbucks declares that Christmas is here! I had my first Toffee Nut Latte of the season and plan to have many more! I have been brainstorming how to decorate the apartment for the festive season...will post pictures as soon as I figure out how to do this.

Monday: I went to the doctor about my wrist. Had an xray that only cost $10. Turns out, much to my disagreement, that I only have a stretched tendon. This means that my tendon is just hanging out in my wrist stretched out too far. (Then why is this limiting my ability to move it in either direction. In Korean fashion, I was prescribed 2 pills, twice a day, hot wax treatment, and lasering for my wrist. As of today, I am stopping this form of physical therapy to have some acupuncture done. Be praying over this one. I get queasy with needles around.

Today is Novemer 11 or 11/11 and that means Pepero Day. These are sticks of suger dipped in chocolate and sprinkled with more sugar. I went to the store last night and avoided the masses that were buying sweets for their sweethearts. This day resembes Valentines day...which by the way, Korea celebrates SINGLES Day!!! HECK YES! Here's a Pepero for you!

More fun times coming soon. On a positive, this place is slowly becoming home and I am really enjoying being a teacher. In all of those things that we said we wanted to be when we grew up, TEACHER was never on my list...the jokes on me!