새해 복 많이받으세요!

We welcomed the lunar new year in Seoul with family.  We didn't know how many people would come to Sam's Eemo's home, but over thirty ended up coming!  As always, it was nice to spend time with ones we love. :O)

The Elders of the family getting ready to receive their greeting for the new year

We all bowed en masse to save time

Cousins!

Korean Strawberries

*sigh* Korean strawberries, how can I convey how lush and  sweet and tasty they are?  Korean strawberries are:

1.  Grown in greenhouses.
2.  Are a winter treat in Korea, not a summer one like home.  They are at their peak from December to April.
3.  Are all sweet, with no tart.  Yum!

Oh, how I wish I could send each of you a kilogram of these succulent, sweet, beautifully red strawberries.  Since I can't ever foresee myself ever coming back to Korea in the winter, my plan is to eat as many as I can while I'm here.  I'm ruined for American strawberries! 

Ice Sledding!

Last Saturday we had a nice lunch at a Vietnamese/Thai? place and were thinking about what to do for the day.  Sam wanted to go sledding again but the kids were not enthused.  Lindsay said that she wanted to go ice sledding, "어름 썰매", so we decided to try it out.  It was fun!  We rented two sleds and played all afternoon! 

See the dry creekbed behind Lindsay?  I found out that the three gentlemen that run the place come at night for three hours, and pour water on the creekbed to ice it over. 

 

 Action shot!  The sleds went faster than I expected!

It turned out to be a great way to spend the afternoon.  And it was timely too, because it was the last weekend that they would be open.  어름 썰매 재미 있었어요!

Jeonju

Still trying to play catch up!  The weekend after the Persimmon Festival, we decided to go to Jeonju, where there is a traditional folk village.  We were looking most forward to the bibimbap, which Jeonju is well known for.  Well, the food was worth it!  As soon as Sam and I took a bite, we looked at each other and just grinned like cheshire cats.  It was soooooo gooood. 

It only took us about an hour to get to Jeonju.  Aren't the toll gates pretty?  We, of course, decided to eat first before going to the folk village...

Jeonju bibimbap.  Along with the normal veggies, it had mook, marinated raw beef, walnuts, pine nuts, chestnuts and ginko nuts.  Mmmm mmmmm.

All mixed together and ready to eat!

 


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The kids really enjoyed their bulgoki, too!


A huge bowl of resin bibimbap commemorating when the restaurant made bibimbap for 1000 people at once.  I'm sure you noticed that the ingredients are in the shape of the Korean peninsula.  It really does look like a rabbit, doesn't it?



Upstairs, they had a little gallery displaying bibimbaps from the different regions in Korea.  They also had these adorable figures depicting a traditional Korean kitchen and mealtime with a king. 

 In front of the restaurant

 
 

The folk village was a mixture of old and new.  There are many homes that are hundreds of years old along with buildings that were new construction to encourage the tourism industry to the area.  In the end, it's all about making a buck, sadly.  But at least some history gets preserved along the way.

Pretty manhole cover

 

A catholic church built in the Byzantine style.  Built by a French priest in the early 20th century to commemorate the spot where  two Korean Christians became the first Korean Christian martyrs in 1781.  Lindsay and I took a peek inside only to realize that there was a wedding going on, oops!  That didn't stop dozens of others from stepping inside to get their glimpse, too.

 

Yummy street food!  "Chrysanthemum bread", waffles and ho dduk!  We opted for the bread, they were ooey gooey good and warmed us up on that cold day.

 Goofy shot of Nathan from inside a bakery.  That's it from Jeonju, till next time...