luncheon

yesterday joe and i went out with one of the KATUSA's (Korean Augmentation To the United States Army) in his squad for a traditional korean meal. i wish i had brought my camera!!! it was awesome!

in korean culture it is polite to remove your shoes before entering anyones home. we take off our shoes before coming in our own home, the cable guys and the gas meter reader all took of their shoes before entering our home, and apparently in some restaurants it is polite to remove your shoes as well! so, we left our shoes on the shelves by the door and sat down on two mats on the floor around a low table with a heating element in the middle.

we had what joe's soldier called the korean version of potato soup! this was no ordinary potato soup though, let me tell you. =) it was very tasty, and they were nice and even made it less spicy than normal for me. koreans usually eat food family style, so we were each given a bowl of rice, and another bowl that we were served soup in from the large bowl in the center.

the soup consisted mainly of the broth, which was really good, along with lots of large brussel sprouts. it also had a few potato slices, four large portions of very tender pork ribs, shrimp with their heads and eyes still on and looking at me, some other small shiny fishies with their heads on and eyes still looking at me as well, clams, oysters, spinach, small octopus' and mushrooms.

these mushrooms were crazy!! they grow them in glass jars at the restaurant, and cut off the tops right at the table and into the soup!

and the octopus' were cut up with scissors and added to the soup in front of us as well. i ate a leg. but in with a mouth full of brussel sprouts and you couldn't even tell. but i knew. i knew...

i wasn't served and didn't ask for any of the little fishies, clams or oysters, but i did get to snap a head and some legs off a shrimp, so that was fun and exciting.

they also served kim chee on the side, as well as carrots and onions (i thought it was a green bean and ate the whole thing - mid chew joe's soldier was like, "that's really spicy..." =). there was also a red paste they use like mayo that was spicy but really tasty as well!

after lunch joe's soldier treated us to green tea lattes. they are a big thing here. it's basically green tea with milk and sugar added. it was different, but i really liked it.

and now for the twilight part of our day - we found out joe and joe's soldier have the same birthday, AND joe's soldier's girlfriend and i have the same birthday!!!! we checked ID's and everything! what are the odds that different couples have the same birthdays, that they are from different sides of the planet, and that they actually meet one day?!!?! we are destined to be friends. =) and we all prayed before the meal and found out we're all Christians too! Crazy. our minds are still reeling from the whole birthday thing....

xoxox