Now That's Tasty!: Roughly 90 meals deep

Time flies when you're 14-hours ahead of the rest of 'your' world...

(My Kindergarden class: Jamie, Alice (no longer), Jon)

It's but a few hours past my one month anniversary of my arrival in Seoul. Hard to believe from both sides of the spectrum; on the one hand I feel as though I've seen and done so many new and interesting things since I got here, on the other, it's as though I just said my goodbyes to close family and friends.

I'm reluctant to say that it's a milestone moment; today was like most other days I've had here in Seoul. Early to bed, early to rise, 9 hours of tiring and somewhat stressful work (dealing with 4-10 year olds all day long and attempting to manage a mixed bag of completely unmentioned, yet lofty, expectations from management that barely speak your language has already caused a grey hair or two to sprout), bibimbap lunch, workout at my nearly private studio gym (recent addition to the schedule), Thai dinner with my good friend Yoni (we just had payday so we're going a bit 'haute-classe'), squeezing in a blog and soon to repeat itself again...and again...and again...

(W4000 pork barbeque...so you know it's good!)

The weekdays are the unfortunately lengthy filler leading up to much anticipated weekends and the opportunity to truly take in the many wonders that Seoul has to offer. The city is impressively accessible as a result of years of highly developed and constantly expanding subway infrastructure, cheap taxi cabs and the ability to find something interesting, or at least different, to do in every neighborhood. The short list of exciting adventures that I've had so far include many a tasty barbeque joint (may not be so exciting for some, however, grilling meat at your table ranks right up there in my book!), a colorful St. Patties day celebration in the historic Insadong neighborhood, more barbeque, all night parties in Itaewon and Hongdae, an afternoon at the Namdaemun market feasting on sumptuous street foods, beef barbeque, a Sunday afternoon at the jjimjilbang (pronounced: jim-jill-bong is a Korean communal bathhouse and sauna-torium) called the Dragon Hill Spa weaving my way through the shopping mecca of Myeongdong, stumbling upon an impressive art showcase in the Gyeongbukgung subway station that turned out to be a High School art exhibit, pork barbeque, visiting the ancient Gyeongbukgung Palace of the Joseon dynasty which is home to the Geunjeongjeon (the main palace where kings were crowned and other such events took place) and the Gyeonghoeru (a large raised pavilion resting on 48 stone pillars, overlooking an artificial lake with two small islands), and barbeque, and barbeque, and barbeque!

(Geunjeongjeon)

With the constant work, the need to cook my own meat, and my attempt at living a life outside of these time-consuming duties I have neglected this blog on more than one occasion, both in frequency and the inclusion of content. I hope to find more time to inform, digress, and discuss my goings-on's on a more consistent basis in the coming months,
however, do know that while my stories and stomach-fillers may not always appear in a timely fashion--they will appear.

I appreciate all the comments I've gotten from everyone thus far and I implore you to keep them coming in all forms; compliment to criticism. You are all missed tremendously...you know who you are...and keep me posted on what's happening around my former stomping grounds!

990-ish Meals To Go.

(The Korean corndog at Namdaemun Market: rolled in some sort of rice and seasoning mixture with a crab stick inside topped with hot sauce and honey mustard)