On Tuesday evening, our new friend Changwan took us into Sinchon for a wonderful dinner of Korean-style lettuce wraps and makgeolli so we could watch the Olympics together. We watched some Judo matches and got to see how the Koreans supported their country in the games. This was a lovely evening full of delicious food and great conversation. We learned a lot about our new friend and about how to eat lettuce wraps the correct way (apparently I had been doing it wrong this whole time!) I also learned that in Korea – they calculate ages differently! When a baby is born in Korea, they are born at age 1 years old instead of 0 years old like in the U.S. They also calculate the years differently – so when someone gives you their age here in Seoul, you subtract almost two years to get their age in American values. CRAZY!
I really love spending time with the Korean students because we learn such intriguing and unique facts about Korean culture that you are unlikely to find in a guidebook. We are definitely looking forward to spending more time with them this weekend. In the meantime, check out our photos of this night in Sinchon:
The dinner party – Korean lettuce wraps.
Ingredients for the perfect lettuce wrap!
Candice showing us how it’s done!
Lettuce & Peppers
Time to try our wraps – or “san.”
A confusing explanation – but okay!
After our amazing dinner, we walked to one of Chang’s favorite hangouts to have some after-dinner drinks and more Olympics:
Getting ready for our first taste of Makgeolli & Korean Beer.
Drinking makgeolli from the traditional tin pan?
Kimchi fried bread – a traditional dish to eat when it rains! Matt looks doubtful.
Our wonderful host & friend – Changwan.
Candice & I try the potato pancake.
Pretty excited for a taste of Gamjajeon!
Changwan & I are pretty into the Judo, apparently.
Having way too much fun!
The whole party!
And finally the walk back home to our dorms:
The Doors Bar – awesome!
Woodstock Bar.
As you can tell, we had another wonderful night. All I can say is: WE LOVE SEOUL!