Snow Day

We got about 2 or 3 inches of snow over the last two days. It was pretty exciting for us, being from Atlanta, which has little to no snow every year. Things didn't stop here...stores were open, schools were attended, work was done. We work in the evenings, so we got to take advantage of the snowy afternoon.

This small pagoda is adjacent to our apartment, just a little ways up hill. No one was up there, we were surprised.

We ran into this crew on the way down the hill. As soon as they saw the camera, they all huddled around their snowball and posed. It was pretty darn cute.

Just next to the hill with the pagoda is another hill. We decided to make a snowman since both of us couldn't remember ever making one. I couldn't figure it out at first, but Beth showed me the way. We found some gloves to give him hands. Beth had quite an affinity for "Mr. White (aka Three Slaps Johnny)."

I've been meaning to take a picture of this failure for a while.

On the way home I put a few snowballs together. We went up to our apartment on the 12th floor and opened the window. Children were all playing in the snow directly below us. I yelled out "bombs away!" and started chunking the snowballs. Two kids decided to try and catch them. It was a fun day.

Holidays in Korea

We're pretty far into the holiday season, and so far it's been lovely. We were warned before we moved here that November and December can be tough for expats because it doesn't feel like the holidays. So I decided that we would do our best to bring the holidays with us.

Though we miss our friends and family (because that's the best part of the holidays), we've created a holiday atmosphere here complete with a real Thanksgiving, too many Christmas lights, and friends that feel like family.

For Thanksgiving everyone brought a dish and shared some special traditions from their families or cultures. We had a Russian toast before we ate, and said cheers in 10 different languages. The food was incredible. This is a picture of one of the tables of food (there were three!)

We had a beautiful little girl named Hana around to keep everyone charmed.

The day ended with the boys on the porch smoking cigars and some fun rounds of charades and other games. You can't beat that!

Beer Snacks part 2

At nicer bars here in Korea they will give you snacks with your drinks. I've only had these served at one "hof" (bar) as they are called here, and they are certainly the most interesting beer food I've had. It is a small bug. It's called "beon de gi" and it tastes bad. They are swimming in a spicy, salty liquid. You can see the habanero peppers if you look close. These buggers are somewhat soft, and taste like soil. It isn't anything so bad that you want to gag, but one was plenty for me. You can see old women selling these by the bag full at the local markets

Here is some video, post beon de gi consumption.

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