Our Second Korean Thanksgiving

Last night we celebrated Thanksgiving with some friends. Didn't know it was possible, but we got to stuff ourselves with a real, authentic Thanksgiving meal. And didn't have to go into debt for it. Bonus.

Remember last year's Thanksgiving dinner? Well, (besides the friends we shared the meal with last year) this meal was a million, trillion times better.

One of our American friends, Jenny was able to set this up. There were about 15 people who attended. Here's the table. (Jenny's the one on the end on the cell phone. Probably giving someone directions. Ha.)

Jenny got the turkey from the US military base.

As for the rest of the sides, Jenny had gotten to know a little Korean lady who owns a tiny brunch restaurant. This lady happened to live in Boston for awhile, so she cooked the rest of the sides for us. And they were just like home. As in, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans, corn, pasta salad, caesar salad, mac and cheese (with bacon!), cranberries, and even stuffed mushrooms. It's making me hungry just to think about it.

And here was my plate this year...

And the best part was, all this food cost us $15 per person. Half the price of last year and twice the food.

Here are Mark and I, both very happy after such a great meal.

And last night reminded me of one more thing I have to be thankful for this year. Being so far away from our family and friends back home makes me really grateful for the people who have helped to make our lives here in Korea so great. When we first arrived in Korea we had no idea who or what was in store for us. But almost 2 years later, I can safely say Korea has brought some people into our lives that we will call friends forever.

Thanksgiving Dinner

In my last post, I mentioned that both SangKwun and Birth father came to Korea for Thanksgiving. Turns out it was just a very odd coincidence, as they had no idea it was Thanksgiving back in America. They took us to a seafood buffet, which was really good, but not the traditional Thanksgiving dinner I was craving.

The following weekend, we went with some co-workers to Chef Meili's... an Austrian restaurant in Itaewon (the foreigner area). I finally got some of the turkey and stuffing I was longing for... but it came at a price... about $36 for the meal - not including wine. Ouch! Turkey is really expensive here because it's all imported.

Here we are waiting for dinner.

The meal was plated, so what you see below is what you get. It was delicious, but kind of had me wanting seconds, and thirds...

Yeah, I was also kind of wondering where the rest of the pumpkin pie was... This whipped cream was phenomenal, though. It was fruity flavored.

All in all, Thanksgiving in Korea was a lot of fun, but I can definitely say that both of us will be looking forward to a heaping plate of Thanksgiving goodies next year back home!