Making Kimchi!

Back at SangKwun and ChunPing's wedding, I asked my aunt (who can cook like a rock star) to teach me how to make kimchi. At the time, she kind of laughed and said that it's really difficult to make.

But then I got a text from my cousin inviting me to their house to make kimchi for the winter. Apparently, in the fall, Koreans make a ton of kimchi to last them through the winter.

So early Sunday morning I got on the subway for the hour and a half ride to my aunt and uncle's house. I originally thought I would be able to learn how to make it and I could recreate the process when I returned to the States. Um, not even possible since it involved a lot of guesstimating, tasting, and adding random ingredients and sauces I couldn't name if my life depended on it. But what an awesome day, especially since virtually no one could speak English. Awesome opportunity to work on my Korean skills, though the day made it evident that I still have a loooong way to go.

We made the kimchi outside my aunt and uncle's restaurant. Their restaurant is very small and they serve just a few dishes. Here's one. I think it's cow intestines or something... I have not yet tried it. But I really think I would because everything my aunt has made has been phenomenal. No joke.

Here's a shot of the inside of the restaurant. Can you see all those cabbages waiting for us outside?

Want a closer look? That's a LOT of cabbages. And notice the radishes to the side as well. We made both cabbage AND radish kimchi.

Apparently the family had spent most of the day before washing all the radishes and cabbages.

We started by watching my uncle cut up all the radishes.

We started with a brown sauce base. Here they are adding the chili power to make it super-spicy.

Next, some radishes were added.

After that, garlic, and other spices were added.

Then they added a secret ingredient that I had no clue went into kimchi... lots and lots of shrimp.

These teeny tiny shrimp...

And then some raw pureed shrimp. Tails, heads, shells and all. How far I've come because a year ago this would've totally grossed me out. But I figure now, it's all mixed in and I've eaten kimchi for a long time and been fine, so might as well just go for it.

Next, some green leaves and onions were added.

Ta-Da! The sauce is ready.

Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of myself making the kimchi. But I put some gloves on and smeared that sauce all over the cabbages. Clearly it was my first time, as I finished about 8 in the time it took that older lady to finish about 20. It was kind of cute though because they packed up the ones I made so I could take them home with me. They're in fridge ready to be eaten. Mark said it's the best kimchi he's ever tasted. :)

Here are the ladies finishing up the last of the cabbages.

Then they used some sauce to make radish kimchi as well.

Here's the final product... that's a LOT of kimchi!

It was kind of funny to me how many random older people just came over to watch us work. They would just stand around and chat and eat pieces of cabbage with the sauce on it. And the older ladies would randomly squat down and get to work. Korea is so funny to me in that way. It seems like people aren't that friendly on the subway and on the street, but older people will come right over to a neighbor's house and dive right in to help make kimchi and stay for lunch without a second thought.

After we finished making the kimchi we all sat down for some kimchi and bossam. Bossam is a steamed pork that is eaten with kimchi. Koreans believe that fresh kimchi tastes best with bossam, so it's kind of a traditional meal to eat when kimchi is made.

After that, I headed home with a ton of (very heavy!) kimchi and very specific instructions on how to store it. Hooray for kimchi!

Chatting with the cuz

Today Mark and I met for the first time with my cousin, Su Bin. She is a college student, and it seems that her father and Birth Father are close since I see her the most often at family events.

To jog your memory, here we are in the car going to SangKwun and ChunPing's wedding.

We've decided to start meeting regularly so she can practice English and we can practice Korean. Plus, this way I can try to get to know her better. We've had other language partners, but this is so much cooler because this is someone I'm actually blood related to and by learning the language am able to communicate better with. Seriously, this is something most people probably take for granted, but being here and getting to know people that I have the same genes and blood as is so amazing. I can't even put it into words.

We had so much fun chatting for a couple hours yesterday and though Mark and I can get a little frustrated with our level and where we think we should be, days like this remind us that we really can communicate fairly well and we just need to keep practicing.

Chuseok Sushi

Mark and I celebrated our first Chuseok with family. Chuseok is basically Korean Thanksgiving. People get together with their families and eat a lot. There are a lot of traditions associated with Chuseok especially as related to ancestors... there's a good description here if you're interested.

Our teacher told us that married women tend to hate the holidays as they are expected to spend the entire day cooking and cleaning and waiting hand and foot on the men. Meanwhile, the men spend their time sleeping, eating, and drinking alcohol. If I understood our teacher correctly, there's a belief that the men aren't allowed to enter the kitchen or it will anger the ancestors. Pretty sure that superstition was created by a man!

I was kind of hoping for a very traditional Korean Chuseok with my birth family (maybe minus all the hard labor). But the more holidays I spend with them, the more I realize my family really doesn't behave like a traditional Korean family.

My birth father was supposed to arrive in Korea on Chuseok day. So a little before 7, the doorbell rang and it was my two uncles and their families. So we chatted with them (yay! we could... a little), watched t.v. and waited for Birth Father to come from the airport.

When Birth Father arrived we headed to a restaurant. (This is my kind of family... minimal work for the women... haha.) We actually ended up eating sushi to celebrate the holiday.

Yep, complete with the wriggling tentacle things...

But I know you probably don't care about the food. Here are the family members... We actually separated into an "adult" and "kid" table. Yep, even in Korea I will forever be placed at the kid's table. :)

Here's the adult table.

Actually, I got to meet a few new family members on Chuseok, which was cool. These two ladies are my aunts! They are Birth Father's younger sisters. They were really sweet to me and had a few questions for me, which I was mostly able to answer. W00T!

Now onto the kid's table. The girl on the left is the college-aged cousin I've met before. She really came out of her shell this time one-shotting soju and she even spoke some English! She actually told me she wants to start meeting with me on a weekly basis to practice English and Korean. :) To her right is her older brother and his wife who happen to be the same age as Mark and me. Her brother could speak good English and told us he wants to go to the United States because he loves the NBA. So of course we told him we'd be happy to show him around anytime. When we get back to the States, we may have a lot Korean visitors. :)

And finally, me with my littlest cousins. They're cute, aren't they?

And here's a final one with Mark. Mark loved teasing the little cousin in the middle. She was kind of freaked out by the full fish, so when she wasn't looking Mark put one right in front of her face. When she turned her head, she saw the fish and screamed. Then later he pointed out a huge spider to her and got the same reaction. Good thing Mark didn't have a little sister growing up, or I would've definitely felt sorry for her. :)

All in all a really nice Chuseok. These truly are the special moments that I'm so happy to be able to experience over here.

Meeting the Family

Several weeks ago, Mark and I had the opportunity to meet two of Birth Father's brothers and their families. This is the first extended family I've gotten to meet, so it was really cool for me. My birth father actually comes from a family of 9. He is the 5th born, so exactly in the middle.

We got picked up around 3:30 pm and drove about an hour to Birth Father's younger brother's house. He lives a little outside Seoul. When we arrived at the house, we had no idea what to expect.

Birth Father's younger brother lives above his 순대 (soondae) restaurant. This is a restaurant that sells pig intestines... which Koreans go absolutely NUTS for. You will see the prettiest Korean girls in their high heels and mini skirts chowing down on this stuff. Mark and I have not been brave enough to try it...

Anyway, we met my uncle, aunt, and their daughter who is in college. Then, another brother, his wife, and their two middle-school-aged daughters arrived also. It was kind of nice... they didn't make a big fuss over me, basically just instantly accepted me as part of the family. No one could really speak much English, so conversation was extremely limited to what SangKwun could translate.

We went into an apartment and sat around several small tables. There were tons of pots bubbling... I was just praying that we weren't having soondae. Luckily, we had plates and plates of delicious food... some marinated 갈비 (beef), 잡재 (jap chae), and 떡국 (the traditional New Years rice cake soup and seaweed). It was all AMAZING. And don't worry, no 순대!

While we were eating, the 3 brothers started downing the 소주 (soju). I mean, it was bottle after bottle.

Here are the three of them... I think Birth Father looks like the brother to his right. The one to his left is the youngest in the family and quite the character.

Here we are with the cousins... I don't see much of a resemblance... what do you think? The one in the purple sweatshirt is in college and is the daughter of the uncle whose house we were at. The other two were sisters.

And here's the whole gang...

The youngest cousin in the Beastie Boys sweatshirt next to me was pretty cute. She couldn't stop staring at Mark, but would get all embarrassed when he'd catch her.

The brothers just sat around and talked for HOURS. Birth Father's brothers were extremely animated and talkative. Then, out of nowhere, they said we were going to the 노래방 (noraebang) to sing. The cousins stayed behind and we headed out with the aunts and uncles to belt out some tunes.

Normally, birth father is pretty reserved, so I was very surprised when he was the first to grab the microphone and a tambourine.

I was nervous at first but I sang a couple songs. There has never been a more supportive group as everyone clapped along enthusiastically.

We finally finished up around midnight. We were walking back to the apartment and I was SURE we were heading home, when we made a pit stop into the 순대 restaurant owned by my uncle. I think my heart leapt into my throat that my time had come to try it. Luckily, we only had some tea. We then sat there for TWO MORE HOURS while the brothers continued to talk.

We finally headed home around 2 a.m., tired, but glad to have had this experience. What a night -- one that I'm sure I will never forget...