Korean Barbecue

My school took us out last night to a celebratory dinner for all the new teachers. It was a Korean Barbecue restaurant; I wish I had pictures but I feel like such an idiot taking pictures of things like that.

Basically, you take off your shoes and sit down at a low table, in the middle of which is a small grill. There were a bunch of side dishes and dipping sauces, and of course soju, beer, Pepsi, and something they called "cider" but was pretty much Sprite. Basically each table gets a plate of raw meat, and you cook it on the grill at your table. Then you take a lettuce leaf (there was a basket with many different kinds) and put the meat on it, along with any veggies or sauces you might want, then you wrap it up and eat it. My co-teacher said they generally use beef, but since beef is so expensive, we were having pork. (samgyeopsal, actually; it's like thick-cut bacon) Pork was actually better for me, because Aaron can't eat pork so I never get it. Anyway, it was very tasty. They also had some mushrooms they threw on there, and I actually tried a couple. They were just regular white button mushrooms; tasted kind of nutty after being grilled. They didn't taste too bad (for a long-time mushroom despiser), but I wasn't in love.

There were a lot of teachers there; everyone threw some meat on their table's grill and then the drinking started. Quite a few of the teachers shared a shot with me; sometimes soju, but also beer or "cider" if they didn't want more alcohol. Basically, you approach someone with a small glass and a bottle of whatever, and offer them a drink, sort of as a "welcome, nice to meet you, etc." and then you pour them the same as well. So I had 3 shots of soju in quick succession, and man, that stuff is strong. I thought it would be nice to do this to the principal (who I think intimidates many of the teachers, just because he's the principal) and he seemed very pleased that I did. I met quite a few other teachers, some who will be in my "teacher" classes each week where we'll pretty much just talk about stuff. Everyone was very nice and welcoming (and I was complimented on my chopstick use! right after a waitress brought ME a fork, lol) and I had a great time. I was a little sad to leave, though I had to get home to Aaron, because the afterparty was at a noraebang, which is karaoke. Not that I was ever going to sing...unless I had more soju, of course!

So I came home and Aaron and I headed out to a bar. We didn't have a specific bar in mind, we just walked into the first one we saw, up on the second floor of this building.

Unfortunately, the menu was all in korean.

We didn't even know which section was the alcohol. So we each just pointed at something, figuring it would be fun to try whatever came out! Aaron got beer, and I got...fish jerky.


Oh yeah, and peanuts. Those little tube-shaped things in the bowl in the back are those "Korean Bugles" Aaron was talking about. They do not taste like Bugles to me. They have the exact same texture (the slight styrofoam, melt-in-your-mouth-and-leave-a-slimy-coating texture) but they are not salty, they are sweet. They were quite good. As was the fish jerky, to my surprise!! It came with mayo and a spicy red sauce. I actually really liked it. So it was a good experiment, if a little strange.

Aaron drank 2 beers, and then finished mine, and then we came home because I was tired. We're planning on going out again tonight, to a different bar, after we spend the day cleaning the apartment. It still has that moved-in feel with stuff everywhere.