Kimchi And Kindergarten: Chuncheon...

I expected today to be pretty boring- go for a run, eat, walk around and try to meet people, but it was anything but.

First, I headed out to find breakfast...there was a restaurant down the street that looked friendly where I had the most delicious "soup" with thinly sliced beef and enokitake mushrooms served with rice. I don't know what it was called, but I am determined to find out, so that I can order it again.

After lunch Mr. Lim introduced me to another teacher at the Avalon School, Nicole. Nicole had plans with Linda, who also teaches in Chuncheon, to attend the hockey game. They were kind enough to invite me along and so began my first day in Chuncheon.

This banner reads, "Chuncheon...the city where hope flows like the river"

A group of ladies, one of whom was the mother of a player on the Korean team, invited us to sit with them.

Our Korean High 1, whose mascot is apparently a lamb? beat the Chinese Dragons 8-3...

lamb mascot

WE WIN!!!

After the game, we had a pretty difficult time getting a taxi, because we were in the middle of nowhere, so we decided to walk. Some of the sites we saw along the way:

scenic views of the mountains in Chuncheon

ice fishing

Yes, it is that cold!!

After walking for about 10 minutes, we were still in the middle of nowhere. The managers of the hockey team drove past us and happened to recognize us from the game; they offered us a ride to their hotel, so that we could grab a taxi. Then, we headed to Myeong-dong meaning downtown. Myeong-dong is a famous shopping district in Seoul, but is also the name for the shopping district in Chuncheon.

Myeong-dong

After walking around a bit and having a coffee to carry me through the jet lag, Linda and Nicole treated me to my first dakgalbi- a popular South Korean dish, which is a local specialty in Chuncheon is generally made by stir-frying marinated diced chicken in a gochujang (chili pepper paste) based sauce, and sliced cabbage, sweet potato, scallions, onions and tteok (rice cake) together on a hot plate. We had ours stir-fried with noodles, but it can also be served with rice. You can enjoy dakgalbi on its own or wrapped in lettuce leaves. The best part was after eating for 15 minutes the noodles would stick to the bottom of the hot plate develop a crunchy crust. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM! Nicole called it Korean comfort food and that it was!