Poor Octopuses.

So Courtney and I just got back from our week long trips to different places in Korea. On Tuesday we both went to Yeoncheon with our friend Dan to visit our friends Sandy, Colleen, Geoff and Ashli for Chuseok. Chuseok is very close to the equivalent of our Thanksgiving. They dedicate three days to the holiday so we had Tuesday through Thursday off. We also got Friday off because who wants to go to work for one day before the weekend? So Sandy thought it would be a nice idea for all of us to get together and celebrate our own Chuseok, which was great!

So we three caught a train at around 1pm on Tuesday and got to Yeoncheon around 2. Once we got there we were given the grand tour of Sandy’s and Geoff’s places. Holy crap was I jealous! Sandy’s home is so homey and comfy. She has this amazing kitchen that puts all of ours to shame. She has counter space which I really envy. Her place was just great; it was definitely the place to host a dinner party. So after showing us their homes, we all went for a nice game of bowling at their local bowling alley. That was really nice; I haven’t been bowling in ages. Courtney warned us that she was terrible at bowling and that she would lose so I was pretty confident I would win. But then, as soon as we started playing, Courtney was in the lead making spares left and right. I was livid because of course I was expecting to win and boast about it. But then out of no where she started to lose, and better yet, I was starting to take the lead! In the end, I wound up taking the crown and Courtney stayed true to her word. She did indeed end up losing. It was a great game, it really was.

On the train ride to Yeoncheon.

I'm holding up a #1 sign because I was just that. Sandy got second place so is doing it right as well. I don't know what Courtney was thinking, she got 3rd place! but i guess we did beat the other team so in some sense she was number 1...i guess.

But really, we were all winners.

After the game we stopped off at a couple places like Davinci Café and a craft store. We made one more stop at the local grocery store before we headed back to Sandy’s house to start making out huge Chuseok Feast. Sandy’s ambitious menu consisted of:

-Leek Mandoo

- Spicy tofu soup

- Spicy octopus stir-fry

- Fried tofu rice balls

- Brown rice on the side

-Span musabi

- Vegetable stir fry

-Dessert with tea/coffee

On top of that, Courtney planned to make mashed potatoes which were very much welcomed by everyone. We all split up into three different apartments to get everything done. Geoff and Dan went to Geoff’s house to bring over a bunch of necessary tools such as an extra rice cooker, chairs, and a veggie peeler. Courtney went over to Colleen’s house to make the mashed potatoes because everyone only has two burners and Sandy needed both at her house. I stayed at Sandy’s to help with the cutting and cooking. I did all of the amazing onion, and cabbage chopping. When I was finished chopping some veggies, Dan had returned and we together made the fried tofu rice balls. There was also a point where I found myself defrosting the octopus. It was such a strange experience. The octopuses were pretty small, and packaged and frozen together so I had to put them in the microwave to defrost them. When I took them out of the microwave their heads were really soft and felt like mushy grapes. It was really strange; I can’t say I loved it. Luckily, Geoff came over shortly after and took over with octopuses. He cut them up like a trooper. The plus side was that we all learned how to properly prepare octopus. You just have to cut off the head, and then rip out the hook thing from the ink squirting hole. It actually felt really violating and intimate to watch Geoff do the latter, but that’s just how it’s done.

The awesome view on the walk to the grocery store.

Sandy made us all cards!

Sandy working hard in the kitchen.

The fried tofu rice balls that Dan and I made awesomely!

Defrosted octopuses.

Beheaded octopuses.

Violated octopuses.

Courtney's artistic genius.

We had a proper family photo done.

Once all of the food was finished we set up the table and chairs to eat dinner ON THE ROOF! Yep you read that’s right, we had our Chuseok dinner on Sandy’s roof! It was really great; we had all of the food on the table and just dug in when everything was set up. It was pretty windy outside but just nice enough to not be bothersome. The food was really amazing; the night could not have gotten any better. Oh but it did, it got much better after dinner indeed. That morning I actually got to the train station very early so I stopped by at a Paris Baguette and bought a cheese cake to bring to the feast in the name of the Pohang crew. So after our amazing dinner we had the most amazing cheese cake not made by one’s mother. On top of that we also had three different awesome flavors of ice cream! The best part was that since we didn’t have plates, we just (in honor of the Korean culture) dug in to everything. Now THAT was the best ending to the best dinner ever. BUT WAIT its not over yet.

Another awesome photo by Courtney. For some reason I really love the neon crosses.

The amazing view from Sandy's roof.

Our dinner table of goodies.

The great cheese cake from Paris Baguette.

Plates are for lame folks.

After we cleaned everything up from the roof, we all took a nice walk up a hill behind Sandy’s house. The walk was probably about 5 minutes, and on such a full stomach wasn’t the best feeling but when we got to the top of the hill I forgot all my worries and just fell in love with what I saw. There was a neat little work out/play ground area at the top of the hill, along with the most stunning view of their town below. The weather was perfect and the mosquitoes were no where to be found. We all sort of spread out and found places to lie down and watch the night sky. It was truly that best BEST night I’ve had in Korea since we’ve been here. We stayed there for about an hour it felt like. I could have stayed there all night, but eventually we headed back down to reality and went our separate ways to go to sleep. We had an early morning planned for the next day so we all went to sleep after the hill top trip. Courtney and I stayed at Sandy’s house while Dan stayed at Geoff’s house.

This is how we clean up in Korea.

Some more cleaning.

On the hill top.

The next morning we all woke up pretty early and prepared for our 8am train rides. Sandy, Geoff, Colleen, Ashli and I were all heading to Seoul while Courtney and Dan were going back home to Pohang. We all got ready together because our train was only 30 minutes before theirs was. When we got to the train station we said our goodbyes and headed on our train while Courtney and Dan stayed behind. The rest of my trip will be documented in a separate entry. Courtney will also dedicate an entry to her own awesome holiday. Until then…