Koreazy in Korea

I’ll be going to this tonight with Sara and some other people. You should join us. I got to talk to Simon yesterday and he has lots of insightful information on North Korea.

Dan

You can find events like this at www.korea4expats.com, which is run by the fabulous Anne.

The Royal Asiatic Society holds regular lectures on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month at the Somerset Palace near Isa-dong. Exceptionally, because of the two holidays in January, this lecture is on the 3rd Tuesday and is the only RAS Lecture in January.

DATE: Tuesday 20 January

TIME: 7:30PM

VENUE: Somesert Palace, 2nd Floor Residents Lounge

COST: Free for RAS members /Non-members are asked to contribute W5,000.

About the Topic:
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) is a place that any and all can locate on a map, name the leader of and know a good amount of information about (some true, some false) but yet despite being located in the heart of the world’s most economically dynamic region and surrounded by such major states as China, Russia, Japan, and South Korea, still maintains the distinction of being the least visited country in the world; a place that exudes mystery. A black-hole of certainty that regularly fills the world’s newspapers with rumour, claims, and counter-claims; a paradise for information speculators and an enigma for the great many people in East Asia and beyond that take a keen interest in events that take place between the Yalu River and the Korean DMZ.

Since 1993 Beijing-based Koryo Tours (http://www.koryogroup.com) has been the market leader in accessing the DPRK and organising group and individual tours for almost all nationalities. In the past few years this company has innovated not only in the field of tourism but has produced 3 award winning documentary films within North Korea with unprecedented access to the most fascinating stories and everyday life of the population of this mysterious country. In addition Koryo Tours have organised school trips, cultural exchanges, sports tours (the first soccer, volleyball, ice hockey, and even cricket tours of the North) as well as visiting the country every month to maintain a close contact and awareness of the ground realities of what life is like in the capital Pyongyang, and beyond

About the speaker:
Simon Cockerell, General Manager of Koryo Tours, has, since 2002, visited North Korea 70 times and travelled to all of the places it is possible to reach as a non-NGO, non-governmental worker. He will share with us his experiences and anecdotes in the broader context of explaining just what can be expected from a trip to the DPRK, what hoops must be jumped through to make it all happen, what sort of people go there, how the tourism system there works, and much more besides. Expect to hear rumours confirmed and debunked, unexpected and humanizing stories about the North Koreans that his company deals with, unusual tales of what you experience when you spend part of every month travelling around North Korea, and what being Air Koryo’s most regular flier does to a person.

Simon Cockerell is from the UK and has been based in Beijing, PR China for the past 8 years

For more information contact: raskb@kornet.net or telephone 02-763-9483.

Getting to Somerset Palace:
From Anguk Station (line number 3, Stop 328) go out exit No 6. OR from Jonggak Station (line number 1, Stop 132),go out exit No. 2. Somerset Palace is located in the same block as Jogyesa Temple and the Jongno-gu Office.
See attached map
Taxi Directions: [안국동, 한국일보사 앞에 내려주세요.]

Please visit: http://www.raskb.com

And Carol, I would never eat him.

Dan

Merry Christmas! Like me, most of you are probably working today — boooo!! On the bright side, a little pre-planning and a trip to your local grocery store can give you a Christmas Eve that’s bright and merry!

Want to make sugar cookies tonight? Simple–all you need is some main ingredients and voila!

Toaster oven: Can’t make cookies without this staple item. I got mine from Gmarket.co.kr, but you can get yours at E-mart, Lotte, or any big department store. A good one will run you about 50,000+ but you can get a pretty decent one for about 30,000.

My school bought mine and it’s a Tefal “Cook ‘n Toast.” I DO NOT recommend this type of toaster oven. Why? It has a strange feature of a cooktop. Normally multitasking items are a good thing but the drawback is the heat is leached out through the top (plus there’s a gaping hole where the cooktop sets on top of the oven itself). It’s difficult to regulate and takes a little more cookie-sitting compared to the other models. You can see my toaster oven here: http://global.gmarket.co.kr/challenge/neo_goods/goods.asp?goodscode=132510847&pos_shop_cd=SH&pos_class_cd=111111111&pos_class_kind=T&keyword_order=toaster+oven

I recommend getting something that looks (and acts) more like a convection oven. The difference between the toaster and convection ovens is that the latter has a fan to distribute the heat while the former does not. Toaster ovens work just fine. Something like this: http://global.gmarket.co.kr/challenge/neo_goods/goods.asp?goodscode=116306417&pos_shop_cd=SH&pos_class_cd=111111111&pos_class_kind=T&keyword_order=toaster+oven

Now, once you get a toaster oven, everything else is simple! I used Alton Brown’s recipe on the Food Network website because it’s simple and yields quite a few sugary beauties! It’s located here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/sugar-cookies-recipe/index.html

Here’s where the trick comes in: Rather than purchasing a bunch of cutters that you will only use once, roll the finished dough into a log. Refrigerate for an hour and slice cookies to your desired thickness (thick for soft cookies, thin for crispy). You can use powdered sugar for the decoration rather than having different shapes!

You can find everything at your local department store. If you are willing to wait until Christmas break–if you’re a schoolteacher, it should start this weekend, you can order powdered sugar and decorations from ehomebakery.co.kr.

Baking in Korea is all about trial, error, and having an open mind. I tried snickerdoodles last night and they did NOT work. Haha, I’m not too proud to admit my culinary mistakes! Getting together with friends is one of the best ways to fight loneliness during the holidays away from home. And, if you’re the adventurous type, invite some Koreans over to learn with you.

A pot of mulled wine helps create the Christmas atmosphere to try something new. I hope all of you will give it a go! Check out my blog for pictures of my cookies and more tips on baking: http://navigatingcultures.blogspot.com

Happy Holidays!

Here are some pictures of winter in Korea. When I think of winter I think of Bungeobbang, O-deng, Panda caps, love, pumpkin juk, and people eating ice cream out in the cold. You just gotta love Korea.

Dan

Go to Tartine's. The Pies are to die for.

When booking my trip to Tokyo from SF, despite the availability of less painful, non-stop options, I thought flying Korean Air would outweigh the hassle of transferring and re-checking in (especially at the Tom Bradley Int’l Terminal at LAX, which I’ve come to realize, is NOT fun.)

Why?

For starters, once I boarded, I was welcomed with that warm and tingly familiar feeling – that air service can indeed come with a smile, and that your time in the plane, though rarely ever pleasant, can be made that much more bearable. (Virgin’s also pretty damn good at this. ^^)

I also had a chance to speak in Korean again. From the counter to the gate to the plane. I even filled out my customs form in good ol’ 한글, though admittedly, I couldn’t understand most of the bottom part, which I just assumed asked whether or not I was smuggling drugs or attempting to import funny types of cheese.

Oh, there’s also the frequent flyer miles.

But everyone knows IT’S ALL ABOUT THE GOCHUJANG. Yes, a 20g tube of hot pepper paste does wonders when you’re stuck at thirty-something-thousand feet in the air for eleven and a half hours.

Cheri

OBAMA WINS OBAMA WINS OBAMA WINS!

Oh, what a historic day!

YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY!

Dan

I bought some shoes for Hubble, but they were a tad too big. Hey, at least I got some cute pictures out of it.

Dan

We have Ramen, a peacock, Nurse Joker, A ninja, Sarah Palin, and a wizard and Alice