Turkey Day...Almost

Thanksgiving in Korea?  Who'd of thunk?

As most of us know, Thanksgiving is a traditional holiday in the United States.  Other countries have their variation, but "Thanksgiving" is all U.S.A.

How does one celebrate this United States holiday in Korea?  Take some awesome friends and even a family member and throw in a great dinner and the "whatcha thankful for" speeches and that's about it.

Thanksgiving this year was celebrated in South Korea.  With my husband, sister, and two people who should be part of the family.  The day itself was not celebrated due to us working.  That was strange because at home we have had the entire week off.  Oh, how that is missed!  The weekend came and with it so did my sister and a few friends.  Saturday began with shopping for last minute items to ship back home for Christmas (believe me, that is a blog in itself) and then joining up with Kate, Amy and Lee Ann so we could all finish our shopping.  Joseph met up with us later and we all went for dinner.  Shabu shabu.  Delicious.  It is a bowl of boiling water surrounded by a BBQ grill and then you have Korean [cow] meat and you grill that at your table.  There is a plate of raw veggies: cabbage, carrots, beets, onions, and sprouts.  There is also rice paper that you dip in rose water and add the meat and whatever veggies you like, add sauce and wrap it up.  Think non-fried spring rolls (Billie Jo: Pho' 97).  After your wraps, meet and veggies are gone, noodles are added to the boiling water and then eaten.  After they are gone, if there is any water left in the bowl, rice and an egg are added along with more veggies and stewed until a thick rice type porridge is created.  It is too delicious for words.  A few of us had cameras but neglected to take pictures.  Don't worry, a blog will be dedicated to the stuff Joseph and I normally eat as soon as we have enough pictures to do it.  We sat at the table for a few hours talking and eating and then were kicked out simply because Koreans don't sit at the table and talk.  It isn't their culture.  None of this socializing business.  They go to bars for that.  So we moved our party to Cafe Benne which is a coffee and gelatto shop.  We sat in there for a few more hours and ate gelatto and laughed and then it came around to 'whatcha thankful for?"  Even in Korea, this is one tradition that has to be done.  Every one of us groaned and moaned but then we all put up our best and came up with some pretty awesome things about what we are thankful for.

Without giving specific information we are thankful for...
*the opportunity Korea provides us
*drama free environments and people
*great friends and food

We didn't even miss the traditional American Thanksgiving food--almost.

Korea Rocks.