Work Dinner

Tonight was my first informal work dinner (last week's retirement gala doesn't count). It was actually quite chill. We went to a place in my neighborhood, just my office and the PE teachers, and ate bulgogi. It was to say goodbye again to Mr. Cho, the retiree, and to welcome myself and Ha-Lin into the office. I was bullied into taking only two mini-shots of soju. (I think I can fairly say that I am not a huge lover of the stuff.) I gave a toast, in English, which only about half of the people there understood. A few people, in particular my coteacher, Ji-he, and the nutritionist, Brooke, chatted with me a bit, but mainly I just sort of chilled out and ate. Which is, you know, fine with me.

A note on Brooke: she is the school nutritionist. Each school in Korea plans its own local menu. She does the sourcing and meal planning for my school. Lunch has been pretty good so far, so I think she must be good at her job. Also, she spent some time in New Zealand with her kids. That's why she's adopted an English name. Most of the teachers and students at my school do not have an English name. It seems to have fallen out of favor here.

And now, on to the bulgogi.

The bulgogi is brought out raw, with sweet potato noodles and veggies and such.The pan has a sort of lump in the middle, so the meat can brown out of the broth.

You have to sort of stir it around and separate it with the provided tongs as it cooks.

The side dishes: (bottom) peppers and onions with soybean paste, kim, spicy tofu and (top) kimchi, sesame-dressed greens, and dried buk (acorn jelly) (Buk is delicious in its dried, firmer state, but quite gross in its wiggly jelly state.)