Fighting Corea!!!!

So another weekend has passed and there are new and exciting adventures to report. Lets go back to a few weeks ago to recap where I have been and what I have done. So my typical weekend in Geochang usually consists of a Friday night out on the town, followed by a Saturday of rest and recovery, and finally a Sunday of  exploration. A couple weeks ago we went out on Friday night, which involved a nice group dinner of pig intestines, then some drinks and finally it all culminated with local Korean student population joining us for drinks at Bonita and some norae bong (karaoke). The next day followed the schedule as we all slowly made our way to Yofrutto to grab some sandwiches and smoothies, staple hangover foods in Geochang. We love to sit on their patio and recollect on the previous night's revelries. Some of us feel embarrassed others are still trying to piece it all together. It occurred to us as we sat enjoying our food, that Nunna, our friend and the owner of Bonita, had told us of a place in town that did great sushi/sashimi. Why not explore the local seafood regardless of the fact that we live at least two hours from the coast?

When we finally found the restaurant we were relieved to see that all the seafood we were going to eat was still alive inside a huge tank at the entrance of the restaurant. We should have taken that as a hint to what was going to happen later. We sat down ordered our food and prepared for the feast. The set we ordered was a series of at least 20 different seafood dishes. It said it is supposed to feed 4 -5 people, that was an understatement. The first few dishes that came out were different salads and side dishes, typical layout for any Korean meal. Then came the seafood. Now if I spoke Korean or had any idea what half the dishes were I would describe them. Unfortunately, this is one experience that you will have to do first hand. Of the dishes I can remember or at least describe this included live (that is still pulsating) penis fish. The actual Korean name for it is dog penis fish because as you can imagine the fish resembles a dog's...well....you get the picture. As we were giggling like little girls and trying all the different dishes, we started talking about how some of us still hadn't tried the live octopus.

We spoke too soon! Next up a plate of writhing octopus tentacles. Each one sticking on to anything it can grab be it a plate, another tentacle, or even your chopstick. The trick to eating the live octopus is that you must chew it very quickly and thoroughly. If you don't there is a chance that the tentacles will stick to your throat and you can possibly choke on them. Surprisingly, I really enjoyed the octopus the flavor was mild and the texture was just slightly chewy. Not any worse than the intestine I had the previous night for dinner. So as the screaming from our room subsided and everyone had their take at eating the octopus we prepared for the next course. This was the one we all had been waiting for. A platter of freshly prepared sashimi. Now I don't use the term freshly prepared loosely in Korea. When I say fresh I mean it had been swimming in the water seconds before it touched our table. But how could the sahimi be any fresher than we could have hoped for? Well the "decorative" fish that the sashimi was served in turned out to be the actual fish where the meat had been cut from. Every few seconds the head and tail would flap as the poor fish gasped it last breaths. The mouth would even open and close as if to say, "please stop". If any animal activist's or members of PETA are reading this and preparing to haze me with relentless messages of hate and disdain know this, it's Korea's culture not mine and if you must know it didn't really bother me as much as I thought it would. So as our bellies filled the experiences of a truly unique culinary adventure set into our memories. These are the things that I will treasure and talk about for the rest of my life. This is only augmented by the fact that I have such an amazing group of people with whom I can enjoy it.

Now on a sadder note last weekend was the final goodbye party for my friend Graham. Graham, is an awesome individual who although teased relentlessly for his Cockney accent is a good sport and puts up with it. Especially, considering the teasing tends to come from us, less educated Americans. I could not think of a better way to send him off than the kickoff to the World Cup being celebrated in downtown Daegu. It was absolutely amazing. We joined Graham and the rest of them after their first night of celebrating for South Africa. Surprisingly enough the girls from Geochang got more into than the guys. Our South African friends, Diana and Sipe, painted their entire faces to resemble the South African flag. There was norea bong, drinking, and lots of celebrating. This is likely why, on Saturday afternoon, when we arrived our counterparts looked like death and reeked of booze. But that doesn't stop them from making the best of a weekend in Daegu.  We decided the best plan of attack would be a little rest and relaxation at a spa known for their fish that eat the dead skin off your feet. After a quick "nibble" and some tea we were off to change into our celebratory outfits for the night's Korea v. Greece game.
By the time everyone had either arrived, left, changed, and eaten we had 11 people in our group. Now thinking ahead we should have realized how difficult it was going to be to seat 11 people in one bar less than an hour away from kickoff for the Korea game. Luckily, after wandering the streets of Daegu feeling a mixture of emotions between Forest Gump looking for a seat on the bus and the Virgin Mary looking for a place to sleep we finally decided the first bar we had tried, aptly named "Beer Bar", was our best bet. This place was so uniquely Korean. In the center of the establishment was a bar top filled with ice and a copious amount of beer bottles. You were free to help yourself as you saw fit. No greater appreciation of the term "honor system" had ever been utilized in a bar. Now in America people would be pocketing beers, lying about the amount they had drank, and quite possibly drinking themselves into oblivion without the presence of an omnipotent  bartender to monitor their consumption. We had a great time painting our faces, cheering with the Koreans around us and making our Obama gloves (out of socks) for the next game, England v. USA. Needless to say Korea won and boy do the Koreans know how to celebrate. The streets were lined with Korean flags, confetti, and cars covered in signs and overflowing with people screaming the Korea Fighting song! Sarah, Laura, and few others hit the streets of Daegu and partied it up while learning the all too popular Big-Bang-Korea-Shouting-Dance on the jumbo-tron in the middle of downtown Daegu. Finally, we prepared for the highly anticipated England v. USA game. Learning from our previous experience we holed up in our bar of choice 2 hours early to ensure that we got a prime spot to watch the game. As the hours dwindled along with my energy levels my friends rallied me with a few cans of energy drinks and a shot of tequila in hopes of inducing a second wind. I will say that I gave it a good effort and the "flattering" pictures of me around 3:30am can prove it.But, after hours of screaming, celebrating, crying (not really) my body was spent and I was ready to go home. Turning to my friend I asked her if she wanted to go home? The look of relief in her eyes was priceless. No sooner had those words been spoken then we were out the door and shortly there after crashing in our swanky love motel. It is again a memory that can never be replicated, celebrating the underdog in the same their country. It makes me proud to feel like a semi adopted Korean. At least I like to think of myself that way.

So what do can one possibly do keep up the tempo after such a great couple of weekends. Well I like it best sometimes when we do little to nothing at all. This weekend was spent enjoying the slow pace of Geochang and as always trying to explore new unseen parts of the city. On Sunday we went for a walk down to the waterwheel and as it was so hot and the river looked so inviting my friend Grant and I decided to go swimming. Grant tested the waters first checking the depth and then it was my turn to get in or should I say jump. Yes I know I should be considering myself a role model to the 400 something girls at my school and yes I know in a town as small as mine word gets around fast when foreigners start jumping off of boulders into the no-swimming zone of the river. But it was so hot and it looked like so much fun. You know what I don't regret it. It was fun and I would probably do it again. So whats in store for next weekend? Well time will only tell but if the weather continues to hold up and monsoon season stays away for a little longer I think a float at Suesungdae with a big group BBQ just might be on the menu.