2015년 07월 13일
Monday was a very long beginning to my week. Mondays are usually very difficult, but this past Monday was just too frustrating for some reason. Perhaps it was the warm, humid weather creeping up on us again that bothered me. Or, perhaps it was the knowledge that this coming week would be too busy to really enjoy or explore any local sights.
Regardless, the day was long. Our peaking/reading and writing/listening classes went by especially slowly and, although our culture class topic was interesting (Konglish words), it still took all of my energy not to fall asleep at my desk.
Thankfully, I had something to break up the monotony of my day -- dinner!
A small group of friends and I decided to crash another friend's meeting with her language partner (who happened to be one of the Teaching Assistants from England, so she speaks English fluently). We all followed them via bus (my first time taking a bus in Korea!) to a well-known 삼계탕 (Samgyetang, chicken soup) restaurant. The place was packed and there was even a line outside where we had to wait to be let into the building! I found out later that the reason why it was packed was because this past Monday, 7/13/15, was the first day of summer in Korea (,). On this day, Koreans celebrate the summer by eating Samgyetang because of its "medicinal" qualities. It helps them feel that they are cleansing themselves and preparing for the summer heat. Additionally, Koreans have a common saying of "fighting heat with heat." In order to make yourself embrace the heat more, you have to eat hot or spicy foods. The Samgyetang, although not spicy, was, in fact, steaming.
Once we were seated at a table (in traditional Korean style, we sat on the floor), we were finally served our Samgyetang and it did not disappoint at all! It was absolutely delicious and really hit the spot, even for a hot summer day.
After our Samgyetang, we all went to a Baskin Robbins down the street for some ice cream. Ten minutes later, we found ourselves (all 7 of us) face-to-face with a frozen behemoth. Six flavors of ice cream later, we all regretted our decision to ingest all of the sugar...
Making our way back to campus, we hopped onto a bus and found our way safely back later that night. In all, I believe that the Samgyetangreally did make my day before - it helped me to feel more invigorating and, at the same time, relaxed and content with life.
Monday was a very long beginning to my week. Mondays are usually very difficult, but this past Monday was just too frustrating for some reason. Perhaps it was the warm, humid weather creeping up on us again that bothered me. Or, perhaps it was the knowledge that this coming week would be too busy to really enjoy or explore any local sights.
Regardless, the day was long. Our peaking/reading and writing/listening classes went by especially slowly and, although our culture class topic was interesting (Konglish words), it still took all of my energy not to fall asleep at my desk.
Thankfully, I had something to break up the monotony of my day -- dinner!
A small group of friends and I decided to crash another friend's meeting with her language partner (who happened to be one of the Teaching Assistants from England, so she speaks English fluently). We all followed them via bus (my first time taking a bus in Korea!) to a well-known 삼계탕 (Samgyetang, chicken soup) restaurant. The place was packed and there was even a line outside where we had to wait to be let into the building! I found out later that the reason why it was packed was because this past Monday, 7/13/15, was the first day of summer in Korea (,). On this day, Koreans celebrate the summer by eating Samgyetang because of its "medicinal" qualities. It helps them feel that they are cleansing themselves and preparing for the summer heat. Additionally, Koreans have a common saying of "fighting heat with heat." In order to make yourself embrace the heat more, you have to eat hot or spicy foods. The Samgyetang, although not spicy, was, in fact, steaming.
Once we were seated at a table (in traditional Korean style, we sat on the floor), we were finally served our Samgyetang and it did not disappoint at all! It was absolutely delicious and really hit the spot, even for a hot summer day.
After our Samgyetang, we all went to a Baskin Robbins down the street for some ice cream. Ten minutes later, we found ourselves (all 7 of us) face-to-face with a frozen behemoth. Six flavors of ice cream later, we all regretted our decision to ingest all of the sugar...
Making our way back to campus, we hopped onto a bus and found our way safely back later that night. In all, I believe that the Samgyetangreally did make my day before - it helped me to feel more invigorating and, at the same time, relaxed and content with life.