A Truly Wonderful Day....

I had such a great day! I was able meet up with Kasoon, Sara, and Anna! I found them in the train station and we went to their house. We made some Korean food, played Yut (sp), read books, sang songs, and had a wonderful time! The girls are so sweet and very talented...they both play the piano and Sara is taking flute lessons.

The first thing we did was to make daul (again...no idea how to spell it). This is a traditional Korean sweet made especially around this time of year to celebrate Chusoek. You take rice flour, potato flour, and water to make the outside. On the inside you put bits of red bean or sesame seeds with sugar. The ones you buy are flavored like pumpkin, red bean, and two others that I can't remember. The dough didn't turn out exactly right because we added too much water, so it was really sticky.

The girls roll some daul...
The colorful perfect ones are the ones you can buy, the white mis-shapen ones are the ones we made!

I found out after I made my first one that the saying is a woman who can make a beautiful daul will have beautiful children. This was my first one. Kasoon and the girls were very impressed, Kasoon even took a picture. She said that my children were going to be VERY beautiful! The picture is a little fuzzy...but it was pretty good...it was definitely the best one I made all day! :)

We also made another thing that I forgot the name of...They are like pancakes except they are made with soy beans, onions, and carrots. Sometimes people put kimchi in them because they like them to be spicy. We cooked them on the ultimate griddle...I was impressed with the size of this thing. Hanging out with Kasoon and the girls is a total ego booster because everything I do is GREAT! You are great! That is great! So cute... While we were making these I started flipping them and Sara said to me..."You will be a good mom, you are great at make all Korean food!"

After lunch, which was amazing, we played a game called Yut. I was so into the game that I forgot to take a picture...but hopefully I will play again. The game involves four sticks that you throw up in the air...how the land means different things and then you move around the board according to what you threw...Apparently I was really good at this game because I kept getting Yut and Kasoon kept laughing and saying I was doing good...

After we ate and played we headed off to the zoo. The girls were really excited, they kept singing "We're going to the zoo...zoo...zoo...how about you...you...you. You can come too...too...too...We're going to the zoo...zoo...zoo. They said Gretchen taught them that song! I was so happy I knew it!

Two funny side bits....Every time we were in the car and Sara couldn't see my face and I would talk she said I sounded just like Amy! The girls also said that my nose was just like Curtis' nose! Too funny! They really miss you guys!

When we got to the zoo...I was so happy Kasoon was there! I didn't have to worry about how to buy a ticket or figuring out anything! I was just along for the ride! It was wonderful!

Here Sara and I are riding the sky lift!

Kasoon and Anna on the sky lift!

Some views from the sky lift! What an amazing location for a zoo! It was a nice day so the view was amazing! The zoo is nestled in the foothills.

In this picture you can see some zoo buildings the biggest one is the bird sanctuary.

We were able to feed the sheep at the zoo. The girls thought this was pretty neat. There are some serious advantages to going to the zoo in the middle of the week. We were able to see the tigers being fed, (on Wednesdays they actually put live rabbits in the tiger pen for them to catch!), we saw a dolphin show, we saw the elephants being fed, we didn't have to wait in any lines, and the zoo wasn't crazy busy!

After our time at the zoo we met up with Dong. Then he took us to a restaurant in the hills...He said that they had never been there before but he heard the food was good. He was right! The restaurant was in a very remote location and the girls didn't like the smell, (There was a cattle barn located nearby) but the food was delicious. We had galbi (Korean BBQ). You sit by a grill and then they bring you meat to grill. You grill the meat using tongs and scissors because you cut the meat into small pieces. When you eat the meat you wrap it in either a lettuce or sesame leaf. There is also a sauce you put on it, which is delicious, you can also add some garlic, kimchi, peppers, or any other side that is at your table. I really enjoy galbi!

Dong and Kasoon cook the meat....If you look closely you can see some of the sides and the lettuce leafs.

Sara takes a Korean size bite!

So does Anna! I had a great day! Today I am off to explore with Carol and Vernon...I will post more of my adventures tomorrow!