Saturday morning was ridiculously cold and rainy. However, I forced myself out of bed bright and early to meet Jen. She lives in Gojan in Ansan City, right next to Siheung, so it takes me about an hour to get to her house. The station is a 20minute walk from my house, the subway ride is about 15-20minutes, and another 20minute walk to her house. Unfortunately, I had worn my running shoes that day, so the rain soaked through the holes in my shoes to drench my socks, causing my feet to freeze. Knowing how miserable that would be all day in Seoul, I went all the way back home to change. Nice and dry, with an empty backpack ready, I began my trip once more to Jen's house. This time, Jen met me on the train, and off to Euljilro-il(1)-ga we went, about a two hour ride. She showed me "baking street," which had just about anything you need for baking from melting chocolates, cookie cutters, and sprinkles to chocolate molds and tiny cake/cookie/gingerbread house edible and nonedible decorations. We found frozen cranberries for the cranberry sauce here. In America, such shops would be out in the open, obvious to anyone who wishes to enter. However, in Korea, like many stores, they are small, in little alleys, and around corners. Many shops were smaller than the size of an average American bedroom.
Baking street closed at 4pm, so then we headed to Oksu station, where there is this nice foreign market that sells Butterball turkeys. First stop, dinner. Some kind of spicy noodle with crisp veggies...yum!! I forget how salty Korean food is until I'm crazy-thirsty after eating it. We bought a 5.9kg turkey, a serving platter, frozen green beans, and I can't remember what else. In fact, we spent so much money, that the owner drove us back to the station so we wouldn't have to carry everything back down the hill. I've heard that the reason foreign food is so expensive is that it is bought from the US military bases and sold to small market owners for us to then buy.
We got back to Jen's place about 9pm or so and went to Homeplus for some extra things. I made my cranberry sauce while she made some cornbread muffins using Quaker corn meal that she bought at the foreign market, and then I headed to the station. Ah...too late! It was 12:20am by that time, and the last train was going to Ansan, two stops down. So, I took it, got off at Ansan,and then got in a taxi that would take me to Emart. The taxis, as always, were lined up outside. Everyone that didn't live near the station would have to take a taxi because the buses were no longer running. "Siheung, Jeongwang, Oido, Sihwa..." yelled the drivers wishing to reel in their costumers. "Emart" I say with a Korean accent, and I'm pointed to a taxi three down from where I was. I hoped in with three other people going to Siheung. So, 7,000W later, I'm at Emart, and soon to be home for the evening. Freezing cold, with no hot water (it broke...again), I couldn't wait to wake back up and go to Jen's.
Pause for after school class.....
Side note: The little ones are always so cute. I'm already excited about December lesson plans. They include fun activities similar to the ones I've created for winter camp. I'm hoping I have enough money to buy things for my three afterschool classes. If not, I may do fun things with just one; I'm not sure. That's the good thing about afterschool...they don't have to be the same. Whereas if I do something fun for one six grade class, I should do the same with the other nine.
Sunday morning, I drug myself out of bed and to Homeplus to see if they had canned French-style green beans, then to Emart, only to find that neither open until 10am. I have only ever used canned for green bean casserole, so I wasn't keen on using frozen, but thanks to Jen, we bought it as a backup anyway. So, by late Sunday morning, both Jen and I had been in every grocery store in both Siheung and Ansan, as well as foreign food marts in Seoul, looking for these beans and they were no where to be found. So, frozen it was...and it turned out great.
While green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, and cranberry sauce are all easy, we only had one small kitchen with limited counter space and one counter-top oven that only had room for the turkey. So, for the most part, I made stove-top casseroles that went into the oven to brown after the turkey was done. Who knew that could take all day? Well, I did, but it looked so simple. I originally made two sweet potato casseroles because I know how popular that is. So, we tried putting two in the oven at once, but the marshmellows on the top casserole were burnt, in the same S-shape the coil is in. Using kitchen scissors, I cut off the burnt tops and ate them for presentation purposes. Turns out, the other one looked better, so we served that first, and it ws gobbled up. Jen had never heard of this sweet potato casserole business, so she was a skeptic, but a quick convert for sure. So, of course I had to leave her with the second dish. Same with home-made vs canned cranberry sauce. If ya gotta slice that stuff, who wants to eat it? I had many first this Thanksgiving as well, though.
It was my first time making sweet potato casserole with golden sweet potatoes. Golden sweet potatoes are more dense and sweet, so I had to add lots of milk, as you would to mashed white potato. I like it so much more than the orange ones, as they are less stringy as well. Too bad that was my first, and might be my last. Although Jen might commission me to make some for Christmas dinner as well. We shall see. It was also my first time making green bean casserole with frozen green beans. Nice, as the sodium content is dramatically lowered without lowering the taste. First time making cranberry sauce with orange juice instead of water. It turned out nice. Jen will never go back to canned...I hope.
Whilst freezing cold outside, Jen's place was nice and toasty inside. That tiny oven puts out lots of heat. Aside from that, once all eleven guest arrive, body heat adds to the mix. We actually had to open the window and crack the door for some cool air. Chorong, Lee, Aaron, Carly, Kyla, Krystale, Jay, Steve, Angelique, Jen, and I had a wonderful time enjoying each other's company and the great food that we had prepared. It was Chorong's first Thanksgiving feast, so I was delighted to share the experience with her. It was also the first time she had been in one room with so many foreigners. I am the only American she knows. There were Canadians, Americans, one Korean, and one Scottish joining us. I was excited to learn that Carly, from North Carolina, makes her sweet potato casserole the same way. In fact, she made a comment about being forever bounded because I made her grandma's sweet potato casserole. Such a sweet thing to hear, seeing as most of our guest had never heard of such a recipe. Nice to have others from the south :)
Just before the evening came to a close, a nice wintery snow graced our midst! A thin blanket that covered the earth, disappearing as it hit the roads and sidewalks due to their elevated temperatures. It stopped snowing on my walk to and from the subway though.
I stayed after to help, but Aaron did the dishes, so Jen and I just sat and relaxed. I didn't get home until 12:20pm, so I had rough day on Monday!!
I just transfered a huge amount of money in the event the political atmosphere escalates to a less desirable one. Cost me 50,000W to transfer, and based on exchange rate, I lost about $2,000, so my money's amount dropped dramatically!! Gotta do what ya gotta do...nothing else ya can.
Love to all! Over and out...
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