Kimbop With Kelly

This was one of my first meals in a little kimbop shop near my hagwon.  This meal was highly anticipated after my mandatory poke, prod, and check-up at the hospital that was needed for my alien registration approval.  I paid 80,000 for the priveledge of having someone glance into my mouth, doing a colour blind test, a quick vision test, urine test, being x-rayed, getting weighed and measured (bust included, why was that necessary?), and having blood drawn (it left a nasty bruise).  The travel time and wait were the most time-consuming part of the process.  The actual check-up took  all of 20 minutes and during that time, they shoved me from one station to another in maximum efficiency.  Thankfully, my Korean co-worker, Kelly, came with me and translated everything so that the process took very little time.  Afterwards, we decided to walk back to the hagwon instead of hailing a taxi and thus began our bonding time.

Thinking back to that day, I realized that I am a very lucky person to have such amazing co-workers.  At our hagwon, we aren't just a business but we are a quirky, interracial family.  I consider Kelly to be my best Korean friend in this city.  She is kind, generous, and accepts me for all of my craziness.  I've pulled her out of her shell to teach her the western way and she has helped me along in my Korean experience.  I'll have many stories about our friendship later on but I should go back to my time in the Kimbop shop.

Kimbop is a Korean traditional food that is similar to sushi but don't let any Korean hear you compare the two.  According to Koreans, Kimbop is uniquely theirs and they are very proud of this delicious dish.   Kimbop is stuffed with egg, ham, carrot, and other veggies and wrapped in rice and seaweed paper but unlike sushi, it is not made with fish or served with soy sauce or wasabi.  Nonetheless, it is mashita (delicious!!!).  We also had ttoekbokki, a meal made with rice cake and spicy sauce. We ate ours with ramen noodles that were covered in cheese with a side of tofu soup and rice.  Additionally, no meal would be complete without our kimchi, egg, and peppers.

The meal was huge for the two of us but we did manage to polish it off despite our non-stop chatter.  Kelly and I giggled as I struggled to pick up tofu with my metal chopsticks (slippery stuff) and she finally resorted feeding me like a momma bird by telling me to open up as she put food in my mouth.  I've discovered that this is a very common practice.  Oftentimes, I will come to work to have random food shoved in my mouth while co-workers assure me that it is mashita.  Anyways, Kelly was the first to carry out this Korean practice with me and I'll always remember that day.  Ever since that day, she and I are have been on many adventures where I never fail to shock her in some way and she always concludes our outings by stating that I am "so fun."  This is one of the best compliments I can receive from my usually reserved Korean friend...