Fast Forward to... A Korean Style Birthday!!!

Alright folks, brace yourselves! We're going to fast forward a month! I've been insanely busy... so blogging has taken a back seat. But today, I have motivation to blog! But I want to blog about what I want. Not in order. So forgive me, and enjoy!

So I was just going to sleep all day... but instead I got 4 cakes. Score!

No really, I have the greatest friends! Of course birthdays hardly ever go as planned. :-)

Yes! This past 10th was my 19th birthday, and my second birthday in a row abroad (last summer I was in Rome). This time, I had just returned from China (I will, someday put a post about it! I must!), so I didn't have any plans, and I wasn't sure who knew about it, so I thought I'd just sleep and watch movies (good enough for me :-) )!

Miguel (far right) and friends! Yes, I was the only girl.

It started normally... I skyped with Merry (and
received her package of super cute clothes from Forever 21 right afterwards!). I was waiting for Miguel, a Spanish foreign exchange student, to come back from travelling around with his brother and friends. When they came they were immediately going back out to see Anyang, and they invited me and Toni! So we went and met Scott (Korean)! By then, Derick (another good Korean friend) had texted me and asked to eat dinner together. So I went with the Spanish boys for lunch (in which we ate 닭 갈비 (dalk [chicken] galbi) for the first time in a long time. It was amazing.


Then we went to another place in which to meet some more peeps (Derick, Elaine, and Yoonjin). And when they came the brought me a cake! (the first one in the collage). ㅠㅠ It was so sweet of them! I wish I had a group picture... but, I don't have it. Anyhow, it was lovely, and afterwards (Miguel and the Spanish boys had to catch a plane, so we gave them goodbyes [haha, and Spanish style kisses] and they went on their way) we went and had beef barbecue! Sooo tasty. I would never get tired of it.

Number 2. No not that. Cake number 2.

Guess what was waiting for me when I got home? :-D The Costa Rican girls couldn't join my party, so they bought me a cake while I was gone! Again, how sweet?

Irina, Elaine (not Costa Rican, haha, Taiwanese), Stephanie, and Cindy!

Wholesomeness :-) Not the cake... that was just tasty.

The next cake I got was from my mission's team! They surprised me at mission's training after church yesterday, actually! It is the 3rd cake :-) And it was so tasty! I have really enjoyed Sundays lately, especially because of them. Sure, I come home at 11:30 pm those days, but they're such rewarding days, that it doesn't matter. My church service is at 4:00 in the afternoon, so it makes for a late start. I love my church here, too! I have grown a lot through the services and the mission's meetings, and recently I've started going to the college small group, and it has been such a blessing. God has been so good to me!

In which I find out I will not be ready to be a mother/wife for a LONG time.

The last cake, I actually shared! I got it today, and today is what sparked this post, because, today, I made a  true Southern home cooked meal! I was so proud I wanted to talk about it, haha. 

Two Korean friends came over today for the purpose of cooking! We met in front of emart and got to shopping! 

The main dish was fried chicken! They were really surprised when they found out I had to use a recipe. I lied and said even mothers had to use recipe in the States (surely that's the case? hahaha). Anyhow, the recipe I used was good! Right here if you're curious! 

Next was mashed potatoes. Which they actually made... I just told them what to do. And they did so well! I was impressed, since they were completely hand made, but still quite fluffy. And I made a chicken gravy to go with it.

For some healthier vegetably side dishes I planned for steamed brocolli and just some canned corn. To go with the brocolli I made some white sauce based cheese sauce! So glad there are left overs :-D.

None of that is so very hard to make... but I was worried about the fried chicken, since our stove only had two settings: high and less high. Haha. Anyhow, we don't have a cooking thermometer (or towels, or paper towels, or anything else useful for that matter hahahaha), so I was worried something might explode. But it went perfectly! If there was any complaint it would only be that it was a bit salty. It tasted... delicious.

It was super great to eat some good American food again! I don't miss American food much... but I miss my mom's cooking, and while this was definitely not up to par to my mom's meals (the fried chicken may have come close ;-) ) it was a nice reminder. 

Then we ate the cake, celebrating all three of our birthdays. Minkeun's is in June, and mine and Boram's were in July.

And you know what's really Korean style? They eat cake right off the platter! I don't think I'll ever go back to the old way. It's too fun to just dig in. Why serve things out and dirty up dishes? I think that's one of my favorite things about Korean eating culture. Sharing! You don't worry about how much you get, because you don't know how much you get! You just eat! I will force this onto my family and friends when I get home... bwahaha.

I had a wonderful birthday this year! Of course it was made better by receiving packages from family and friends :-) I miss everyone at home! But the kind of missing that makes me thankful for them, and thankful that I have this opportunity to realize how much I was taking for granted before I left them. :-)

On a separate note...

What do I do? When I get home, I will either not be able to eat much, or I will get fat. When I got here, I thought I must have a tapeworm, because I never got full! I could eat so much, all my Korean friends were amazed that I was so thin. You see, my American stomach could take a lot of the light and carb-y food they eat here. They don't eat much butter or oil, you see. Even going to China last week showed me the difference. I couldn't eat much because Chinese food has a lot of oil. Don't worry mom! I haven't lost any weight. I just don't eat as much unhealthy food. Except for ramyun. I eat a lot of that. ;-)

And on an even separater (not a word, I know, but I'm telling you my English is getting worse here, so I have an excuse) note, I have about a million bug bites right now. Korean mosquitoes are vicious monsters. If you ever come here, be prepared.

Over and out! Thanks for the birthday wishes on facebook!

Music video of the day: It was so hard to choose! There are so many interesting songs and videos out right now! Let me introduce you to the world of 2NE1. Yes, that's either 21 or To Anyone. Gotta love kpop group names. They're basically the Lady Gaga of kpop idol groups. And no, I don't particularly like how they dress and dance, or that they have terrible plastic surgery, but I'm just glad they don't pretend to cater to the younger crowd. Most girl groups try to be cute while in actuality, they are being provocative. It's really sad for the young Korean girl generation who think they have to be up to kpop idol's standards of beauty and "sexiness". If I had a family in Korea, I would try my hardest to keep my daughters away from this, but even if a mother tries, the kpop phenomenon so permeates modern Korean culture that it would be nigh impossible. Anyway, that was my piece on kpop. But... haha, I actually like the song. It's different, and catchy... if you've ever heard a normal kpop song, haha. I just would keep this away from young sons and daughters. Heh. And old sons.