A Week in School Lunches

Since so many people have asked me what we are fed for lunch at school, I decided to do a post about a week's worth of middle school lunches. It should be noted that we eat the same things as the kids - though they always complain that we get more, which, to be fair, is true, they don't get to go back for seconds ;).



Going clockwise from 12 o'clock, we have pork stewed in vegetables and oyster sauce (굴소스돈육불고기), a spiced mixed green and onion salad (가랏겉절이), kimchi and bean sprout soup (김치콩나물국), rice with barley (보리밥), and dried fish and almonds in a sweet and spicy dressing (아몬드쥐손채볶음) - Soo yummy! There was also yogurt served with this meal, but as a lactose intolerant, I did not partake.

School lunches in Korea (and much of Asia) always seem to be served in these specialised metal trays. The smaller deeper bowls at the top are for your side dishes, or banchan (반찬), while the shallower, more central indentation is meant for the main dish. The usages of these three receptacles do seem to be somewhat interchangeable however - particularly if the main course is saucy or there is a flat side or dessert served.
 

Tuesdays main dish was mackerel in a boiled kimchi sauce (묵은지고등어조림). (I cannot adequately express my love). As sides, there were Lotus roots simmered in sweetened soy sauce with toasted sesame seeds (연근조림 - top right), the ever-present kimchi (also top right) and spicy chicory, cucumber and octopus salad (치커리오이초무침 - top left and sooo good!). This was accompanied by a baby clam, potato, noodle and vegetable soup (바지락감자수제비국 - also delicious) and 'eco' brown rice (친환경현미밥). Dessert (not pictured here for intolerance reasons) was 'creamy cheese corn' (옥수수콘치즈구이). Apparently it's very tasty. I'm not so sure. 


The lower two bowls are reserved for rice and soup. The rice is always placed on the left and the soup on the right. Don't mix these up, you will get a ridiculously large number of strange looks if you do! (And this from people who didn't flinch when I started photographing my lunches!). As with all Korean meals, you are also given a spoon and chopsticks. The spoon is for both the soup and rice, while the chopsticks are for everything else. Eating your rice with chopsticks will garner you looks just as strange as if you'd put your soup in the wrong bowl.


Occasionally, the main dish, due to it's nature, will need to be placed in one of the larger slots - or, as in this case, in a bowl in one of the larger slots - in that case, many Koreans will simply fill one of the banchan bowls with rice. In this photo, the main course is in the bottom left-hand corner and is a Korean-ified Chinese dish called Jajangmyeon (자장면), or noodles with peas, carrots and beef cubes in black bean sauce. As sides we had a fried breaded shrimp in a sweet and spicy chili-peanut sauce (깐쇼새우 - sooo good!), cabbage kimchi, cubed radish kimchi (깍두기 김치), and sweet (yellow) pickled radish (단무지). The soup was (oddly not listed on the menu) a broth with shrimp, seaweed and green onions. In the top right corner you can see some asian pear (배) for dessert.

 Both rice and soup are present at every meal (even when I don't take any as the main dish is noodle based as above). The rice is left plain so that you can used it too soothe your poor tongue should any of the other food prove to be too spicy (as is often the case - though I am also partial to mixing my sides into my rice). The soup can also be used to serve this important function. It's mainly there for another reason however, Koreans don't believe in drinking water while eating! (Though they do believe in drinking alcohol... hmm...) This is so that you have space in your stomach for food. Water is often drunk after the meal. I don't know about you, but personally, I get thirsty when I eat!


In this instance, my main dish is located in the top left corner bowl, and it is absolutely delectable steam-braised pork short ribs stewed with dates and grapes (돼지갈비찜). The sides on offer included the inevitable kimchi (not pictured here), salad with chili-paste dressing (성추겉저리), whole rice (쌀밥), and seaweed soup (미역국). For dessert, we had delicious almond and orange rind cake and oranges.


Another element which is present at every meal is kimchi (김치), or fermented cabbage dressed in spicy chili sauce. While I don't necessarily add it to my dish every time, a number of the other teachers will fill their banchan bowls to overflowing with kimchi (and look curiously at me when I don't - similarly, they always say I don't take enough rice!). If you look carefully at the upper right hand bowl two pictures above, you'll notice that I not only had normal cabbage kimchi, but kkadugi (깍두기 김치), or cubed radish, kimchi as well.

And for the final platter, we had seafood patties in oyster sauce (해물동그랑땡 - a lot more delicious than you might expect!). Our sides were wasabi beansprout and crab salad (와사비 콩나물무침), kimchi and tiny dried whole anchovies in a spicy sweetened sesame sauce (멸치 조림 - also a lot better than you might think!). Rice was plan white, while the soup was a variation of my favourite - jjigae! In this case, it was tuna jjigae (참치 찌개) but pork, beef and kimchi jjigae are all also common.

Overall, I find my school lunches to be varied and super delicious - all the more so as they only run me 3,000 (or $2.75 US) per day. This is likely a good thing as eating lunch in the cafeteria alongside all of the students and other teachers is seen as being an integral aspect of participation in school life. This is so much the case that it is seen as terribly rude to leave the table before everyone in your group is finished - especially if that would leave one person sitting alone.

잘 먹겠습니다!

(Jal Mokgetsumnida! - Eat Well!)

Author's Note: A Massive THANK YOU! to science teacher 박형도 for helping me identify and name all of the foods!!! 감사합니다!!!

Walking in a Winter Wonderland - Mudeungsan in the Snow

Okay, so I may have lied when I said hiking season was coming to a close. Clearly I hadn't adequately considered the potential in combining two of my vary favourite things (No, not food. Though with me, that's always involved.) - hiking and snow!

Setting off from Jeungshim Temple (증심사).

This past weekend, a few friends and I decided to take advantage of the fresh snowfall to check out the views of and from Gwangju's Mt Mudeung (무등산) in the snow. Rather than taking the 1187 bus halfway up and doing the ridgewalk to the top, we decided to start right from the bottom at Jeungshim Temple so that we could stay warmer under the tree cover. We wound up hiking to the top via Jungbong (중봉- Jung Peak) and looping back around on our way down so that we could hit the famous Ipseokdae (입석대) rock formation on our way back to our starting point. Overall, the hike covered about 8 or 9km took us about 5 hours with all the snow.

A view of the city from partway between Jungmorijae and Jungbong. About 800m up.

It seemed like much of the older population of Gwangju was also on the mountain to play in the snow for the day - small wonder as brisk winds kept the clouds moving fast so that we often had clear blue skies.

Playing around in the snow en route.

As per usual, any time the locals glanced down at our feet and realised that we weren't wearing 'proper Korean hiking gear' (in this case cramp-ons and brightly coloured knee-high waterproof leg warmers - no joke!) there was a lot of clucking and shaking of heads in dismay (in my case, this may have been justified, my hiking shoes officially died yesterday, so I was hiking in dress boots - they were nice and cozy and warm though!).

Looking up toward the Seoseokdae (서석대) rock formation near the top. Standing on top of this at 1105m is the highest you can get on Mudeung as the peak (at 1187) is occupied by the military and cordoned off to the public.

Fortunately for us, the snow was still fresh enough that our lack of cramp-ons was in no way a factor (though it did make 'ski-ding' down the mountain at the end much more fun) and many of those we encountered were just happy to see foreigners so enjoying their mountain.

A view of the Ipseokdae (입석대) formation. They are huge! To give you some idea, if I were standing at the base of that pillar, my head still wouldn't make it into the picture!

Such a great day! There's nothing quite like going out to play in it to remind you just how awesome snow is!

Descending into a snow-covered Jeungshimsa on our return.

Bibimbap!

So it seems that now that hiking season is coming to a close, I've turned to blogging about one of my other favourite things - FOOD! Or, in this particular instance Bibimbap (비빔밥)!
 

A photo of my school's bibimbap. You may not be able to see all the ingredients, but this one includes rice, fermented radish strips (buried under the rice), mushrooms, bracken fern stems (고사리 - gosari), soybean sprouts, zucchini, seaweed, lettuce, sesame seeds, sesame oil and gochujang (fermented red chili paste) with ground meat. It's delicious, if it doesn't look it, I'll take the blame. I'm the one who prepared it ;).

Bibimbap literally means 'mixed rice' ('bibim' means 'mixed' and 'bap' means 'rice'). It's a dish you will find all over Korea in a number of variations. In Jeonju (전주), Jeollabuk-do province this variation includes a raw egg and is said be how it was traditionally served during the Joseon Dynasty. Another variation is Stone Pot Bibimbap (돌솥 비빔밥- dolsot bibipbap) which is served in a (surprise!) steaming hot stone pot. In the northern province of Gangwon-do, wild mountain vegetable bibimbap is the signature dish, while elsewhere beef may also be added. Here in Gwangju, it is also common to stumble upon spicy seafood bibimbap, which is one of my favourite variations.

The above bowl once mixed. This is making me ridiculously hungry.

Wherever you eat it, there are a few ingredients which will almost inevitably be present. The first, and most obvious of these, is rice, but a good bibimbap will also contain zucchini, cucumber, spiced radish strips, mushrooms, soybean sprouts, seaweed, bellflower root, bracken fern stems, sesame seeds and oil and, of course spicy chili pepper paste (often this is 고추장 - Gochujang, or fermented red pepper paste). Bibimbap is almost always served unmixed, with the ingredients arrayed attractively around the bowl. In many restaurants, the rice will be served in a separate lidded cup. It is up to the customer to mix it to their satisfaction.

Ddeok! A delicious Korean rice-based dessert.

While the above picture is not of bibimbap, it is of an equally typical Korean dish - Ddeok (떡), or rice cake. This particular assortment was given to one of the other teachers in my office as a 'thank you' from one of her student's parents. The giving of ddeok in thanks, in celebration or as a parting gift is a fairly common practice in Korea. In its most basic form, ddeok is made from glutinous rice flour and can take on many forms - both sweetened and not. In the above picture, both forms are intended to be eaten as a dessert or snack. To left is ggul tteok (꿀떡), or honey and sesame filled ddeok, while to the right is injeolmi (인절미), or steamed and pounded rice cake coated with soybean powder. Both are delicious.

Persimmons!

So it's now nearly December and I have yet to do a post on what has quickly become one of my favourite features of fall in Korea (see what I did there?) - Persimmons!

A 단감 (dan gam) or fuyu persimmon - washed and awaiting my consumption.

I have to be honest, before coming to Korea, I had little - if any - notion of what, exactly, a persimmon was. I think I knew that it was some kind of fruit, and I recall having some vague idea that people ate them dried, but I could not have told you where they were from, what they looked like or how they tasted (nor when they were ripe or why people ate them if it came to that).

One of the persimmon treas at Baegyangsa in Naejangsan National Park.

I am happy to say that all of this has now been rectified. I now know that persimmons - or 'Gam' (감) with a hard 'k'-like 'g' as they are known here - are an amazingly delicious and wonderfully fantastic fruit that no one should ever have to live without. I love them. I want to eat them all the time.  Not enough of an explanation for you? I suppose I could try to go in for a little more detail ;).

More persimmons, all for me! Their exteriors are waxy cuticles that are reminiscent of the skin off an apple - though slightly tougher - and just as edible. Many Koreans will peel and slice their persimmons. This requires more patience than I care to exhibit.

Before I go any further, I suppose I should mention that there are actually two types of persimmon available in Korea. Hachiya persimmons (떫은감 - tteolbeun gam or 'sour persimmon') are deep orange, sweet, soft and pulpy when ripe, but very bitter before that. By contrast, fuyu persimmons (단감 - dan gam or 'sweet persimmon') are lighter orange in colour and have a crisp melon-like texture, they are also (rather entertainingly because of their name) less sweet. Having not yet tried the hyachiya persimmons, it is the fuyu persimmons that have so captured my heart (and tongue). As far as I'm concerned, they taste exactly like Christmas - or, rather, how I imagine Christmas would taste were it made into an edible flavour. It's like having melon, pumpkin and cinnamon-y pie spice all mixed into a deliciously delectable fruity bundle. I was initially hesitant to give them a try as I am what is often referred to as a 'texture person', being rather picky with my food in that department, but I am so glad I did! When just ripe, fuyu persimmons have an apple-like texture. From there, they migrate toward melon-like as they get less crisp. Interestingly, just like tomatoes (which they actually resemble quite closely), persimmons are technically berries. Sadly they are only available for a very limited period of time, appearing at local markets in early fall and disappearing again around this time (early December). Happily, when they are around, they're around in an abundance - and I plan to eat my fill!

Palyeongsan: Where the Mountains meet the Sea

Located on the tiny little dingleberry-shaped peninsula of Goheung county (고흥군) is Palyeongsan (팔영산) National Marine Park and Recreational Forest. For me Palyeong Mountain itself was the real draw- not for it's height (it's only 608m at its highest peak), but for the stunning views it affords of the innumerable islands to the south.



The island view from one of Palyeongsan's peaks.

In addition to providing spectacular views, Palyeongsan provides oportunities for a wonderfully fun hike. Named for it's 8 peaks (팔 or 'pal' means 8), the trail involves a lot of going up-and-down and, as the peculiar rock formations which make up the peaks are particularly... well... rocky, there is a lot of scrambling/low level rock climbing involved as well (with chains and footholds in place as optional aids). So much fun!

Looking back toward the Korean hikers on Yuyeongbong (유영봉), Peak Number 1 of Palyeongsan, from Seongjubong (성주봉), or Peak Number 2.

The view of Yuyeongbong when not zoomed in.

Since the mountain is not particularly large, the hike can be done in only a couple of hours (even, if, like me, one is hiking on a sprained ankle. Required Safety Note: Do not try this yourself ;).). We started off at the Goheung Ranger Station near Neunggasa (능가사 - Neungga Temple), went up (and down, and up, and down, and up - well, you get the picture) over the peaks (heading westward), out to the highest point at Gitdaebong (깃대봉). We then took the lower trail to circle back for the return. It's also possible to continue forward for an additional 4km, which would bring you to the Nampo Museum (남포미술관) /Yeongnam Elementary School (영남초교) park entrance. Both park entrances have local buses going past. All in, our looping route was approximately 8.6km and took about 3 hours 30 mins.

Looking northward and inland.

The view eastward from Orobong (오로봉), or Peak 5.

While summitting and descending so many peaks in such a short space of time is thoroughly enjoyable, I have to warn anyone planning to hike Palyeongsan to go on a weekday. Because the hike is not too long and affords such great views, it's absolutely packed to the gills with Koreans on the weekends. On the bright side, if your aim is to immerse yourself in local culture and avoid foreigners at all costs, this would be the perfect place to do it! Korea doesn't get much more charmingly rural than Goheung-gun.

A view of the 8 peaks in the distance from the campground at the base of the mountain.

To get to Palyeongsan, hop on an intercity/express bus to Gwayeok (과역) or Goheung (고흥). The park is a short local bus ride from there. Gwayeok is located approximately 2 hours south of Gwangju (by bus) and Goheung is a little further on. The bus ride alone is worth the trip. The initial bit is slow moving and winds through some small towns (which are adorable in their own right). The views along the latter half of the route, however, are absolutely stunning! The locals in the area are also supremely friendly - they colluded to insure that a scarf I had forgotten on the local bus was returned to me when we got to the Gwayeok bus station at the end of our hike! 

Beagyangsa & Reflections of the Fall

Last Monday, it was time, once again, for a teacher wellness expedition. As per usual at my school, this involved food and hiking - fortunately for me (as last Monday was the day after my 46km Jirisan hike), this time the hike was much more of a leasurely meander along stunningly reflective river-pools. 

One of the Baegyangsa Pavilions and it's reflection.

This particular teacher wellness hike saw us head out to the Baegyang Valley, home of Baegyang Temple (백양사), in Naejangsan National Park (내장산) - about an hour and a half north of Gwangju. Baegyang is famous for a number of things, the two most notable of these - particularly in the fall - are its persimmons (mmmm, persimmons! - more on those another time) and the spectacular colours of its leaves. I have to say, while I've seen a number of sumptuously coloured valleys in my time here thus far, Baegyang thoroughly deserves its reputation.

Looking toward Naejang Mountain.

Some of the riotously red leaves. I love just how many different colours there are in this one tree!

A doorway leeding to one of the cemetaries in the area.

A close-up of the path stones.

I just loved the myriad of colours in this shot.

Looking toward Baegyang's persimmon, or gam (감), grove.

One of the temple buildings.

Can't get enough of the combination of real and reflected.

Heading back from whence we came en route to dinner - which was comprised of surprisingly delicious prepared local roots and shoots.

A Long Trek - Crossing Korea's Jirisan National Park on Foot.

From the smallest to the largest. Last weekend I had the opportunity to hike across the 41km that comprises the spine of Jirisan (지리산 - Jiri Mountain) National Park. This to be contrasted with this weekend, which I spent largely doing nothing while lounging around my house reading novels ;).

The colours of the Hwaeom (화엄) Valley where we began our ascent. 

While the original plan had us hiking as a party of six, only two of us wound up actually doing the hike (the two boys dropped out early in the planning due to 'other commitments' and the other two girls unfortunately fell ill the week before). While I admit, the prospect of traversing 41km (46 actually if you consider the hike up to the trail head from our hotel and then down again into the village bus station at the other side) and 13 different peaks in only two days might be a little daunting, it was totally worth it - especially with all the colours showing at this time of year!

The colours along the road up to the Hwaeomsa (화엄사 - Hwaeom Temple) entrance.

Due to the time constraints imposed by having to work during the week, we decided to head out from the Hwaeomsa entrance at the western side of the park and hike eastward, ending our trek either at Daewon Temple (대원사) or at Jungsanni (중산니) in the east. This made it possible to hop on a bus from Gwangju to Gurye (구례) (1h30) on the Friday night and to take a cheap 6,000won taxi ride out to our pension near the temple for the night. (We had a Nore Taxi!(Korean kareoki) It was epic!) For the record, the Hwaeom Pension is great, hugely spacious, nice rooms with cooking facilities at very decent prices (less than 20,000/person). The rooms are traditional ondol-style (heated floor with blankets).

Hwaeomsa at roughly 7:15am.

We set out bright and early on the Saturday morning with the intention of trekking up to Hwaeomsa for a quick visit and then heading ownward from there. The 7km up from Hwaeomsa to Nogodan (1,430m) was arguably the hardest part of the trek. Beautiful, but hard. I'd previously seen it described as a 'long, slow slog' and when we started out, we thought that might be a bit of an exaggeration. It wasn't. If you want an easier route in, I recommend the 4.7km up from the Seongsamjae (성삼재) Pass.

This was a nice, un-evil, part of the path.

Getting even more beautiful as we rise...

Above to the point at which the trees have lost all their leaves.

The morning view from Nogodan (노고단) (1,430m).

Check out those clouds.

Walking the Dwaejiryeong Pass (돼지령).

Looking over the Piagol  Valley (피아골).

At the top of Samdobong (삼도봉), or Three Province Peak (1499m), so named because it represents the intersection of three of the Korean provinces - Jeollanam-do (전라남도), Jeollabuk-do (전라북도) and Gyeongnam-do (경남도).

Around mid-morning. Happy to have made it thus far!

The view southeast from Samdobong (I believe that this is the Baemsagol Valley (뱀사골)).

Heading toward Tokkibong (토끼봉).

From here on out, the route got much rockier - Hilary described it best as "the ultimate rock playground". So much fun! Ideal for those who like scrambles. The route also remained an awesome ridge walk for much of the rest of the trek to the highest peak, Cheonhwangbong (천황봉), the next day.

Just stunning.

I just couldn't resist. Something was definitely added by the drying flora at the top.

Look! It's Grandmother Willow's stony cousin in the background!

Heading down from one of the final peaks of Day 1 (I believe it was Hyeongjebong (형제봉).).

The view as the sun begins to go down (it was about 4:30 pm).

There was just something about this tree.

Once we realised how close we were to Byeoksoryeong Shelter (벽소령 대피소) where we planned to stay the night, we decided to dawdle a bit more and take our time on the paths. We finally made it to the shelter around 5:45pm, just before full dark, after roughly 10 and a half hours of hiking with minimal 5-10 minute breaks to see the peaks or munch on some food. We covered roughly 24km in that time. The shelter itself was a lot nicer than we'd expected (especially once you get used to smelling the toilet smell that emanates from the restrooms near all Korean mountain shelters). It was supremely warm, rooms were split by gender, and for an extra 3,000won (reservation was 8,000), we were able to get 3 blankets each (one to sleep on, one to sleep under, and one to use as a pillow). Lights out was around 10pm, with most of the other guests (particularly those without reservations sleeping in the lobby), waking up at 4:30am to recommence their hikes in the dark. We decided to set out at the much nicer hour of 6:30am.

The view from Deokpyeongbong (덕평봉) as the sun rises.

While we'd known from the outset that Sunday was going to be rainy, there's nothing quite like watching the rain you're about to be hit by as it rolls in.

Valley view somewhere along the nearly 10km between Byeoksoryeong and Jangteomok Selters. 

Entering the cloud banks. It was so windy at the top! Crossing saddles involved trying desperately not to be blown off the mountain entirely!

A bluebird on the steps. This was on the sheltered northern side of a peak. There were far more birds, awesome flora and fauna in general at Jiri than I have seen in any of the other parks. Jiri is also famous for being the home of the only wild Korean Blackbears left in the country.

While ridge walks provide beautiful views on sunny days, they are nothing short of cold in the wind and the rain!

SNOW! We also encountered hail.

The last bit to the top! The second half of the last 1.5km from Jangteomok Sheter (장터목 대피소) to the top of Cheonhwangbong was arguably the most technically challenging - particularly in the inclement weather - it was also the most fun. Much more like rock climbing/scrambling than traditional hiking. 

Hilary and I at the top! Cheonhwangbong (천황봉) is Jiri's highest peak at 1915m above sea level - it's also the highest on the Korean mainland - WOOT! This pic gives you some idea of the level of visibility at the top. We got here around noon.

Having seen the weather at the top and knowing what we would be heading into further down, we decided to take the shorter 5.4 km route down to the Jungsanni (중산니) park exit (the route to Daewonsa would have been 11.7km, plus 2 more into town), where we could hop on a bus into Jinju and, from there, catch the 2hour bus back to Gwangju. Rather entertainingly, we accidentally took a detour which added 3.4km on to the route (and still had to walk another 2km from there to the bus station). Fortunately, the detour proved to be a spectacular river-valley descent and we were so wet from the rain at this point that it really didn't matter (not only were we soaked through, so was nearly everything in our bags that wasn't bagged itself - my backpack was dripping!).

A beautiful temple entrance about halfway between Cheonwhangbong and the Rotari Shelter (로타리 대피소) on the way down.

Descending into some colour. Sadly, my camera was also soaked through at this point, making it difficult to capture the vividness of the leaves.

Overall a supremely amazing hike. Definitely well worth it - and definitely, no matter what the Koreans say, do-able as a two day journey. Oddly, to my mind atleast, we seemed to be the only ones doing the full route! Many of the Koreans we met - even those staying the night - expressed surprise at how far we were hiking, and we met no other foreigners. I definitely recommend it though. I want to go back!

Hike completed!

A few recommendations, if you are planning to hike Jirisan (or any of the other major mountains/national parks in Korea), definitely check out Korea in the Clouds for route, shelter and entrance info.

Another important site to check when hiking any of the national parks is the Korea National Park Website. Although it doesn't contain detailed trail maps, it does provide some idea of route lengths and difficulties. More importantly, it offers a free, English language mountain shelter booking service. Booking is made available at 10am 15days prior to the desired day. They book up within minutes, so be ready right away.

It's also important to note that, as with the other mountains, food buying options are severely limited after you ascend. Many of the shelters en route carry snacks such as water bottles (which you can refill at springs throughout the hike), chocolate bars, crackers and dry ramyeon, they do not, however, offer cooking or heating facilities. Any food you plan to eat (and anything you plan to use to cook it with such as gas, camp stoves, and plates) must be carried with you both up and down the mountain. With a Jirisan hike, it is especially important to pack what you plan to eat as, unlike the entrances to many of the other mountains, there is no where to pick up kimbap or other easily transportable, non-cook food. We found this out the hard way. Fortunately for us, the kimbap was just meant to add variety, we packed more than enough food to last.

Our route map. We crossed the spine.