Korean Sambok

This past friday, July 15th was the start of the Korean Sanbok. It is Korean custom to choose the 3 hottest days of the summer and to eat really hot food on those days. It is thought that by doing that you will be able to handle the heat better. Sanbok is a period during July/August, 20 days in length, that typically includes the hottest days of the year. Three specific hot days are singled out and on those days you eat special food. The most typical food eaten during Sambok is samgye-t'ang. This is a young chicken boiled with sticky rice, ginseng, Chinese dates and garlic, and seasoned with salt and pepper. The days change depending on where they fall based on the lunar calender. This year the first day (Chobok) fell on July 15. I'm not quite sure when the second (Jungbok) and third (Malbok) days fall on, but it'll be within the next 20 days.
ANYWAYS
So, on Friday a friend of mine, Jessica, invited a few of us over to her house (she's Korean) and she made us all samgye-t'ang. There was me, Devon and Jason (the waeygooks) and Jessica, Joy and Rosie (the Koreans). I generally like Korean food anyways, but this samgye-t'ang was damn good! I'm not quite sure if I would have enjoyed it my first little while in Korea, I would've gone hungry, but I'm pretty proficient with chopsticks now so I can pull chicken off bones like a pro. The sticky rice was kind of like a soup, then there was more chicken fried up with vegetables and this awesome sauce. It was also neat to see Jessica's apartment. It was way bigger than my little hole in the wall, and definetly better decorated. I'm not even sure if my worn-out maps of Korea and No Doubt poster left behind long ago by another teacher quite count as decoration.
Korean apartments are cool. The rooms are multi-functional. There's not really a dining room or a living room, or in some cases even a bedroom. All the rooms serve many purposes (excpet for the kitchen and bathroom of course). We ate lunch sitting on the floor around a table that was brought out for us. Korean's sleep, eat and hang out on the floor. I'm getting used to it now, but I still get pretty stiff sometimes (and I have a bed!). When they sleep they bring out mats to sleep on and when they wake up they put them away. Jessica had some couches, but mainly we were sitting on the floor on cushions.
So ya, good lunch. Then it was time for school. I was sufficiently full and didn't even bother to pack a dinner (mainly cuz I was late getting home because I was eating lunch....). As it turns out though, I didn't need to! I got to school and after second class came back to the lunch room to discover that my boss had ordered us all in hot chicken to eat for Chobok. I got two Choboks. I was a happy camper. It truly is getting grossly hot, we'll see if me eating two Chobok's helps me deal with that, somehow I doubt it, but it was worth a shot.
I had an awesome weekend, but my digital camera battery crapped out on me before I got there so I couldn't take any pictures. My friends'll be emailing some to me in the next few days though. I'll update my blog again telling you about all about the Boryeong Mud Festival. For now though, you can go here http://www.mudfestival.or.kr/english/festival/festival1.php and just imagine all the stuff I have to tell you!
Take Care!