This weekend was the first in about four weeks that it didn't rain, and I cannot tell you how grateful I was for that! It was the first in a while where I could go out and not get soaked, which made my Saturday with my new Korean friend Jackie even more wonderful, apart from the fact that she is a light-hearted, sweet person who loves to have fun. I met her about two weeks ago on the subway. She told me my handbag was lovely and we got to talking. Her English was excellent, a result of years of study and six months spent living and studying in Vancouver, Canada. She asked me all the usual questions: how long have you been here, where do you work, where are you from, and so on. I felt comfortable with her right away. She gave me her business card (she runs a small English hogwan) and told me to give her a call. I told her I would call her as soon as I got a cell phone ( trying to get a cell phone in Korea as a foreigner is a bit complicated). When she got off the train, I was sad to see her go because we had been having such a good conversation, but I promised myself that I would actually call this person. A week later we arranged to meet at 5pm on Saturday at the Sangin subway station to go Lotte Department Store.

She met me at the station ten minutes early and we went up the stairs and out into the blazing hot and rainless evening and crossed the street. We entered the air-conditioned seven story store. She showed me where all the departments selling brand names were, and pointed out her favorites. We found ourselves admiring the same pieces of clothing, and giggling like teenaged girls. After browsing every level of the ritzy place, we took a walk around the Sangin neighborhood with Jackie pointing out all the different English hogwans as well as the hogwans for science, math and computers. There are hogwans on practically every corner in South Korea and there is no shortage of business for any of them. South Koreans are very keen on learning English, and in addition to studying English in school, many Korean school children attend English language hogwans after school.

We soon tired of walking around and decided to stop for a meal at an unknown Korean restaurant ( I have yet to learn to read Hangul, the Korean alphabet). Jackie pointed to one side of the restaurant and then the other and asked me if I wanted to eat Korean style or Western style. Koreans sit on mats and eat at low tables on the floor. I have eaten this way many times since I've been in Korea, but to be perfectly honest it is not that comfortable so I opted for chairs. We ordered kalbi (beef ribs cooked on the bone with vegetables), and mandu, (steamed dumplings which originated in China) These are filled with vegetables and ground pork and you dip these in soy sauce and red pepper flakes--they are one of my favorite Korean dishes. Rice, the staple food of Asia, accompanied our meal, along with a spicy soup made with tofu and hot green peppers. The meal was delicious and filled us up quickly. We paid the bill, left the restaurant and headed to Davinci Coffee a few blocks down for a cup of java. I had an iced caramel macchiato and Jackie ordered a cup of hot green tea. We sat there for an hour and talked about our lives and dreams of future travel. It was a lovely afternoon shared with someone of a like mind, and I am glad to have a new Korean friend.

Whenever I sit down to post a piece on this blog, I think it has to be some kind of masterpiece, which is what keeps me from writing on it as often as I want to. I've been thinking about what this blog, this space is all about, and what it means to me. It is called "The Insatiable Globetrekker," to express my hunger and deep desire for foreign travel and for discovering exotic cuisines and having the priviliege of tasting them where they originated. This is a space for me to reflect on where I am now and where I have been, a place to make connections and see the distinctions from country to country and people to people, a place to ask questions and a place to relax; for writing soothes me. Above all, this blog is for me, and if any of you beloved friends and family find time to read it in your hectic lives, that's great. But I'm writing for myself.

I have been traveling since the age of sixteen because my curiousity about the world at large was piqued at a very young age, and since high school brought me much emotional trauma, I decided to cut it short by spending a year abroad in the French speaking part of Belgium. During that year I traveled to England, Germany, France, Austria, Italy and the Czech Republic and absolutely fell in love with Europe. That year abroad started me on the road to becoming a world traveler and when it came to a close, thoughts of more voyages to faraway places were never far from my mind. When I entered college, I returned once again to France where I worked in a chateau in the country that had been converted into a youth hostel. During a vacation from this job, I went to Spain and Portugal for two weeks alone. Later, I spent two semesters in India, taking a three week break for research to Thailand during that time and then visited Sri Lanka at the end of my stint in India.

So why all this travel, you might ask? One might think, isn't one or two trips enough, and why do you have to go for so long? Well, I know that I love to travel. I know that returning to Belgium as a college student to see my host families was a great feeling. That I was able to speak to them in French, the foreign language I acquired made me feel good about myself; that I had accomplished something useful and important. Travel helps me to think more broadly, and most importantly, it helps me to let go of my notions of home, and helps me to feel "at home" anywhere in the world.

I have neglected this blog for awhile, and I guess it is because I come and go as to whether I like Korea or not. I am still struggling to find color and inspiration here. Sometimes I like the food and sometimes I don't. It can be tasty and flavorful and delicious like bulgogi, beef or pork that has been marinated in hot red chili peppers, honey and barbecue sauce with vegetables. But it can also be overpowering, like kimchi-- fermented cabbage with peppers and garlic, which still hasn't grown on me. When I read about bulgogi in the Lonely Planet guide to Korea, I knew right then and there that one of my first missions when I arrived would be to try it. Well, after I moved into my apartment, I ventured into my new neighborhood and poked my head into all the local restaurants and uttered one word: "Bulgogi?
"No, bulgogi," was always the reply. Finally, one day about two weeks ago I was shopping at E-Mart (a big everything store like Wal-Mart) in the supermarket section when I smelled something strong and peppery in the air. This section is always full of women employees giving out samples of whatever is sold in each aisle and one of them was cooking bulgogi in a rectangular pan on top of a stand with toothpicks and a built in trash can. I stabbed a piece of the meat with the toothpick, and the flavor just exploded in my mouth. Slightly sweet, but mostly spicy and the pork couldn't have been more tender. There were large packages of the raw meat already in the marinade ready for purchase. The temptation was too great. I put one in my cart. It was enough to last two weeks and for only 10,000 won ($10) it couldn't be beat. So there you go. One thing I know for sure that I love about Korea is bulgogi!