OSU-PNU 2006

Last Friday, the U class invited me to have lunch with them today in the form of a potluck. To be honest, I really had no idea of what to bring because I'd never been to a potluck in Korea before, so last night I went to E-Mart (the local version of Wal-Mart, just on a smaller scale) and wandered around for about a half hour before deciding to take kimbab, which is like California roll. I chose this dish because it doesn't require heating and is easy to transport. A lot of the students also brought different kinds of kimbab. I guess this is a popular potluck dish. ;) It wasn't the only dish we had at the potluck; there was also rice cake, fried egg, pig intestine, and various side dishes. One of the students brought hot peppers (from his parents' garden) with soybean paste and catnip (which his mother prepared) in hot sauce. Everything was delicious. For dessert, one of the students brought some plums. Fruit seems to be a common ending to most Korean meals and is quite refreshing after eating a lot of spice. While eating, I found out a little bit about the custom of potlucks in the Korean cultures; they are common mostly with university students. I also found out a little bit more about one of the students - both his parents work in the food industry; his father works at a Korean bakery making dok, traditional Korean rice cake; his mother works as a cook in Japan. I found it interesting that his mother spends several months during the year working in another country, away from her family. After everything was cleaned up, the students went and had a coffee from the vending machine located on the first floor of the building. It's very common to have coffee with milk and sugar following a meal. I've heard it's because Korean food makes one very sleepy, so the caffine in the coffee helps in counteracting that. What I also find interesting is how the students brush their teeth after eating rather than chewing gum or eating a mint, as we (sometimes) do in the States.