Taekwondo in Korea...or..finding my inner warrior...again.

Before leaving Florida I spent two years learning a Japanese martial art called Taido (Karate). It was really when  I started taking Taido that I felt like I came into my own, became comfortable in my own skin, and learned that I really am in control most of the time. Unfortunately there is no Taido in Korea, but you know what Korea has a whole lot of? Taekwondo! My mom enrolled me in Taekwondo classes when I was getting beat up a lot in middle school, and I'm happy to have the chance to learn it again in the place where it all started.

Babehoney through a connection to a connection ended up having us bump into a nice South African lady, Saffanetta, who is quite the adventurous waygook. She's always going places on weekends and trying new things, so when she posted on our facebook group that she was taking taekwondo we immediately decided to join her. The class is 90% kids, and now there are 3 adults.

Babehoney didn't feel so hot tonight, so she watched from the sideline, but somehow slipped up that I have a brown belt in karate...so the Master and the english speaking black belt had me show them "my stuff" and decided that yes, I am indeed good enough to learn taekwondo with the kids (I hope) and that I look very stiff. The very stiff comment has followed me through all of my physical endeavours throughout life, but I was really happy to show off that I could do cartwheels, even one-handed, and keep up with the kids.

Tonight's experience kind of reminded me of Fight Quest and the Human Weapon. As a martial arts nerd, it was really, really cool to get to step into a dojo in the birthplace of the martial art. What a cool, cool feeling. It felt even cooler to be greeted by the master and his his assistants, even though they speak no English (save for one of the black belts) and understand what they were talking about because I have a bit of background with this kind of thing. This is going to turn into a 3 or 4 night-a-week thing for us, and I'm really happy about it.

Home Cooking, Korean Style

Tonight we had the awesome experience of having a home cooked feast thanks to Carolyn's coworker Hyemin. Hyemin invited us over to her parents' house for a meal as her parents wanted to meet us. Her father picked us all up near our apartment block at about 6:30 and drove us the short distance over to their apartment. Their apartment is on the 14th floor and has an amazing view of Sangin-dong with a beautiful mountain backdrop.

The menu included bulgogi (by far the best bulgogi I've ever had), kimbap (similar to maki-zushi), fried vegetables, salad (grown on their balcony garden), and pickled radish wraps with various fillings. It was absolutely delicious...mashissoyo even! It reminded me to no small extent of the Anthony Bourdain No Reservations episode where he has dinner with his intern's family in Korea. We talked even though we don't speak the same language, enjoyed incredible food that tasted so full of the pride that it was made with, and got to spend time with a mom and dad. Even though they aren't our mom and dad it was nice to be around them for a bit and feel "under the wing" of a parent for a little while.

After the meal we relaxed on their enormous couch, and took a few pictures. Unfortunately Mr. J isn't in the photo with me because he was taking the picture, but Mrs. J was so cute when she said she wanted to sit next to me "because I'm handsome" that I had to include this photo.

Like any mother, Mrs. J wouldn't let us leave without leftovers to take home, so sitting in my refrigerator are 3 rolls of kimbap, and about a pound of her amazing kimchi. I don't think I've ever had homemade kimchi until tonight, and it is infinitely better than any other kimchi I've ever tasted. It actually tingles when it hits your tongue, and the flavor is just gorgeous. I could not believe how good it was, and with my pound of kimchi I'm going to make kimchi fried rice, kimchi jjigae, and all sorts of good food to munch on.

This was one of the coolest things I've ever done, and I think I'll remember this meal for a very, very long time.