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Last weekend I was fortunate enough to go to one of Korea's most famous restaurants the Songchoo Gamagoll(click for link). This particular restaurant specializes in Galbi, which are short savory butterfly thin beef ribs are served raw but you can cook them quickly on the table grill. Normally I try to stay away from eating meat on a daily basis but every time I eat Galbi it's soo good that I end up eating way too much.



Of course this meal could not have been complete without the thirteen side dishes that came with it. Among these were Korean style mashed potatoes, two types of salad, garlic, stew, rice, lettuce (for wraps) and a traditional sauce to dip your cooked meat in after grilling.




The Menu-------------------------
Gamagoll Galbi (Marinated and Grilled Beef Ribs): 32,000 won / $26 USD
Cheonhaeyeom Galbi (Grilled Beef Ribs Marinated in Mineral Salt): 38,000 won /$31 USD
Teukseon Yukhoe (Sliced Raw Beef): 35,000 won / $29 USD
Naengmyeon (Cold Buckwheat Noodles): 6,000 won / $5 USD

Now at first this might seem a little step but considering the service that you get with your meal is simply amazing. There are many tables throughout this establishment and their is about one waitress to every 3-4 tables. So as are meal was cooking our waitress either came to fill our glasses, flip the meat for us, cut our meat for us, or bring us more side dishes. Which is A LOT for an American like myself who isn't used to seeing this extra effort in a restaurant. And to clarify, when I say 'us' there were nine people in our party that sat down for a meal and we each were tended to. Since the food was replenished after eating (with no charge) you can easily see why I was stuffed :)


How to get there-------------------------
Now the particular restaurant I went to was in Yangju-Si. The address is Gyeonggi-do Yangju Jangheung-myeon Bugok-ri 624-34. To get there you can take the Seoul Ring Expressway, get off at Songchu IC, and go towards Uijeongbu on National Road No. 39.

Local Transportation-------------------------
Bus: Take Bus No. 23 at Uijeongbu Station, Bus No. 360 or 34 at Uijeongbu Ganeung Station, or Bus No. 23, 34, 360, 7724, or 704 at Gupabal Station, and get off at Songchu Elementary School or in front of a Zelkova Tree

Lastly our evening was concluded with some ice cream for the kids and so Soju for the adults. There outside seating is also gorgeous. Where those who would like to enjoy a casual first date might consider moving their meals outside.


When I took this picture I laughed because it greatly identifies the two most important parts of the South Korean diet. The great majority of all the food I have tried has had a spicy option. They will serve Jalapeños or chili peppers as a side dish. While that is easier to pass up if you know the proper phrase you can always enjoy a nice glass of Soju. At first I couldn't stand this drink but I think it has grown on me. It is the equivalent of drinking a sweet vodka.

With that I'm off. I will write again soon. So until then, stay well, be healthy and Thanks for reading!

Joe - OUT!!

I'm back! Please hold all of you applause until the end, please. I'm switching it up in this post. Instead of writing a boring article for you to read I decided to make a boring video....(See? I told you to hold your applause).

But seriously I had a great time at this drum performance regardless of how random it was. And to commemorate this day I have hired a new staff member on the minimalist of wage $0.00 Take that OSHA! The character, Kevin Steel, will be played by myself on my Expat News show. So without further ado lets watch the embodiment of my neurosis fly out of control in: KIDNAPPED!

Everyones favorite neurotic news anchor, Kevin Steel, has returned for another installment of Expat News. While Joe describes a recent drum performance it is ruined by Kevin's interpretation of Joe's story.

Hello to all my readers out there. I wanted to drop in briefly for a quick post. Today my students gave me a small token of their appreciation. They came in and said "Teacher Joey. You know that you are the greatest thing that has ever happened to us?" - No not really! Not because they wouldn't say it but is was mainly due to the fact that my students only know the following three phrases by heart:

1) "May I play please?"
2) "May I use the bathroom?"
3) "May I have some water?"


All of these equivocate to, "Joey can we just leave the class please?!" I should know because I was one of those kids ;)

Even though my awesomeness often goes unnoticed I was delightfully surprised when they bought me a gift for Teachers Day. I was given an awesome batch of Honey Castella Cakes that were gift wrapped.


To be honest, I was really touched by the whole thing. I guess I don't identify myself as an educator completely yet, but I am starting to understand a lot of my shortcomings as I work with the students. Since I've been here time has surely flown by, but its events like this that forces you to push PAUSE on the soundtrack we call Life.

Joe - OUT!!

Now I'm not actually in Busan, unfortunately, but I did have a chance last weekend to taste what the food would be like if I ever decided to go. Considering that Busan is a beautiful port city in Southeastern Korea and Galbi refers to traditional Korean dishes which usually require grilling, I thought "How could this get any better?!"

To begin, I had the opportunity to go to lunch with my good friend Sarah. This was cool because since she has taught longer than I have, is part Korean and speaks Korean I used this as a chance to ask a lot of questions about types of food and etiquette. She should be given a medal, because normally my inquisitiveness is bad enough for even Mary Poppins to tell me to "take a teaspoon of sugar, and shut the Hell up!"



Since this restaurant was located in Itaewon I was comfortable navigating my way around. After attempting to find a good spot for lunch Sarah and I came across 3 potentials after walking down a busy alley. Each of us were feeling pretty indecisive at the time so we chose this particular restaurant by playing a very sophisticated game of Rock, Paper, Scissors (which I lost).

Once inside I ordered a bowl of Mixed Noodles while Sarah ordered the Bulgogi. Bulgogi is typically made of thin slices of sirloin or cuts of beef. The meat is usually pre-marinated marinated in soy sauce, sesame seed oil, garlic and sugar before it is grilled. What you have in the end is this tender meat mixed with vegetables and served with.....




....you guessed it, Side dishes! Coming to understanding that all restaurants in South Korea offer you side dishes I still get excited when I see them come out with a tray of bowls for you. They really do spoil you with food and side dishes out here. In this picture we have some spinach, lettuce, coleslaw, kimchi, garlic, bean dip, sliced radish and bean sprouts.



And this is Sarah showing me how it's done.



This was my main dish Mixed Noodles! They weren't spicy at all, but the noodles tasted kinda funky. They were very thin and chewy, not my favorite. After about 4 bites I returned to the side dishes and the Bulgogi.



Regrettably my fixation with the city of Busan was not enough to deter the veraciousness of my taste buds. I will have to rate this restaurant as FAIR. Although the food was cheap and the helpings were plentiful, it doesn't really matter if you can't enjoy the food. But hey if your don't believe me go check it out for yourselves.

Its Itaewon, located near the Hard Rock Cafe. Its to the left of the this building...



... and down this alley short alley way.



Thanks for reading, take care of yourselves and until the next blog....

Joe - OUT!!

Here it is, the moment that you all have been waiting for....Korean Food! This particular place is very close to where I stay and teach at. Not only is the location good but food is Great as well!!

The service is really fast and the people here are very friendly. Clint and I went to grab a quick bite to eat before our evening classes started, and we were happy to find place somewhat empty. Due to the fact that this small restaurant is always busy.

We got an order of Kimchi Chigae. It's really good stuff, think of a spicy beef stew broth mixed with sliced kimchi (cabbage), vegetables and dok-bok-ee (rice cake).




With it came plenty of side dishes. Starting from the back (from left to right) we received cooked eggs, kimchi, fried tofu, (middle) seasoned roots of local plants, dried fish, and finally rice.



At the end of our meal we were able to wash up with a complimentary wet napkin. I normally would have just used the tissues behind it but they were nice enough to provide us with the wet napkin.



Now the best part of this whole experience was the cost of this little feast. All of this was only 4,000 won ($3.62 USD). Needless to say that I will be coming here more often when I don't feel like cooking.

Let me know what you think and be sure to leave a comment!

Joe - OUT!!

I know that the title seems a little far-fetched but just spend a little time with me and you'll understand. On this particular day I was teaching on one of my longer days which usually ends around 10pm. About halfway through the first week I was feeling pretty comfortable with the flow of the school and I was beginning to feel pretty confident as a teacher, but that would soon change!

In the evening I teach a class called "Berkley Studies" which is pretty much a handful of students at different ages who are above their peers in reading, comprehension, and writing. These students meet with me for about 45 minutes for private instruction every Wednesday and Friday.

At the start of class I asked the students for their English names. Each student with clear articulation complied with my request, however there was one particular student that looked very confused. When it was his turn to respond with his English name he uttered his Korean name. I repeated my initial question, "May I please have your English name?"

Now my student was flipping hurriedly through his book trying to look for something. I can only imagine he was attempting to find some foreign indication that might have been recorded by a previous teacher as his English name. I asked my class to remain quiet as I grabbed one of Korean Teachers to translate my request.

Shortly afterward I returned with another Korean teacher, Samuel, at my disposal and I repeated my question. Samuel and my student spoke in Korean for a short while and Samuel returned and informed me that my student did not have an English name.

Feeling empathetic I reached for my Korean-English Dictionary and said, "Well that's too bad. We'll look up how to say his Korean name in English."

Without even listening Samuel brought the student in front of my desk and said "Please give him a name."

Stunned, I was completely taken aback by his request; thinking to myself 'This cannot be Ok!' I repeated, "What? You want ME to give HIM a name?"

Samuel nodded and told me to "Give him three choices and he will choose."

Now my mind raced for names. I looked at my student, attempting to match his face with the appropriate name, and I sputtered "Well...how about Ryan, Jason or Tommy?"

My student said each name twice and choose Jason as his new and permanent English name.

After my day of instructing was over I retired to my room which is directly adjacent to my fellow English teachers (John) room. I informed him of what had happened earlier that day. John laughed and said, "Yeah man, that's what they do here. Since some of the students aren't given English names at home it is up to us to give them English names. They usually keep these names forever and will use them when conducting business or doing international business." He proceeded to list some of the individual students that he himself had named, but all I could think was 'This..-ish..is... crazy!'


Joe - OUT!!