You Are What You Eat

Since I'm not getting much to do at the office, life here pretty much continues to revolve around food. Every day the lawyers take us out for lunch, and seem to enjoy throwing more and more "exotic" food my way to see if I'll eat it. I have yet to disappoint--I haven't heard what a "good eater" I was this many times since I was six years old. But the food is consistently excellent. Today I went with my mentor, a senior partner and one of the other interns to a traditional Korean restaurant. I don't know where to begin. We sat on the floor (which is cool but plays havoc with my legs) in this beautiful room with a gorgeous bamboo mat on the floor and rich wood everywhere, and that had a view of a garden. The meal is a series of close to 20 small dishes served in waves of six or seven, rather than a Western appetizer-entree-dessert sequence. It's mostly fish and vegetables, with a little beef and pork thrown in. Among other things, we had pickled skate, incredibly tasty fresh bamboo, abalone, boiled octopus and sea cucumber. The food was beautifully presented, rich in taste and color. My two favorite dishes were a kim-chee pancake (like a scallion pancake you'd get at a Chinese restuarant but much, much better) and an after-meal drink made from persimmon, cinnamon and nutmeg. I'll see if I can find out some names for you.

Tomorrow I'm off to the old city and a traditional village. I'm bringing my camera, and if I can figure out how to upload them, there should be some pictures here.

--AIS