We began our morning in Suanbo, a little mountain town in the heart of the country. Our first adventure was hunting for Olgangi, a type of Korean marsh snail which would be used to make our hangover soup.

Photo courtesy of KTO

After our soup of snail and greens we took off for a pheseant farm. Here we learned all about the birds and even got to get up and personal in their cage.

After catching our pheasant we took it over to the family’s restaurant which is supposed to be the first place in this town to serve the bird in modern times.

Even the ex-president ate here. Good stuff indeed.

The history of eating pheasant is steep in Korea. Mark wrote about it here. Read it.

We had a 6 course meal, ranging from breast tender sashimi to bone meat stew. It was fantastic. The bird has such a clean, mild, and tender flavor.

Preparing the sashimi with cucumber, apple, pear, garlic, and sesame oil & seeds.

Along with the aforementioned dishes we also had pheasant shabu shabu, minced pheasant dumplings (my favorite!), and pheasant bulgogi. We couldn’t have ended the trip on any higher note.

And finally, time to say goodbye.

Team Planeteers with the production crew. Thank you Hansik Foundation, we had a fantastic time!

We then headed to a little restaurant to try out haemul kalguksu, that is a seafood noodle soup. This is one korean food that I think works quite well for breakfast.

A spicy tofu soup was also present.

After finishing up with breakfast we paid a little visit to a sweet potato farm.

These go gu ma or sweet potato rather were amazing. We dug up a few and I cooked them when I got home. They were amazing. Organic deliciousness.

After finishing up at the farm we went for a meal of duck. First we ate it BBQ style, grilling up small pieces in the middle of the table. For second course we had it in a stew. Both were fantastic but I think the stew was the preferred method of my teammates and I.

To continue the farm theme of the day, our next adventure took us out to Yesan to an apple orchard.

We picked the most tasty apples I’ve ever had. They were organic, fresh, juicy, sour, and sweet. Just perfect.

We then had apple rice cake prepared with dried Yesan apples. I’m quite the fan of most rice cake but I think this one might take the cake as my favorite.

After a beautiful countryside walk we journeyed to dinner. Dinner consisted of one of my favorite Korean soups, Gamjatang. Check out my teammate Mark’s post about it here.

And again, day 2 ended with full and happy foreigners.

We started out the tour on a peninsula of Chungcheong Province on the West coast of the country, hoping into a boat and heading out to catch some bass.

Above: Our rockin’ little boat. Below: Ziyeon, our amazing translator for the trip.

The one and only Tons baiting her line.

Bass for sashimi on the boat!

After eating sashimi on the boat, we went to a lady’s house where she prepared a dried bass soup called 우럭젓국 Ureok Jeotguk for us. It was an amazing fresh, spicy, meaty, not fishy tasting concoction. I loved it!

After finishing up with the soup, we headed back to the beach to catch some crabs.

We did good.

Then we played.

We slaughtered.

We cooked. Yangnyeom Gejang is the name of this spicy awesome sauce made to cover the raw crabs. Read more about it here written by teammate Lani Berry.

We ate.

Day 1 ended with a bunch of happy, full, and sleepy foreigners.

I find this all a little trippy, but then it jumps into the wild category. There is going to be a camera man with us all day & night for 3 days, filming everything for this show. I’m about to be a reality tv personality in South Korea. Freakin’ wild.

Let me take a little break to explain the narrow difference between the two. Rainy season — lasts about 3-4 weeks, very calm, a moisture level higher than a drizzle but less than a pour pretty much all day every day. Typhoon season –lasts about 1-2 weeks, very windy, a constant drizzle with regular intervals of heavy downpour, lots of thunder. 

Here is a little taste of my vacation so far.

Day 1: Sleep, get rested for a great week to come.

Day 2: Buy supplies and make final plans for awesome camping trip to the beach.

Day 3: Typhoon starts. Postpone awesome camping trip.

Day 4: Sit in house staring at rain.

Damn you typhoon, damn you.

As is appropriate on a day like this, here is my top 10 loves about my country having been gone for awhile.

1. Diversity. I think this is by far, the greatest thing about the US.

2. Openness. I haven’t seen a big sky in awhile and I’d sure like to.

3. Porches. The corner 7-11′s picnic tables are great but just not the same.

4. Microbreweries.

5. Health food stores/restaurants. I want a place that serves real and good food, not just “well-being porridge”.

6. The drive for creativity and innovation.

7. A place without one ancient culture. Similar to #1 yes, but not the same. A cultureless country has many opportunities to evolve.

8. Thrift stores.

9. Women’s rights.

10. And above all, my friends and family.

Happy celebratin’!

I spend a large portion of my free time riding my new bike and playing outside.

Vines growing on the US military base in central Seoul

I spend a lot of my time dodging these things.

and seeking out interesting architecture

I also spend a lot of time out with friends, dancing, going to cafes, checking out live music, and brunching.

My favorite dancin' spot in Seoul.

The best brunch in town, The Flying Pan Blue

The rest of my free time is spent just out and about, looking for interesting things, people, and art on the streets.

The underground crossing near my house used to be covered in great graffiti. This is what appeared the day after they scrubbed it off. makes me smile everyday!

Then there’s that other little thing I do called work. Even though I spend the majority of my time there I try not to let it consume my mind or my camera. However, the other day we did take our kindergartners to the zoo. I couldn’t resist.

Mad love for Seoul!