I love Korean side dishes (banchan) that accompany every meal. I discovered a new favourite recently called uwong. It is some kind of root, with a texture that reminds me of canned bamboo, lightly coated with some sweet syrup, and sprinkled with sesame.
Apparently it's good for digestion. The lady running the restaurant demonstrated this by rubbing her stomach and then making the gesture of poop being briskly expelled from ones behind. I appreciated her directness. I sense that Koreans have fewer hangups about certain bodily functions.
She also gave us an extended Korean lesson, pulling out paper and pen, and correcting sentences we had been practising. Thanks nice lady!
(The photo is not of the restaurant, but a kimchi stall at a market.)
Curious question ... what is a Korean weekend (Sat/Sun?) ... it's not a Christian country is it?
PS: I <3 Kimchi ... yes, the carnivore like veggies.
Most people definitely get Sundays off. Korea is very Christian. There are Churches everywhere and they almost always have neon crosses. Sometimes they're mixed in with other stores or noraebang (karaoke) rooms. I'm not sure whether zoning laws even exist here.
As for Saturdays, I'm not sure. Us slacker foreigners definitely get them off, but I think most Koreans work, and even a lot of kids have some form of extra schooling. Education is a big deal here, and the kids put in more hours than I'd like to think about.
Kimchiii! (Guess what someone's getting for Christmas.)