Our New (Temporary) Home

Hello from Camp Walker Lodge. It's not the nice digs we just left, but it's got free internet and it's about 200 yards from where I work. It's about 10 feet from where Bobby works (the vet's office, by the way, in case he hasn't kept in touch).

Today we went out to a traditional Korean restaurant and had bulgogi again. We can't get enough of the stuff! We took off our shoes and sat on cushions on the floor. These cushions are everywhere, by the way, and my Korean colleagues have them on their work chairs and in their cars. A very matronly lady served us, and she was thrilled when I pointed out in Korean that I could hear her cat. I really should capture this on camera, but at these kinds of restaurants they cook the food in front of you. So she brought the meat and vegetables, poured broth over them, and placed them on top of a burner that was on the end of our table. She turned on the burner and brought us the countless side dishes that come with every Korean meal. This time we got potatoes, which Bobby devoured. After awhile, she turned off the burner and spooned our soup into bowls. We each got a bowl of rice to mix into our soup, and we served ourselves out of the pot until it was gone. The owner was so pleased we ate so many sides, she brought us seconds! She also brought us a really sweet, tasty juice for dessert. All in all, the entire meal plus drinks was 21000 won, which is about 18 dollars. I'm not sure there's much incentive for me to learn Korean cooking, since I can eat out so cheaply.

When we left the restaurant, we decided to try a magic claw machine. These are also all over Daegu. This one involved making a little piston go into a slot, and winning a mechanical flapping apple. We threw away about 1500 won on that before we gave up.

My libraries both got the highest ratings on their inspections, by the way, thanks to my incomparable staff. Everyone is jealous of me! I will never get used to not understanding any of the office Korean banter, but I couldn't have asked for a better group of guys to run my libraries. Mr Pan told me he spent the day making kimchi, which Koreans love. You get kimchi with every meal, including breakfast. He and his wife went to the market, bought cabbage, chopped it up and cured it somehow, and buried it in the ground. He says I'll get some when I move into my new house.

Goodbye, Inter-burgo! This was the view from our breakfast room.