Jimdak = Awesome!

Paul, Jennifer and I going to our first Jimdak place...yum!

Everyone's shoes in a big pile outside the eating area in the restaurant.

Andong's famous JIMDAK! The plate of food is the size of a large pizza so it is a lot of food and 4 or more people can easily split 1 order.

A little while ago, we went to eat the food that Andong is famous for: Jimdak. What is Jimdak you might ask? Well it is tons of chicken, boiled with potatoes, carrots, peppers, and “glass” noodles (which are basically thin, clear noodles) and then covered in some sort of spicy brown sauce that will make you feel like your mouth is on fire. Strange food is everywhere in Andong, so when we tried Jimdak, I was a little worried about what it tasted like but thankfully I was pleasantly surprised. Jimdak is now the best Korean food I have had so far and I’m glad that there are so many places to eat it.

I am definitely getting used to eating Korean food ALL the time, and it is actually growing on me. Korean restaurants are a bit different though and I will tell you how. The majority of restaurants you will go to will make you take your shoes off before you climb into the raised room where the floors are heated and you sit on mats on the floor. It can get very uncomfortable if you have to sit for a long time, but most Koreans don’t ever seem to mind and they can do it for hours. Usually there aren’t any napkins at your table and if there are, then they are like tiny pieces of tissue paper that Americans would have a fit over. Also you only drink water out of tiny silver cups (Dixie size) and Koreans for the most part hardly drink any water at all…mostly just Soju (Korean sake). (Grandpa you would fit right in since you don’t like water ; ) Also there are usually scissors served with the food because the meat is in large chunks and the server needs to kindly cut it up before you eat it. Everyone eats out of the same bowls so there is no evil looks for double dipping or anything else to do with germs. I thankfully don’t mind that, but I know some people who would…wink, wink. One wonderful thing about Korea is that you don’t tip so when you see the price of a meal, that is literally all you have to pay so that is nice. But that also means that if you want something you have to call the server over and remembering how I would hate it when people called me over at my old job, it takes some time to get used to that. And finally, you usually get a cup of coffee at the end of your meal but this time it is about half a Dixie cup so they can be sure that I won’t over indulge myself. Oh funny Korea.

All in all, eating out is usually CHEAPER than eating at home, which I was very surprised about but sometimes it’s nice to know what you are eating, you know what I mean? Danny and I keep trying to find different places and we hope that we become “regulars” at a few. Come visit us and you can try JIMDAK too!
Today’s word for the day is…coppee which means, you guessed it, coffee!

P.S. Today I made my Korean Students choose English nicknames and one wanted to be Leonardo DiCaprio, one wanted Brad Pitt, and one wanted God. When I told him I wouldn't call him God and he had to choose another name, you know what he decided? ...Tim. That is a little less powerful, wouldn't you say?