I hadn’t written mine down, my travel wish list, that is.  I have thought about it alot though.  The first item on the list was Paris, France.  When I close my eyes, I’m walking along the Seine, sitting on one of the bridges sketching, sitting at a sidewalk cafe eating a croissant and watching people walk by or methodically covering every inch of the Louvre.  The next few places on my list are in Italy.  As I go down my list, in my mind’s eye, Korea is nowhere to be found.

And…..yet…..Korea is where I am.  Korea.  I know nothing about Korea. The language is so foreign to my ear.  The signs that would normally help me find my way are so intriguing but yield no needed information.

Yet, from the moment I boarded the plane in Seattle, a gentle introduction began.  The in-flight magazine had lots of pictures, maps and feature stories about Korean cities, sightseeing, companies and people.  The meals were typical Korean foods.  This was my first introduction to Bibimbap. Little did I know that I would encounter Bibimbap everywhere…..sort of like pizza, hamburgers and hotdogs in the US.

Dinner the first night my husband and I arrived was in our hotel, the Novotel Seoul Ambassador in the Gangnam District.  Yes, I ordered Bibimbap.  The fresh vegetables (in the bowl on the left) were served on a bed of rice,  Miso soup with vegetables and tofu (next bowl to the right) and beef, pork and chicken (right) are all combined with each bite.  The hot red sauce, gochujang, and the fermented vegetables can be mixed in or occasionally dipped into.  Everything is eaten with chopsticks.  Then you just lift the bowl to your mouth and sip the broth left in bowl.  Yum!

Lynn ordered Baby Chicken Soup.  It sounded light and somehow soothing after 21 hours of  travelling. The reason, as you can see, that they called it Baby Chicken Soup was that a whole baby chicken was in the soup.  What a surprise!  So much fun!  

At first I wondered…..why all of the separate dishes? As I was contemplating dumping all of the small bowls into the large bowl I tasted a few and realized that if I did the pleasure of all of the individual sparkling flavors of the rich broth, the spicy, hot kimchi, the salty and the sweet would be lost. And so bite by bite, I discovered wonderful, new flavor combinations

I love Korea. I love Koreans.  I love Korean food. I love the way Koreans eat their food. Korea should have been on my travel wish list all along.