Description of pictures

A big thank you goes out to Sarah for getting some pictures posted for her low-tech hubby.

Picture 1: This was our Chuseok (Thanksgiving) dinner on Tuesday night. The couple on the left are Adam and Elisa, good friends who work for KNU. Emma is probably drawing on the ground with her sidewalk chalk.
We stayed at a small, family-owned condo about a block from the beach. This is the same place we visited last year with Joe & Elena and Mark & Naomi. The owner, Mr. Cho, speaks English pretty well, and he is super nice and accommodating. He loaned us all kinds of beach equipment and gave us the charcoal for the grill.
There were grills and picnic tables spread all over the patio, filled with guests and Mr. Cho's family. People began to share their excess food with the other tables. It was a very fun atmosphere.
We first grilled about 10 brats - quite a bit for four adults, and a rare treat for us, loot from a CostC0 trip. 5 of the brats were genuine American ones; the others were Korean knock0ffs - similar, but have an odd texture. We also celebrated the delights of Elisa's homemade applesauce - also a rare treat in Korea. When we were fully stuffed, someone from another table brought over a tray of HUGE shrimp. I'm not kidding these shrimp were 6-8 inches long and almost an inch thick. These are on the grill in the picture. They are laying on a bed of large-grained salt - a very creative and flavorful way to grill. I'm not much of a seafood eater, but these were delicious!

Picture 2: One of the benefits of vacationing on Korea's West Sea is the great sunsets. Sarah's hat was her graduation present. You might notice some unusual shading on my upper lip. This is my meager attempt at facial hair. On a lark I started growing a mustache and a "soul patch" or "flavor saver" a few weeks ago. Several of the younger guys at church have joined in the senseless fun, and we are now starting an unofficial mustache club - which we only expect to last for about a month. They are pretty hilarious. One of the Korean women in our small group was expressing her displeasure with my face and said, "You're the face of our church!" I guess I hope my face is saying that we like to have fun. When everyone's mustaches get good and full - or at least as full as they're going to get - we'll take a nice picture.

Picture 3: This was our last meal at the beach. Sarah and I ate dulsut bibimbap - rice and vegetables served in a hot stone bowl, so that it's still cooking right there at your table - probably the best bibimbap we've ever had. Emma is eating seaweed soup (mi-yok guk). That's a big spoon full of seaweed. It's a little slimy, but she loves it! (You should see her with the squid jerky.)