2004-01-01 - 9:50 p.m.

January First, 2004 Heres wishing you a Happy, Happy New Year

I saw in the New Year with a large group of Corean friends. We rented the Pharmacy waiting room at the Red Cross Hospital for our party. It's a good set-up as it has plenty of places to plug in appliances,- something you don't often find in most public places in Korea (or in private spaces, either). We had a potluck supper and lots of good conversation. I was asked to bring an exotic dish,- Mashed Potatoes! Musta done it right, as it all got eaten. Potatoes are used sparingly in Corean cooking, usually one is diced and put in a family-sized pot of soup.

I went down to the farmers' market and found some baking russets. The farm wife was amazed at the quantity I purchased, 14 big ones, for 8,000 won (about $6.70). That was enough to fill my biggest cooking pot when they were peeled and quartered. They boiled up to be mealy enough to make really good "mash."

Timing was the thing: I planned them to finish cooking a half-hour before serving, as that's how long it takes me to get from my apartment to the Red Cross Hospital. I loaded my backpack with milk, butter, a small saucepan to heat them in, salt, pepper, a serving dish to mash in and a fork to mash with. (Couldn't find a potato masher in all of Seoul!) After draining the potatoes, I clapped them back in the cooking pot and wrapped it in a bath towel and a woolen shawl. That held in the heat very well.

When I got there, Jina had brought her camp-stove, so I heated the milk and butter, mashed a big bowlful and set it out. It was gone in short order, so I mashed another. People were a little unsure how to eat it, but chopsticks worked just fine. Mikyung kept refilling her paper cup and and that became the major way of chowing down on them, as the "mash" stayed warmer longer in the cups.

The main dish was a whole ham, so it was in very good company. Some folks tried spreading it on bread and making a sandwich with the ham. I'm not sure how it tasted eaten that way, but I went easy on the salt, and most folks appreciated its bland and buttery flavour in contrast to the salty ham.

I pooped out around 11 p.m. I was all set to migrate back on the tube, but Cho said "wait a minute," and Hong gave me a ride home. It was fun to see the lights and sights of the city, although it took longer to ride in his car.

You know you're getting older when staying up to greet the new year is lower priority than tucking up in a nice warm bed. Some of the young folks went to a sauna and then to a late-night movie. They saw "Silmi-do," a tragedy about a commando group trained to do a top-secret mission. Government policy changes and the mission is scrapped. So they have to be gotten rid of. Their teachers are assigned to wipe them out. Pretty bleak, but not un-realistic, given the way things work in this world. Mikyung said, "It's very sad. Everyone dies." Sort of a modern-day Hamlet.

One of my reasons for wanting to learn to understand Hangul is so I can go to the movies. Corea produces some really superb films.

Thanks for reading.

Happy Trails to you in 2004~

~ Sil in Corea

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