MV SUPER JUNIOR - SORRY,SORRY

My dad used to play Korean music. Not himself, but he would play it from a cassette, I believe. I now realize that it was Korean folk music.

Amazingly, ITunes does not carry a decent selection of newer Korean music. Here is a selection from SuJu, a very popular Korean boy band. If you know of any other good Korean bands, I would love to hear suggestions. Enjoy.

Korean Restaurant and Farmer's Market

We visited one of the many Korean restaurants around Duluth, GA with my brother who is a PhD candidate at Georgia Tech.  The name of the restaurant is Abaee at 2476 Pleasant Hill Rd. Suite 104.  I ordered sun du bu which is a soup made of soft tofu with seafood and beef added.  I spoke to a Korean lady at a farmer's market later who said that the soup can be made with seafood only, beef only or oysters only in addition to the soft tofu.  It was a good soup, but could be a little spicy for some tastes.  My brother and a friend both ordered Bi Bim Bap.  One ordered Dol Sot Bi Bim Bap while the other ordered straight Bi Bim Bap.  I was confused because both dishes appeared to be cooked, but the same Korean lady said that the straight Bi Bim Bap ordered by my brother appeared to be cooked because it was served over rice.  Often the rice is served on the side in that dish and the vegetables are only cooked once instead of twice as they are in Dol Sot Bi Bim Bap.  He appeared to enjoy it given the emptiness of the bowl when he was finished. 

We also visited a very large Korean Farmer's Market called Nam de Mun si jang aka Gwinnet Int'l Farmers Market on Pineland Road.  Imagine a place where you can buy any ingredient that you would ever need to prepare a korean dish and this place would come close to that idea.  I imagine that some of the Korean restaurants in the area do their shopping at this market.  There is a place to sit down and order prepared food in the rear of the market.  Also, there are live fish swimming in tanks that appeared to be available for purchase for that night's dinner.  Many varieties of produce are available with cucumbers for example piled a couple feet high.  I purchased some candy to take home for Christmas and some Korean red pepper spice.  I have heard that it is different from the red pepper spice that one might buy at a normal supermarket, but I suppose that the proof is in the pudding as it were.

One thing that stuck out to me on my last trip to Duluth, GA was the strong Korean presence. The number of signs on businesses written in Korean was fairly cool. I am seeing even more on this trip. The businesses include restaurants (obviously), grocery stores, dry cleaners and I believe even professional type businesses. It makes me wonder why so many Koreans decided to settle in GA, but there don't seem to be that many in Ohio. There are quite a few Asians in Ann Arbor, MI, but I attribute a large part of that to the close proximity of the university.

Living in a place like this would help my what seems like endless attempt to learn Hangul aka the Korean language. The class that I take in Ann Arbor helps a lot, but it is only one day a week. I supplement it with flash cards, emailing in Korean and reading textbooks. It would be really cool to have someone with whom to practice. That reminds me. I found some children's books that are bilingual. They are written in both Korean and English. I can't wait. They should be delivered on Monday.