What a freaky week!

Ok, so I started the week out with little James getting stitches in his tongue. I then moved on to a pretty awful flu, which kept me plastered to the floor of my bathroom for all of Tuesday night. I finally finished emptying my guts at about 4am, and slinked into bed, to come to school the next day and teach. Can we say rough? Anyways, I now know that it was a 48 hour virus, because I am feeling much better, but Christie is ill with it now. Yes, I am the JM plague bearer...Anyways, Miss Lee took the entire staff (with the exception of Christie who was home sick) out for Kalbi (Korean barbeque) last night. My stomache was still a little tender, but I enjoyed myself. I am including some pictures for ya'll. It was a lot of fun, and the food was delicious.

Well, here are those pictures from dinner last night...I am including a good one of the actual spread, and several of my coworkers being silly! Enjoy!






In the pictures of the table, you can see all of these little bowls and then what looks like grates with hot coals in them...For those of you who have never had or seen Kalbi, this is what it is. They bring out these pots full of hot coals and place them in the middle of the table. Then there are these tube-things that come down from the ceiling and they vent away the hot air from the coals, so you are not feeling like you are sitting in front of an oven. Once you sit down, on little mats on the floor (my legs are always sore after a Kalbi meal) the server brings out all of these little side dishes and a salad for each person. The side dishes usually include these really sweet cold mashed potatoes, pickled mushrooms and cucumber, kimchi, cold spicy crab, spicy red paste, brocolli with sweet and spicy red sauce, and raw garlic cloves. They also bring out two different kinds of salads for everyone to share—greens with spicy red sauce and iceberg lettuce with sesame seed dressing—and several plates piled high with lettuce and sesame leaves (think lettuce wraps). And each person gets a personal salad, consisting of cabbage in a wasabi vinigrette (this is delicious). Then the server brings out these plates of pre-marinated meat, pork usually, and they place them on top of the grates over the hot coals. The smells that come off of that meat when it is first put onto the heat is incredible. You start to drool right then and there. After the meat has cooked for awhile, the server comes back and turns it over, and then comes back again and cuts it into bite-sized pieces and pushes it to the edges of the "grill." He or she then brings another plate of meat and starts the whole smell-thing over again. But this time, you can start eating while the new meat is cooking. You take a piece of lettuce or sesame leaf and put whatever sides you feel like into it, and then put some of the meat in, roll it up, and there is your Kalbi dinner. It is really excellent. You eat what seems like a ton of food (but is really healthy), and sit around talking for a couple of hours. It is a nice experience. There is no rush, and you can sit back, digest for awhile, and then dive back in. Well, I hope I made you all hungry...luckily, I just ate bip-bim-bap (can't really describe now) and am too full to be hungry. Loves!