Staying Busy

We’ve received a lot of advice about how to survive the wait for our child and it all boils down to “STAY BUSY,” so we are doing our best to follow it. In October we will only be home for 12 of the 31 days! It started with a trip to Boston for some sight-seeing and an emergency medicine conference, then a weekend at Wartburg for Homecoming, and we’re ending it cruising to the Hawaiian Islands. While we haven’t left for Hawaii yet, we have already commented multiple times throughout this month, “We wouldn’t be able to do this with kids.” Yes, we will not be able to be as spontaneous nor pack as light nor eat at such odd hours. BUT, we countered that with all that we will be able to do with kids along. How much more fun will it be to explore the aquarium with the wide eyes of child, full of wonder and enthusiasm? How much more fun will it be to eat ice cream out on the pier with a kiddo enjoying every last lick and drip (messier, yes, but way more fun)? How much more fun will it be to travel on the subway, buses, and planes with a kid and all the related gear in tow? OK, so maybe that part won’t be as much fun, but I think we are looking forward to the changes our lives are about to undergo. Don’t get me wrong, there are moments where we worry about the what-ifs and wonder if we can handle the responsibilities and stressors of parenthood. We are human after all! But most of all we are excited and eager to hold our child in our arms and start getting to know our new family member.

Besides staying busy with travels, we are also trying to learn more about Korean culture, specifically the food. We were bummed to learn that because of all of our travels we were missing a CHSFS-sponsored event celebrating the Korean Harvest Moon Festival, Chusok. It occurred while we were in Boston so I thought I would see if there were any Chusok events in New England. I wasn’t able to find any, but I was able to locate a couple of Korean restaurants in the area. Since there aren’t any Korean restaurants in Des Moines, I thought we should try one while we had the chance. After our visit to the Harvard campus, we walked to Cambridge to try Koreana.

We were the first ones in the restaurant that day so we had the place to ourselves for awhile. We were very thankful that the menu had descriptions of each meal in English so we knew what we were ordering. The waitress wrote our requests in Korean on her tab, so we knew we were at an authentic place! We ordered bulgogi (Korean style BBQ beef) and bokembop (Korean fried rice). Both were very tasty with the bulgogi having more flavor than the bokembop. Bulgogi has quickly become my favorite! Each dish came with the traditional sides of kimchee (pickled cabbage), fish cakes, bean sprouts, pickled cucumbers, tofu, and spinach. We tried a bite of each side to see what they tasted like and were surprised that the flavors were more enticing than we expected. They definitely use a different palate of spices with their food, but overall we found the food quite enjoyable.

Each table setting had a spoon and chopsticks with the napkin so we worked on our chopstick skills as well. Since the restaurant wasn’t busy yet, I asked the waitress for a quick lesson on how to use them. She seemed apologetic that she didn’t offer us a fork, but I told her we wanted to learn. She demonstrated on the larger pieces of food and then I asked her specifically about the rice. Kevin and I were having a heck of a time getting the rice to our mouths without falling off the chopsticks. She looked at us a bit puzzled, and then said, “Oh, no, we don’t use chopsticks for the rice. We use the spoon.” OH! That makes so much more sense now! We ate a lot more efficiently after that! We are sure she and the other employees probably laughed at us back in the kitchen, but I figured a little embarrassment is worth it to learn more about our future child’s culture!

Now that we have tried some of the food, we need to start finding some recipes to try. I have found some books in the library and have a friend that is willing to experiment with me (thanks, Elizabeth!) so hopefully we can report some success soon! Food is such an important part of culture and one of the easier ways to honor and respect our child’s homeland as he or she grows up. We are hopeful that our friends and family may be willing to try some Korean food as a way to acknowledge our child’s heritage.

Well that Hawaii trip is sneaking up on us so we should get packing… We’ll write more when we return!