Our Korean Afternoon....

 Hello Everyone! I know I've been MIA for the last couple of days, but I'm regular working and working on something (which I hope to share with you later) and today I finally had the time to relax and update you all. 

About 2 weeks ago I had mentioned that my friends and I were invited to lunch at a very special person's home...You already know that I'm an ESL teacher and my teacher colleagues/friends and I have a mutual student from Korea who has relocated to Turkey due to her husband's job. She was nice enough to prepare lunch and an afternoon tea, Korean style, of course, for all of us to enjoy. Take a look :

We were welcomed to our hostess's home with the beautiful sight of Korean food....On the menu was hand made sushi, kimcchi pancakes, and crisp green salad, all prepared by our hostess, Young.

Our hostess getting ready to serve us tea after our lunch. Young told us there were 3 steps in drinking tea in Korea. First, guests should admire the look of the tea. Then, they should admire and appreciate the aroma of the tea. Finally, guests should take a small sip of the tea, and right afterward comment on the aroma, taste, etc. to the hostess. This must be a very subtle way for guests to show their gratefulness towards the hostess, no?

Hello everyone!

Some beautiful sweets to accompany our roasted brown-rice and green tea.

Say cheese!

And no lunch would be quite complete without a bit of live piano, right? Young told us that most Koreans learn how to play at least one instrument beginning from childhood. Pretty impressive!

My lovely friend Zeynep who was the photographer for this post. Thank you so much Zeynep! This was only possible because of her generosity and friendship!


So, we had a day full of Korean culture. What have you been up to?

Enjoy your day!

all photos by Zeynep Topkoru, 2013