Sundae Adventure

Sundae- pig intestine stuffed with blood clot, noodles
and vegetables served with liver and lung. Also pictured
is Duk Bok Ki. 

I can now check off my third item from the top seven exotic dishes for foreigners because tonight I ate Sundae (순대). No, not an ice cream sundae, but pig intestine stuffed with animal blood clot, noodles, and vegetables. My Sundae dish was mixed with pig liver and pig lung with Duk Bok Ki on the side. It was more appetizing than it sounds, trust me. 

My friend that works at the neighborhood coffee shop and that is a Korea native (also the same friend that introduced me to beondaegi or silkworm larva) took me to the older, original downtown neighborhood of Anyang, Manan Gu. Dongan Gu, which resides toward the east of Anyang and is the newer, wealthier downtown neighborhood is where I live. I love both neighborhoods for different reasons. 

My neighborhood has smaller, somewhat traditional feeling outdoor markets, but they are nothing compared to Chungang Market, or Central Market, which we explored after our lovely meal. The labyrinth-like outdoor, but covered market could be the destination for the next skittles commercial. You have your red apples, yellow bananas, green lettuce, orange tangerines, purple grapes and then also scarves, sweaters, furniture, and prepared food all demonstrating just how beautiful the colors appear when mixed. I settled on some delicious apples.

Chungang or Central Market in Manan gu, Anyang, South Korea

After getting home, my friend texts me, "Be careful princess, that is a poison apple." Despite his English being rocky and my Korean being far from conversation level, we are still able to share some pretty comedic moments. Working as hard as we must for the other to understand makes the laughing response that much more satisfying. One of my goals coming to Korea has been to improve my ability to maintain friendships, something I felt I very much struggled with at home. So far, I think I'm making some pretty decent progress.