Memorial Day Plans

Spending almost all my time in Korea, I forgot about things like national holidays. This point was made clear to me this week. I was in the USA when my Korean colleague CH had a sudden business trip to a nearby city. Well, we couldn't let this opportunity pass, so I extended my stay a few days. We arranged for CH to visit our office and meet all the staff. After all the arrangements were made, I realized that the scheduled day was Memorial Day, and nobody would be at the office! We scrambled to make another plan, and it actually worked out well. We met the two company owners in the morning for breakfast, then CH came to my house for a Memorial Day outdoor picnic.

First, I brushed some red potatoes with olive oil, and sprinkled them with Hawaiian sea salt, chives, and garlic powder. Put them on the grill for about 30 minutes, turning every 10 minutes.





Actually, I would love to have a large grill here in Seoul, but my apartment doesn't have an outdoor balcony (technically I live in an "office-tel"). And even if I HAD a balcony, I've heard grilling on the balcony is discouraged. Hmmmm, but there is a small "park" on the 13th floor right outside my door... I'll have to think about that.

While that was cooking outside, inside Mrs. Stumbler prepared green beans, yellow squash, salad, homemade bread. As soon as the potatoes were finished, I put the ribeye steaks on the grill.



We finally sat down to eat. It was a little warm outside on Monday, but fortunately we were not bothered by the mosquitoes. Here we all are enjoying the food.





After the meal, we brought out some watermelon for dessert. The Stumbling Brother gave me this hat, which I couldn't help putting on the watermelon. After watching the Indiana Jones movie last week, this seemed appropriate:



Check out the "bird's feet" pattern in the watermelon...



We were so full, there was no more room to eat the cheese cake! Thoroughly stuffed, I drove CH to a nearby city for his meetings. Actually, I beat CH back to Korea by one day. Assuming no delays, he should get here tonight.