Jincheon Festival and Eating Contest

This weekend was the Jincheon Festival.  So, festivals in Korea are a little different from what we have back in the States.  In American its mostly games and special events with  a few food stalls and “fair food.”  Here in Korea it is food, food, food, and more food.  With a little karaoke and Kpop thrown in for good measure.  A handful of rides and other things, but really, it’s all about the food.

 

Friday night there was a short Kpop performance by some girl group...again, no clue what was going on, but had a good time anyway.  After the show, there was a little old woman trying to make her way to the top of the stadium and we decided to help her climb.  At the top she called us all her “angels” and insisted on buying us these giant (and I mean, like, 2 feet long) hot dogs on a stick (no bun, in case you were wondering how that worked).

 

It seemed so horrible to refuse to take and then eat them, so we walked around Jincheon festival nibbling on these things.  Just to make to comment, it was not the worst tasting hot dog I have ever eaten.  As far as processed meat products go, it was not bad.  That being said, back home I have to be VERY hungry to eat a hot dog...they are just not really my thing.  But I digress…

 

Anyway, we decided to go get coffee, but two of us still had most of our hot dogs on a stick.  So, it was suggested that we have an eating contest and, of course, we thought that sounded like a good idea.  Not the smartest decision I have made since I came to Korea!

 

I already don’t eat a lot...and after dinner, forcing a giant hot dog into my already packed stomach was neither easy or pretty.  That being said, I WON!  By a bite, but winning is winning.  Yeah!  Represent!  Oh, no...I was dog-sick after.  A little bit of pain from being so full, but a whole lot of nausea from all the meat and grease that was then swimming around inside my body.

 

After a full night’s sleep and a lot of Pepto Bismol, I was still pretty queasy, but I got myself up and went down to the store.  I was looking for a ginger ale (which Koreans apparently don’t have), but got a Coke instead and proceeded to burp up hot dog fumes all morning.  I was much better after that.

 

I went back to the festival on Saturday night.  We (some other English teachers and myself, this is not a royal “we”) had dinner at one of the vendor booths.  Really good food.  When we left I asked if I could take his picture, which he said yes and then posed (apparently, Koreans love to have their pictures taken) and told me that he was the “Jincheon Psy.”  And, ok...he really does look a lot like Psy.