G20 Kimchi festival

When we recall the recent events of the G20 in Seoul seldom do people ever think of Barack Obama, Hu Jin Tao, David Cameron and Angela Merkel sharing good times over a bowl of kimchi but believe me.....IT HAPPENED. I was invited to attend a kimchi festival hosted my Samsung during the last weekend of the G20 to celebrate the political event happening at the time.



Kimchi, (for all of those who are unfamiliar with this infamous korean dish) is a particular kind of cabbage which is pickled in a variety of ways as a perfect sidedish for any Korean meal. There are over 20 different kinds of Kimchi within Korea, and each area of Korea has it's only special version. During this festival, myself and some fellow students were invited to make Seoul-style Kimchi with the help of our very own Ajumma, dressed up in Hanbok.Little did me and my fellow EWHA exchange students realise what we were in for when we signed up for the Kimchi festival...however, after being in Korea for a couple of months now, we should have realised that anything involving 'Samsung' and 'G20' shouldn't be taken lightly!!


After arriving at the venue in the City Hall square, we were met by a barrage of photographers and staff keen to get us to the outdoor tables where we would be instructed on how to make kimchi. Having been quickly put into our very own official Samsung kimchi fridge merchandised overalls we were ushered to the tables, complete with kimchi ingredients and bowl, along with our own clan of paparazzi. Willing to take photos of the foreigners interacting with the nation's most loved food.

The paparazzi were everywhere!!!!

Me with my prepared Kimchi ingredients.

The Ajumma and our Kimchi crew!!!

My finished product!!!

To say the least, it was an experience I would never forget, although the process seemed very simple; we were given already prepared ingredients and simply had to coat the individual leaves of the  cabbage in the mixed ingredients (consisting of mixed seafood, paste, peppers etc.) it was a very hands on approach and even in such a short time I felt very familiar with my beloved ajumma. So much so, that she was regularly hand-feeding me pieces of kimchi in front of photographers probably from 'World Kimchi weekly' or 'The official Korean side-dish association'. I won't lie, I loved the attention and very soon I, and my group felt we had contributed a great deal to the prominence of this little red and green dish. :P And definitely, in the future I would take it more seriously...far more seriously!!!

UK PM David Cameron's very own kimchi dish during the G20 summit!!!

Barack's dish.....nice and big just like the guy!!!