Octopussy

"Octopus 22," March 30, 2007. Nikon D80, 18-200mm lens (200mm), f/18, 3 sec. Suwon, Korea.

This is actually a dried squid, not an octopus. But "squid" and "octopus" are the same word in Swedish, so.... So nothing, because I'm not Swedish. I used this photo for the O of an alphabet challenge, so it had to be an octopus instead of a squid. Close enough.

Dried squid is a common snack in Korea. It smells nasty, and I'm not a very adventurous eater, so I never tried it. But it's pretty, isn't it?! I'm sure it's delicious, if you're into sea food, which I'm not. I'm a very picky eater. I don't like meat (except for chicken and hot dogs), spicy food, mushrooms, sea food, cilantro, strong cheeses, parsley, or ... well, that's all I can think of right now, but I'm sure there are a lot more things I dislike.

I don't want to be one of those people who are like, "Foreign food is gross & funny! We should laugh and jeer at it! My country's food is the only normal and delicious food out there!" But here are the gross & funny foods from Korea for you to laugh and jeer at: roasted silk worm larvae, dog stew (which is illegal, but still fairly common. & which I actually did try!), still-living octopus (you have to chew thoroughly, because otherwise the suction cups on the tentacles can fasten in your throat and you can DIE!), jellyfish (I accidentally ate jellyfish salad once. It doesn't taste very much. Just squishy), and the Grand Prix pizza from Mr. Pizza: a soft cookie crust with sunflower seeds, raisins, and pumpkin seeds, then normal sauce and cheese, topped with shrimp and potatoes, and then blueberry dipping sauce. Yep. I'm sorry I never tried this one when I had the chance. Everything else I can live without trying, but pizza... Superman's weakness? Kryptonite. Mine? Pizza.