Life This Week in South Korea: Nov 6-12, 2023
Monday, 11.6.23
Morning: Tutoring
Afternoon: Class
Evening: Dinner out with friends from class.
I have wanted to try soy marinated crabs since it seems to be such a popular item on kdramas. The girls I went with are sisters from Taiwan who have been to Korea several times before this and wanted to go out for one of their favorite dishes.
At Korean meals, it’s not like appetizer, salad, entree, side dish, etc. It’s like ALL side dishes with maybe a main dish or two. So the crabs (center) and bulgogi (marinated beef) were the main dishes, and the “banchan” (side dishes) were…several kinds of pickled vegetables, several types of noodles, some spicy fishy seafoody things, two tofu stew type things, kimchi (ALWAYS KIMCHI), and three little croaker fish. I always try to try eat least a taste of everything.
The hostess comes and prepares the first crab for you, scraping all the innards loose, then adding some rice and mixing it all up then (before you realize what’s even happening) spoon feeds you the first (dribbly) bite.
It was very unlike what I expected. I marinate EVERYTHING in soy sauce (back home), so I sort of expected like…crabmeat marinated in soy sauce. Like, COOKED crabmeat. Mmm…that’s not what it was. It was raw crab, so like all the innards and guts (I guess), and it was EXTREMELY salty…like getting caught under a big wave and swallowing a mouthful of ocean water salty…uhhh….I was really not a fan. I ate a little bit more but I added in rice or noodles or tofu stew to sort of the cut the saltiness and so I didn’t have to look at the gloopy orange and yellow raw crab gut things.
I DID like the marinated bulgogi, and then I just picked around from the side dishes. And I actually sort of enjoyed the croaker fish. I’d been concerned…they’re just lying there looking at you with their dead fish eyes, they looked a little dry and crispy…but they were actually quite nice and flavorful.
So, it was an interesting experience. I like trying new foods – I don’t have to like everything, but it’s always good to try.
Tuesday, Nov 7
Morning: Lounged in bed looking out at my view.
Afternoon: Class, a bad one. I REALLY was confused when we were working on the group exercises.
Evening: Met my friend in the cafeteria for dinner. Had delightful pork cutlets – they’re REALLY good in the cafeteria, and really cheap – $6 for two big breaded cutlets. I can’t figure out what the “breading” is though, it’s super light and flaky, it’s not bread crumbs. It sort of has the look of a toasted coconut donut, if you know what I’m talking about (I’ve been craving donuts ever since I’ve been here).
Then I came home and played hooky from schoolwork/studying/learning new vocabulary. I was FATIGUED.
Isn’t it amazing how similar everyday life in Korea is to everyday life in the US? It just LOOKS different…and I never know what anyone is saying.
Wednesday, Nov 8
Morning: 8am (yes, AM) tutoring. My brain was not really awake but I managed to muddle through.
Afternoon: Class. It was a day where I understood the material but I CANNOT do the exercises in class fast as the teacher/others students go. They’re so FAST! They pick things up after one time and then they know it. Is that how brains work?? I feel like my brain NEVER worked that way…and it’s only gotten worse. I need SO. MUCH. REPETITION before my brain remembers things. Maybe someone here has study tips for me.
Evening: I got fried chicken (YUM) from the convenience store next door – they also serve some traditional Korean dishes and fried chicken. Brought it home and ate a LOT of fried chicken (haha) while watching a really bad Taiwanese drama. Like, the plot is ridiculous, the acting is not great, the dialogue is…sigh…but the two male leads are adorable so I have stuck with it. It’s pretty short and I needed a filler show while I wait for the next one I want to watch finishes. I pretty much only watch shows once they’re finished airing. I can hardly believe there was a time when we could only watch ONE EPISODE A WEEK….guh, I’m dating myself.
Friday, Nov 10
Morning: Tutoring 8am. My brain is just like STOP PLEASE STOP NO MORE I BEG OF YOU
Evening: Went to nearby laundromat – yes, there is laundry in the building, but the dryer situation is less than ideal, so it just seemed easier to go to an actual laundromat and do everything altogether at the same time, wash+dry, and be done with it. While my clothes were washing/drying, my friend and I went to the PC Bang next door. A PC Bang is literally, “personal computer room,” which is a place with rows and rows of computers for use (for $). Most people go there to game…my friend games, I do not, so I worked on blog posts while she played Tomb Raider or Call of Duty or something. And they serve food – picture a bowling alley…but instead of bowling lanes there are rows of computers. There were cushy chairs and you get headphones (I put on my Spotify). In the end, I got my laundry done, and two blog posts written.
Saturday-Sunday, Nov 11-12
The weekend is a bit of a blur as I literally did not leave the building til Sunday night to get dinner with my friend. I chained myself to the desk and worked on a list of ALL the grammar rules from the two textbooks we used in this class…it took For. EVER. Most of the things I RECOGNIZE, yep, I’ve seen that before, I know we covered that…but I have no idea what it is. That is just really frustrating. And if you spoke the language, or recognized the words, you could maybe fudge it, but…not knowing the words OR the rules…makes every test a crapshoot. My scores have just gotten lower and lower over the course of the class 🙁
So Sunday night it was nice to get out for a bit – it’s cold and lovely – we had Mexican for dinner then went to a nearby cafe for coffee and dessert.
And now we’re on to The Last Week…tests on three of the five days…and then as of Saturday, VACATION. I just have to get through this week. Anxiety is pretty high right now. Fingers crossed the week goes fast.
TTFN!
Lisa
I was telling my husband about you today – you ARE SO BRAVE!
bettyewp
Maybe reckless would be a better word, ha ha.
Tina
I was laughing when I looked at the picture of the food and saw the crab. I am from south Louisiana and we have lots of blue crab (which may or not be the same as you ate, but it looks the same). BUT they turn red once they’re cooked—I wasn’t aware that they could even be eaten raw. 🤢 That would have been a hard no for me. But I do make kimchi a LOT, my hubby eats it every day and it’s very spicy. Hoping you do better on your tests than you can imagine and that all you’ve learned is easy to recall!
bettyewp
I mean, I’m not even sure it was raw. It was just so unfamiliar, but with the colorful innards bits (guh), it sure SEEMED raw.
I’m on the fence about kimchi. It’s everywhere, and as I said in the post, I do like to try everything. I give the kimchi a taste wherever I go, and it’s ranged from “no thank you” to “I can eat this cuz it’s here but I wouldn’t go out of my way for it.” I am generally not a fan of fermented, pickled, vinegary tastes…and a lot of Korean banchan seems to have exactly these flavors. It definitely does ADD something though. Like last night at kbbq, I mostly like my samgyeopsal (pork belly) plain or just dipped in gochujang…but every ten bites or so I’m like EAT SOME VEGETABLES BETTYE so I make a wrap with the meat, lettuce, some kimchi, etc and stuff it into my mouth (which I am not good at), but it does add something. I just don’t want every bite like that. So far I have’t encountered any kimchi that was TOO spicy…people keep warning me KIMCHI IS VERY SPICY ARE YOU OKAY WITH SPICY, but…so far none has been even CLOSE to too spicy.
Are you or your husband Korean? That you make it and he eats it every day?
Barbara
You have a very exciting life at the moment!
I like Korean Food, but raw shrimps would be a no no for me. In my local Asia Market I get very good Kimchi which I often eat especially during wintertime. It’s healthy and boosters your immune system.
I once visited an Korean Restaurant in Vienna, the owner and cook was an elder woman. She cooked the Bulgogi at the table and feeded me, so funny.
Re pork cutlet: maybe they were coated with panko? It is bread, but mixed with palmoil and once fried, it looks indeed like grated coconut.
Bettye, I wish you a very relaxing vacation. Breathe and stay calm!
bettyewp
Yes, I’ve heard a lot of the pickled and fermented side dish things are good for you. I wish I could like them more.
At Korean barbecue, even here, they will usually offer to “grill” for you.
Hmm, panko. The texture might be right. The panko I’ve bought from the grocery store was more like large bread crumbs…but I guess there are different shapes of it? Anyway, it was very nice.
Now I want pork cutlets.
It’s Sunday night here and I can already feel myself more relaxed…I just have to figure out how to keep that throughout the upcoming term.