One of the reasons for us coming to Korea, was so I could finally meet the rest of Arnold's family. As I mentioned in a previous post, I was pretty nervous. I was the first "white" person to be married into the family, so they were curious about me. Shelley's husband, Agri (who is also "white") has met all of the family here in Korea - so it was like he had already broke them in. The only problem with that, is that they thought I could eat as much as he could. LOL
His family seriously rolled out the red carpet for me. It was such an honor to be a guest at their house and for them to welcome me to the family with such big hearts. I honestly, felt so privileged to be apart of the family. (Yep, I married into the best family ever. haha)
The first Friday we were in Seoul, we were invited for dinner at his Aunt and Uncles house (who I have met before in Canada and Thailand). I think they must have spent all day preparing food for all of us because I have never seen that much food before. (This is where I ate all of the Kimchi haha). The following week we were off to meet his family living in Daegu. Arnold's one cousin took time off from his job so he could show us around Daegu and Busan (he even drove us there from Seoul). When we got to Arnold's aunt's house, the first thing she did was made us eat (even though it was 10pm at night LOL). The next day when we got up, she made us this HUGE breakfast - honestly, she must have been up for 2 hours cooking all of this food for us. It was pretty incredible. Korean's are a lot like Italians - they always want you to eat, eat, eat. The next morning, breakfast was the same. This incredible spread of food prepared for us. They even got Arnold a birthday cake because we were at their house the day of his birthday.
Then we were off to Daejeon to meet another cousin and have lunch all together. Once again, the red carpet was rolled out. His cousin made us FRESH sushi and sashimi. I, of course, don't eat seafood, but had to give it a try because of all the hard work they put into preparing this meal for us (and I actually didn't mind small bites of the raw fish - it was really good). I have pictures - you would be amazed with the amount of sushi they made for everyone. Once again, more incredible food and more incredible hospitality.
I am in love with his family. They are such sweet people and I wish I had more time to spend with them. Sometimes, it's a bit tough with the language because I can't tell them how grateful I am, but we get by. I can only hope to give them the same level of hospitality if they ever come visit us in Canada.
Love Melissa and Arnold
PS. I couldn't do kimchi in the morning - I was okay with rice and soup, but couldn't do the kimchi first thing LOL.
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Food
I love Korean food. Every Sunday when we are home, we head over to Arnold's parents house for a family dinner and eat Korean food. (My mother-in-law (MIL) is an amazing cook BTW- so I consider myself lucky). I have had a lot of exposure to Korean food over the past 5 years and really enjoy it.
Arnold was worried about me and Korea - I didn't do well in China with the food or smells, so he was scared that I wasn't going to like Korea. But Korean food is sooo much better then Chinese food. The only problem with the food here, is that I like Arnold's moms cooking better haha (no, no, I'm not saying this for brownie points). I am used to the way she cooks Korean food, so it tastes a bit different here. She can't get some of the same spices, noodles etc, so her style is a bit more Western fusion, but I love her style. Plus the food here is sooooo hot - they put spice on everything haha. Even in western food - it's sooo spicy. But don't get me wrong, the food here is so good, I'm just spoiled, that's all haha.
Kimchi is a staple here (it's served with every meal - yep, even breakfast). I think you either like it or hate it and I actually really like it. I love my MIL's Kimchi, but her sisters Kimchi is hands down, the best Kimchi I have EVER tasted. I don't know what she does, but it's good. They were all laughing at me because I ate the whole bowl of Kimchi when we went over to their house for dinner. (I think it's weird for them to see white people diving into Kimchi like that)
Arnold is loving it here because he was dying for Korean food while we were away and I have been enjoying the street Kimbap. I think my fav part about going out to eat here though, is all of the plastic food displays. Plastic food displays have taken over Korea. It's awesome and actually really helpful because you can see what you are going to order and if it looks like something you want. Since I can't read Korean, it has been very helpful for me. But it's everywhere - even at the bakery and at coffee shops.
And despite threats from Arnold, I have been able to enjoy a traditional western breakfast while we are here.
Love Melissa and Arnold
Arnold was worried about me and Korea - I didn't do well in China with the food or smells, so he was scared that I wasn't going to like Korea. But Korean food is sooo much better then Chinese food. The only problem with the food here, is that I like Arnold's moms cooking better haha (no, no, I'm not saying this for brownie points). I am used to the way she cooks Korean food, so it tastes a bit different here. She can't get some of the same spices, noodles etc, so her style is a bit more Western fusion, but I love her style. Plus the food here is sooooo hot - they put spice on everything haha. Even in western food - it's sooo spicy. But don't get me wrong, the food here is so good, I'm just spoiled, that's all haha.
Kimchi is a staple here (it's served with every meal - yep, even breakfast). I think you either like it or hate it and I actually really like it. I love my MIL's Kimchi, but her sisters Kimchi is hands down, the best Kimchi I have EVER tasted. I don't know what she does, but it's good. They were all laughing at me because I ate the whole bowl of Kimchi when we went over to their house for dinner. (I think it's weird for them to see white people diving into Kimchi like that)
Arnold is loving it here because he was dying for Korean food while we were away and I have been enjoying the street Kimbap. I think my fav part about going out to eat here though, is all of the plastic food displays. Plastic food displays have taken over Korea. It's awesome and actually really helpful because you can see what you are going to order and if it looks like something you want. Since I can't read Korean, it has been very helpful for me. But it's everywhere - even at the bakery and at coffee shops.
And despite threats from Arnold, I have been able to enjoy a traditional western breakfast while we are here.
Love Melissa and Arnold
Vanity
Korean people are sooo VAIN. And now, not all Korean people are vain, but a large majority are. It is so strange. It is not abnormal to see a girl looking at herself in a mirror for the whole duration of her subway ride. To see girls stop at windows to look at themselves. To use their phones as mirrors. Any reflective surface and they come to a dead stop and look at themselves. Not just a glance as they walk past, but a full on stop haha.
We have heard that the amount of plastic surgery that happens here is insane. Women getting their eye lids done so they have bigger eyes. Women getting their nose done so they have more of a "white" person nose. There are ads all over the subway for plastic surgery and the before and after pictures that they post are dramatic. They mess with their jaws and chins - they don't even look like the same person. And even men are vain. They get surgery to look younger too. They have a better skin program then me haha - toners, lotions, masks.
I know, I know. North American women can be just as bad and get lots of surgeries as well. But it's different here. People care sooo much about their looks. How you look is everything here. They do not leave the house looking less then perfect - which isn't a bad thing, but it's different. (maybe I could learn from people here haha, because sometimes I look like a mess). But when you see 6 girls in a coffee shop staring at themselves in a mirror for 5 minutes, you have to shake your head.
Now, I'm not saying this to be mean, because I love Korean people, but there is definitely some problems here with how people think about beauty. Just talk to my sister and brother in law who live here and they will tell you all about it. They see it everyday. But the plus side - if I ever want to get work done, I know where I am coming hahahah...
Love Melissa and Arnold
We have heard that the amount of plastic surgery that happens here is insane. Women getting their eye lids done so they have bigger eyes. Women getting their nose done so they have more of a "white" person nose. There are ads all over the subway for plastic surgery and the before and after pictures that they post are dramatic. They mess with their jaws and chins - they don't even look like the same person. And even men are vain. They get surgery to look younger too. They have a better skin program then me haha - toners, lotions, masks.
I know, I know. North American women can be just as bad and get lots of surgeries as well. But it's different here. People care sooo much about their looks. How you look is everything here. They do not leave the house looking less then perfect - which isn't a bad thing, but it's different. (maybe I could learn from people here haha, because sometimes I look like a mess). But when you see 6 girls in a coffee shop staring at themselves in a mirror for 5 minutes, you have to shake your head.
Now, I'm not saying this to be mean, because I love Korean people, but there is definitely some problems here with how people think about beauty. Just talk to my sister and brother in law who live here and they will tell you all about it. They see it everyday. But the plus side - if I ever want to get work done, I know where I am coming hahahah...
Love Melissa and Arnold
Subway in Seoul
The subway here is super impressive. I think, that there is something like 7 million people using the subway daily. Also, don't quote me on this, but I think Agri had told us that the totally length of all the lines is something around 150kms. So it's massive.
We mostly use the subway at non peak hours, but even when we do go at rush hour, it is not as packed as Beijing. You generally always have a bit of room and if we are on a packed train, it's only for one stop. Sometimes you do have to push a bit to get off, especially if the door is on the far side, but other then that, it's a breeze. Everything is in English and pretty straight forward.
BUT, the best part about the subway is people watching haha. Sometimes I wish I could just stay on the subway to watch people because it is that good. Korean's are very hard working (I will get to that part in a bit) and so of course, they are always tired. And when they are tired, they sleep on the train. Now, I know, it's normal to get a little shut eye on the way home, people do it all over the world. But in Korea, it's okay to sleep on the shoulder of the person beside you haha. People start falling asleep and eventually gravity kicks in and their head is near the person next to them. When it happens, that person doesn't really know what to do, so they sort of let them stay like that (even though they don't know the person doing it haha). It's a really fun watching - I like seeing what people will do and how they handle it. I always wonder how they know when it's their stop if they are sleeping all of the time.
So if you are ever in Seoul, take the subway and pay attention haha.
Love Melissa and Arnold
We mostly use the subway at non peak hours, but even when we do go at rush hour, it is not as packed as Beijing. You generally always have a bit of room and if we are on a packed train, it's only for one stop. Sometimes you do have to push a bit to get off, especially if the door is on the far side, but other then that, it's a breeze. Everything is in English and pretty straight forward.
BUT, the best part about the subway is people watching haha. Sometimes I wish I could just stay on the subway to watch people because it is that good. Korean's are very hard working (I will get to that part in a bit) and so of course, they are always tired. And when they are tired, they sleep on the train. Now, I know, it's normal to get a little shut eye on the way home, people do it all over the world. But in Korea, it's okay to sleep on the shoulder of the person beside you haha. People start falling asleep and eventually gravity kicks in and their head is near the person next to them. When it happens, that person doesn't really know what to do, so they sort of let them stay like that (even though they don't know the person doing it haha). It's a really fun watching - I like seeing what people will do and how they handle it. I always wonder how they know when it's their stop if they are sleeping all of the time.
So if you are ever in Seoul, take the subway and pay attention haha.
Love Melissa and Arnold
Teaching English...
The second day we were in Seoul, I was asking Agri (Shelley's husband) about teaching English here. Okay, more like I was peppering him with a million questions about teaching here. I just wanted to know how it worked, how he got his jobs and the system. I guess my million questions seemed to trigger something because before long he had talked me into teaching a class for him. HA HA yep, I agreed to teach English to little Korean kids.
Agri was heading to some meetings with Arnold and instead of asking someone else to fill in for him for the day, he thought it would be better if I went in his place. Just to see how it would be and if I liked it. He arranged for another teacher from the school to take me there and show me around. So on Monday afternoon, I was off to teach English to 5 year olds for two hours.
I was soo nervous, but it was a lot of fun. The kids are sooo cute and spoke really good English. Thankfully I had a co-teacher there so she did all the hard parts (like telling the kids to listen haha). My class was really small - I had 8 kids that day and I think they liked me. At first, they were all very shy and I think scared of me, but they warmed up by the end. The best part about the teaching gig, was that I got paid to do it. LOL I can now say that I have had an income this year ;) I took their picture at the end of class and told them all to say "Kimchi" haha.
Pretty awesome experience and definitely something I never thought I would be doing here in a million years. But who knows, maybe we move to Seoul now so I can teach English haha... wink wink.
Love Melissa and Arnold
Agri was heading to some meetings with Arnold and instead of asking someone else to fill in for him for the day, he thought it would be better if I went in his place. Just to see how it would be and if I liked it. He arranged for another teacher from the school to take me there and show me around. So on Monday afternoon, I was off to teach English to 5 year olds for two hours.
I was soo nervous, but it was a lot of fun. The kids are sooo cute and spoke really good English. Thankfully I had a co-teacher there so she did all the hard parts (like telling the kids to listen haha). My class was really small - I had 8 kids that day and I think they liked me. At first, they were all very shy and I think scared of me, but they warmed up by the end. The best part about the teaching gig, was that I got paid to do it. LOL I can now say that I have had an income this year ;) I took their picture at the end of class and told them all to say "Kimchi" haha.
Pretty awesome experience and definitely something I never thought I would be doing here in a million years. But who knows, maybe we move to Seoul now so I can teach English haha... wink wink.
Love Melissa and Arnold
Seoul of Asia...
Okay, I have been slacking BIG TIME since we got to Seoul, but I have some good stories coming.
The last stop on our trip was Korea. A chance for me to learn more about Arnold's culture and finally meet some family members I haven't had a chance to meet. I was excited and nervous about coming to Seoul. Excited because I knew it would be a lot of fun, but nervous to meet his family for the first time and not be able to speak any Korean.
We arrived in Seoul on August 18th and have been staying with at my sister-in-laws place. So yes, we have totally taken over their place for the past couple of weeks and made ourselves at home LOL. We feel pretty lucky to be able to stay in Seoul for an extended period of time and have the best city tour guides at our finger tips haha. They know SO much about Seoul and how to get around. Seoul has been nothing short of amazing. It is definitely one of my top 5 cities in the world.
Probably THE best thing about this city is what I saw within 3 hours of getting here. After we left the airport we took the bus to Shelley's house. We were there for about 20 minutes before we decided to take the short walk to get TACOS!!! (OMG, BEST tacos ever haha- but maybe I say that because I haven't had Mexican food forever and it tasted so good). The walk to the Taco place is about 5 minutes and as we are walking we see an older Korean man PASSED out in the middle of the street HA HA. Now, it wasn't a main road, but a road none the less. I had heard about these Korean men that do that, but didn't believe it still happened. Well, it does and it's soo funny. He just had too much to drink and needed a time out. The drinking culture here is very funny.
But I have lots and lots of stories coming...
Love Melissa and Arnold
The last stop on our trip was Korea. A chance for me to learn more about Arnold's culture and finally meet some family members I haven't had a chance to meet. I was excited and nervous about coming to Seoul. Excited because I knew it would be a lot of fun, but nervous to meet his family for the first time and not be able to speak any Korean.
We arrived in Seoul on August 18th and have been staying with at my sister-in-laws place. So yes, we have totally taken over their place for the past couple of weeks and made ourselves at home LOL. We feel pretty lucky to be able to stay in Seoul for an extended period of time and have the best city tour guides at our finger tips haha. They know SO much about Seoul and how to get around. Seoul has been nothing short of amazing. It is definitely one of my top 5 cities in the world.
Probably THE best thing about this city is what I saw within 3 hours of getting here. After we left the airport we took the bus to Shelley's house. We were there for about 20 minutes before we decided to take the short walk to get TACOS!!! (OMG, BEST tacos ever haha- but maybe I say that because I haven't had Mexican food forever and it tasted so good). The walk to the Taco place is about 5 minutes and as we are walking we see an older Korean man PASSED out in the middle of the street HA HA. Now, it wasn't a main road, but a road none the less. I had heard about these Korean men that do that, but didn't believe it still happened. Well, it does and it's soo funny. He just had too much to drink and needed a time out. The drinking culture here is very funny.
But I have lots and lots of stories coming...
Love Melissa and Arnold
Most bizzare thing I have seen...
Occurred while we were heading into the forbiden city. Honestly, I am still laughing at how amazing some people are and the things people will do.
So we are heading into the forbiden city and it is busy, but everything seems to always move pretty well considering the amount of people there are. As we are walking, I see this lady (and there are about 4 adults and one small child), pull the pants down on her daughter in order for her to pee, RIGHT there in the middle of this massive square with hundreds of people. So there is this young girl squatting in the middle of a very busy tourist attraction and just peeing all over the sidewalk. I could not believe that she would make (or allow) her daughter to pee right then and there in front of everyone like that. It still amazes me and I'm actually surprised they didn't get in trouble for that. Just crazy to me. haha
Also, a couple last tidbits from Beijing. Security everywhere!! Everyone that uses the subway has to have their bag screened by an X-Ray machine. Considering the volume of people, you never have to wait very long. Super efficient.
And the men like to pull their shirts up to their nipples when they are hot. So you see a bunch of Chinese men with their shirts hiked up, showing off their belly. A move that Arnold really enjoys.
Okay, here come the posts about Korea.
Love Melissa and Arnold
So we are heading into the forbiden city and it is busy, but everything seems to always move pretty well considering the amount of people there are. As we are walking, I see this lady (and there are about 4 adults and one small child), pull the pants down on her daughter in order for her to pee, RIGHT there in the middle of this massive square with hundreds of people. So there is this young girl squatting in the middle of a very busy tourist attraction and just peeing all over the sidewalk. I could not believe that she would make (or allow) her daughter to pee right then and there in front of everyone like that. It still amazes me and I'm actually surprised they didn't get in trouble for that. Just crazy to me. haha
Also, a couple last tidbits from Beijing. Security everywhere!! Everyone that uses the subway has to have their bag screened by an X-Ray machine. Considering the volume of people, you never have to wait very long. Super efficient.
And the men like to pull their shirts up to their nipples when they are hot. So you see a bunch of Chinese men with their shirts hiked up, showing off their belly. A move that Arnold really enjoys.
Okay, here come the posts about Korea.
Love Melissa and Arnold
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