KoreanClass101.com Blog

Last week I commented on “Culture Class #17 - The Bathhouse” that there are Korean saunas here in New York, but I didn’t know how soon I’d actually go check it out because I’m not a huge fan of getting naked in public. I actually posted that on Saturday morning, but nonetheless, I found myself at 찜질방 later that same afternoon! I still haven’t quite figured out how I was talked into it, but it probably had something to do with my friend saying, “Come on, 누나~ I don’t want to go all by myself~” However he managed to persuade me, I’m glad for it. It’s one of the best things I’ve ever done! Here is how the day went:

I didn’t know what to expect and I was quite nervous, so the entire time on the way there was spent by me being nervous, and my friend making fun of me. We actually had to get off the subway at the last stop and then take a shuttle (complimentary of the sauna) van to the sauna. When we finally got there, we went into the desk, and got an electronic key that you wear like a watch which opens your lockers in all of the locker rooms, and also serves as a credit card so you can buy things while you are there. You pay for everything on your way out! We separated into the locker rooms where you immediately have to take your shoes off, and got our sauna clothes.

But before we went to the saunas, we decided to go onto the roof deck to check out the accupressure pools (don’t worry, co-ed pools=bathing suits). We went to each station in the 3 massive pools and experienced all the accupressure jets they have. And let me tell you, these are not your average jacuzzi massage jets! We also went into the Japanese style Hinoki bath and sat under the waterfall. We spent two hours just here, but we could have easily stayed there longer.

After we changed back into our sauna clothes and my friend taught me how to make a 양머리 (the towel you wear on your head), we started our sauna adventure in the coolest room - the LED light room, where sitting between panels of colored light of your choosing is supposed to improve your emotional health. After becoming accustomed to the heat, we tried the rest of the sauna rooms, each with it’s own health benefits, temperature, and theme. There was a salt room, a gold room, a far infrared ray room, and even an ice room to cool down in between, but my favorite by far was the jade room. From the outside, it looked like a gemstone igloo! It was one of the hotter rooms, but it was easier to handle than the rest.

Before tackling the hottest room of all, we decided to take a 팥빙수 break in the expansive lounge area. It was my first time eating 팥빙수 and it was incredible! This particular kind was made of shaved ice, sweet red beans, lots of fruit, rice cake, some kind of vegetable powder, condensed milk, chocolate, and ice cream. It is the perfect snack for the sauna! Then onto the hottest room: the traditional korean mud sauna. It was 190 degrees. Neither one of us lasted long!

After a brief tour of the t.v. room, the sleeping area, and another quick spin in the jade sauna, we decided to call it a night. Well, almost. We still had the 목욕탕 and my fear of nudity ahead of us. The locker room was incredible! There were multiple different temperature tubs and showers, and more accupressure jets like the pools outside. And, after the initial shock, it was actually a great experience! I am a big fan of the 이테리 타울.

So, all in all, the whole thing was a great experience! Honestly, I can hardly wait to go back! My Korean friend that I went with said the place we went is the best 찜질방 in America, and I believe him. It is quite a bit more expensive than in Korea (it cost us $45 because it was a weekend), but still most definitely worth it. We were there for six hours, but we have already decided that we’re going in the morning next time so we can spend more time!

I didn’t take any pictures, but if you want to see the place we went, here’s the website.

Anyone else have a 찜질방 experience? Were you as nervous as I was?

Rice.

Come on, you know Korea has some good rice. Tell me you know this and we can get along.

Quick review! So we have “밥” as a rice but primarily as a meal (which could entail any type of food). There’s also the rice itself, “쌀”.

Moving on, let’s get a country bumpkin’s perspective on rice, shall we?

Growing up in central Texas meant that rice took on a bit of a different form that what is the norm in Korea. We’re talking Tex-Mex rice - Spanish rice - the yellow-redish with tomato goodness that isn’t quite Mexican but certainly not Texan. I also enjoyed (and still do) Dirty rice - a Cajun staple from our border-neighbor Louisiana (or as some Texans say “that one state to the right”). Now there was also two other kinds of rice in our cupboard - and it is here that I am most embarrassed.

For the longest time, I called white rice “white people rice” because boil-in-the-bag rice that is white in color isn’t the same as Asian-style rice; also, I noticed my “white” family eating it. How awful! I couldn’t help but propagate a misnomer, but I know I put it together when I noticed that my family ate different white rice from my friends who ate Korean rice. For example, our boil-in-bag rice was prepackaged, not sticky, and usually had a dollop of butter on the top of it with a sprinkle of black pepper. Sorry guys, I couldn’t make this up even if I wanted to. Also, the other boil-in-the-bag rice, brown rice, was usually the bed for a diced chicken dish, but essentially they served the same purpose in the kitchen. So, basically I called Korean rice “sticky rice” pretty much just because it was sticky.

Now that I have moved on from kitchen-based ethnocentrism, I can say with confidence that I don’t discriminate. However, I do eat Korean-style rice almost exclusively now (too many bad memories with that racist rice from before, you know). However, I am not content with the vanilla-variety rice that stares at me with its plainness. Oh no. I’m all about the 전라도 rice. It comes in many different varieties, styles, and names but I have been calling it 오곡밥 (five grain rice) for good measure. I’ve seen it called 오곡미, 칠곡미, and something else that slips my mind but they’re all forms of a mixed grain with rice. Essentially, if you’re ever in 전주 and you notice the rice has a purple/red color to it with a bunch of crazy beans invading the bowl - you’ve found solid goodness. I love this rice. It’s the only rice that when served, I usually ask for seconds.

The mixture was likely introduced way back when when rice was more expensive than other grains. However, to make due with the food that was available, grains were introduced to the mix and were eaten together as a kind of “poor-man’s rice”. That would make 오곡밥 or any other mixed grain rice a sort of food for those who couldn’t afford normal white rice from a long time ago, wouldn’t it? Nuts to that! The mixed rice has a fuller flavor, more nutrients, more purpleness (you need purple in your diet, right?). I’ve also seen it with more of a red tint to it - either way, I get pretty passionate about that rice. We’re BFF.

The only real difference in cooking is that you have to soak the portion that is to be cooked overnight in a bowl of water (to soften the grains prior to cooking) but other than that, it cooks the same in a rice pot. I also try not to over-rinse the rice mix as much. Normally, a good four-five rinse is all that I need with normal rice but usually, I only do three or four good rinses - so as not to lose the rocket-sauceness of it.

Without getting into a “my rice is better than yours” contest, I would like to extend this apology to other sources of good rice - you’ll never get the gold but that doesn’t mean that you can’t be silver Man, those are fightin words…Anyways, what types of rice do you all like? Am i alone in eating the red-headed stepchild of Korean rice? Any ex-pats taken to 오곡밥?

Thoughts?

My cousin is visiting for a while. I thought it would be interesting to get his thoughts on what it is like to learn English here in the United States. He has only written in Korean but I will post a translation in the comments later.  Enjoy. 

내가 여기 미국온지 25일정도 됐다.

처음여기에 올때에는 오면 영어정도는 쉽게 배우고 내뱉을수있다고 생각하고 왔다…

미국하면 흔히 무법자들이 흔하는도시…or  법이지배하는도시라고 생각하고 미국에 왔다.

그런데 영화나 내가 듣고 생각하는 미국과는 다르게 .조용하니 사람살기에는 참좋은 곳이라고 생각하고있다.

지금 내가 있는곳이 도시의 중심가가 아니기때문에 그럴지 모르겠지만. .사람들과 만나고 고모식구들과 생활하면서

많은 영어를듣고 배우고 있는중이다..흔히 한국에서는 미국가면2.3개월이면 듣고 6개월이면 말하고 1년이면 대화가 된다고 하는데 흔히 이건 한국에서 어느정도의 영어실력을 가지고 미국가서 유학을 가서 공부를 하는사람들의 기준이다.

나와 같은 경우는 형편없는 영어실력으로 미국에와서 듣고 배울려고 왔는데 막상 부딪혀보니 한국에서 쓰는 영어와 많은 차이가 있었다. 내가 생각하기에 한국에서 “너 영어 매우 잘한다” 라는 소리를들을 정도에서 여기오면 어느정도의 대화는 통할거같다 하지만 발음과 조그마한 스펠링.문장구조에서 조금의 차이점이 있을거같다..

내가 학생시절 학교에서 배우던 영어와 여기에서 조금씩 배워가는영어의 차이점이 많이있다..

첫째.발음이다. 한국사람과 미국사람의 발음하는것이 많이 틀린거같다..각각 나라의 말하는 스타일이 달르다는것보다 쓰는 모국어의 형식 자체가 틀리기 떄문에 듣고 따라할려고해도 똑같은 발음으로 하기가 너무 힘들다 ..

둘째.한국에서 배운 영어와 여기에서 쓰는 영어의 차이점이다..내가 영어를 처음배운게 중1시절10년전이라 할수있다. 그때부터 지금 까지 배운 영어가 여기에서 배운것과의 차이점은 큰차이는없다. 영어를 잘하는사람이라면 대화하는데 크게 어려움은 없을것같다 하지만 어부정하게 영어를배운 나는 여기에서 배우는데 큰 차이점을 발견하였다..한국에서 쓰던 영어중 여기에서 발음하는것과의 차이점이다. 어떻게 보면 발음차이일지도 모르겠지만 한국에서 읽는걸 알려주고 그대로 읽고 그렇게 알던 영어들이 여기에서는 읽는 방법이 조금 다른게 있다는것이다. 내가 들은 바로는 한국에서 배우는 영어가 영국식 영어라고 여기와서 들었다. 그래서 그런지 지금 미국에와 있는지금 한국에서 배운영어가 차라리 몰랐으면 하는 생각도 든다. 한국 사람들이 한번배울때 똑바로 배워라는 말이있다.그렇게 크지는 않지만 그 조그마한차이가 외국에서는 그말이 무슨말인지 몰라서 그냥 넘어가는경우가 있다.

셋째.외국사람들이 말하는 속도/패턴?

속도라고 말하면은 사람들의 능력에 따라 다르겠지만 나는 한국에서 배우면서 근처사람들이 영어를 읽는것을 들어보면 여기에서 듣는것과의 차이다. 유학을가서 영어를 배울때 듣는것이 제일힘들다고 들었다 왜냐면 사람들 마다 말하는 속도가 있겠지만 다른곳의 언어이다보니 힘들고 느린것당연한것 모국어보다 잘할수없을것이다. 사람의 특성중하나는 적응을 한다는것이다. 매일 늦게 듣다보니 영어의모국어인 미국에오다보니간 그 속도를 따라갈수없어서 힘들고 말하는 방식이 틀린것이다. 한국에서는 읽는법을배워도 줄여서 읽고 읽는패턴을 다 알려주지는않는다. 하지만 여기는 글을 읽다보면 스펠링이 그대로지만 읽을때는 조그마하게 교체되면서 읽어진다. 이런것이 여기와서 생소하고 힘들었다..

여기와서 영어를 최대한 빨리 배울려면 내가 생각한 바로는 최대한 듣고/쓰고/말하기이다.

어떤 수업을듣고 공부를 하든지간에 집중해서듣고 그것을 메모하고 말하든지 생각을하는게 공부의 기본이다.

영어도 한가지의 공부를 하는것이기때문에 이 세가지만 열심히 하면 금방배울거같다.

생각하는것처럼 영어가 쉽게 배워지지는 않겠지만 이 세가지를 이행하면서 힘든 영어공부를 배워가야겠다!

Last week I wrote about the Korean experiences I had during my first week here in NYC. It’s been another week, and I’ve had many more experiences that I can share! Here we go..

First, I went to the larger Korea Town area in Flushing Queens last Saturday for a few hours. It was just me and my trusty map (in Korean, no less) and the 7 train.. As soon as I stepped out of the subway station it was like I had gone to Korea instead. All of the signs were in Korean, everyone was speaking Korean; It was much more “Korean” than the area in Manhattan.

There were quite a few amazing shops that I found - a few bookstores, The Face Shop (it’s the Korean version of The Body Shop, basically), and a little novelty store called Magic Castle. For the most part, however, I found that most of the store owners were very uneasy when I went into their shops, some of them even following me around or basically telling me to leave. One store in particular was the worst, one lady was following me around and when I tried to buy something the girl at the counter was very blatantly rude to me. After that encounter, I was very discouraged and just got on the train back to Manhattan..

Now, I’m definitely not saying all of the shops or people in Flushing were like this. This was the first time I had ever experienced anything like this from Korean people. I thought perhaps I had done something wrong, or perhaps there was some sort of etiquette that I wasn’t aware of..

In my search for revelation on the subject, Keith offered me some insight. He told me that many Korean immigrants in Queens had to really fight to succeed in order to establish a community in that area. So, there may still be people who have the mindset that they need to be “on guard” towards Americans or other immigrants. So basically, what I experienced was not really a “Korean” thing, but a “people holding on to their survival mindset” thing.

This makes sense. I think it really explains the experience that I had: it explains why it was generally older people who seemed to have a problem with me but people my age were generally very friendly. It also explains why I haven’t had this experience in Korean shops in Manhattan. So, thanks Keith! (And I hope you don’t mind me quoting you..)

And there have been many experiences since then, including: Onnuri Korean Church, eating 샤브샤브 for the first time, attempting to buy Brian concert tickets (from fly to the sky), and making some Korean friends…. But it is just too much for one post! However, I did write about making 김치찌개 in the forum if you want to read about that.. I’ll be back next week with more stories.

Has anyone else ever had an experience like I did this week? Do you have any other insight about what might have happened?

Drinking Water.

No, not quality. quantity. There is a serious void in the stomachs of Koreans. That void is water.

I drink a boatload of water. Realistically I drink probably three liters of water a day on average. Oh and 3.8 liters to a gallon there, people. Most doctors recommend that at least 2 liters be consumed daily to simply replace the lost fluids by normal functions such as excretion, respiration, and perspiration. But if you consume about 2 liters of water in a day, then you’re probably doing fine by most - and probably more than most.

Most being Koreans. Koreans straight up do not drink water at meals. It’s amazing. I go to fill people’s water cups and they haven’t even touched it. Mind you that we’re eating Korean food which is not exactly I.B.S. friendly - many traditional dishes are downright fiery while the rest of simply hot and a few are mild. No matter - my Korean buddies don’t crave fluids the same way that I do. Is it because I’m from Texas and it gets nasty hot here? Maybe, but so does Korea. Is it because I’m listening to doctor’s orders? Partially - but then again, I naturally want to drink lots of fluids at my meal. Is it because they are drinking different fluids instead if water? Well, sort of. 보리차  is a staple at Korean tables but they aren’t exactly downing it. Soda is served in skinny little cans and is quite rare at most restaurants as a main source of fluids.

So why aren’t Koreans shriveling up and dying from dehydration? Who knows? Maybe it’s the huge amounts of fruit consumed - we’re talking daily 수박 intake. 90% of the fruit’s content is water while the rest is downright a crime not to eat - Have you not tried Korean watermelon yet? Missing out.

Maybe it’s the fluid found in the soups, stews, and broths. Come to think of it, I do eat every last possible ounce of fluid in any 찌개 I eat and certainly in every bowl of 떡라맨 - don’t you know it’s sacrilegious to not eat the broth?

Perhaps Koreans know what’s the deal after all. Maybe they just got lucky…

Regardless, the serving cups for water are typically just that - a fluid cup. One cup. Like a measuring cup. What am I supposed to do with that? I feel like a fatty when I have to get two cups just to make it where I can sit down for the majority of the meal instead of always getting up for me. My secret? Sitting in the table right next to the water cooler. Arms distance away is an oasis untapped by the locals. Water. I am here. Wait for me.

Come to think of it, my Korean friends are always asking me if the food is too hot - assuming that since I am a foreigner, I’m eating Korean food, I’m drinking lots of water, I’m sweating like a duck that I must be tolerating the food to save face. Not true! This food is frakin great and I’m enjoying a nice refreshing shot-glass size cup of water in an attempt to cleanse my palate. I appreciate the concern, but I’m plenty rude enough to not eat the food served to me - okay so I’m not that rude - but I am eating Korean food out of choice - not out of obligation. Maybe you’re the one who needs to cool down? Here, have some water.

Thoughts?

Last week we picked up two Korean children to stay with us for a couple of months. They are brother and sister and so far they are fairly shy with speaking English even though their understanding seems to be pretty good. San Francisco is about three hours from our house so we decided to do a little touring prior on our way home. We went to the Golden Gate bridge where it was a windy 62 degrees and then we stopped off at Stanford University before heading home to a warm 106.

My wife’s nephew caught a ride here on the same flight last minute so we have a full house. He is in his early twenties and just out of his 군대 service. He is here to (drum roll please) learn English and tour a bit before getting back to real life in Korea. He has ambitions of getting a government job and English experience seems to be a real plus on the resume. It seems like everyone wants to get a government job in Korea. Of course, we are all on the other side of the coin trying to learn Korean. I don’t think there are too many government jobs in the States that require Korean language experience though.

My oldest, having now lived in Korea for a short time is doing good with her understanding. My number two, Luke, is not having such an easy time of it, however. Here are some of his thoughts on the matter now that he is sharing a room with his cousin:

Living with Koreans is kind of hard because it is hard to understand them. I want to learn how to speak Korean but I just don’t want to take the time to learn it. My cousin who is staying with us doesn’t speak much English and he is sleeping in my room so that makes it hard to really communicate with him. The other two kids are better at speaking English but I don’t think they are learning anything because they are speaking Korean too much to each other and to my mom. I think I am going to try to learn some Korean during my older cousin’s stay.  

Well, I’ve made it safely to New York City! I have been here for less than a week and have only made it to the city 3 times (I live just across the river in NJ) but I have already had some awesome Korean experiences I’d like to share.

First, Korea Way. There’s a block of Korean shops and restaurants in Manhattan (W 32nd St between 5th and 6th Aves). It is pretty small, and mostly consists of restaruants, but it is undeniably Korean. One minute you’re walking towards Times Square from Macy’s, then you turn the corner and it’s like you’ve gone to Korea. All the signs are in Korean, most of the people are speaking Korean - It’s fairly awe-inspiring.

There is one restaurant on Korea Way that I particularly enjoy called 우리 집 (woori jip). All of the food is amazing (try the fresh 김치) and it is pre-packaged, so you can eat it there at one of the tables, or you can take it with you. And, it’s cheap! I also saw a bookstore on Korea Way, but every time I’ve been there it has been closed, so I really need to go into the city earlier. ^^

Second, there are so many Korean speaking people everywhere in the city! While I was walking around Saturday night with a friend of mine, probably one of every ten groups of people I passed by were Korean. It was actually kind of fun - walking down the street and understanding what people were saying!

Also, that night while waiting for the bus there was a very interesting group of people behind us. Two of the people were speaking Korean to eachother, but they were all speaking very labored english as a group. After that, it seemed like the girl was teaching the other guys Korean words, and then I thought I heard some Chinese as well. Being new to New York, I thought they would think I was crazy if I tried to talk to them, but I had already been eavesdropping, so I thought I would say hello. It turns out they are all college students - two from Korea, one from Japan, one from China. I ended up talking to them (in all of those languages, and english) for about 30 minutes, and the girl and I exchanged contact info. Not bad for my first day in the city!

I went back into the city last night and while waiting for the bus again there was an older couple that looked a little bit lost. I heard them speaking Korean to eachother, trying to figure out which bus they needed to take. I went over without hesitation and asked 어디에 가려고 해요? The woman answered before she looked up at me, and only looked slightly surprised once she realized I am not Korean. In the end, I didn’t know how to get where they were going so I wasn’t able to help them, but they seemed grateful that I tried.

So I have not been to NYC for a week and I have had more Korean experiences that I had in a year in Nashville. I am excited to see what else I can find! I plan to go to the larger Korea Town area in Queens on Saturday. I’ll make sure to take more pictures and give another update!

(sorry the pictures are not great, my camera wasn’t working properly)

안녕하세요. 현우예요. Hi. I’m Hyunwoo.

Are you all following the Olympic matches(경기)? What is your favorite(가장 좋아하는) sport? I love watching all kinds of sport matches, but my favorite is gymnastics(체조)!! So if you have a favorite sport match that you never want to miss on TV during the Olympic Games period, here’s the list of the 28 major match names in English and Korean.

___________________________________________

• Modern Pentathlon = 근대5종 (geundae o jong)
• Basketball = 농구 (nong gu)
• Wrestling = 레슬링 (re seul ling)
• Volleyball = 배구 (bae gu)
• Badminton = 배드민턴 (bae deu min teon)
• Boxing = 복싱 (bok sing)
• Shooting = 사격 (sa gyeok)
• Cycling = 사이클 (sa i keul)
• Softball = 소프트볼 (so peu teu bol)
• Swimming = 수영 (su yeong)
• Equestrian = 승마 (seung ma)
• Baseball = 야구 (ya gu)
• Archery = 양궁 (yang gung)
• Weightlifling = 역도 (yeok do)
• Judo = 유도 (yu do)
• Sailing = 요트 (yoteu)
• Track and Field = 육상 (yuk sang)
• Rowing = 조정 (jo jeong)
• Gymnastics artistic = 체조 (che jo)
• Football = 축구 (chuk gu)
• Canoe = 카누 (ka nu)
• Table Tennis = 탁구 (tak gu)
• Taekwondo = 태권도 (tae gwon do)
• Tennis = 테니스 (teniseu)
• Triathlon = 트라이애슬론 (teu rai i ae seul lon)
• Fencing = 펜싱 (pen sing)
• Hockey = 하키 (ha ki)
• Handball = 핸드볼 (haen deu bol)

As you can assume, -구 means - ball, and -도 means - art (as in martial art).

___________________________________________

For those of you who know all the words above and want to know some more specific terms, please leave your request in the comment. And like I said, I LOVE the gymnastics games, so here’s a list of the match names in gymnastics. ^_^

• Floor Exercises = 마루운동
• Horizontal bar = 철봉운동
• Rings = 링운동
• Pommel horse = 안마
• Parallel bars = 평행봉
• Uneven bars = 2단평행봉
• Balance beam = 평균대
• Vault = 도마
• Gymnastics rhythmic = 리듬체조
• Trampoline = 트램펄린체조
• High Jump = 높이뛰기
• Long jump/Broad jump = 멀리뛰기/넓이뛰기
• Javeline = 창던지기

I hope this helps! Thanks for reading! ^^

Vegetarianism.

If you are 1 in 5 billion people that are vegan (these are verifiable facts here, people), you must be:

1) Angry at something, or
2) Conscientious of something that doesn’t quite sit with you.

Either way, you have chosen a meat-free life that has almost exclusively alienated all of your closest friends and family. Great job! You will continue to live this lifestyle until you are a tired, old, cynical shell of a human being that is known more for vulgarity than eco-friendliness. Wow! I can’t wait to subject my own children one day to this Hollywood-esque lifestyle!

Hey, I’m okay with it. But many vegetarians react to their diet defensively almost like being accused of racism. “But I have lots of meat-eating friends!” Sure, that‘ll convince them that you don’t secretly hate them.

So, somewhere along 37°35′N and 127°’E, there lies a country where vegetarianism isn’t as strange as you might expect. Korean people are indeed eating more meat now, but there is a long-standing history of vegetarian cuisine. Granted, their reasons for a meat-free diet aren’t the same as most western vegetarians, but regardless, let’s go over some key phrases and more importantly, how exactly vegetarianism works for Koreans.

I’m here to tell you that it blows my mind how Koreans look at the abstinence of meat or other animal products. In America, I simply have to tell someone “Oh, I’m a vegan” or “Oh, I don’t eat meat. No thank you”. Some people ask what exactly is a vegan, but most just take a moment to wrap their head around that idea. “…there goes the Whopper, the Big Mac…” but generally, most Americans understand the idea in general. Every so often, someone remarks “Well you can still eat quesadillas or fried eggs at least” In which case you can simply point out that for many vegetarians and all vegans, those foods are like Paris Hilton - you just don’t want to touch that. Some people get defensive (because come on, who wants to feel like a murderer of sweet little chickens?), others attempt to find common ground (”That’s cool - last year for lent I gave up hamburgers” ) while others are simply baffled (”Well, then what can you eat?”). But really, when you look at the psychology behind the responses, all of them indeed recognize the philosophical aspect - it becomes like a koan - an unanswerable question or riddle.

But with Koreans, it really doesn’t matter. You can tell the cook “채식주의자임니다” all day long and it really doesn’t mean anything. He will still give me 오징어 or some other 반찬 that clearly contains meat. I find it more useful to order food using a three-step process.

1. say which food you want
2. say what you don’t want in it
3. then tell them you are a vegetarian.

This formula usually gives the person taking the order a logical process to absorb the reason. “He wants this, without this, because this”. I also like to add this little ditty in. “고기를 못먹어요” This means “I can’t eat meat” as opposed to the more commonly heard “고기를 안먹어요” “I don’t eat meat”. The latter phrase implies that you may or may not eat meat, but as for right now, you don’t want to eat meat.

Speaking of meat, the idea of vegetarianism encompasses a plethora of meat. This is generally understood to include bacon, pork, chicken, beef, fish, etc. In Korea, it’s not this way. You pretty much have to specifically say what you don’t want/can’t eat. All too many times I have told the 아저씨 that I am a vegetarian, I can’t eat meat, I can’t eat fish - and I STILL get a steaming hot bowl of 순두부찌개 with happy little 해산물 floating in it. From an American mindset it makes me think “What exactly did you think I was talking about it when I said no fish?” His response: “Shrimp isn’t fish. Clam isn’t fish”. He’s a sweet guy though so I don’t let it bother me. More than anything, I just feel embarrassed that he has to make another one. After all, I’m not there to get anyone mad or upset or preach my values - I just wanted some food.

Also, I would strongly recommend giving the 아주머니 or 아저씨 a little credit. Admit it, you have an accent. It might take them a while to understand you as it is. Also, you’re messing with their menu. Exceptions to dishes are not as common in Korea as it is in America. In America, we can order a cheeseburger with no lettuce, extra pickles, no sesame seed bun, and extra cooked and it not be a big deal. In Korea, it is slightly unusual to make changes to a menu item. They are likely used to people just saying “김밥 주세요” and that’s all. So try to order things that are already pretty close to being animal-free but need only a little tweaking.

Here’s a little formula to remember. (모모) 안먹어요. Replace (모모) with anything you don’t want in your stomach.

• 고기 - beef
• 해산물 - seafood
• 물고기 - fish (also 생선)
• 새우 - shrimp
• 계란 - egg
• 햄 - ham
• 조개 - clam (also 대함)
• 낙지 - octopus
• 오징어 - squid

Keep in mind that many dishes are naturally vegan while others can be modified. Most 순두부찌개 comes with 해산물 (seafood) but as long as you point out to the server that you can’t eat 해산물, you can enjoy the spicy goodness that is 순두부찌개. Also, if you are unsure if a menu item has meat in it, you can ask “고기 있어요?” There is another phrase I use and has been met with huge success. “고기빼고 해 주세요” means “Leave out the meat”. Insert anything you don’t want in your food instead of meat and you have a perfectly good formulaic phrase! But keep in mind, it kind of depends on the food. This is appropriate if the restaurant makes its 짜장면 sauce separate from the beef topping. However, many places cook the beef in the black bean sauce in which case you should order something else.

The word 야채 (vegetables) is sometimes placed in front of something to indicate that it is devoid of animal products. I would like to remind you that not everyone considers 계란 (egg) an animal product. In which case, the 야채비빔밥 while likely still have a bright and smiling egg right on top to greet you. However, I am usually pleasantly surprised that 버섯 순두부 찌개 (mushroom tofu jjigae) oftentimes comes completely meat-free without any special requests. Score!

I leave you with a few suggestions. I hesitate to list some non-standard dishes because I don’t want to get anyone’s hope up. The following dishes are pretty common and well known.

• 돌솥 야채 비빔밥 (or just simply 돌솥비빔밥 minus egg and beef)
• 비빔 국수 (minus egg on top)
• 비빔 냉면 (minus egg on top)
• 떡뽂이 (careful here - usually there’s 오댕 mixed in - it’s your call)
• 버섯 순두부 찌개 (or just 순두부찌개 minus seafood)
• 김밥 (carefully poke out ham, crab, egg - these are usually pre-made so no special ordering here)
• 김차 김밥 (minus the egg and you’re all set)
• 매운고추김밥 (if you can stand the heat - one of my favorites!)
• 쫄면 (minus egg on top - careful - quite spicy - but oh so delicious)
• 빔치파전 (batter contains egg - not vegan friendly)
• 된장 찌개 (minus seafood)
• 김치 찌개 (varies - may contain pork, tuna, or other meats - just ask)
• 야채 민두 (my veggie dumplings will rock your socks)
• 의김치 (my personal favorite)

So maybe you don’t eat because of animal rights. Maybe you are trying to reduce your eco-footprint. Maybe you are trying to get closer to the source of energy in your foods - take on a more natural approach. Maybe you just want a lighter meal. Either way, it is 100% possible to live a vegan lifestyle in Korea. However, one must realize, though that you will be eating out less than your meat-eating friends. It’s just like in America. I don’t really eat out much; I go out to eat maybe twice a week. I most generally cook and eat at home. Although I must admit, I find it so much easier to eat vegan Korean food than I do vegan American food. Plus veggie Korean food is guaranteed hippie-free!  Bonus!

My advice? Grow tough skin, be confident, and dust your shoulders off if you get some uneatable food served to you. Always remain polite about your choice of foods and people will learn to respect your decisions instead of dread your patronage. I was a vegetarian/vegan for years and years and I always found a way. If nothing, I hope this guide will get you going in the right direction.
Thoughts?

안녕하세요! 현우예요.

We’re all here to learn Korean, and we already know the language, but here’s some more tip on the words themselves that we use to refer to ‘the Korean language’ ^^ As you know, the Korean language is called ‘한국어(han gu geo)’ or ‘한국말(han guk mal)’.

Both the words ‘한국어’ and ‘한국말’ are composed of two meaning blocks : Korean + language.

어, which can be written in the Chinese character 語, means “language”, and 말, which is a native Korean word, also means “language”. So basically 한국어 and 한국말 are the same meaning, but I’d say 한국어 is a little more formal word while 한국말 is a more colloquial word.

‘어’ can be found in many other language names, but ‘말’ is not so commonly used other than in the word ‘한국말’ or ‘우리말(uri mal - ‘our language’, which is a word that Korean people use to mean ‘Korean’).

Here are some examples:

• English = 영어
• Chinese = 중국어
• Japanese = 일본어
• Arabic = 아랍어
• Spanish = 스페인어
• French =  프랑스어
• Latin = 라틴어
• Russian = 러시아어

‘말’, however, is a native Korean word, so it’s used much more commonly in everyday conversations. And in this case,말 also has the meaning of “words” and “what one says” as well as “language”.

For example,  (the following sentences are all in the intimate politeness level)

• 내 말 안 들려? = Can’t you hear me?
• 말 조심해. = Watch your language.
• 내 말 무시하지 마. = Don’t ignore what I’m saying.
• 말이 씨(seed)가 되는 거야. = Your careless words might turn into reality.
• 그런 말 하지마. = Don’t say such a thing.
• 무슨 말이야? = What do you mean?

I hope those sample sentences are helpful, and in conclusion, 한국어 and 한국말 are the same thing, but 어 is a dependant Chinese-character-based letter to mean ‘language’, and 말 is a word of a wider variety of meanings. ^^

Thank you for reading!