KoreanClass101.com Blog

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 premade 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 spicey - 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 mandu 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.

Thoughts?

Right now Korea is having its rainy season. Although it might not be as intense as rainy seasons in some parts of the world, the rainy season in Korea can make you start hating rain to an extent (in my personal point of view, haha) - and it’s called 장마 (jang ma). This post is not so much about the 장마 itself because it isn’t THAT interesting. I just wanted to share a video with all of you who read the KClass Blog

Here’s a video I took on a bus from where I live (near 동대문) to 강남 (a major downtown area in Seoul) on my way to go meet a friend.  The bus goes over one of the many bridges that go over 한강 (Han River) which is about 1 km wide on average. After the bus goes over Han River and you’ll recognize some signs that have some words you must already know written on them

그럼, 비디오 재미있게 보세요!  (Well then, enjoy the video!)

While I was helping teach at an elementary school, I noticed the kids said 멍미 a lot. I asked the English teachers and she said she didn’t know what it meant. I thought maybe I was pronouncing it wrong or something, but later one of the students I tutor said it too, he was in 6th grade and when I asked him what it meant, he said it was ’secret language’ and that it meant just “what?!” . I don’t exactly know what it translates to, because he used it often and sometimes I think saying “what” in some situations wouldn’t quite make sense. but while I was in 서울 he high school kids used what they called “secret language” too. I think it’s more like slang though. Some other words that I learned were the slang words for elementary student, middle school student and so on. they took the normal 초등학생 and turned it into just 초딩.It’s the same for all the others: 중딩, 고딩.I don’t know if 대딩 works but it seems like it should. My cousin used this word when describing his friend, who he said used 초딩말 which is like elementary school language or, like he talks like an elementary student. Does anyone else know any “secret language” words?

Hotels.

Korea has got to be best place to immerse yourself in the culture. Where else can you knock on someone’s door and ask to stay the night? Oh, and not get shot trying to do so?

Well of course Korea has hotels. Big ones. Expensive ones, but we don’t want to talk about that. Those are no fun. And overpriced. They offer a high quality product with a high quality product price that is to be expected in any major city or country. But thankfully, Korea has other options that have more character and are definitely something unique that most visitors are hard pressed to find elsewhere.

Irregardless of where you stay, as long as you can hold your own without blushing from Western embarrassment, you can almost always talk down the stated price if you are staying for an extended period of time or traveling with a decent sized group. Also, these descriptions are for one person for one night. Not a whole lot changes if you’re traveling with others. In most cases, the prices don’t change unless there are three or more in your party.

Let’s start with the highest priced and we’ll work out way down.

Hotels 50 000₩ - 400 000₩ - Expect nothing unique and be prepared to pay Western prices. Might as well have stayed in Boston.

Temple Stay 30 000₩ - 50 000₩ - No accommodation guide would be complete without mentioning a stopover in a Buddhist temple. Relax, you don’t have to be a card-carrying member to stay :). Typically, arrangements are secured via phone. It is customary to give at least a week’s notice before staying so as to help gather resources to better make your stay enjoyable. Price includes three meals a day and various guided activities. Do not be frantic about disturbing the natural order of things - not all monasteries have temple stays and those who do offer these services are good about advertising it. Do yourself a favor and research these if you are interested.

여관 (Yeogwan) 20 000₩ - 40 000₩ - These are the meat and potatoes of Korean accommodation. They are plentiful and vary somewhat in quality so expect to get what you pay for. Practically every single city from Seoul to 퍼든그 (get it? no?) has at least one 여관 so prices can be quite competitive. Payment is generally required in advance but viewing and/or picking the room beforehand is normal. Feel free to shop around for a place that suits you (and your wallet). Expect the room to have three things: a cotton mattress, a cotton/synthetic quilt, and one pillow. Also, expect the room to not have three things: a Western style bed, a kitchen, and central heat or air conditioning. Fear not! Most have Western style toilets, hot tap water, and some newer facilities have private bathrooms. Most have heated floors, shared bathrooms, a TV, and one oscillating-style floor fan. As far as extra amenities, count on some of them having adjacent 목욕탕 (bath houses). Some even offer Western beds, “free” breakfast, and wireless internet access but are few and far between.여관 are cheap, safe, and reliable.

민박 (Minbak) price negotiable - These private homes are rented out in high numbers during tourist season and are generally located away in rural areas. Get out your eagle eyes and make it a point to stop in at least once. No other experience is quite like it. Prices fluctuate depending on the season and location but are comparable to 여관. Take advantage of whomever in the home cooks and agree to pay extra for diner and breakfast. Expect to have your own room but don’t be shy - this family has opened up their home for you for the night. The least you can do is play a game of 화투 before you turn in for the night.

여인숙 (Yeoinsuk) 15 000₩- 20 000₩ - The jealous younger sibling of 여관, 여인숙 are generally less maintained, less glamorous, scaled down versions of 여관. Some are even converted from traditional houses (think Flip This House). These are for the confident Korean speaker and adventurous backpacker alike who are looking for a cheap place to stay when all others are booked or otherwise unavailable. Perhaps for the greater good, they are steadily decreasing in number and often overshadowed by their more popular sibling.

Youth Hostels (유스호스텔) 10 000₩ - 20 000₩ (and up) - These Hostels recognize international Youth Hostel cards issued from any country. For non-members, prices are higher and availability is sometimes limited. About sixty of these operate in Korea and are generally located in less populated, scenic destinations such as lakeview properties, beachfronts, and ski resort locations. Accommodations include up to eight person bunk-bed rooms, family suites, and most have on-site currency exchanges.

Love Hotels - price varies - Okay, so I should probably mention these if only to help squeamish travelers avoid them. Here’s some hints: They have hourly rates, they’re obvious, and they’re exactly what they sound like. If you see a bunch of calling cards out front, keep walking and start giggling to yourself or loved one.

찜질방 (Jjimjillbang) less than 10 000₩ - These 24-hour saunas are the Cadillac of bath houses. In addition to having everything under the sun, they also have overnight sleeping facilities. Though sometimes loud and crowded, these are frequented by business people too tired to make the long commute home (well, that’s his side of the story). Don’t expect much more than a small bunk bed or communal room, but for cash-strapped travelers, nothing is better than falling asleep in your favorite bath house.

산장 (Mountain Huts) 3 000₩ - These hiker stops are dotted along mountain trails and contain the bare essentials. Bring your own sleeping bags and pillows and curl up on the wooden floors and call it an adventure. Make sure to check availability before setting out on your hike.

While this certainly isn’t an exhaustive list, it does cover the basics. Although the biggest culture shock probably comes from 민박 (well, actually Love Hotels are pretty shocking to some foreigners), I would encourage those traveling abroad to take advantage of Korea’s group mentality and treat yourself to the experience. Of course we don’t have anything similar to 민박 in America and perhaps that is part of the charm. For that matter, overnight stays in general such as in 찜질방 are pretty foreign too. We’re also used to paying quite a lot more for a room.
I’m curious as to my fellow KC101 students’ experiences with the accommodations listed. Good? Bad? Worth it? Recommendations?

Thoughts?

What I noticed about the fashion in Korea was that most of the women wore high heeled shoes. The students, however, wore tennis shoes, preferably some ridiculously expensive brand name such as Le Coque, Adidas, Nike, or puma. I never saw a student wearing high heeled shoes. Also the students uniforms are usually altered. The girls that I lived (중삼) with told me that they gave their skirts to the launderer and asked them to shorten them, because only losers wear their skirts long, according to them.

As for the boy’s fashion, there was one boy who had one pant-leg shortened and rolled up partway, but when I asked about it, I was told it was just his own fashion. Boys in Korea are also more conscious of how they look, one other foreigner told me that she was surprised at how often they looked in the mirror. All the students , boys and girls, wore really cute socks with cartoonized singers heads on them or cute smiley frogs. I even saw the waiters at 도내누 restaurant wearing them.

Also my cousin told me that boys and girls wear the same clothes, regardless of whether or not it was made for their gender (and I know they do that here too, but maybe not as much). And I also noticed that when couples go out on dates or whatever they wear matching outfits, meaning they wear the same thing, usually boy style though, so like baggy long shorts and a guys T shirt.matching. Seriously. So I like Korean fashion better. It seems like Americans wear ugly clothes. Sad.

Stephanie will be back home in two weeks.  This coming week will be her last week to volunteer in the school, so she got many gifts from the children she’s been around. Her favorite foods in Korea are 삼겹살, and 장어 샤브샤브 so far (I’m not really sure what that is but I guess it is popular among the people she is hanging out with).

Last week she went to the market place and saw a 아줌마 killing (filleting) a big live fish on the cutting board. That was really was an interesting sight for Stephanie. She said that the fish didn’t die until the 아줌마 cut the other parts too.  She sent a video but it was broken so I can only tease you with her description. Sorry.

She wanted to buy 상 (table) and 가스레인지 for 삼겹살 요리. She thought it would be cool to sit on the 방석 on the floor and cook 삼겹살 on the 가스레인지. We have one of those 가스레인지 and a 돌반 but we haven’t used it in quite some time. We had some friends over and used it for dinner a while back, thinking it would be cool; they thought it was very 촌스럽다.

Stephanie has been very busy so I really don’t get too much news from her. This coming week after she finishes up her lessons at school she will be headed for 부산 to visit some family. She will probably be doing some other touring as well before heading up to 서울. I will keep you posted.

Stephanie says it is raining every day and she feels like she is in a 찜질방 all of the time. I am not sure if she likes the weather in Korea or not but she is not complaining about it. Sometimes she mentions that she would prefer to live in Korea. She is getting better at teaching English and the children like her a lot. They like her so much that someone made off with her shoes the other day. I understand that this is a common problem at this particular school because everyone wears expensive shoes. Hers were Converse. She was happy to get the opportunity to go shopping. She picked up some Adidas shoes to replace her Converse.

She admits to having caught 공주병. She says we won’t like her when she comes home because she is so spoiled… She has three more weeks to go… She has settled into a routine that includes some late-night studying of her own. She has been studying Korean quite a bit (I sent her with a mp3 player full of KClass lessons). When she IMs with her mother her Korean typing is pretty good. It makes me wonder how much texting she is doing in Korean…

She had the opportunity to go yachting last week. I don’t think that is helping her with her condition (공주병) but it sure sounds fun. I wonder if she got seasick. She didn’t say. It was probably a nice break from the rainy season weather though. The humidity is the worst part of rainy season. I recall times when it was sunny one minute and before you could get your umbrella up you were wet from the rain. But then the sun would come out again and heat up all that moisture on the ground and create a sauna. Yes, that is Korea in the summer time. Life sounds interesting for 우리 공주님.

Last week Stephanie experienced some interesting cultural differences.

She has been staying at a house with twin girls about her same age. One day, after breakfast, she was helping to clear and wipe the table and the twins stared at her like she was doing something wrong. It turns out that the twins don’t do any sort of housework or chores. They were amazed that she would help (like it wasn’t her place).  She has noticed that the school children don’t get home until late and then stay up even longer doing homework. But they don’t do housework.

We have noticed with the children that have stayed in our house too, especially boys, that they don’t do chores. Now it may be that chores have disappeared from American society too and I am just a relic but we have had homestay children do chores here. In fact, the boy who just went home said that he was helping his mother dry dishes (but I think he may have been joking).  The “gentlemen first” attitude seems to be fairly normal in Korea, as opposed to “ladies first” here in the states. But Stephanie was somewhat surprised to find that children are not expected to do chores at all.

Another thing Stephanie was impressed about was that Korean children’s study habit.  She amazed that even seven to ten year olds would study until 10 o’ clock at night without much parent superivsion, and that middle school students (중3) wouldn’t get home from 학원 until after 11:00pm. She really has a hard time understanding how they do it every day.

One parent wanted Stephanie and her son to go out to the movies together; he is one year younger than her. Stephanie thought that is felt like a “date” and it worried her a little. We had to explain that it wasn’t a date, just that his mother wanted him to get some more opportunities to practic his English.

Despite all that she really enjoys life in Korea. This past week she has gone to 노래방, made 김밥, had 산낙지 and 개불, and taken a tour on a sailboat. I think she is doing so many things that she doesn’t have much time to fill us in on everything.

I am going to try to get Stephanie to post about her trip experiences. Here are some of her thoughts about teaching English in Korea: 

So, after I got out of the hospital (the surgery went great, actually, the IV hurt more than the surgery itself) I went back to teaching little kids at the elementary school. They all stared at me like I belonged in a zoo and when I spoke korean they looked at me as if I was like a talking zoo exhibit. They all find it rather amazing that I understand anything at all. It’s really different how they all go “우와” when i say something in Korean. When our exchange students speak English, no one here (in America) is really that amazed at their “wonderous ability” to say hi and where’s the bathroom and I’m hungry.
 
So I had my first “class” with “John” who is 10, I think, and “Shell”, two students that I tutor. I had Shell, who is 8, change her name to Shelby because I explained to her that Shell might be a little weird. I could see how a name like Shell would be pretty in Korean, like 나비 or something but I have a Hmung friend whose name is Honey and her sister’s name is Butterfly and her other sister’s name is Angel (which is a normal name, but next to her sibling’s it’s kinda weird), and when you hear your teacher call someone ‘Honey’ it’s a lttle weird. So there was my American culture lesson. I also gave them some vocab words including ‘weird’ and ‘cool’ and ‘kind of’, because since those are the words I pretty much say the most, I thought it would be important for them to know.
 
Halfway through the lesson, this moped man came in (helmet and all) and delivered 김밥 and ramen. It was like exactly how the delivery guys in 궁  looked like!! I thought it was just some random thing incorporated into the drama… “Anywho” that’s pretty much the only cool thing that happened during my lesson. I also taught a few other people and sat in with some lessons that my aunt taught. What I noticed most among the kids was that they were all super shy. Like, they would say stuff but they would either whisper it loudly or whisper it in my aunt’s ear. What one of my students did was stare at the table while he was talking to me, and I thought that was weird too. I noticed that the kids who are not shy usually learn the best, or are better at English, maybe because they get more practice, or I never hear the full capabilities of the shy ones. My first lesson with the kids is usally just a “don’t be shy, lets just chat” lesson.

So, that is all for now!

Stephanie has been in Korea about a week and a half now. Before she left she dislocated her knee. It popped back in but left behind a lot of swelling and a loss of function. She didn’t appear to have torn any ligaments and x-rays didn’t show anything other than the obvious soft tissue swelling. Her pain was decreasing as her range of motion was increasing up until she left and we all felt comfortable sending her.

One of the sponsors for the school where she is teaching is a medical doctor who is the owner of a local private hospital/clinic. We sent her to the clinic for an MRI to rule out any significant internal derangement of her knee. Stephanie called us and asked why they were doing blood work and more x-rays at the same time. We just reassured her and told her to not argue…

The next day the head of the clinic spoke with us regarding the MRI findings. He said that it didn’t show much more than the x-rays but that there was some cartilage that was loose in the joint capsule and he recommended surgery to clean it up. In fact, he was prepared to operate in two hours!

Stephanie was stressed out about surgery but was reassured when they gave her the option of a local anesthetic. She consented when they told her that yes, she could video tape the operation if she wanted. (As it was, the surgeon emailed us about 50 photos from the arthroscopic procedure.) The surgeon said that the surgery would only take about 20 minutes; it took 40. He also said that she only be staying over night and would be walking around the next day.

As it turned out, she spent the next four days in the hospital, two days letting the knee drain and two more concentrating on rehab. She loved it! I know, you’re thinking, “What? How could she love it? She was stuck in a hospital for five days!” Yes, but she was treated like a queen. She was probably the most popular patient there. She had t.v. (of course) internet (만원 for her stay) and one roommate.

She got out of the hospital today (퇴원) and will get right back into the routine that she never got into in the first place. So far it has been an adventure for her (and her parents..).