Showing posts with label manners and customs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label manners and customs. Show all posts

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Thursday, April 19, 2012 - No comments

The Guide to Dealing with Older Koreans

The "right" way to serve soju.
Sometimes, after dealing with very open and energetic children all day, I forget to consider the finer points of maintaining relationship harmony with my Korean friends.  There are some good articles out there related to the inner workings of the Korean social structure, but the article at Korea 4 Expats.com brings it all down to Earth.

After learning about kibun, nunchi, and inhwa, I can see where I've made more than a few missteps in the past!

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Sunday, April 15, 2012 - , No comments

Family Style Dinners

Yesterday, I was invited to eat dinner with some students from my adult class.  They are a fun group and I enjoy spending time with them.



We went to a very good Italian restaurant.  Everything was delicious and for the first time I was happy that we ate family style.  Normally, I despise family style eating because it takes so long to order and I can't handle the spicy dishes that other people will invariably order.  :-)

This restaurant was really great.  Every dish was delicious and the place reminded me of a restaurant in my hometown!  Very nice!


Later on, we visited a traditional themed pub.  They served up some delicious makgeolli and dongdongju.   

Traditional Korean farm tools
Traditional Korean shoes

Traditional Korean popcorn popper.
I got a quick history lesson too.  This place was designed to look like a pub from the early 1950's.  My guess was a few decades off! ^^ This country has changed A LOT in such a short time!

The location address at the bottom is for the traditional bar: 깡촌 (Gang Chon) - 2nd floor

With You Italian Restaurant is east of Gojan 2001 Outlet, just on the other side of the alley that splits the Outlet building in half.

Location: South Korea, Gyeonggi-do, Ansan-si, Sangnok-gu, I-dong, 715-3

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Friday, April 13, 2012

Friday, April 13, 2012 - ,,,, No comments

Some Like It Hot

Tonight, I had dinner with two co-workers. One of them ordered a particularly spicy version of a dish called 추어탕 (Chua Tang).  It is a soup made from a special type of loach fish.

Koreans will tell you that spicy food makes their body feel good, in spite of having the appearance of being tortured.

First, the glasses came off. Then came the sweat. After wiping his brow, he revealed streaming tears. Then came the groaning. It was entertaining to watch from the other side of the table, but I don't get it at all. ^^ 

Scene of the crime: 화정추어탕.

Location: South Korea, Gyeonggi-do, Ansan-si, Danwon-gu, Seonbu 3(sam)-dong, 307-3
Friday, April 13, 2012 - , No comments

Ready, Set ... hang on!!

During today's activities, I noticed that saying "Ready, Set, Go!" wasn't working. Most kids were starting before I could say "go". I think it might be because "set" sounds like "셋", which is the number three. "One, Two, Three!" - "하나, 둘, 셋" 

It's much nicer to think that they've been psychologically programmed to burst into action upon hearing the word 셋 than it is to accept that they just don't listen to me. ^^


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