Good news: the ongoing rain has stopped. Bad news: it's hot as hell. Oh dear god it's hot.
My skin feels like it's burning out in the sun.
But that's not the point of this entry; my brother and I went out to Gangnam to have dinner with our two cousins (from my dad's side).
For those who do not know, Gangnam is basically one of the richest sectors in Seoul, making it one of the richest sector in all of South Korea.
Gangnam is the area for the rich and privileged, and it shows; the streets were big, the buildings were expensive and shiny, the abundance of flourescent lights blinded out the dark night, and even the signs on the subway station were big and fancy and new (and even written in BIG BOLD ENGLISH)
Even the people looked a little different there; men were more fashionable, women were pretty and slim (and fashionable), and there were a much higher white person percentage than other parts of Seoul and its suburbs I've been thus far.
Dinner with the cousins went pretty well. We went to a meat place, and among the five of us we shared ten portions of pork, along with soju and beer. It was very much a meat-intense dinner. I think I've increased my alcohol tolerance a bit by drinking two glasses of beer-soju mix shot and not collapsing to the ground (my brother drank eight and was still alive, amazingly.)
Afterwards, we stopped by a nearby bakery chain and ordered shaved ice to wake up a little from the alcohol, and chatted some more.
It was pretty nice chatting with them - the age gap truly does not matter once you hit your late teens or enter into your twenties.
It's also scary thinking how much time had passed - it really seems like yesterday since my brother and I were in elementary school playing with the younger cousins during the holidays while the older ones talked about college and part-time work, being all old and important. THE TIME. WHERE IS IT GOING.
And it was when my brother and I were teetering down the street, still a bit tipsy from the alcohol, moving among hundreds of young souls in the middle of Gangnam that I thought, you know, this is what other
Day 16
Today, I translated for a family from Norway.
The family had adopted three children, and they were going to meet each of their foster mothers. Although there were complications with the logistics (accidents, time delays, one foster mother unable to be reached, etc), the translation process went smoothly enough and everyone seemed reasonably satisfied.
The family gave each foster mother a photo album compiled with photos from Norway, and man, Norway looks beautiful. The photos of the mountains and lakes make instant postcard material. Put Norway on the list of places to visit before I die.
Around noon, the family and one of the foster mothers went to a nearby restaurant (as instructed by Holt) for lunch. It was apparently the restuarant where many foreigners who had business with the adoption center stopped by to eat.
Usually I have not experienced unpleasantry in terms of service in Korea - there may have been slightly unsatisfactory instances or culturally different, but none of them have been reprehensible. However, I cannot say the same for this restaurant; their excuse of "cultural tolerance" is slightly disparaging and even kind of offensive if you think about it.
When we sat down at the table, we found that the menu was entirely in Korean. Since there were a number of items, I pondered on how to translate and explain the food to the family. The restaurant staff urged me to make a decision quickly.
"But the menu is in Korean, I should at least ask what they want and then order-"
"The foreigners don't like the other stuff since it's spicy. Just order pork ribs and get it over with, they usually eat that," they said.
Jeez, what if people want to try new things? Some people might not like meat all that much. I translate, explain, and summarize the menu, and the family decided upon their own choice that they wanted pork ribs.
Usually, an order of meat is accompanied with a (free) bowl of rice. However, when we got our meat order, only the Norwegian family got rice while the foster mother and I had none.
"Um, there are two bowls of rice missing," I said.
"I know, I gave the foreigners rice and the two of you will get Naengmyeon as a side. The foreigners don't really like Naengmyeon, but you two are Koreans, so you're okay with that, right?"
Pictured above: cultural segregation?
I'm Korean, and actually, I'm not too crazy about Naengmyeon. Furthermore, I was not in the mood to have an entire bowl of noodles on top of meat, at all. I try to get a bowl of rice again.
"You'll get naengmyeon," a curt reply came back.
The foster mother was fine with having naengmyeon, but I wasn't; I declined my order and just ended up having pork and vegetables, no carbohydrates.
It may be lunchtime, it may be busy, it may be hot and annoying. But somehow I don't think that warrants them to just assume everything and try to decide dishes for people without asking.
Besides, isn't it awfully presumptuous to think "If you're Korean you'll eat this", "If you're not Korean, you'll avoid this and eat this instead"? Okay, maybe affluent white people aren't used to spicy food compared to Koreans in general. Maybe they like eating pork ribs over everything else in general. That doesn't mean everyone does.
Additional thoughts, comments, and everything else thus far:
Napkin tissues in Korean restaurants are thin, almost like toilet paper. Somehow I have a feeling that this is derived from the fact that in the past (when the concept of napkin tissues were novel and you just needed to wipe stuff up), people did use toilet paper, which was a point of culture shock (and horror) to many foreigners. At least they have seperate (albeit thin) tissue for napkin use now?
Department store employees in Korea are well-trained; perhaps up to a creepy point. Especially in cosmetic stores, the staff follow you around and watch your every move, ready to recommend this and that, which unnerves me. I want to look around without people looking over my shoulder! Aaaaah please leave me alone.
I've said this before, but I can't help but realize how heteronormative Korean society is. Advertisements for wedding halls talk about celebration for brides and grooms, women learn makeup skills to "capture the hearts of men", men are obviously thought to be simple creatures who only think about girls, girls, girls (and sex). Yes, they are media portrayals, and yes, other places in the world do this too, but I'm just pointing out observations here. I think I might have gotten too used to the "Political correctedness ASSUME NOTHING" atmosphere of U S of A (I know not all of USA is like this, but still) but then again, Korea isn't that much of an ethnic (or cultural) hodgepodge. Still...
The way Korean society as a whole label ethnic Korean foreigners is an issue I am most curious about, and one that Korean people discuss a lot as well. By large, it seems a tad hypocritical; when they've done something great (sports stars, political stars, entertainers who made it big, etc), they're quick to call them "ONE OF US" and pride on the prowess of Koreans and expect the celebrities to touch upon their Korean ancestry, even though they're not Korean citizens anymore. On the other hand, there are people who are all too quick to shun ethnic Korean foreigners as "others" who can never be Koreans, because the foreign citizens (or their parents) are "traitors" who left the country to live the good life on the land of milk and honey (usually White People Land such as Europe or USA/Canada), and would never know all the plight and suffering and triumph of the Koreans and can never truly be Korean. It's not as bad as it was in the past, but the remnants of "us vs. them" and "one of us when it suits us" business is still there. My personal opinion is that "they are not one of us unless they want to be", but it seems that this is not as evident as it seems. The criticism towards this weird inclusion/exclusion game is something Koreans themselves are aware of and often criticize, but it never ceases to frustrate me whenever it happens. Leave them alone if they don't consider themselves Koreans, and don't shoo away those who actually want to be Koreans.
On a similar note, I know it is awfully presumptuous and extremely hypocritical of me, but I just cannot help but do a double take whenever I come across the occasional white guy/Korean girl pair when I'm in Korea. I've never judged any of them in the States, but I am actively trying to stop myself from judging them halfway across the world. Perhaps it's the geographical context: most Koreans living in Korea aren't all that excellent in English, most white people in Korea are usually English teachers or American GI's, and while there are good, respectable English teachers and GI's out there, there are indeed a good number of "ethnocentric pothead fucktards" around to give every other white person a bad name. Additionally, even with globalization and all, the social circles of the two groups are not likely to coincide with each other unless the Korean party is rich and privileged. Given all that, I can't help but assume and become judgemental, which bugs the hell out of me.
To lighten up the mood, Korean bakeries are awesome and they have pretty cake designs and tasty menus and interesting concoctions of Western pastry. Watch me melt into a puddle of glee whenever I go in one of them.
I like all the cute and fluffy things Korea has to offer. Everyone in the world needs more cute and fluffy things.
