Korea: Homestay

The best way to get to know a culture is through interacting with the locals. I did this in Romania, Malaysia, and South Africa, and now in Korea and Japan as well. A couple weeks ago I went on a homestay with a Korean family here in Seoul. The family consisted of a mother, father, daughter, and son. They were really nice and welcoming, and very interested in America and improving their English.

I arrived on Friday night, and first thing was dinner. It was just the mom, daughter, and myself as the father was at work and the son was at a sports activity. The mom made 불고기 (bulgogi) which is thinly sliced beef marinated in a secret Korean marinade (I suppose I could just google it, but why ruin the illusion?). Anyways, bulgogi is really really delicious (almost as good as 만두, mandu!).

Meals in Korea are often served communal family style. As in, all of the food is served on the table and everyone eats directly out of the dishes the food is served in. There are some exceptions; generally rice is served in portions or meals with rice (like 비빔밥, bibimbap, rice topped with veggies, meat, egg, and chili sauce). What I found interesting, though, is that even drinks were communal. I guess it’s a way of not being wasteful.

After that we just relaxed for a while until it was time to go to bed.

The next day was children’s day. We started with a family breakfast. Everyone was there, the mom, dad, daughter, son, and myself. Breakfast was half Korean, half American. Going with the not wasting theme, the left over bulgogi made another appearance along with rice and other typical Korean dishes, croissants, cheese, and jam (I happily had some American and some Korean food for breakfast)

Cultural note: Asian cultures don’t differentiate between meals the way Western cultures do. It is completely normal to find savory dishes like rice, noodles, or bulgogi at breakfast. Rice is typically served with every meal. I have found this to be true in 3 Asian countries now.

After breakfast we went to the Seoul Museum of History. There were games set up outside and special shows inside in honors of Children’s Day.

The son trying  his luck at ring toss, he makes it, too!

Kids running through the fountain at the Seoul History Museum on Children's
Day, with a moon bounce set up in the background. Oh to be a kid again!

After the museum we made our way towards the city hall area for lunch and a stroll along the river. Currently there is an even called Hi Seoul going on which is a big internaitonal event in connection with the World’s Fair. As such, there was an international fair near the river that day. I got to see the booths of some of my favorite countries, but couldn’t find the US booth.

The Paraguay booth at the Hi Seoul Festival, 5/5/2012

<3 Malaysia!

Outside the South African booth at the Hi Seoul Festival, 5/5/2012

Boerewors, yummm! (But it made me miss SA!)

Ach! Dis 'n faantastiese braai! (This is a fantastic braai) (A braai is a South
African barbeque)

Seoul is a really beautiful city. For such a metropolis, there is a lot of greenery. Down by the rivers this is especially true.

Balloons over the river to make it festive for Children's Day and Hi Seoul

I think he is famous?

The daughter and son looking at the decorations

The son leaves a message on one of the mirrors along the
wall of the river.

The shadow cast by the decorations over the river

A tiger head poking out from under the bridge

So beautiful, and right in the heart of the city!

Under one of the bridges that crosses the river

The whole family!

We walked along for a while and then got on the subway to head to the father’s parents house to celebrate Mother’s Day which was the following week. The whole family was there: the grandmother, grandfather, dad, mom, dad’s 2 sisters, their husbands, and I believe brother, and a whole bunch of grandchildren. It felt like Sundays back home with my own family!

As is traditional in Korea, we sat on the floor. One of the aunts cut up watermelon. She gave me two slices. Then, as Koreans will do, as soon as I started eating my second slice gave me two more. It is a matter of honor. You continue to be fed until you stop eating. This was one of those cultural things I had to get used to. If you want to stop eating you must leave food in your bowl or on your plate, otherwise it just keeps coming. Also, it is rude to turn down food or drink, so  if you finish and are offered more you have to take it.

Anyways, then the children got out a Korean board game, Yut. Each person or team has four tokens to move around the board. The board is a 6 x 6 square, with X through the middle. The diagonals are 7 spots each. If you land exactly at an intersection (a corner of the very middle of the board) you can take a short cut. Four Yut sticks are used to determine how far you move on your turn. The sticks are split so that there is one flat side and three rounded sides. The sticks are flipped in the air and the number of flat sides up determines how many spaces you move. The first person to clear all of their tokens off the board wins. 

That’s a simplified explanation.

After the game we all put our shoes on (shoes off as you enter a Korean/East Asian home; don’t forget to bring slippers if you visit!) and went to dinner.

We had meat that is cooked at the table, lots of panchan (Korean side dishes that are never ending), and, for those still hungry at the end, naengmyeong. I was too full for naengmyeong.

On the way back to the house after dinner the mom asked me what my favorite Korean food was. I, naturally, answered 만두 (mandu, Korean style dumplings). She smiled and then pulled out a package of mandu from the bag she was holding. I returned her smile as she said they were for breakfast the next day.

I went to bed happy and exhausted after a long day of eating and walking outside.

My third and final day I woke up to a mound of mandu for breakfast. There were two types: 물만두(mul mandu, steamed dumplings) and 감치군만두 (kimchi kun mandu, fried mandu filled with kimchi). Both were absolutely delicious (says the girl obsessed with mandu).

Then the mom’s little nieces joined us for a trip to watch the royal procession. It used to be for when a king passed away, but now it is cermonial. There were a lot of people there, so I would like to go back to get a better look, but I enjoyed watching the procession anyways.

The royal procession goes on for quite a while, this is just a selection of the
pictures I took that day!

Not sure what it is, but it seems important....

It should be noted that I once spent 2 weeks in Romania trying to get a picture
of a horse drawn carriage but never succeeded. Ever since it has been one of
easiest things to do.

He must be important...he gets carried (rolled) along

We walked around a little bit after the procession before heading back to the house for a 라먄 (ramyan, ramen) and 김밥 (kimbap, Korean sushi) lunch and board games. One of the older nieces was there at this point (about my age) and we played a version of kerplunk (the game with marbles and sticks that you try not letting the marbles fall) except with hanging monkeys instead of marbles. We got pretty good at transferring the monkeys so only the last person ended up with any.

Kimbab and Ramen lunch, yumm!

Trainer Minnie Mouse chopsticks!

To finish off my homestay we had more mandu for dinner (two meals of mandu, such a good day!), as well as eggs and salted ham (essentially spam, but I feel like it was different?). It was like breakfast for dinner, which pleased me very much.

Pokemon in Korea? I think yes!

Breakfast for dinner

With mounds of mandu :)

It was then time for me to go. The whole experience was wonderful. I liked seeing the way a Korean family operates from the inside. I think what will stay with me the most is the meal time experience. There is so much of Korean culture (and many other cultures) that revolves around the way meals are eaten. Particularly in Korea is the communal family style. The community focus is everywehere in Korean culture, so it is only fitting that it extends to meal time as well.

Well, I’ve now said a lot, so I’ll leave off here. Thanks for reading!