I'm Korean, AMA

[NightsIn]

I'm a Korean mum of one. I used to live in the UK for two years.

If you have any questions about culture, life, coronavirus, education, politics, language, child rearing, food or amything else in Korea, let me know!

(I'm not really up to date with the latest music/dramas, so might not be able to answer much about that but I can try!!)

I apologize if this has been addressed, I have not rtwt (& I’m very sleepy). I love Korean food and am vegetarian. Are there many vegetarians in Korea? We have Korean groceries where I live so I make my own Korean food but imagine that Korean restaurants might have mostly meat dishes?

"Is there a way to stop the anchovy stock tasting bitter? Are you supposed to remove the heads from the dried anchovies or something? The ones I bought in the Korean grocers are about 4-5 cm long, so probably quite a bit of grotty stuff in the heads & bowels."

Oh definitely remove the guts if you haven't, that is just essential. Head is ok, but some remove it. Or just ask the shop owner if they have some prepared ones, Korean people love to help make good food.

"Do Koreans generally have a good sense of humour and is it valued/viewed as a positive thing?"

I think people are more serious than in the UK. If you make jokes all the time, people might start thinking you aren't really a serious person.

But of course we love to laugh and have fun.

Good things in the UK: Beautiful old buildings, we don't have many here since the war.

Going to the pub, that was really unique

People starting conversations everywhere, at the bus stop, in a taxi, at the pub, neighbours. So weird in the beginning, but I miss that now.

Speaking freely to people, even the older people. My classmates would argue with the professor. So shocking to me but so cool.

Bad things: sorry but racism. Of course it happens here too but I never experienced it. It was so hard some days to leave the house because I knew someone would make a stupid joke about my eyes or eating dog or something.

Transport. Koreans would never accept this terrible lateness and cancelled trains. And so expensive. I can go from one side of Seoul to the other side for one pound, very fast, never late.

Some stuff is so expensive, housing, bills, transport, restaurants. But other stuff was cheap like supermarkets, clothes.

"Are you a good cook? If so please could I have a jigae recipe that is hot but not sweet."

Am I a good cook? No but I can cook. I don't really have a recipe but maybe you could try 매운탕, mae un tang. It is spicy. Most Korean soup isn't sweet.

"Are you gosu at Starcraft?"

?????

" I love Korean food and am vegetarian. Are there many vegetarians in Korea? We have Korean groceries where I live so I make my own Korean food but imagine that Korean restaurants might have mostly meat dishes?"

We don't have many vegetarian unless they are monk. Some side dish are vegetarian but most things have anchovie in the sauce. It is hard to be strict vegetarian.

Thanks for answering all my questions so patiently NightsIn, especially the tip about gutting the anchovies. I will have another attempt at the stock and seaweed soup. Also, I suspect I’m not using enough oil to cook my jeon. Thanks!

I thought of another question. Quite a bit is made in dramas of people dropping their regional accents and learning the Seoul dialect/accent, sometimes lapsing into dialect when they are drunk. I also read that a high proportion of the population (maybe as high as 50%) live in the greater Seoul area. What are attitudes like to people from other regions who come to live and work in Seoul? How are the other regions viewed? Are there regional sterotypes like in the UK?

My DH was brought up in New Malden. Do you know how/why it became such a Korean centre in the UK?

"Quite a bit is made in dramas of people dropping their regional accents and learning the Seoul dialect/accent, sometimes lapsing into dialect when they are drunk. I also read that a high proportion of the population (maybe as high as 50%) live in the greater Seoul area. What are attitudes like to people from other regions who come to live and work in Seoul? How are the other regions viewed? Are there regional sterotypes like in the UK?"

I don't know if people try to drop their accent or if it just happens.

Very normal to try to move to Seoul, no one thinks that is strange or odd. It is whatever everyonr tries to do. 50% of population living in metropolitan area (Seoul/Gyeonggi)

Stereotypes of different regions

Busan: angry, drive fast, guys are macho (sangnamja)

Daegu: conservative, women are beautiful

Chungcheongdo: speak and move slowly, countryside people

Gangwondo: a little isolated but friendly

Jeolla: leftwing and little angry

Seoul/gyeonggi: city types/fashionable. Inside Seoul there are are also stereotypes eg Gangnam is wealthy/everyone gets plastic surgery, Mokdong obsessed with education, Hongdae has hippy atmosphere and some others

"My DH was brought up in New Malden. Do you know how/why it became such a Korean centre in the UK?"

I think the embassy was there. That's what I was told.

it is interesting you talk about Korea whereas I always think South Korea or North Korea

@NightsIn

"Quite a bit is made in dramas of people dropping their regional accents and learning the Seoul dialect/accent, sometimes lapsing into dialect when they are drunk. I also read that a high proportion of the population (maybe as high as 50%) live in the greater Seoul area. What are attitudes like to people from other regions who come to live and work in Seoul? How are the other regions viewed? Are there regional sterotypes like in the UK?"

I don't know if people try to drop their accent or if it just happens.

Very normal to try to move to Seoul, no one thinks that is strange or odd. It is whatever everyonr tries to do. 50% of population living in metropolitan area (Seoul/Gyeonggi)

Stereotypes of different regions

Busan: angry, drive fast, guys are macho (sangnamja)

Daegu: conservative, women are beautiful

Chungcheongdo: speak and move slowly, countryside people

Gangwondo: a little isolated but friendly

Jeolla: leftwing and little angry

Seoul/gyeonggi: city types/fashionable. Inside Seoul there are are also stereotypes eg Gangnam is wealthy/everyone gets plastic surgery, Mokdong obsessed with education, Hongdae has hippy atmosphere and some others

Thank you again NightsIn. I’m loving this thread so much. Your post makes Busan men sound like the Italians of SK (European national stereotyping).

"it is interesting you talk about Korea whereas I always think South Korea or North Korea"

I don't think of my country as South Korea. To me, it is Korea. If we suddenly call it South Korea in Korean, people would find it weird.

It is only called Korea or the Republic of Korea in Korean, only South Korea if we need to make clear we don't mean north.

People asked me so many times where do you come from? I say Korea, they say north or south. To us, sorry but that is like asking an American if they mean they come from south America. It is pretty obvious to us we mean south but maybe not to others.

"Thank you again NightsIn. I’m loving this thread so much. smile Your post makes Busan men sound like the Italians of SK (European national stereotyping)."

We don't think of Italian men as macho. Maybe more like Russian or Mongolian?

In the UK, Spain and Italy are perceived to be more macho societies but I guess it is all relative on a global scale.

Talking of North Korea, a colleague told me about a conversation with some family friends from South Korea which was that South Koreans were fearful of reunification with the North. This was based on fears about the impact on SK’s now hugely successful economy, that addressing the poverty and lack of infrastructure investment in the north had the potential to drag SK down with it. There were similar fears in Europe when East & West Germany reunified. Is this something which is discussed?

"Talking of North Korea, a colleague told me about a conversation with some family friends from South Korea which was that South Koreans were fearful of reunification with the North. This was based on fears about the impact on SK’s now hugely successful economy, that addressing the poverty and lack of infrastructure investment in the north had the potential to drag SK down with it. There were similar fears in Europe when East & West Germany reunified. Is this something which is discussed?"

This is the main reason many don't want it. Even though my husband and I support it, we worry about this too. It is very competitive to get a job/university place in Korea and people worry about it getting more competitive.

Thank you for answering my question. I’m so sorry you experienced racism in the UK. How has the Black Lives Matter movement been received in South Korea? Do people feel it’s relevant in Asia?

*I don't think of my country as South Korea. To me, it is Korea. If we suddenly call it South Korea in Korean, people would find it weird.

It is only called Korea or the Republic of Korea in Korean, only South Korea if we need to make clear we don't mean north.

People asked me so many times where do you come from? I say Korea, they say north or south. To us, sorry but that is like asking an American if they mean they come from south America. It is pretty obvious to us we mean south but maybe not to others.*
I'm Irish and it's the same for us, it's Ireland and Northern Ireland. We'd never call it the Republic of Ireland unless we needed to be that specific, and absolutely never Southern Ireland.

"How has the Black Lives Matter movement been received in South Korea? Do people feel it’s relevant in Asia?"

People are really shocked that the police can shoot people like that. It's shocking to us. There is racism here but not violence like that. I can't speak for the rest of Asia but we don't have many black people here so maybe it doesn't seem relevant.

"I'm Irish and it's the same for us, it's Ireland and Northern Ireland. We'd never call it the Republic of Ireland unless we needed to be that specific, and absolutely never Southern Ireland."

Exactly. We say Korea and North Korea. They say Joseon and South Joseon (Joseon is the old name for Korea).

@NightsIn

"How has the Black Lives Matter movement been received in South Korea? Do people feel it’s relevant in Asia?"

People are really shocked that the police can shoot people like that. It's shocking to us. There is racism here but not violence like that. I can't speak for the rest of Asia but we don't have many black people here so maybe it doesn't seem relevant.

Is Busan more mixed than Seoul? It’s the only time I’ve seen more ethnic diversity, especially black people, in crowd scenes.

"Is Busan more mixed than Seoul? It’s the only time I’ve seen more ethnic diversity, especially black people, in crowd scenes."

Is it? I've never noticed that. I guess more mixed in Seoul, since we have army bases here.

Actually, I should qualify that by saying the touristy bits of Seoul look quite mixed.