Kimchi Mamas

How Korean is your Thanksgiving?

I found myself at the Korean supermarket this week, as my youngest son has requested kalbi for his birthday and I needed to restock.  It was busy, as is to be expected at any grocery the day before Thanksgiving, but I was struck by the difference in focus.  Instead of aisles full of breadcrumbs, and piles of pumpkin pies by the door, the store was full of a different autumn fare.  The take out deli section of the store had a dish I'd never seen before--sweet potatoes in some kind of glaze, with white cream dotted on it.  What I was able to glean from the counter conversation was that this was just for Thanksgiving. 

In the picture below are some of the things I picked up.  Not necessarily for Turkey Day, but just autumn foods in general: persimmons on top, chestnuts in the middle, duk (rice noodles) on each side, and rice cakes on the bottom.  Definitely not what I grew up with back East.

It got me to wondering just how Korean the Thanksgiving meal is for Kimchi Mamas?  Chusok was back in September, and I know that is a full on Korean feast.  Is Thanksgiving more of the same?  Or is there just a bowl of kimchi on the table, next to the stuffing?

--Jomama

 

 

Open Thread Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving Kimchi Mamas!

Don't forget kimchi goes so well with turkey.

What are you thankful for today?

 

- Kimchi Mamas

NK strikes again

You've all probably heard by now.  Yesterday afternoon, approximately 2:30 in the afternoon Korea time, North Korea fired off a couple hundred rounds of artillery onto the Island of YeonPyeong.  South Korea responded with more artillery and fighter jets.  The tense exchange lasted for about an hour before things quieted down to reveal plumes of smoke and people hurt.  Later, two Korean marines died of their injuries, 15 soldiers are wounded and several more civilians who live on the island that was attacked were hurt (at least that's what's being reported on the Korean news stations here in Korea.)

On the streets where I live, you wouldn't know anything was up besides my favorite drama being cancelled last night to make way for the extra news hour.  People are talking, of course.  They are worried.  The last major aggressive act by North Korea was towards a Navy vessel.  This act was also towards a Korean Military garrison, but there were also many civilians living on that Island.  One halmoni described how she was watching TV when suddenly her wall blew in and she was covered in debris.  They didn't show that halmoni on the screen, but it made me wonder if that halmoni had been alive during the Korean War and if it had brought back memories.

In any case, I've done some initial information gathering from the natives and they tell me not to worry.  They feel like this too will pass.  That the South Korean leadership will think long and hard before they really do anything and in the end they won't because there's too much to lose.  South Koreans, at least the ones I spoke to today, seem to understand that something has got to give someday, they just aren't ready for it today.  Today they have to go to market, get their kids ready for tests, or get a special item on sale that they saw on a flyer.  They've lived in a state of WAR for so long now that it's become white noise in their life, it seems.

What do you think Kimchi Mamas?  It seems like everybody has something to say about the North and South Korea situation.  What's this nation to do?  Or maybe nothing is better?  Maybe the ajummahs I talked to this morning have the right idea.  Maybe I should have gone with them to check out the sale.

--by Jooliyah who is praying for the familys of the two South Korean Marines who gave their lives for their country yesterday.

Test Day in Korea is Serious Business

Today was TEST DAY in Korea.  Yikes.  I first suspected something yesterday.  There was an unusual amount of people out and about.  And an even more noticeable amount of ambulances screeching through the streets.  Something was up.  The American me just didn't know what.

Luckily, my mom was around to enlighten me.  She told me that today was Test Day.  Well, she told me this yesterday so she actually said "Tomorrow is THE Korea Test Day."  and she look at me.  And I looked at her.  And I had no idea what she meant.  Did it mean they were going to have a nuclear test?  Did it mean we were all going to be tested on something as one mass?  This was getting interesting.

Pepero Day - Open Thread Thursday

I just realized, it's Pepero Day. Happy Pepero Day!

It's a day when people give and receive PePeRo (the long bread-y stick snack, dipped in chocolate or other flavorings) with their loved ones. I remember getting a GIGANTIC pepero when I lived in Korea. The day always falls on November 11th.  1111... get it? Koreans are the kings and queens of corny.

It's Open Thread Thursday, what's on your mind today?

 

Individual vs Relational

I can't help but notice just the sheer number of words in Korean that have to do with your relationship to others... compared to the lack of the equivalent word in English.

Older brother can be oppa or hyung depending on if you are a girl or a boy.  Older sister can be unni or noona depending on the same.  An aunt can be emo, or gomo, or kun umma (big mom) or jack eun umma (little mom) depending on if the aunt is from your dad's side of the family or your mom's side of the family and if she is biologically related to you or if she married into the family. And this is barely barely scratching the surface of all these words!  Words that implicit in their being also have the capacity to tell you the gender of the person using the word, the gender of the person that is being referred to, the age (respective to the user) of the person that is being referred to, and also convey the amount of respect that one should have for this person.

Won Bin - still hot

So, three of us saw Man from Nowhere (ahjuhssi) last night and I was glad to see that Won Bin is hotter than ever.  The movie was quite violent... I overheard a random ajumma commenting to (who I guessed was) her daughter that it was violent.  But given my Korean movie experience (Old Boy anyone?), I kind of expected it so I was not too terribly shocked.

If I was not such an avid Won Bin fan and if I wasn't Korean, I think I probably would have thought that the movie was very corny... but since I am a huge Won Bin fan and all, I soaked up all the corny goodness and was totally balling my eyes out during every "sad" scene.  

Colorblind kids

This post about a cute Halloween story on my personal blog reminded me of a story my Mom told years ago, that illustrated beautifully how colorblind (to race) children can be.  She taught 3rd grade in a public school back East, and the area was largely Caucasian.  Our white family with 2 adopted daughters from Korea stood out.

One day when I was visiting my mother at school (I would hang out with her when my elementary school was closed on a day her district was open), we were on line in the hallway waiting to go to lunch.  A fellow teacher was walking her class past us, when one of the students grabbed her hand, pointed to me, and asked who I was.  The other teacher, Ms. F, explained that I was Mrs. C's daughter, and visiting for the day.

The astounded child responded, rather loudly, that "that girl" couldn't possibly be Mrs. C's daughter... The mortified teacher moved the class quickly out of earshot, and took the verbose child aside to have this private conversation:

OK, Johnny, I assure you "that girl" is indeed Mrs. C's daughter.  Why don't you think it could be?

Ms. F prepared to have a discussion about race and family.  Instead, this was the response Johnny gave; 

Mrs. C has a son who taught us physical education last year.  She's too OLD to have a daughter that young!

Gotta LOVE how colorblind young children can be.  Not AGE-blind, though, I guess!

It's Open Thread Thursday!  What's on your mind?

--Jomama