Kimchi Mamas

"Kimchi Chronicles" on PBS

Marja Vongerichten, wife of three-star Michelin chef Jean-George Vongerichten, has created a series that seems tailor-made for us Kimchi Mamas.  Part travelogue, part documentary of self-discovery, part cooking show, "Kimchi Chronicles" takes the Vongerichtens around Korea, highlighting all the different dishes and culinary traditions, then interpreting them for the home kitchen with the help of...Hugh Jackman.  Here is a clip of Marja introducing the rest of the gang to what looks like 육개장 (yukgaejang).

An extra-long preview of the series can be seen on the New York Times site.  There, you will be bombarded with image after image of HD deliciousness...I can't watch it without drooling!

Marja will also be publishing a cookbook in August, and it's already up for preorders on Amazon.  Just think about it: authentic Korean recipes adapted for the western home kitchen, written in English, from a Michelin-star family...I can't wait to get my hands on it!  Here are some pics:

The show will make its nationwide debut in July, but it is currently running in New York (you lucky bums).  If you have seen it, please let us know what you thought below!  How's the cinematography?  Does it accurately portray Korea and Koreans?  How much does Marja's personal life story come into play?  Is it  food porn, and/or Hugh porn?  Enquiring minds would like to know!

--Julie

PS: Later this summer when they are released, we will be giving away DVD sets of the series as well as the cookbook, so stay tuned!!!

PPS: All throughout writing this, I kept misspelling "Hugh Jackman" as "Huge Jackman."  Freudian much?

PPPS: Man...I am HUNGRY.

Korea's Got Talent: Sung-Bong Choi

I have a hard heart when it comes to reality television, but even I couldn't stop the tears from flowing when I watched this:

Orphaned at the age of three and left to fend for himself starting from the age of FIVE, Sung-Bong Choi sold gum and Bacchus drinks on the street to survive.  He did not attend school until high school, and during his many nights wandering alone through the city, he listened in on vocal lessons to learn how to sing.

I hesitate to call him Korea's Susan Boyle, not because of any lack of talent, but because there is too much tragedy staining the transcendence.  In his pre-performance interview, Mr. Choi stated he entered this competition so he could be normal like other people, not famous or rich or notorious.  I find that very telling of his strong character, and since he had been let down in such a profound way by his government and fellow citizenry, I hope his appearance on this show will at least cement a sure and stable future for him, never lacking in comfort or company.

--Julie

Guns in America

There is an issue in which South Korea far surpasses the USA. Guns. Gun control. Gun-related deaths. Etc.

This issue has been on my mind for a long time but Ask A Korean!'s most recent post encouraged me to write this posts.

I don't really have much to say, except for the fact that gun use in America is WAY out of control. WAY WAY WAY out of control. It pains me to know that many many deaths could be prevented simply by making it harder to own guns. Just give me hand guns, that would solve a lot of problems. Let the NRA have their hunting rifles. Change the constitution, I don't care. Just get these damn guns off the streets.

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.

Happy Chusok

This post is coming to you from the motherland where my family and I are settling in for the next two years.  It's been a bumpy beginning, but I think we're finally getting settled in and we're finding a home here.

Today we woke up to our first major Korean holiday.  There was no Easter Bunny or Santa Claus, and unlike back home, commercialism doesn't win out here.  Family does.  Everything is locked up tight as families gather together to gobble up good food and catch up with each other.  Traditionally the holiday seems to be about visiting graves of ancestors and remembering the past.  But, pragmatically it's a time when far flung family members drop whatever they are doing, wherever they are in an amazingly busy culture to come together for a few days.  Seoul is a ghost town as people travel back to villages and home towns.  I wondered if it would be a good time to travel against traffic and visit Seoul, and was told by some other Westerners that it would be a waste of time because NOTHING was open and I'd be walking around empty streets.   It's a country that doesn't shut down for a major Typhoon (they postponed start times for PRESCHOOLS by a mere two hours during the last typhoon and none at all for office workers) but for a family holiday....

The day before the Chusok holidays started (everyone gets three days off the day before and after the actual holiday, as well as the holiday itself so they can travel) there was an incredible festive mood in the air as people walked to and fro with gift bags in hand.  Workers in uniforms milled around taking long lunch breaks without doing much work.  Students got out of school early.  Housewives attacked department stores and grocery stores much like we do in the States during our Holiday season.  Here, it's customary to exchange "gift packs."  Gift packs are made up of practical (so korean) items arranged prettily in boxes.  Items could include bottles of oil, lotions, shampoo, or even S PAM!

Nothing says Happy Chusok! like a gift pack of S Pam!

We decided to not deal with ALL of Korea on the move, and opted to stay at home this year.  Instead we are getting together will a couple of other Korean American families to celebrate with a potluck dinner.  I don't think there will be any S pam though.  Kinda pricey (that's almost $30!)

Wishing you and your family a Happy Chusok from this side of the world!!!  Jooliyah

 

Understanding our parents' generation

I've always had an inkling that our Korean parents' generation suffered from post traumatic stress disorder or PTSD. (I'm in my mid thirties.) I think that would explain some of the dysfunction that I see in that generation. (I'm thinking, those who were born before, during, and after the Korean War.)

A traumatic event (albeit a very long event) in childhood coupled with having no father (many many Korean men died) coupled with societal taboo against mental illness coupled with general non-communication about one's feelings coupled with rampant addiction to alcohol did not make for good mental/emotional health.

Of course, there is the typical generation gap things and the cultural (Korean vs American) differences but I feel like there is something more... some things that just cannot be "explained" by generational or cultural differences.

Ethnicity is not important

"Simon says it's best not to invest too much of one's identity in ethnicity."

 

I am an avid listener of NPR and think that they are the best source of news, most of the time but this story was just... just... so... biased and bad.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129301982

As some of the commenters already pointed out, this story breaks the #1 rule of journalism, that the journalist be objective and have no bias. I guess journalism gets meshed with a bunch of other kinds of writing nowadays and this isn't the biggest problem I have with this article but... ANYWAY.

 

That quote up there. That pressed a button. My first thought, who the hells is HE to tell ME that it's not best to invest too much of my identity in ethnicity. DUDE. Being Korean is one of the most important things for my identity. When asked to draw a picture of "me" in a high school art class, I drew a big picture of the Korean flag as a part of the collage. Being Korean isn't THE most important part of my identity but it's certainly more important than a bunch of other things and I certainly do invest a lot of my identity, time, energy, and money into being Korean.

 

Open Thread Thursday

It's Open Thread Thursday!

What's on your mind today?

Go Korea!  The South Korean team is advancing to the Round of 16!  wha-ee-ting!

Open Thread Thursday

The sinking of the South Korean ship Choenan, the ever-flowing oil spill, Facebook's newest privacy settings, (edited to add) the upcoming World Cup games...

What's on your mind today?

- Kimchi Mamas