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10 things I love/hate about you Korea no.2

Posted in food, Korea, Uncategorized with tags disappointment, food, health, humor, Korea, salt on August 5, 2018 by jengrabesculpture

Dang it Korea, I come from North America where no table setting is complete without salt and pepper shakers. I hate it that I go into a Korean restaurant and there are no salt and pepper shakers. I really want something salty. I don’t care for sweet food all the time. It seems that most of the food in Korea is on the sweet or bitter and fermented side. Salt is apparantly a no-no here. Now here is the conundrum, if you go into any local Korean market you can find any kind of salt you want. There are so many kinds of salt up to and including bamboo salt, natural salt, rock salt, crushed salt, pink salt and the list goes on….Why don’t they put some of that lovely stuff on the tables? I don’t know why. Apparantly it is used in Kimchi making. So there is an extensive market for salt in the use of Kimchi. If you buy Korean made Lays brand chips they are on the sweet side. Those of us who appreciate American made salty chips end up spitting out the K (Korean) brand. They have honey butter chips that are super popular. However good luck finding good old Sour Cream and Onion, Chedder and Sour Cream, Salt and Vinegar, and My personal favorite Dill Pickle. Only the International markets or Costco carry them. So…

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thank you Korea for keeping my salt intake at a minimum, I love you for being super health conscious, but I hate you for forcing me to do it at the expense of my need for savory chips!

10 things I love/hate about you Korea! No. 1

Posted in beauty, Korea, life, mind & spirit, Uncategorized with tags beauty, Korea, life, mind, spirit on July 31, 2018 by jengrabesculpture

Now that I am coming to the end of my gap year that has been extended (to include another year plus 6 months)….

I am deeply reflecting on the time I have been here. I was so excited and fresh faced when I stepped off the plane on April 17, 2016. After a week of Jet Lag, training, sharing an apartment with 6 other people literally crammed into our 3 BR apt with beds jammed up next to each other….it was quite a culture shock. After a while I began to see that this would become the new normal. People everywhere, sharing spaces, small spaces with even smaller dimensions. There seemed to be no apparant rules to movement on the side walk, no following the rules of walking on the left passing on the right. I can’t tell you how many times someone stopped literally right in front of me to talk on their phone. Hey how about pulling over to the right or left? No. No such courtesy rule exists here. People who are used to it just flow around the obstacle like water.

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The architecture and beauty became my saving grace. I began to love ‘the Land of the Morning Calm”. I am sure it was like that at one time. In the city the last word I would use to describe Seoul is ‘calm’. If I could step back in time before the hustle bustle, the industrial growth and all that is South Korea now, I maybe could experience the calm. In the country exists a quiet and calm. One time I was in Yangpyeong it was truly restful and calm. The journey has been an interesting one. This is my first trip across the ocean outside of my native North America.

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