The First and Final Bite in Korea

It’s hard to believe but today is my last day in Korea. I feel a mix of nostalgia and excitement as I pass the final hours of my Korean sojourn and anticipate the upcoming five month travel adventure I'm going to start tomorrow.

I have lived here for three years. Living in another country is one of the best and most rewarding things I’ve done, however, it’s not without its challenges. Obviously, the biggest challenge is the language barrier, but you don’t realize, or at least I didn’t, how much it would affect daily life. I remember one of the first Korean meals my partner Andrew and I had was a total shot in the dark, well, more of a random point at the menu. It was our first week in Korea and we got some advice about Korea in general, and food specifically, from some friendly foreigners at the local bar. They said go to “orange” restaurants. Orange restaurants? Yeah, the ones with the orange signs. Ooohhh. 

Kimbap Chunguk

Orange restaurants like KJM Pasa or Kimbap Chunguk are known for their cheap and delicious Korean meals. The next day, we decided to eat at one. Since our Korean was rudimentary we nervously gazed at the menu.  Puzzled by the simple but unknown characters on it we pulled out our Lonely Planet guidebook and tried matching up the characters to the ones we found in the food section. Eventually our drive gave way to our hunger. We quit trying to figure out the characters and simply pointed at two dishes that seemed reasonably priced and had a lot of words. More words equals more food, right?!

The anticipation grew as I imagined what dishes the server would bring out. She plopped down two plates of food and some banchan, sides dishes of pickled radish and kimchi. Andrew’s dish was ojinguh,  spicy squid stir-fry, a heaping pile of noodles with squiggly tentacles tossed in red paste.  This red paste was gochujang,  a fermented red chili pepper paste that had a prickly heat with a sweet and tangy taste. A small bite of this dish awakened my tongue. We probably wouldn’t have ordered this dish had we known the English translation. So it was nice to have the first of many food adventures in Korea. 

Donggasuh

 My plate had different sections. The small slots were filled with cubed radish, a creamy corn salad, and kimchi. The main dish was donggasuh, a deep fried pork cutlet with a sweet gravy sauce on top. It wasn’t love at first bite. The flavours were familiar yet strange. The crisp and soggy texture of the fried pork and gravy was odd at first, but I gradually enjoyed it. 

My finger pointing days are over, at least in Korea.  I can order food, side dishes and drinks with ease. In this respect, the language barrier has been overcome and I feel comfortable. However, there were many aspects of daily life were I had to rely on my little Korean, a lot of English and the kindness and patience of Koreans with the foreigners living in their country!