I have seen the North Star!
It was a strange feeling to go down to ground level and look around. Driverless cars were racing through the streets, I could only stare, and then laughed as I realised the steering wheel is on the ‘other’ side when cars drive down the ‘wrong’ side of the road!
I spent October in South Korea, with a student I had taught English to last year, her husband and family.
South Korea is 3 times smaller then New Zealand.
It is 70% mountains where no one lives.
There are 4 million people in New Zealand.
There are 50 million people in Korea!
Everything there was different. Customs, food, appearance, language, money, bathroom set-ups, homes, expectations, everything!
In almost every restaurant everyone removes their shoes at the entrance and goes to a low table. There one sits on the floor to eat using chopsticks and served only with a bowl of pink/red rice. On the table is laid about 15-25 side dishes, all different, from which people serve themselves constantly in small amounts. Amounts so small they may never get onto the rice but simply go from side dish to mouth. The proximity of a side dish does not give you possession of it so someone can skilfully pick from your circle of food the only thing on the table that you find appetising. It is not done to offer someone a plate of food they must help themselves.
I found myself in a café for breakfast one morning. I was as always the only westerner in town. They have a theory that all western people eat eggs for breakfast so along with my rice, beef, pork, veges etc I was always served an egg especially fried in my honour. My host family asked for a fork for me, and the owner proudly gave me the only fork in the restaurant, a small decorative cake fork, no problem.
During the meal the conversation flowed around me and I followed snippets of it. It was all about me to start with. I was an English teacher from New Zealand, in Korea as their guest. The café owners had a daughter who was also an English teacher and had lived in Canada and Scotland for 5 years ~ what kind of English did she pick up in Scotland!! Everyone present now became firm friends and I became a very special focus. I realised it would be appropriate to speak some Korean in response to them so I asked Peter for the Korean word for delicious to murmur to them as we left. ‘Mususeyo’ I said it over and over to myself. Monica brought me a small plastic beaker of pretend coffee, tasted ok. I stood to find my shoes and leave but as I turned around everyone in the restaurant was looking at me, silence. Clearly my opinion was called for. MUSUSEYO! I said with a smile and the tension was broken. The westerner was happy. Everyone laughed and my host family glowed.
I did it right that day!
I spent October in South Korea, with a student I had taught English to last year, her husband and family.
South Korea is 3 times smaller then New Zealand.
It is 70% mountains where no one lives.
There are 4 million people in New Zealand.
There are 50 million people in Korea!
Everything there was different. Customs, food, appearance, language, money, bathroom set-ups, homes, expectations, everything!
In almost every restaurant everyone removes their shoes at the entrance and goes to a low table. There one sits on the floor to eat using chopsticks and served only with a bowl of pink/red rice. On the table is laid about 15-25 side dishes, all different, from which people serve themselves constantly in small amounts. Amounts so small they may never get onto the rice but simply go from side dish to mouth. The proximity of a side dish does not give you possession of it so someone can skilfully pick from your circle of food the only thing on the table that you find appetising. It is not done to offer someone a plate of food they must help themselves.
I found myself in a café for breakfast one morning. I was as always the only westerner in town. They have a theory that all western people eat eggs for breakfast so along with my rice, beef, pork, veges etc I was always served an egg especially fried in my honour. My host family asked for a fork for me, and the owner proudly gave me the only fork in the restaurant, a small decorative cake fork, no problem.
During the meal the conversation flowed around me and I followed snippets of it. It was all about me to start with. I was an English teacher from New Zealand, in Korea as their guest. The café owners had a daughter who was also an English teacher and had lived in Canada and Scotland for 5 years ~ what kind of English did she pick up in Scotland!! Everyone present now became firm friends and I became a very special focus. I realised it would be appropriate to speak some Korean in response to them so I asked Peter for the Korean word for delicious to murmur to them as we left. ‘Mususeyo’ I said it over and over to myself. Monica brought me a small plastic beaker of pretend coffee, tasted ok. I stood to find my shoes and leave but as I turned around everyone in the restaurant was looking at me, silence. Clearly my opinion was called for. MUSUSEYO! I said with a smile and the tension was broken. The westerner was happy. Everyone laughed and my host family glowed.
I did it right that day!
posted by ElizabethB | 3:45 PM
1 Comments:
Love to hear more story Mum....
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