The First 100 Days

The title of this post is a little strange without the right context, so I'll go ahead and elaborate. This post is about babies. Specifically, what I've been able to glean about raising infants in South Korea and how it differs from the American culture.

The first 100 days of a child's life here are almost more important that the first year. Whereas a year birthday party is cause for celebration back home, here, there is significant social weight on the 100th day. A quick search of the hashtag "100days" in Korean on Instagram and you'll find baby pictures galore. But not just any pictures of cute chubby cheeked infants, but posed photos surrounded by food, flowers, and other props. There is an entire industry here around the 100-day photo, and you can rent props specifically for taking pictures in this way. Usually, the baby is positioned sitting in a highchair in the middle, with a plate of food in front, and props depending on the parent's chosen theme surrounding them. There is almost always some notation of the number 100, or a sign stating "100th day." Often this is printed on a balloon or cute calendar prop. Family brings food and sometimes a small party is held.

Recording the baby's life is very important here, as one might expect from the world's leading culture in smartphones and selfies. A friend of mine who has recently given birth, for example, pre-paid for a package deal which allows them access to a photo studio in the nearest big city where they can pose the baby for photos at the 50 day, 100 day, and 1 year mark. The package began before birth actually, with a pregnancy photo shoot. Interestingly these pictures are not generally color themed the way one might imagine a Western equivalent, with pink for girls and blue for boys. Generally the color palate is pale, with whites, tan, and pastel colors that are meant to convey innocence.

Very young infants, it seems, also rarely leave the house before the 100th day of their life, something I found very surprising. I accompanied my friend on her baby's first outing (aside from routine doctors visits) on the infant's 53rd day. When I asked about this, perfectly reasonable explanations of immunity concerns and new-mom fears were cited, though I can't imagine being the stay-at home parent during this time. In texting conversations or visits to see the baby, my friend would ask how the weather was. This sort of isolation is exacerbated by the fact that in Korea it is generally the mother who stays home, and fathers are not guaranteed any sort of leave, though allowances seem to generally be made in the week surrounding the birth. This makes for a potentially very lonely time for new mothers, and I suppose it is comforting in this case that in-laws typically live very near the new family.

While the above paragraph sounds critical of my experience with family life following birth in Korea, it really doesn't differ much from what I expect in the States, except for a perhaps the prolonged period before the mother or child leave the house. Talking with other friends who have given birth here, I cannot comment on the role of the father in family life, because the stories have varied so much. It is clear, however that the mother is the primary and often sole provider for the child's physical and emotional needs. The father, quite consistently is expected to be the bread winner. Unfortunately for him, as new baby supplies here seem extremely costly for a country where everything else I have purchased has been just a bit cheaper than in the US. In an attempt to purchase my new nephew baby clothes recently, I was completely taken aback by the cost of one outfit, and ultimately couldn't afford anything.

Perhaps my favorite baby supply that I've seen for sale are children's chopsticks. It makes it quite clear how children are chopstick-trained, as many sets have hoops attached to the chopstick at strange angles for the child to put their fingers through in order to force them to hold the utensils in a way that will work for grasping food. I'm sure that not everyone uses this style of teaching, but I loved the idea of chopstick training with these tools. As I've witnessed, most toddler use of chopsticks involves stabbing the food with one, rather than plucking it between two. It's a ridiculously cute sight.

I'm sure I'll have more comments on this as I continue to visit my friend, though I doubt it will ever merit an entire post again. So feel free to comment any questions you have and I'll check with my girlfriends here for a culturally consistent answer. I know child-rearing is one of those topics that people have strong feelings about, and can be significantly different country to country. Also, I apologize for the wall of text. To protect my friend and her baby's privacy I won't be posting pictures without her permission.

Cheers!
-K

Winter Soups

Winter is wrapping up here in Goheung and we've had temperatures in the double digits again (Celsius) yay! But over the winter, while I was away, and more so after I returned, J decided to make a project of learning Korean soups for regular meals. Korean soups have a lot in common with each other, but vary pretty dramatically in what they are paired with.

For example, almost all of our soups start with a broth made from boiled anchovies and kelp. The anchovies are purchased dried so that they keep for a long time. We have to cut off the heads and remove the guts for safety purposes but shh!... I've made several dishes in which I was too lazy to do this and we didn't die of fishy liver disease. Still, it's best to do so and when J looks over my shoulder I'm always happy to play it safe. We put the usable parts of the fish into a cheese-cloth bag with cut squares of dried kelp. Kelp, for those of you who don't know, is a thicker seaweed (not the stuff you snack on from the Asian foods aisle of the grocery store). Together these things make a pretty ocean-y tasting broth that doesn't smell too strongly of clams (my least favorite ocean smell). It's savory and very nutritious. After these ingredients have been boiled for ten minutes or so, the cheesecloth bag can be removed and thrown away and your remaining soup ingredients added.

Typical soups include 된장찌개 (do-eyn-jang  jjee-gay) which is veggie heavy, and salty with the use of  된장 paste. The paste is essentially a fermented soy paste that is a favorite for lots of recipes here. Then there is 김치 찌개 (kimchi jjee-gay) which is the same broth base with, you guessed it, kimchi, and pork, and 고추장 (go-chu-jang). 고추장 is a fermented red pepper paste that makes many Korean dishes red in color and spicy. A final favorite is 미역국 (mee-yeok-guk). This one is a little different in that it doesn't use exactly the same broth. It's mostly just the seaweed. That's because this is seaweed stew. With little other flavoring, this soup involves some garlic, beef, and fish sauce, and is served with rice like most Korean dishes. While J and I like eating this one just for it's flavor and healthiness, it is said to be a go-to dish for the sick and pregnant because of it's nutrition content. Supposedly it also helps stimulate breast milk production. A friend of mine supports this theory, as she just had a baby and has eaten the soup at least once a day for the last two months. I like the stuff, but I'm not sure I could stomach it for that long.

Soups are never eaten as the sole dish, as almost nothing is eaten without sides here. But soup specifically always comes with a helping of white rice, that, if you are very lucky has been augmented with purple rice or millet. Besides the obvious, like don't each kimchi as a side with kimchi soup, suggested sides are often fried tofu, yellow pickled radish, or 어묵 (processed fish cake slices).

This time of year isn't only soup heavy in our home. Most Koreans eat a lot of soup in the winter, as certain seafood is in season, but very little vegetable and grain are available. Though, these days green houses abound and we've been eating unexpectedly tasty strawberries all season. Actually, side note on the green houses; Here they are called 비닐 house, and if you can read that you know it would be pronounced vee-neel house... which Koreans will tell you is english. But good luck, if you speak English, recognizing that vee-neel is vinyl and vinyl-house is a green house. We've had this come up multiple times for some reason and every time the Korean looks at us sideways and tells us it's English, like obviously we should understand. Oh well. There are plenty of those weird, kind-of-English names for random objects... like "water tissue." That apparently means wet-nap...

Since I appear to be getting off topic, I think that means I'm done for this post. I highly suggest that all of you check out some Korean soup recipes. They are quite easy, aside from the obvious issue of getting Korean food products abroad.

Enjoy!
-K

Birthdays in Busan and the Winter Olympics

We're back one last week to tell you about our vacations over the winter holiday before we get on with our usual recounting of day-to-day life here in Goheung. This week I'll briefly cover two separate trips, one based out of Busan and one based out of Seoul, both with their own novel flavor.

You may recall that for J's birthday last year we came to Busan for it's international community and the promise of a mexican restaurant or two. This year we came for my birthday, but it was a very unique Korean community that drew us. Gamcheon Village is a neighborhood built into the side of the mountain in southern Busan, which is, or at least was, one of the poorest places in the city. Originally founded by the displaced refugees of the Taeguekdo religion during the Korean war, when the north had pushed frontlines as far south as Busan, the village poped up as a sort of shanty town with it's own rules and culture. The houses stacked like legos up the mountain were not allowed to block the view of any other, so that the resulting neighborhood looks like a collage. The color was only added later, during a renovation project by the city to revitalize the area and recognize the history of the community. While there are very few Taeguekdo followers left, the temple still stands at the base of the hillside, and the city has ensured that their memory is preserved in the numerous mini-museums and tourist area brochures that draw visitors year-round.

An old photo of the original village

While this is all very interesting, it does not explain why I wanted so desperately to visit for my birthday this year. Well that renovation project that I mentioned, really took a turn in 2009 when a bunch of local college art students decided to make the neighborhood their personal canvas and began painting the little lego houses bright colors, filling the streets with murals, and turning abandoned shacks into mini-museums. The resulting tourist center is an incredibly colorful township hike, up and down the hill, with a city-issued stamp book. The excursion is bright and fun and reminds you of a scavenger hunt as you try to find the hidden gems nestled in the maze of houses where you can stamp your passbook for souvenir freebies and fun. And if you know me at all, you know that I can enjoy nothing more than waking up in a place painted in all the colors of the rainbow, where just getting to breakfast is a breathtaking climb and every shop is themed after cutesy, colorful art and craft. Rooftops are transformed into gardens and patios for viewing the sea from the mountainside while enjoying a view of the village with a cup of coffee.

The flowers painted on so many buildings almost made me forget I was born in winter

J&K happy campers outside our airbnb

And then, to Seoul. Or really, I should say, Pyeongchang for the Olympics. But honestly, while the intention of our trip was to go to the Olympics, it costs and arm and a leg to rent even a bunk in a hostel dorm anywhere near the Olympic Parks, so we wound up having a trip to Seoul, with just a dash of Pyeongchang Olympic fun. With our mind set on getting out to a figure skating event, we stayed in a new (to us) neighborhood in Seoul, nearest to the train station that would take us the hour and a half journey to the Ice Arena in Gangneung. This area, it turned out, was a great place for getting to nearby sights we had never considered in previous trips to Seoul. We enjoyed a strange little districts known for it's street art and shoe stores, where there happened to be a great little brewery for celebrating the seventh anniversary of our first date. A basket of chicken wings, truffle fries, and some of the best pints we've had in the last two years later, we felt properly celebratory and not even that bitter about the early morning ahead of us.

The next day, we boarded a KTX (Korean high speed inter-city rail) to Gangneung, a trip that took us past the snowy PyeongChang Mountain Cluster where travelers debarked for skiing and snowboarding events. When we arrived in the sunnier Gangneung Costal Cluster, home of the ice events, we were thrilled to find that tickets to a specific event, came with entrance to the Olympic Park, duh... But we had no idea what a thing that is! Something like a carnival without the roller coasters, there were games, sideshows, food vendors, and stores galore. Thank goodness the ticket advisor informed us to arrive two hours early. It took almost that long just to wander through excitedly zigzagging through the people from all around the world to see everything there was to see. As expected, food was overpriced, but surprisingly good. Most restaurants and snack pop-ups were labeled as either "Korean fare" or "Western" and we gravitated toward Korean after a disappointing snack burger outside the Ice Arena.

Then there was the Ice Skating event itself, and it was incredible! I'm not sure what to say to convey how excited I was to be there, except that just watching the warmups, with ten skaters on the ice skating circles, made me tear up. The things these athletes can do is nothing short of spectacular. I can barely look at J while walking and talking side by side down the road without swerving and bumping into someone. The fact that these people could throw (and catch?!) each other while balancing on one razor blade on the ice simply blew my mind. It was neat also to later watch events on the TV screen when we returned to Goheung and say "ooh look! That's where we sat!" Perhaps the most unexpectedly fun part was watching the skaters practice, without the judgmental eye of the scoreboard. They would practice that graceful smile that makes what they are doing look effortless, before overwhelming pride took over and they would fist pump, or make a silly face at their partner when they tripped. They winked at the audience and laughed and danced when there was time for it and it all felt so much more real than seeing only the medal events on the TV screen.

After an exhausting day at the Olympic Park, we spent out last day in Seoul walking sleepily through the Dongdaemun Flea Market. While it wasn't the highlight of the trip, I would certainly recommend it to anyone in the area. Wandering through the two story warehouse is something like walking through a real-life Ispy book. Vendors had they stalls packed floor to ceiling with everything from old army memorabilia, to cheap razors and blow driers. We were actually tempted by some old paintings and instruments, though the can-we-reasonably-get-this-back-to-America mindset kept us from spending any money until we got to the train station for the ride home. And so started the first day of Seollal, the Korean lunar new year holiday. We are home again, and back to work. It was an incredible few months bouncing from here to there, but we are happy to lie low for a while.

So that's all for now. Cheers, and happy year of the dog to all!
-K

We're Back!

I'm going to make a point of clarification before I go any further. I mean we are back home... in Korea. We won't be back to the US until August (yes, it's official, we're coming home). It's been quite a while since we posted here on the blog, but as I warned at the end of last year, there was a lot of traveling in the way. The short story is that I (K) spent December with my family in the States, we spent January running around Japan, and February was split between mini-vacations in Busan and Seoul. But we're out of money now and back to work. March is the beginning of the school year here, so J is teaching again, and I'm back to my usual smattering of she-can't-say-no business. And while the adventures technically began with a brief return to the US, that's not something I'm going to spend time talking about in this post. It's just not what the blog is about. We're here to tell you about the strange, let you know we're alive, and comment on cultural learning.

So I'll start with January in Japan. Actually, that is misleading. We started that vacation by getting some of my family around the world to Seoul, and slowly made our way to Japan. Bringing the family around, as you might remember from a similar experience post last June, is a strange experience. The culture shock has worn off largely, we're feeling comfortable, and starting to not notice, well, anything really. And then you throw in a fresh set of eyes and suddenly you find yourself going "WAIT don't tip! Careful with this random exception to the rule of thumb I taught you yesterday... Yes you can touch that..." It's weird to rediscover the wave of differences that you've internalized after a year and a half living day-to-day in a new place. No I didn't realize that all our food is red, but now that you point it out, is this normal? So after a few days freezing our toes off in Seoul, we checked in with J in Jeonnam and made our way as a family to Osaka, Japan. Time for the whole family to be equally confused.

We flew into Osaka late at night on a budget airline that left us all a bit queasy. Thankfully it is a short hour flight from Busan, and we knew what we were getting into when we booked the tickets. The next day we checked out the Osaka history museum and a newly reconstructed castle that was only recently excavated.

Find the foreigners in the train station!



Manga poster downtown

The next day we hopped on a train to Kyoto, where we had lunch with the some contacts we had made through a family connection. This was an interesting experience because J and I had heard repeatedly what Koreans think of Japan, and never the other way round. Koreans generally comment on how nice a vacation to Japan is, if a little expensive, and how friendly the people are. There is a little bit of bitterness about the occupation in their not too distant past, but most Koreans seem content with their neighbors now. For a bit of context, you should know that Japan colonized Korea from about 1910-1945 and there were some human rights violations, such as the treatment of lepers, but largely this was a far less bloody occupation than the previous time Japan had attempted such a conquer in the 1500's. Japanese, however, seemed to have an interesting opinion of Korea. For example, and please recognize that this was a limited sample size, in talking to our lunch companions it came up that we currently live in South Korea. After a moment of shock and a comment about danger, it seemed the best they could say was "that is... interesting" followed by a series of questions about their cleanliness and cold attitude. To say we aren't spokesman for Korea is an understatement, but it was interesting to feel a simmering defensiveness to the seemingly condescending nature of their view of our new home. We responded as politely as possible, but it was a bit awkward. Generally the meal was quite pleasant and the conversation very exciting as we planned our visit and got tips from our hosts, but every time the conversation turned to our life in Korea, I felt the disconnect between the way the people of the two nations talked about each other.

Kyoto Yodobashi

 Kyoto was, by far, the most beautiful city we visited during our stay in Japan. The streets were cleaner than we are used to, and there is a respect for public space that we experienced throughout the country, but first noticed here. People were careful not to make too much noise in public, and were pretty non-confrontational. There seemed to be more personal space and less pushing than we had grown accustomed to in our other travels in East Asia. In Kyoto we spent some quality family time visiting temples, shrines, and eating as much ramen as we could possible squeeze in. It was fantastic! We strolled through the old Gesha district, stopped into more cafes than I could count, and enjoyed a sake tasting in the smallest little bar we could have possibly stumbled into. The most awe-inspiring stop was at a Shinto Shrine called Fushimi Inari-taisha. It is situated on a mountainside with steps guiding a walk to the top, almost entirely framed by hundreds, and I'm sure thousands and thousands of orange gates. This particular shrine is associated with wealth and so when people are financially successful, it is common to purchase a new gate to dedicate to the shrine. This is our limited understanding from some cursory research after we returned to our airbnb for the night.

Kinkaku-ji, the golden paviolion

Drinking Matcha green tea in style

Thousands of paper cranes hang here, from what may be well wishes, or prayers of some sort.

 The video below shows Fushimi Inari-taisha

The family had to return home after Kyoto, and J and I continued on our own for the remainder of the trip. Our next stop was none other than Tokyo, and we arrived by none other than the famed bullet-train. Our time was limited, so we decided to thoroughly explore one neighborhood, rather than spend our few days half on subways trying to see the top sights. We chose Akihabara because, after the pervious cities focus on ancient and religious sites, it seemed fitting to change our pace and check out the more modern side of Japanese culture. This particular neighborhood offered gaming arcades, maid cafes, street food, and manga like crazy. Just walking down the street was an over stimulating experience with neon colors, anime figures, and noise like we had not yet experienced in Japan. We enjoyed every minute of it. J tried out a zombie virtual reality experience, while I lost some of the skin on the palms of my hands to a drumming game. We took sensory breaks in the afternoons, and even found an alternate street beneath the train line that offered some really impressive artisan crafts like leather and wood working.

Ramen chefs hard at work



Virtual Reality game room

An addicting drumming arcade game

Our final stop in Japan was Hiroshima Prefecture (prefecture is like a  province or a state in a country). We stayed in a ryokan style hotel on the island of Miyajima. A ryokan is a more traditional style Japanese accommodation built on hot springs with public bathing facilities and usually a few meals provided. Ours was less than exact, with no real hot springs feeding the baths, but plenty of hot tubs to keep us feeling pampered. It didn't hurt either that it was situated on such a picturesque island with the famous "floating torii gate" of the Itsukushima shrine. While the island had mostly been set up for tourism, we found a few places that stayed open after 5pm for some of the best yakisoba I have ever tried, and a few drinks after hours. Interestingly we discovered an alcohol there called "sochu" which was stronger, but otherwise very similar to something we drink in Korea called "soju." This made J reflect on his Chinese education and he recalled that the word for alcohol in Chinese is pronounced "jiu" or "chiu." After some digging it would seem that both of these non-Chinese words for specific types of otherwise flavorless alcohol is in fact related to the Chinese and to each other. Below is a video I shot briefly while sitting watching the rain on the floating shrine.



Residential deer of Miyajima



Sake and a midnight foot bath

On one of our last days in Miyajima, we took the ferry back to the mainland to visit Hiroshima city, and specifically, the Hiroshima Peace Memorial which houses the museum dedicated to educating about nuclear bombing. The space was well displayed and I was impressed to find out that it was only a temporary exhibit, as the main building is under construction. As beautiful as the layout was, however, it was incredibly difficult to get through in one emotional piece. The details of the war and the events surrounding the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were hard to read about, and I found myself worrying about the fact that people who had lived through it were potentially still alive today to notice that I was American and harbor some ill will. It was a peaceful place, though, and I managed to not cry until we got to the section with artifacts and burnt toys along side the stories children relayed to their mothers after escaping the ruble only to die in her arms. At that point I simply couldn't keep my eyes clear enough to read through more than a few sentences at a time. We ferried home emotionally exhausted, but having a learned a great deal about not only the heartache, but the history, and the mechanics of nuclear weaponry.

Interactive exhibits at the Hiroshima Peace Museum

Finally we took the Shinkansen (the bullet train) one last leg down to Fukuoka where we boarded a ferry home. Yes, we got to ride a boat between Japan and Korea that only took a short few hours, and cost far less than the plane. Home again we prepared to take some time to ourselves before it was off for more local adventures. But more on that next time. This has already been quite a long post and I'm back to posting weekly, so you'll hear more soon.

Cheers!
-K