It has been snowing a lot over here in South Korea. It makes me very glad that we do not own a car here. Its strange to have the world change color regularly. I do not hate snow yet, but I have been assured that I will be very tired of it before winter is over. I do admit, the icy roads haven't been fun. What has been fun is seeing the pack of adjumas at work. The term "adjuma" refers to women who are married and middle aged. They have a reputation for acting very much in charge and having strong opinions. Its mainly because they are the ones in charge of the family, and they extend that to the world. We have heard stories of adjumas forcing people to take their seats in subways, for pushing their way through crowds, and in general being very feisty. Our school employees about 10 adjumas to do various landscaping around campus. We have seen them in the summer on the ground weeding, in the fall with tiny rakes getting the leaves, and now they are armed with twig brooms to get the snow off the sidewalks. We saw them yesterday attacking a deck outside our building.
On another note, yesterday I went to a Chinese restaurant with some of my friends. I have this theory that ethnic foods gt better the closer you are to the original country. Indian food tastes better here than back in the US. I had Korean-Chinese food before, but this time we went with a couple of our Chinese friends, and Chinese-American/British friends. They all assured us that the restaurant tasted like real Chinese food.
The first few dishes were really good. They tasted nothing like American-Chinese food. The sauce was delicious, and we had eggplant and some type of roasted lamb on a skewer. There was also a dish that contained cow intestine. It really was not near as bad as I thought it would be. The flavor was good, even if the texture was a little weird. I think I like it better than tentacles.
The best dish by far was the sweet and sour pork. It was sooooo much better than the over-breaded pork with red sauce that I was used to. This had a vinegary-sweet sauce that was normal colored and tasted amazing! None of the dishes were greasy like Chinese take out, not even the noodles.
So, two new experiences I didn't expect to have in South Korea, authentic Chinese food, and regular snowfall.
Since you've been there about four months now, I'd like to know how your perspectives on both countries (Korea & US) have changed or stayed the same, how acclimated you have become to daily life, and how your perspectives in general have changed -- or not changed.
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