Samgyeopsal, Crazy bus drivers and Iron Man 2

I have been in Seoul for the last 7 and a half days. My girlfriend Young Ah has moved to a different location in Seoul. She teaches at an elementary school which is located in te suburbs of Seoul in a place called Siheung. It’s an oddly nice place that was apparently built with the intention of mixing both the countryside feel and the atmosphere of a city. It does that quite well, but because of that I feel like you can never really get a satisfied feeling of either. Haha.

As I enter Korean society once again, I am hit by the relative bluntess of everything again. It could be because I have become accustomed to Japan’s structured transport systems so everytime I come to Seoul the bus drivers always strikes me as amusing.  In Japan the bus drivers are in general, courteous and follow every law and rule in the ”bus driver manual’ to the letter, in Seoul the bus drivers all seem like rally drivers with a heavy braking foot. It’s hilarious! 

A less pleasant experience is, unfortunately, a daily matter. Their smaller circles of physical privacy are a test of my patience. Although, after a little discussion about it with Young Ah, I have come to intepret the Korean’s lack of spcail awareness not as rudeness but simply as a cultural difference. When walking, if they bump into each other, they just apologise. In some cases, they don’t even do that, mainly because they automatically believe that it was an accident in the first place. I related it to some behaviour I came across in Hong Kong so that made it easier for me to understand. One day I aim to become fairly fluent in Korean. Maybe then I will find that I don’t mind the constant nudges and cross-cutting; simply because it may be something you get used to?

I have reacquainted myself with Korean food, particularly samgyeopsal and pulgogi. I was talking with Young Ah about Korean food becoming my favourite. Before, sushi or pork bone “tonkotsu” ramen was my favourite food of all time. However, these meals are relatively simple compared to Korean food. Just yesterday I ate at a place called “Pulgogi Brothers”. It was cheap in comparison to the West and Japan although apparently a little pricey for the locals. The spicy seafood dumplings, pulgogi in lettuce and plum leaves, cold noodles “nengmeon” and various sauces all combined in the mouth to create an amazing clash of flavour and of course, happiness in my stomach! Although, sushi and ramen can be eaten together with other dishes, those side dishes are relatively plain and cannot compare to the Korean flavours. I wonder if I have been living in Japan for a long enough time to grow slightly tired of it’s food?

I dread the day that I will go back to the UK and have to face the fact that there are no good, cheap Korean OR Japanese restaurants! >_<

Last of all, Young Ah loves the idea of going to watch a film together. Last time I came we watched AVATAR. She herself said she wasn’t a fan of fantasy, action or sci-fi movies, but she liked Avatar. This time she suggested Iron Man 2. I was happy to accept, although I felt a little guilty that she was choosing films that I like rather than films she would want to watch. However, she had a good laugh both at the film and at my interest IN the film and I enjoyed the movie too. Gotta watch it again soon!

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