Edibles

You're in the grocery store. All of the apples are the same size. They are all neatly waxed and shined, lined up with their little produce stickers, and each time one gets a decent enough bruise, it is whisked away to the place fruit goes to die by a produce department employee and replaced by a fresh specimen.

Not the case in my area of Seoul. I've been pleasantly surprised by the variety in the shapes/sizes/levels of ripeness of most of the produce here. While I'm used to avoiding a piece of fruit with a soft spot, I see many people who are more than happy to choose whatever's available instead of rummaging through to find the perfect, fake-looking piece of fruit to buy.

Produce

Spinach.

Biggest mushrooms ever. They're so dense, they never shrink down when you cook them!

Onions are interesting… these strange little veins (almost like rogue roots) grow up and inbetween the "scale leaves," or layers, of the onion.

Tangerines are VERY small, not far off from the size of a golf ball; most likely they are the size nature intended them to be. Plus, they are the MOST delicious tangerines I've ever eaten. EVER. I actually didn't consider myself a fan of them at ALL until coming to Korea. Jeju Island is famous for their tangerines--it's like Korea's Hawaii off the coast in the south of the peninsula.

Produce lasts a long time upon arriving home. Strawberries don't spoil and mold nearly overnight. Oranges are hard to peel… the skins are not intensely thick like a protective leather suit of ARMOR for the fruit beneath, but rather a thin, aromatic, healthy skin that has obviously not been pumped full of growth enhancers. Everything seems so flavorful and fresh.

Refrigeration

Fish for sale.

Octopus.

Refrigeration is… existent, but not neurotic. I'm now convinced the West may have a slight obsession with refrigeration. Think about it. I walk around and see fresh fish--without any ice or salt--sitting in bins on the sidewalk. I buy it, I cook it, I eat it, and I live to see another day. People in the States get food poisoning from vegetable soup that's been refrigerated too soon after it's been prepared. Hm. Interesting. Possibly it's the fact that we're constantly refrigerating and warming (and repeat) our food, that we're experiencing such ridiculous amounts of food-born illnesses in our very own homes? Not that salmonella doesn't exist here, but I haven't seen an epidemic or anything. My coteacher brings a hardboiled egg to school daily. Sometimes she doesn't eat it until the following day, but by God, that egg sits right on her desk in the classroom. No refrigerator. She hasn't died yet.

There are fish tanks outside many of the restaurants with your future dinner swimming around as a scrumptious preview from the sidewalk. The grocery stores sell crabs, salted fish, whole octopus and other interesting varieties of seafood. It's a real refresher from Ohio's selection of "white fish", salmon, and shrimp. I'll give New York a pass on lame food selection; there are plenty of interesting things to choose from--produce, fish or otherwise--but this is simply due to the demand from so many cultures residing in the city.

Freshly juiced apples at Trunk Cafe near my apartment. DELICIOUS.

Food has been a really fun experience for me over here. Anyone who knows me well is very aware of my own personal love-affair with food… eating is like a social event to me; sustenance is just a perk. Lucky for me, eating is a communal activity in Korea. Rarely do you spot a lone-diner grabbing a quick bite. People order to share. My friends and I happen to eat a lot of galbi (cabbage, meat, etc, usually with a red pepper paste, prepared in the middle of the table…noodles can be added) and barbeque (either pork or beef grilled in the center of the table--sometimes on a stone slab, wrapped in lettuce leaves with spicy raw onions and garlic, and a little sesame oil salt with red bean paste..ahhhhhhhh so good). Either of these would be… challenging to eat by yourself--and quite lonely, considering half of your time is spent cooking the food together, and the other half eating.

Fish soup, and Anju (side dishes that accompany alcohol).

Barbeque.

Don't forget the street food, but… that's for another post. I have a whole other fascination with the boiled silkworm larvae they serve at festivals. They look… pretty gross. The smell is …horrendous, to say the least. Take a look: http://travel.webshots.com/photo/1128363813052649549MbOwAI

On that note, I'm hungry. Off to find something to eat in my tiny mini-fridge.

Culture Shock

SHOCK—Synonyms stagger, astound, stupefy. Shock, startle, paralyze, stun suggest a sudden, sharp surprise that affects one somewhat like a blow.Shock suggests a strong blow, as it were, to one's nerves, sentiments, sense of decency, etc.: The onlookers were shocked by the accident. Startle implies the sharp surprise of sudden fright: to be startled by a loud noise. Paralyze implies such a complete shock as to render one temporarily helpless: paralyzed with fear. Stun implies such a shock as bewilders or stupefies: stunned by the realization of an unpleasant truth.

About a week ago, I went shopping alone in Express Bus Terminal, and while trying to buy a scarf, had the joyous experience of being ridiculed *to my face* by two snot-nosed, waif-thin, teenage shop girls. Needless to say, I didn't buy the scarf.

Upon leaving the store, I felt fairly….angry. My insecurities were through the roof, and it felt like I was walking around naked with every set of eyes burning holes right through me. I took a few deep breaths, and gave myself a hypothetical slap across the face. 'Get it together, man! Don't freak out! They're teenagers. The same b*tches you'd run into at a boutique in your own country any day of the week. Don't go all "Carrie" on the entire country.'

After that, I started thinking a lot about culture shock--what it is, why people experience it, and if it's coming for me…

I recently had a conversation with a close friend about the timing of culture shock… she read a lot about it, and said that many people's honeymoon period with a new country fades at about month 4 or 5, and then homesickness and culture shock can set in. I've read more about exile, myself. While the two are related, the major difference I've gathered is exile is a permanent state of alienation, with a total inability to return to one's own idea of "normal", while culture shock is a fleeting adjustment stage.

I took a look at wikipedia to gather a cocktail-length summation of culture shock. As usual, they have it broken down and organized into a neat, little wiki-package:

▪ Some people find it impossible to accept the foreign culture and integrate. They isolate themselves from the host country's environment, which they come to perceive as hostile, withdraw into a ghetto and see return to their own culture as the only way out. These Rejectors also have the greatest problems re-integrating back home after return. Approximately 60% of expatriates behave in this way.

▪ Some people integrate fully and take on all parts of the host culture while losing their original identity. They normally remain in the host country forever. Approximately 10% of expatriates belong to this group of Adopters.

▪ Some people manage to adapt the aspects of the host culture they see as positive, while keeping some of their own and creating their unique blend. They have no major problems returning home or relocating elsewhere. Approximately 30% of expatriates are these so-called Cosmopolitans.

As an American, you learn to dissect your own culture while you're existing in it. You criticize it, debate it, laugh at it, deny it, claim that you don't even have a culture… no legit history, no grand legacy of kings and queens, just a variety of exiled Europeans plopping down their flag and claiming the land for themselves.

Being here isn't so different from being in any major city. Seoul is highly modern and fairly westernized. I can walk down the street and order a latte from a variety of coffee shops. I can take a subway. I can eat a hamburger. I can buy peanut butter. But really, when you're removed from your culture, you become very aware that you've had one all along.

This is not America.

I'm fascinated with the way people make little clans for themselves when they're alone...like a pseudo-family… i did it in new york, and now here. The act of surrounding yourself with people who care about you…the urge to create tribes is an inherent compulsion of man. People who would never be compatible become like siblings while abroad. I've been very lucky to find some friends who really ARE a good match for me, no matter where I am living.

I like this city, the culture, and the food, even if it's not my own. I miss my family and friends, but I enjoy this experience. I feel wiser for it. All that said, I went to a different store, bought myself the same scarf from a much nicer shop girl, and had a great evening with some very fun people.

Natalie: 1, Culture Shock: 0.

A quick side-note

Oh wow. I've been juried into an upcoming New American Paintings. Holy mama. If I could call everyone I know and FREAK OUT, I would. Alas, international calls are expensive... so I don't think I'll do that. But I wish I could.

Here's the link:

http://www.newamericanpaintings.com/

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh satisfaction.