Intercultural Life

Month: August 2012 (Page 5 of 5)

Lamb

Koreans, in general, don’t like to eat lamb. In Australia lamb is quite a popular meat so Koreans are quite surprised that we eat it and enjoy it. They always say that the smell of it is really bad and they hate the taste. I’ve heard from Australian lamb farmers that lamb in Asia does smell different, that it isn’t as nice, possibly because they are grain fed? But lamb in Australia is pasture fed and doesn’t have the gross smell that it has in Korea. (But Koreans will still say it smells bad here).

My husband will eat lamb – if he does not know it’s lamb. He will eat it happily and enjoy it, but once I tell him that it was lamb he will say “I knew it tasted weird!” And yet he still ate it all?

I suspect it’s partly psychological, even though the taste of Australian lamb isn’t actually bad, there is enough underlying taste for Koreans to remember feeling repulsed at the taste and smell of lamb in Korea.

What food grosses you out?

Japan Edition #3

Another one of my brother’s stories. He goes to music school in Japan. He absolutely loves Japan and has met a lot of interesting people.

And the other day he wore a t-shirt with two buffaloes mating on it.

Why? I don’t know…

300 Days Anniversary

Just have to make it clear. It’s not our 300 days now- this was a while ago!

Koreans tend to celebrate a lot more anniversaries than we do. I think this is a more modern thing that has been influenced by romance in media. It is normal to celebrate the 100 days anniversary and depending usually on what the girl expects, certain day anniversaries after that. This is 100 days of dating, not marriage.100 days is significant in Korea culture. For example, 100 days after a baby is born is celebrated.

We acknowledged our 100 days, which is obviously quite early in a relationship, but we didn’t do anything very special. I have seen Korean girls demand a lot just for 100 days though- like flowers and a cake and a gift and dinner. Not all are like that though.

So by the time our 300 days anniversary came around it wasn’t something I was thinking about so I felt bad when my husband (then boyfriend) surprised me with red roses and a cake. He knew I didn’t remember though, so it was okay. We haven’t celebrated another “day anniversaries” since then and I don’t pay much attention to all the other, often commercial, “special days” in Korea. Not every one does something for them, as there are a lot where you are expected to give something in particular or do something in particular.

My husband wasn’t the first Korean guy I dated (shock horror!). There were a few before him, but I only really discovered these anniversaries and days because of him. When I first dated a Korean guy (many years ago) I had never watched a Korean drama and wasn’t familiar with K-Pop. I had no idea of the things Korean girls expected from their boyfriends. I suspect that the first 2 Korean guys I dated deliberately withheld this information from me so they’d never have to do it. They were not very romantic guys at all. It was only as I got more involved in Korean culture later that I realised there was this whole very romantic culture with Korean youth. So I’m glad my husband finds it easy to be romantic and surprises me sometimes.

 

Scared of Bugs

My husband is scared of bugs and insects. He will shriek like a little girl if he sees one. He wasn’t always scared though. In fact, where he grew up in rural Korea is swarming with creepy-crawlies and he wasn’t grossed out by them when he was younger. At some point as an adult thought he has learned to be afraid of them. Therefore I’m the one who always deals with them, which I don’t mind because I don’t have a problem with them. But I find sometimes it’s just better to not tell him when there is one.

I showed him this comic last night and told him I removed about 5 millipedes from our room in Vanuatu while we were there. He was like, “Really????? WHAT THE…”

Hehehe. I kept it a secret so he wouldn’t get scared. I really don’t understand why he hates them so much when he can easily get rid of a mouse and isn’t grossed out. Oh well, I’m happy to get rid of bugs and insects if he deals with problems like mice. Eughhhhhh I hope we never have a problem with mice.

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