Category: Korean People (Page 4 of 7)

Imagine

2014/06/04 / Nic / 22 Comments

Western furniture is something I really miss while in Korea. A lot of homes have barely any furniture, especially out in the countryside. My husband’s parents have a decent sized house for Korea but there is no sofa, no dining table. There are a limited amount of chairs and there is 1 single bed in the spare room. His parents sleep on the floor and we sleep on a mattress (I miss having a real bed too).

Meals are eaten on small tables (밥상) which are put away between meals. I understand why people don’t have much furniture because the space is used in a different way and traditionally Korean houses and furniture are very different to what we are used to in western countries. Furniture is also very expensive in Korea. There is not much range and it’s often quite bulky. While we now have space for a sofa technically, it would still have to be small one. Easy and cheap to get in Australia… not so easy or cheap in Korea.

My body really misses being able to relax on a sofa and I always take the opportunity to sit on them when we visit friends who have sofas. If you watch a lot of Korean dramas and Korean commercials it looks like Koreans have lots of western furniture, and houses and apartments are well furnished but that is not an accurate representation at all! It’s slightly more realistic when they are showing very wealthy families in dramas, but commercials that are supposed to be showing an average family but the average family lives in a huge apartment with lots of furniture?! Lies!

So I’m just stuck with my imagination now. Maybe if I wish really hard and believe… one will magically appear?

Tired on the bus

2014/05/26 / Nic / 11 Comments

We’ve been super busy lately and came back from Seoul last night. We did some filming with Han and Sophie here and then we travelled to Seoul together. For those that don’t follow us on Instagram here are some of the photos.

On the bus to Seoul

Han on the bus.

Waiting to meet with the publishing company. Walking around with Alice.

We stopped by the Eat Your Kimchi studio and Martina gave Alice this game. You may have seen it in a video before.

Sophie and Alice out on Saturday night in Ilsun.

Alice watching some buskers.

The boys after Saturday night drinking, wearing ahjumma pants. Mr Gwon, Han and Daniel (Daniel will be in some videos later this year).

The boys with Alice on Sunday

Unfortunately we didn’t get to do all the filming that we wanted to get done with Han and Sophie. Sophie and I didn’t get to film our videos because of time, illness and family commitments, but we are determined to get them back to Korea this year so we can do more stuff together. They fly back to Sydney tomorrow.

Loud

2014/05/21 / Nic / 1 Comment

So loud! Too bad if there really was a problem and I was like “Oh it’s just the taekwondo kids” and then the roof caves in on me.

I put a photo on Instagram a little while ago of the kids after their lessons playing by the river.

Dol Celebrations

2014/05/19 / Nic / 29 Comments

(Woolies is Woolworths, a major Australian supermarket).

Han and Sophie’s daughter Alice had her first birthday celebrations (돌) on the weekend. It’s a very big thing in Korea! They are a lot of fun but my husband realised how much work they are. They are more like a wedding than actual modern Korean weddings are (way more fun as well).

He was only joking about not doing them for our children, of course we have to. Sophie also pointed out that once we have a baby he is going to think his child is the best in the world and do everything for them! First birthdays are huge events but they are also well catered for. You book the package deal you want and it’s held at a special hall with a buffet and an MC and everything is provided.

I’m sure once we have a baby he is going to think we need to do much more than just buy a supermarket cake!

Here is a photo from the celebrations.

The mother from

2014/05/01 / Nic / 30 Comments

Ahjummacist? That doesn’t even make sense. (Ahjummas are technically women who are married but tends to mean women in their 40’s and 50’s).

I’ve heard a lot of Koreans who have visited or stayed in Australia comment on the look and style of Australian women who are in that ahjumma age range. They have noticed that there isn’t one type of style for them and looks and hairstyles range considerably. In Korea there is a definite ahjumma style and something called an ‘ahjumma perm’. So of course ahjummas can end up looking very similar (obviously I’m not racist haha). My sister-in-law’s boyfriend once asked his mother about the perms saying, “Did you all get made in the same factory?”

When I go shopping with my mother-in-law we have to spilt up because I go to the younger women section and she goes to the ahjumma section – which is very different! I’m sure there are older Korean women that wear the younger styles, and the wealthy always have more access to different styles, but to me the ahjumma style is so vastly different to the younger styles. While of course in Australia there are clothing stores dedicated to older women, I’ve always been able to borrow clothes from my mother or shop in the same stores as her without feeling that style is vastly different to my own.

There also seems to be that line that you some day have to cross into ahjumma fashion. One of my husband’s female friends recently got an ahjumma perm and her friends were horrified. She insisted it was nice and easy to manage now so she felt comfortable, but her friends (all in their 30’s) were not ready to cross that line yet.

I don’t think I will ever get an ahjumma perm though…

Also, there wasn’t a new Mr Gwon Time yesterday like there should have been, but there is a new video on our BONUS channel where we try some of the candy you guys sent us.

Ask Us – Kimchi Pets etc

2014/03/21 / Nic / 10 Comments

We answer some questions. Do all Koreans like kimchi? Will we get a pet? What did we take for granted in Australia? Is it okay for nonKoreans to use “oppa”, “unnie” etc?