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300 Days Anniversary

2012/08/02 / Nic / 19 Comments

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

2012/08/01 / Nic / 18 Comments

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.

Cutesy photos

2012/07/31 / Nic / 18 Comments

Well I learn something new every day. I’ve mentioned before that I don’t use aegyo very much with my husband. Right from the beginning of our relationship I was a straight talking Western woman. I mean ‘western’ as in from a Western culture… not ‘western’ as in The Wild West! hehe.

I didn’t ever need cutesy words or mannerisms to attract my husband so I just assumed he didn’t like that much. I’m discovering now how these things that I thought only worked on other Korean guys work on him too. I was just messing around taking a cutesy photo like that. Trying to copy how Korean girls do it, just for a laugh. I was surprised at how cute my husband thought it was. If it was an average Australian guy I can imagine them cringing and telling me I look stupid. But I’m not with an Australian guy, I’m with a Korean and I’m beginning to realise that Korean girls have it all worked out! I should give them more credit. For a later post I might explain the certain techniques Korean girls use for photos too.

So if a Western woman wants to attract a Korean guy should she do cutesy things like this? I’m not really sure about this. Copying what Korean girls do may not have the desired affect. It is probably better to get to know a guy better first and find out if he appreciates cutesy things before attempting it. There are some Korean guys who seek out non-Korean girlfriends because they don’t like the aegyo things Korean girls do. Also some Korean guys don’t like it when non-Korean girls call them ‘Oppa’. So tread carefully. But if they do like it- relax and have fun with it!

Fish cakes

2012/07/30 / Nic / 9 Comments

This was early in our relationship. While I had eaten a lot of Korean food I didn’t realise those flat yellow strips side dishes were called ‘fish cakes’. I was so happy that my husband (then boyfriend) was going to cook something for me that I didn’t stop to ask what he meant by ‘fish cakes’. Stupidly, I envisioned lovely golden fish cakes full of fresh fish and mashed potato like my grandmother used to make. Or at least something like thai fish cakes. I was very wrong. I was so preoccupied with making a salad that I didn’t realise what he actually meant by fish cakes until he had finished.

This is what he meant:

Not these:

Oops… I thought he was making the main dish, not just a little side dish with a few strips of the flat fish stuff. It was okay in the end, because I quite like that side dish. But I know for the future to quiz him when he offers to cook something (which isn’t often).

Can someone explain to readers how those sheets of Korean fish cake sheets are made? And what is the correct name for this side dish? There seems to be a few different types so I’m unsure of the correct name.

Olympic Opening Ceremony

2012/07/29 / Nic / 20 Comments

I’m not especially patriotic. I love my country but never feel the need to be really patriotic during sporting events. I feel much more emotion seeing Korea win rather than seeing Australia win something. Maybe Korean patriotism is catching because I’ve heard of other non-Koreans feeling more passion for Korean victories rather than their home country. South Korea’s modern history is so inspiring that you can’t help but cheer for them.

Because I was watching the Australian coverage of the Olympic opening ceremony they spent a lot of time showing the Australian athletes. Much more than what was necessary. Showing more of Australian athletes on Australian TV is to be expected but it was really too much time on them. They didn’t even show the B countries coming out because they kept the cameras on the Australians. Then they were constantly cutting back to the Australian athletes, who weren’t doing anything that interesting, just being rowdy and taking photos and tweeting probably. I became worried that they wouldn’t show the South Korean athletes walking out. Luckily they showed both North Korea and South Korea. North Korea came out earlier with the D countries because they call themselves ‘The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’. You know a country is communist when they have to put ‘democratic’ in their title! Later The South Koreans walked out and I cheered for them.

It feels good to be passionate about a country that you can actually choose yourself. Would I like Australia if I wasn’t born here? Being patriotic about Australia just feels like an obligation, it’s not a choice. I know people who are very passionate and patriotic about Australia because they made the choice to move here. Australia gave them a chance at a new life and they are thankful. Their patriotism rings more true than an Australian who thinks Australia is the best simply because they haven’t been anywhere else. South Korea has opened up my eyes and made my life so much better and I’m grateful for that. So I’ll be cheering for South Korea these Olympics.

Medicine Misunderstanding

2012/07/28 / Nic / 7 Comments

My friend (the wife in the comic) allowed me to make a comic about this. When she realised what her husband had sent her to get, with the vague information of it being for ‘skin care’, she was very angry! She had patted her face in front of shop assistant and told her that it was for skin care on the face. Needless to say, the shop assistant looked very shocked. When my friend discovered the truth of course she told others. So what her husband hoped to keep secret even from his wife was told to everyone at a barbeque! And now it’s on the internet!

For those that might not understand what her husband needed: he needed a cream for his…uh…. butt hole. I’m not explaining anymore than that!

Wedding Presents

2012/07/27 / Nic / 10 Comments

This was for our Australian wedding. After everything finished we opened our presents. Some family and friends were with us as well and everyone laughed at my husband tearing open the presents while I sat reading the cards. His excuse was that it was difficult for him to read the handwritten English in the cards and he didn’t know who they were all from. He became interested when there was money in a card though!

Of course all our money is shared but he organises it. Traditionally in Korea (and Japan) the woman manages the money but we decided it is better that my husband does the managing. I’m a creative type and not exactly good with money (and we are poor newlyweds at the moment).

We got a lot of nice presents but haven’t used them yet, even though our wedding was months ago, because we haven’t found a new place to live in Sydney yet. We have them piled up in a spare room at my parent’s house. Sometimes I like to go in and just look at them and say “Mine mine! These are all mine!” Hehe, I’ve never owned such nice things before.

My Korean Husband