Put Food In Me

Within the first few days of being in S.Korea I knew Koreans were crazy about food. On just about every street corner there are restaurants that serve just about every kind of food in the Korean cuisine repertoire. There is Kimbap (sushi), fried & bbq chicken, kalbi (ribs), etc etc

Most of the food places serve meals that are for at least two people. Back home I could wonder into just about any restaurant and be able to order something small for myself. But in this country food is an experience that you share with other people.

Today at school I didn't eat lunch. The Main Co-teacher was so up in arms about it I thought she was going to call in National Security or something. The music teacher also asked me why I didn't eat at lunch. I gave them both the same answer. "I wasn't hungry". No matter how many times I said it, The Main Co-teacher kept trying to feed me. Even when I do eat she STILL tries to feed me. "You didn't eat much at lunch, eat more.." "Oh you are getting skinny, eat this.."

I find people try to feed me a lot here. My co-workers, students, people at church etc.. They don't even ask if I will like it or not. They just give me the food and expect that I will eat it. In the time that I have been here I have eaten things that I wouldn't even touch with a 10 ft clown pole. I suppose its a humbling experience that I can learn from but... a part of me just wants to say "EEEEWWWW YUCKY!" :P

Getting back to the reason why I didn't eat lunch. Today I took one look at the lunch and decided I wasn't going to eat it. It didn't look appealing at all. I really want to opt out of eating the lunch provided by the school. I have to pay 50, 000 won/month ($48 CDN) for lunch for 4 days. Lately I haven't eaten much of what they provide so I was thinking of bringing my own food. Apparently if I do that people will lose face and all heck will break loose. Until I figure something I will just pretend to eat.