RANTING/VENTING MEGATHREAD 3.0

I wish the seasons would hurry up and finish transitioning.  This whole jumping back and forth between freezing cold and sweater weather every day is wrecking my sinuses, and it'd be nice to go one f*cking day without a headache.

Getting harder and harder to hide my disbelief when an 8th grader - presumably with at least five years of English education (or exposure if you prefer) - can't produce ANY answer for "What do you do in your free time?"

 

Imagine the feeling when you have the same experience with university students...

Children start learning English by age 4: report
http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20110830000717

Restaurants now DON'T recycle their food as much now as they used to.  As it has been made illegal.  Yes I know this means very little/nothing in this country. But Koreans are also against the idea of recycling food so restaurants know if they are caught they will get less costumers.

I haven't been to a restaurant that recycles its food in years.

Don't worry and ff you do see a restaurant recycling food you can report them or find another restaurant.   

Yeah honestly I have some friends coming to visit in the next couple months and I don't even know what I'm going to show them. I so rarely eat out because it's crap which means I've got one BBQ experience and maybe a trip to the bulgogi tents and then it's like "So I make some great hummus..." after that. 

Jimddak, Gamjatang, pajeon/hobakjeon/haemuljeon, shabu-shabu etc...

There's plenty of stuff to try out, and a lot of it isn't so shocking to Western sensibilities.

Then again, most of the folk I know aren't super picky eaters. I always pity the folk who are: by telling themselves that everything is disgusting, they're missing out on so many awesome experiences! 

I had shabu-shabu once and I looooove it

Gamjatang is one of my favorite foods ever. Shabu shabu, dalkgalbi, chapchae, pajeon etc. are also awesome.

Near my school is this awesome lil mom and pop place that does smoked pork bulgogi-ish (sans horrendous amount of sweet sauce). I can't recall the exact name of the dish but it's literally one of the best things I've eaten in Seoul.

It took a lot of experimenting but there are a ton of little restaurants that are amazing but it took me awhile to go through all the restaurants nearby and sort wheat from chaff.

Oh and bossam. Bossam is amazing.

I will agree with whoever said samgyetang is nasty. That is one that I can't stand. (Though I'm not a big fan of the 'clear' soups in general.)

Whoa whoa back up. I didn't say samgyetang is nasty at all. Just highly overrated. It's a food that's good. It's not a culinary milestone like the Korean food promoters would have people believe.

Also, are you thinking of 불백 for the bulgogi-ish thing? Like just some fire grilled pork served with sides and rice? Love that.

I always think it's funny how what you're raised on affects how you feel about food. I grew up eating beef tongue, heart, oxtails, liver, etc. Basically every part of the cow. I also ate lots of non-Western style food, so was exposed to things like fried intestine, crab, sushi, octopus, jellyfish, etc from a young age, so it's never been 'exotic' for me. But what I didn't have growing up was frozen, processed food, like chicken nuggets or pizza pockets or whatever. Or like, cake and cookies and candy and stuff like that. So I find those things kind of unappetizing, at best, or disgusting (candy) at worst.

Lol, in that case let me ftfy, samgyetang is nasty. Problem solved
I have an especially deep hatred of it since it's my wife's favorite and therefore unavoidable...

And yes, 불백 is it. The place I have in mind does 보리밥 instead of regular rice which is a bonus to the meat. The couple who runs it have been there forever and there daughter is married to an American guy. They've been uber friendly every time we go there (which I did with my school the first time.) I can also throw a stone and hit it from my house which is also nice.

I'm in the opposite boat as you. My family ate a lot of chicken as a kid. Boneless, skinless chicken breasts cooked in the oven to be exact. I can only stomach it occasionally now since I think it was overdone as a kid.

I've got third grade middle schoolers who still don't know how to answer, "How are you?"

A few of them don't even know the alphabet.

I have a few of those myself. :/

Yeah honestly I have some friends coming to visit in the next couple months and I don't even know what I'm going to show them. I so rarely eat out because it's crap which means I've got one BBQ experience and maybe a trip to the bulgogi tents and then it's like "So I make some great hummus..." after that. 

Jimddak, Gamjatang, pajeon/hobakjeon/haemuljeon, shabu-shabu etc...

There's plenty of stuff to try out, and a lot of it isn't so shocking to Western sensibilities.

Then again, most of the folk I know aren't super picky eaters. I always pity the folk who are: by telling themselves that everything is disgusting, they're missing out on so many awesome experiences! 

yeh fussy people are the worst. big, overgrown children. The only people worse than them are fat, fussy people, who whine about the local food and so go to macdonalds. Awful slime

I'm quite a fussy eater myself because I have a weak stomach. Drinks and foods I don't like the taste of, will make me feel nausiated for hours. Seafood and eggs, if I can taste them, will make me hurl almost immediately.
I tend to dislike fussy people myself, but only if they are directing their fussiness at me.

Getting harder and harder to hide my disbelief when an 8th grader - presumably with at least five years of English education (or exposure if you prefer) - can't produce ANY answer for "What do you do in your free time?"

 

Imagine the feeling when you have the same experience with university students...

Haha, that I believe since for I have to send them on up to you like that. 

Jimddak, Gamjatang, pajeon/hobakjeon/haemuljeon, shabu-shabu etc...

There's plenty of stuff to try out, and a lot of it isn't so shocking to Western sensibilities.

Then again, most of the folk I know aren't super picky eaters. I always pity the folk who are: by telling themselves that everything is disgusting, they're missing out on so many awesome experiences! 

yeh fussy people are the worst. big, overgrown children. The only people worse than them are fat, fussy people, who whine about the local food and so go to macdonalds. Awful slime

I'm quite a fussy eater myself because I have a weak stomach. Drinks and foods I don't like the taste of, will make me feel nausiated for hours. Seafood and eggs, if I can taste them, will make me hurl almost immediately.
I tend to dislike fussy people myself, but only if they are directing their fussiness at me.

There are also lots of autistic people who can't deal with certain textures, including food textures.

I always feel vaguely like barfing when I eat any kind of meat product that's chewy. I've loved the taste of mushrooms forever, but could only handle the texture in my mouth since a couple of years ago.

I'm actually really surprised how many people hate samgyetang.  It seems like a pretty standard US chicken noodle soup but with rice instead of noodles... and of course the chicken is whole but that's not a huge deal.  My biggest gripe with it is that it isn't served with a baguette.

There are also lots of autistic people who can't deal with certain textures, including food textures.

I always feel vaguely like barfing when I eat any kind of meat product that's chewy. I've loved the taste of mushrooms forever, but could only handle the texture in my mouth since a couple of years ago.

    You should check out Bonjuk: they have a huge variety of flavours to choose from (mushroom, pumpkin, seafood, beef, broccoli, random untranslatable foodstuff, bean, tomato, etc) and they all come in a porridge-like format! I grew to really appreciate it a while ago when I was spending a lot of time at the hospital. It's especially nice when it's really cold out.

Porridge is awesome.

Jimddak, Gamjatang, pajeon/hobakjeon/haemuljeon, shabu-shabu etc...

There's plenty of stuff to try out, and a lot of it isn't so shocking to Western sensibilities.

Then again, most of the folk I know aren't super picky eaters. I always pity the folk who are: by telling themselves that everything is disgusting, they're missing out on so many awesome experiences! 

yeh fussy people are the worst. big, overgrown children. The only people worse than them are fat, fussy people, who whine about the local food and so go to macdonalds. Awful slime

I'm quite a fussy eater myself because I have a weak stomach. Drinks and foods I don't like the taste of, will make me feel nausiated for hours. Seafood and eggs, if I can taste them, will make me hurl almost immediately.
I tend to dislike fussy people myself, but only if they are directing their fussiness at me.

There are also lots of autistic people who can't deal with certain textures, including food textures.

I always feel vaguely like barfing when I eat any kind of meat product that's chewy. I've loved the taste of mushrooms forever, but could only handle the texture in my mouth since a couple of years ago.

Oo, I didn't know that about autistic people. I have a student with autisim in one of my classes. He is really polite but is only there about 30% of the time. He always sprints over to say hello and always wants a high five whenever he sees me too.

I've never liked the taste or texture of mushrooms myself. >.<
Last week, this man on the train tried to give me dried pumpkin as a snack. I don't speak korean, so couldn't tell him I can't eat pumpkin. He tried to force it into my mouth after I tried to say, and gesture, no thank you - and he wouldn't stop trying until I tried some, even after I put 'allergic' into my translator, just to get him to leave me alone. Almost threw up on him when it touched my tongue.

There are also lots of autistic people who can't deal with certain textures, including food textures.

I always feel vaguely like barfing when I eat any kind of meat product that's chewy. I've loved the taste of mushrooms forever, but could only handle the texture in my mouth since a couple of years ago.

    You should check out Bonjuk: they have a huge variety of flavours to choose from (mushroom, pumpkin, seafood, beef, broccoli, random untranslatable foodstuff, bean, tomato, etc) and they all come in a porridge-like format! I grew to really appreciate it a while ago when I was spending a lot of time at the hospital. It's especially nice when it's really cold out.

Porridge is awesome.

Ayyy I lived off that stuff when I was recovering from alcohol poisoning. (Had to be taken to the hospital in an ambulance and everything, and the ER doctor told my friend my stomach was probably really messed up - couldn't eat anything for several days, then lived off ddokguk and juk for about a week, very gradually working back up to "real food")

There are also lots of autistic people who can't deal with certain textures, including food textures.

I always feel vaguely like barfing when I eat any kind of meat product that's chewy. I've loved the taste of mushrooms forever, but could only handle the texture in my mouth since a couple of years ago.

Oo, I didn't know that about autistic people. I have a student with autisim in one of my classes. He is really polite but is only there about 30% of the time. He always sprints over to say hello and always wants a high five whenever he sees me too.

I've never liked the taste or texture of mushrooms myself. >.<
Last week, this man on the train tried to give me dried pumpkin as a snack. I don't speak korean, so couldn't tell him I can't eat pumpkin. He tried to force it into my mouth after I tried to say, and gesture, no thank you - and he wouldn't stop trying until I tried some, even after I put 'allergic' into my translator, just to get him to leave me alone. Almost threw up on him when it touched my tongue.

Yeah, a really common aspect of autism is aversion to touch but also specific textures. I know a lot of autistic people who can't deal with things like bananas/tofu/yogurt. It also happens with colors.

Ughhh yeah so many Koreans have no concept even that allergies exist. One of my friends loves sushi but is like violently allergic (anaphylaxis) to tuna and salmon. Fortunately she's gyopo so she just takes extra time to REALLY EXPLAIN that her sushi ABSOLUTELY CANNOT touch any tuna or salmon. We've been fine so far.

not totally related, but I really don't like persimmons because to me they taste like raw pumpkin.

I've got third grade middle schoolers who still don't know how to answer, "How are you?"

A few of them don't even know the alphabet.

I have a few of those myself. :/

I remember I had a 3rd grade middle school boy at my ex-hagwon who never understood "How are you?" despite that I began every class by asking the students that question. He'd always look at the other students and ask them in Korean what I was asking. Needless to say, his English level was extremely low.

Regarding recycling side dishes, one of my former co-teachers used to mix the leftover side dishes together with any other leftover food we had left on the table so that the restaurant wouldn't be able to recycle them.

I just think it's weird to say like, "XYZ food is bad." No food is bad. Food is all good, and it's just our personal preference and background that makes us feel otherwise.

I think the original point was that for many people coming from developed nations, Korean cuisine may not be particularly palatable due to it's over reliance on cheap, fatty cuts of meat and roughage that wouldn't tradiationally be seen as an edible foodstuff. Of course if someone likes something they like it. Opinion is opinion. It's just that many opinions will be a certain way on this issue.

Yeah, I think it's one thing to hate something versus declaring it "not food." The latter seems kind of elitist.

Don't get me wrong, I have no inclination toward eating intestines or pigs' feet or insects or whatever. But some people/cultures love those things and consider those to be food. I will agree that such things are food but I will still probably never eat any.

I think it's good (to an extent) to try and use as much of the animal as possible, even if I personally wouldn't want to eat certain parts.

Basically, every food is good, and if we don't like something, that's just our opinion. It doesn't make it right, or anything.

I just think it's weird to say like, "XYZ food is bad." No food is bad.

What?

You are baiting someone, right?

There are lots of foods that are objectively "bad" and lots of foods that are objectively "bad".

I know they say we are in the post-truth era, but what the heck?

It's not opinion or preference, there are facts, science, and truth behind it.

What?

You are baiting someone, right?

There are lots of foods that are objectively "bad" and lots of foods that are objectively "bad".

I know they say we are in the post-truth era, but what the heck?

It's not opinion or preference, there are facts, science, and truth behind it.

Could you explain the "facts" behind why some foods are objectively bad?

Rotten food, spoiled food, certain under-cooked or raw foods, etc.