RANTING/VENTING MEGATHREAD 3.0

Going to Europe with the wife and her in-laws are coming for part of the trip. Meals for everyday? Wife says they want to eat Korean food. I mean what's the effing point for Koreans traveling overseas if half their suitcase is filled with kimchi and ramen.

Ko fills half his luggage with instant noodles for his international business travels, a lesson he learned after assuming on his first trip that three packages would suffice for six days. “Man, was I wrong. Since then, I always make sure I pack enough.”
-AP

The only explanation I can fathom is that while most people travel to see a different part of the world and experience the culture, many Koreans and pretty much the whole of mainland China travels for 2 reasons, prestige and shopping.

Your typical 6 day Korean/Chinese package deal involves getting on the bus, driving to as many tourists traps as possible, stopping just long enough to take a few selfies, in front of famous monuments, before spending the final day of the trip at a luxury goods outlet store.
They come home and can brag they've travelled to 10 European countries in as many days. The thousands of photos they took will help the climb their social and professional ladders.

Eating the local food or immersing into the local culture is seen as a waste of time and inconvenient. I do sympathise a bit, as Koreans have developed a... shall we say, unique palate, but seriously, opting to ingest copious amounts of poison (supermarket ramen) over local food seems pretty damn stupid no matter how you cut it.

Going to Europe with the wife and her in-laws are coming for part of the trip. Meals for everyday? Wife says they want to eat Korean food. I mean what's the effing point for Koreans traveling overseas if half their suitcase is filled with kimchi and ramen.

As I'm sure you know, ramen is Japanese, however I know what you mean. In UK culture eating your own food on holiday is a working class/ordinary people thing to do, judging by the kind of places in Spain that are awash with English food restaurants. Do your in laws have humble origins? Actually, I guess virtually everyone in that generation in Korea could be described in that way.

Going to Europe with the wife and her in-laws are coming for part of the trip. Meals for everyday? Wife says they want to eat Korean food. I mean what's the effing point for Koreans traveling overseas if half their suitcase is filled with kimchi and ramen.

As I'm sure you know, ramen is Japanese, however I know what you mean. In UK culture eating your own food on holiday is a working class/ordinary people thing to do, judging by the kind of places in Spain that are awash with English food restaurants. Do your in laws have humble origins? Actually, I guess virtually everyone in that generation in Korea could be described in that way.

Ramen is a proper meal but Ramyeon isn't; just junk food. British folk are lucky that Spanish resorts cater to their tastes but it's not like they are packing baked beans from Waitrose because they don't rate the Spanish equivalent. It would also be like Germans packing some bratwurst because they think that Spanish sausage is inedible.

Just been out shopping for food with wife and FIL and he bought some Korean food for their trip, around 9KG's worth - and that's just what my wife has to pack in her suitcase for them. I'm sure they are packing their own cases with Korean food. Total days of their trip - 8 days.

Not humble origins but part of that older generation who are so accustomed to eating Korean food all their lives that they have no willingness to try anything else.

Ramen is a proper meal but Ramyeon isn't; just junk food. British folk are lucky that Spanish resorts cater to their tastes but it's not like they are packing baked beans from Waitrose because they don't rate the Spanish equivalent. It would also be like Germans packing some bratwurst because they think that Spanish sausage is inedible.

I think Brits bringing stuff you can't get abroad on holiday is pretty well recognised. E.g. the first few seconds of this Mr Bean video. HP sauce and tea bags are are also popular choices.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6r0dr_juOiI

Ramen is a proper meal but Ramyeon isn't; just junk food. British folk are lucky that Spanish resorts cater to their tastes but it's not like they are packing baked beans from Waitrose because they don't rate the Spanish equivalent. It would also be like Germans packing some bratwurst because they think that Spanish sausage is inedible.

I think Brits bringing stuff you can't get abroad on holiday is pretty well recognised. E.g. the first few seconds of this Mr Bean video. HP sauce and tea bags are are also popular choices.

I think bringing a small accompaniment of British tea bags or small bottle of HP sauce pales in comparison to what Koreans stuff into their suitcase.

Ramen is a proper meal but Ramyeon isn't; just junk food. British folk are lucky that Spanish resorts cater to their tastes but it's not like they are packing baked beans from Waitrose because they don't rate the Spanish equivalent. It would also be like Germans packing some bratwurst because they think that Spanish sausage is inedible.

I think Brits bringing stuff you can't get abroad on holiday is pretty well recognised. E.g. the first few seconds of this Mr Bean video. HP sauce and tea bags are are also popular choices.

I think bringing a small accompaniment of British tea bags or small bottle of HP sauce pales in comparison to what Koreans stuff into their suitcase.

Yes possibly. Koreans are also probably bringing all that crap over to save money, but are less likely to admit that. If you're going on a grand tour of Europe these days there's probably a Korean restaurant in every major city with just as good food, but twice the cost.  I assume your average Korean has got an app on their smart phone that shows up all the Korean restaurants in every European city and exactly how to get there.   

Going to Europe with the wife and her in-laws are coming for part of the trip. Meals for everyday? Wife says they want to eat Korean food. I mean what's the effing point for Koreans traveling overseas if half their suitcase is filled with kimchi and ramen.

As I'm sure you know, ramen is Japanese, however I know what you mean. In UK culture eating your own food on holiday is a working class/ordinary people thing to do, judging by the kind of places in Spain that are awash with English food restaurants. Do your in laws have humble origins? Actually, I guess virtually everyone in that generation in Korea could be described in that way.

Ramen is a proper meal but Ramyeon isn't; just junk food. British folk are lucky that Spanish resorts cater to their tastes but it's not like they are packing baked beans from Waitrose because they don't rate the Spanish equivalent. It would also be like Germans packing some bratwurst because they think that Spanish sausage is inedible.

Just been out shopping for food with wife and FIL and he bought some Korean food for their trip, around 9KG's worth - and that's just what my wife has to pack in her suitcase for them. I'm sure they are packing their own cases with Korean food. Total days of their trip - 8 days.

Not humble origins but part of that older generation who are so accustomed to eating Korean food all their lives that they have no willingness to try anything else.

Waitrose? No....the kind of people who take beans on holiday only take Heinz  I have seen people do it too.

Man, why did the ref stop Mayweather beating up that that cocky Irish bast#!d ?? I was loving rounds 8/9 and 10.

Not humble origins but part of that older generation who are so accustomed to eating Korean food all their lives that they have no willingness to try anything else.

I will never, ever understand the ability that Koreans have to eat the same damn thing for every single meal of their lives. That used to be a Would You Rather scenario we'd play in school.

I made spaghetti last night for the PILs, and despite FIL complaining it was greasy, they ate it right up. MIL did require kimchi as a side though, saying they went well together. Progress!

I got hot sauce in my bag

Not humble origins but part of that older generation who are so accustomed to eating Korean food all their lives that they have no willingness to try anything else.

I will never, ever understand the ability that Koreans have to eat the same damn thing for every single meal of their lives. That used to be a Would You Rather scenario we'd play in school.

Not to play the apologist, but I was brought up on a very steady diet of milk, meat and potatoes in rural Canada. I imagine much of that has to do with both sets of grandparents making much of their living off the land and my parents carrying on the tradition. It wasn't until I was a teenager that my mother started cooking things that weren't boiled, baked, mashed or whipped (her pizza was terrible.) It wasn't too long ago Koreans were in the same boat.

It wasn't until I was a teenager that my mother started cooking things that weren't boiled, baked, mashed or whipped (her pizza was terrible.)

Was it boiled, baked, mashed, or whipped?

I got hot sauce in my bag

Is this your signature line on Tinder?

Sharyce?!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!

It wasn't until I was a teenager that my mother started cooking things that weren't boiled, baked, mashed or whipped (her pizza was terrible.)

Was it boiled, baked, mashed, or whipped?

I feel like putting some pizza in a blender would be kind of good. Like, liquid dough tomato slurry.

Pizza smoothie? (tomatoes are a fruit, right?) 

This is urgent, friends.

Sometimes I hate myself and therefore have a craving for hot dogs. But I have no idea which ones to buy as I fear that any Korean version is either: Five inches in circumference or disgusting or both. Has anyone found a brand here that might mimic the specific repulsiveness of an American hot dog?

And, to make this more rant-y, first grade middle schoolers are the worst people on the planet.

I'm not American, but those costco hot dogs seem pretty American to me.
You can buy them pre made in a hotdog bun at the food court, or you can buy them in a packet with the other hotdogs.

I made spaghetti last night for the PILs, and despite FIL complaining it was greasy, they ate it right up. MIL did require kimchi as a side though, saying they went well together. Progress!

I got hot sauce in my bag

what kind of spaghetti was it?

i've heard this from a lot of koreans: western food is too greasy and salty

when korean food is some of the greasiest, saltiest cuisine i have ever eaten (i love korean food though, don't get me wrong, but come on)

e.g. we went out for 곱창 the other day. wife always complains she doesn't like chinese food as it's too 'greasy', but the worker was literally ladeling out the grease and oil from the bowl of 곱창!

i don't know what the rules are!

This is urgent, friends.

Sometimes I hate myself and therefore have a craving for hot dogs. But I have no idea which ones to buy as I fear that any Korean version is either: Five inches in circumference or disgusting or both. Has anyone found a brand here that might mimic the specific repulsiveness of an American hot dog?

And, to make this more rant-y, first grade middle schoolers are the worst people on the planet.

Fixed that for you.

I made spaghetti last night for the PILs, and despite FIL complaining it was greasy, they ate it right up. MIL did require kimchi as a side though, saying they went well together. Progress!

I got hot sauce in my bag

what kind of spaghetti was it?

i've heard this from a lot of koreans: western food is too greasy and salty

when korean food is some of the greasiest, saltiest cuisine i have ever eaten (i love korean food though, don't get me wrong, but come on)

e.g. we went out for 곱창 the other day. wife always complains she doesn't like chinese food as it's too 'greasy', but the worker was literally ladeling out the grease and oil from the bowl of 곱창!

i don't know what the rules are!

Don't mind the rules; just know the deck is stacked.

It was an oil pasta, in fact (no particular recipe, just a hodgepodge of what I found in the fridge). I think that was just FIL's unique way of not recognizing anybody's hard work besides his own, and a signal that he wanted someone to get him the marinated onions out of the fridge to help his stomach cut the grease -- A signal that I missed; he ended up getting it himself.