4 Awesome Korean Foods

I’ve heard it said that you haven’t truly visited a country until you have sampled the local cuisine and, in my opinion, there is no truer statement. While studying in Seoul, you will have the opportunity to sample a large variety of delicious Korean food. In this post I will cover 4 of my favorite Korean meals and snacks.


1. Jeyuk Deopbab (제육덮밥)- Now this dish loosely translates as “ spicy pork over rice.” This dish is a generous serving of spicy pork usually served alongside a portion of cooked rice either on the same dish or separately. While I was in Seoul, this was hands down my all favorite dish. I was always told that this dish is very spicy but I found it to only have a very mild kick to it, although, that might be because I am used to very spicy Hispanic foods. This makes for a very good meal at any time of the day and it is pretty cheap with most prices I saw being in the five to six thousand won range. However, I must point out that the taste varies from restaurant to restaurant. The best place I can recommend is the Oori Sikdang (우리식당) restaurant by the northern gate of Konkuk University.


2. Korean BBQ- If you leave Korea without going to a Korean BBQ place, you must have done something wrong considering these joints are absolutely everywhere. Korean BBQ is more a style of eating than any actual specific dish. When you go to a Korean BBQ restaurant, you usually sit around a circular table with a grill in the middle. Ordering involves ordering one or more plates of raw meat which are then brought to your table and which you then cook by yourselves. Included in the price of the meat, you are also usually brought a large number of dishes that may include tofu, kimchi and, always, a platter of lettuce leaves. The way to eat at one of these places is to grill the meat, take a lettuce leaf, place a piece of meat, and then add any amount from the side dishes you require. You then roll the lettuce leaf around everything into a ball and then eat it. If you want to do it like the locals, be sure to shove the entire portion into your mouth at once. Eating at one of these places can be somewhat expensive. I usually ended up spending anywhere from 11,000 to 20,000 won.


3. Hotteok (호떡)- Hotteok is usually a sweet filled Korean pancake. This is not an actual meal, but rather a very tasty street food. The recipe may vary, but the ones I usually bought from street vendors consisted of a pancake filled with honey, some seeds, and, I believe, fried sugar. They may not be the healthiest, but trust me these things are addicting and are a very popular street food item. At most stands where I bought these from, they were made while I watched and cost around a 1,000 won. Be sure to try them out when you have a chance.

 4. Kimchee- Kimchee is, again not an actual main dish, but rather a traditional Korean side dish made of fermented vegetables. The two most common types of Kimchee I saw were made from fermented cabbages and fermented radishes but there are tons of different types of Kimchee. The best way I can describe this side dish is as an acquired taste. The first time you try it, the somewhat sour taste may be off putting to you- I know it was to me. All I can say is that do not stop eating it. The more you try it the more it grows on you and you learn to love it. By the time it came to leave Korea, I loved the stuff and I miss eating it. Even if you don’t like it, be advised that kimchee is served as a side dish to just about every meal in Korean- well except for western or foreign dishes.

 These are only a few of my favorite Korean dishes. If anyone asks, I’ll be more than happy to cover more in the future.

4 Great Places to Shop for Clothing in Seoul

Alright so if you’ve been keeping up with my posts you probably will remember me mentioning this, but for those who haven’t, I’ll repeat my self- make sure to pack enough as much clothing as you can cram into your suitcases, especially if you’re a guy. This is due to the fact that western size clothing is very hard to find or outrageously expensive in Seoul, especially for guys since most clothing stalls and stores for that matter are geared for women. But not to worry, if you’re already in Korea and need to buy some clothes, there are some good places to check out in Seoul. Here’s a list of the top four places I found during my stay there.

  

1.   Myeongdong- When I say Myeongdong, I mean the street and areas right outside of Myeongdong Station. This area is filled to the brim with clothing, beauty products, and athletics stores. Now most of these will be brand name stores like H&M, Zara, Uniqlo, Adidas, etc., so the prices will be somewhat higher. However, there are also plenty of street vendors selling plenty of wares like shirts, bags, phone cases, and very delicious street food for lower places. I know this was one of my favorite places to buy scarves for less than 10,000 won. However, be advised that most of the clothing sold on the street is one size fits all, and by that I mean Asian sizes, so you might have trouble finding anything that fits. Additionally, Myeongdong is one of the main areas that tourists visit so the streets and stores are packed to the gills with people pretty much daily.

2.   Dongdaemun- This area is right outside the Dongdaemun History and Culture Park Station and is home to a sizable number of shopping malls, street vendors, and small clothing stores. One of my favorite malls to visit was Doota, considering it was of the few places that had larger sizes, but do be warned that the prices are somewhat steep. This area is also home to a night market that, I believe, usually starts up around 8 PM and is huge. I’m sure that you’ll be able to find some clothing you like by walking around the stalls. Even if you don’t, the area is very lit up and lively so it makes for a fun experience. On a final note, there is also the Pyeonghwa Fashion Town (평화시장), an absolutely massive shopping complex where you can definitely find a ton of clothing. However, most of the clothing is of the mass-produced wholesale type and you must be prepared to at least haggle with the vendors- otherwise you’ll be taken advantage of on prices like one of my friends did.

3.   Itaewon- For you guys who are not rail thin or just happen to have a broad body type, Itaewon will probably be your best, maybe only bet, for finding clothing fitted to your size. Itaewon, being the foreigner district, for sure sells large size clothing in order to satisfy the large number of foreigners living in the area. Finding a clothing store that carries clothing in these sizes is made even easier because the vast majority of them have a sign explicitly saying something like “Big Size.” However, the clothing selections in these stores leaves plenty to be desired and the prices are outrageous with $100+ prices on jeans being common. 

4.   Metro Stations- Here I’m not talking about a specific station, but pretty much all Metro stations. The vast majority of subway stations in Seoul are not just Metro stations, they also double as mini shopping centers with a number of small outlets in each one. Gangnam Station, in particular, is huge and contains tons of small clothing vendors where you can pick up some good outfits for cheap. Be advised, though, that these areas are geared mainly for women with most clothing being for females. Every once in a while you’ll find some men’s clothing but it’s rare, at least from what I saw.

Before you go to any of these places be sure to look up a chart with conversions to Korean clothing sizes. There’s one here. If all else fails and you can’t find clothing anywhere, your last resort will be to have someone back home ship you some clothing, but it will be slow and costly.

Classes in Korea 1

Okay, looking back on previous posts, I've concentrated on general things like what to pack, preparation for your experience, places to see, etc. Now, I want to take some time to cover what, as you still being students first and foremost, should be your main focus while in Seoul- classes.

I’ll try to describe what classes are like in a Korean university, however, I do want to point out that this will be based on my own experiences at my own host university and your own host university courses may be different.

Classes at my Korean university were different from my classes back in the Midwest in several ways:

•First, class selection and registration will be on shorter notice.

•Course grades are based on small number of assignments.

•Books are SO MUCH CHEAPER!!!

1.      At my home university, and your own university may be the same, I knew what classes were going to be offered and could register for them several months in advance. At my host university, the course guide was not published until about two weeks before the semester started and you only had about several days to register for the class at semester start. My advice for you would be to look at your host university’s previous course catalogs and get a large list of potential courses pre-approved at your home university before you leave. This will give you flexibility and less headaches when it comes time to register, for reasons I’ll cover in a later post.

2.      The grades for my courses at my home university were, for the most part, decided on just a midterm, final, and, sometimes, a group project. This is very different from my home university where most of my class grades were based on several exams, assignments, team projects, and quizzes. Overall, at your host university, you will have less room for error and as such DO make sure to study intensely for your midterm and final.

3.      For those of you that are American, you are probably aware of how much we are gouged on the price of textbooks. Well, good news. I found that books for my classes were very cheap in Korea. My host university had their own book shop where I could get the majority of my books and not one cost me over $30. Additionally, sometimes you may be directed by your professor to get a course specific photocopied book that will only contain what is covered in the class for even cheaper.

These are only a few of the differences in regards to classes in Korea, however, in the interests of not throwing walls and walls of text at you, I’ll stop here. I will make sure to come back to this topic on a periodic basis with more information, so stay tuned.

Quick Recap

I’ll wager it’s midterm season, or will soon be, for a large majority of you who read this blog. Being a fellow student myself, I know that there doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day to study, eat, and, maybe, sleep (oh how I miss thee). As a result keeping up with this blog probably hasn't been one of your main priorities, and for that I’ll use this post to do a quick recap of what’s been added to the blog over the last couple of weeks.

• 6 Places to Visit While Studying in Korea- This includes a short list of the top 6 places in Seoul I believe any student should during their study abroad stay.

• Seoulistic's Hot Spots to Visit- An addendum to the above posts with additional places to visit and things to do as described by the folks at Seoulistic.

• Seoulistic- A short review of one of my top blogs to visit and one of my main resources about Korea and living in Seoul.

• What to Pack- My take on a popular list of items you should pack for your study in Korea along with some additional resources for you to use.

• How to Get Around Seoul- A step by step list of how to best get around the city of Seoul and its public transportation.

•Getting Around- Just a little self-promotion of my article on how to get around Seoul.

•EG Prepaid SIM Card Review- A short review of the positives and negatives of Evergreen Mobile’s prepaid SIM that I used while in Korea.

•KakaoTalk App- A quick recommendation of the KakaoTalk phone messaging app that is indispensable if you want to communicate with your Korean friends.

KakaoTalk App

Yo!

 Once in Seoul you’ll definitely want to communicate with your fellow exchange students and newly made Korean chingus (friends). For this, I want to take this time to recommend an indispensable little app by the name of KakaoTalk.

Copyright ⓒ Daum Kakao Corp. All rights reserved.

Now, if you have ever used any apps like Viber, Line, or What’sApp, then you probably already have an idea of what KakaoTalk does. For those of you who haven’t, I’ll take this time to describe what it is and why you definitely need it while in Korea, especially for you students.

 KakaoTalk, at its most basic, is a messaging app for your phone. It allows you to send messages, create chat groups, share multimedia such as picture and videos, make calls over your data connection, and even attach files on your message threads that chat members can then download. It also has a wide variety of creative emoticons and other personalization features. You can also install a version of KakaoTalk to your computer and sync it to your phone version. It is essentially an app like What’sApp, but just a Korean company’s version. Overall, the app is very easy to use, however the calls placed through it are not the best quality.

If you want to communicate with any of your college friends in Seoul, or Korea in general, then you’ll need this app. The way I had it explained to me is that, to college students in Korea, messaging and phone minutes are very expensive so they use KakaoTalk to communicate over their data plans and from what I experienced, almost every Korean student I met used KakaoTalk. Whenever it came time to exchange contact information, it was always a Kakao ID that was given and only once did I exchange phone numbers. Almost all communication between project groups, that Korean students were a part of, was done on KakaoTalk. Another reason that I recommend that you get KakaoTalk is just how widespread it is in marketing and culture in Korea. The KakaoTalk emoticons are present on everything from billboards to candy wrappers to product labels. KakaoTalk is also widely used by Korean companies to share promotions, put forth interactive campaigns, and even by Kpop groups to communicate with their fans.

Bottom line, if you want to be able to communicate with your friends in Seoul, I recommend you download KakaoTalk. After all, everyone there uses it so you will probably need to also.

The app is available for free (to buy and to use) on the Google Play Store, the App Store, and you can get it for your computer here.