Yes, I’ve heard that question before - just the “why would you eat that?” part, not the last part. For context: especially in the past (talking about 10+ years ago), it was considered a bit odd if you were interested in cultures that weren’t mainstream, especially if you were young. So people didn’t really understand why I was interested in that sort of stuff (mainly Japanese, some Chinese & Korean). I appreciate my mom for being adventurous and wanting to try new stuff, which is how I fell in love with food from around the world (my dad is the opposite, but he’ll steal things off of my plate, so a win? 
).
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You’re right. Fan-service like that makes me sick.
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Um. I find them in the United States.
Someone pointed out years ago that, until the advent of the airplane/aeroplane, the United States was/were insulated from a LOT that happened in the rest of the world, and the size of the United States before the invention of the locomotive made it hard for people in one part of the United States to connect with people in other parts of the country, so people in the U.S. were in all sorts of cultural silos.
However, rock-head-ism is not a strictly U.S. phenomenon.
After the 7.0 earthquake in Sichuan province in 2017, I read about some journalist, who was I think ABC, interviewing survivors in a tiny village. They were all somewhat astounded by the presence of someone so unlike themselves speaking their dialect. The journalist recounted the villagers trying to remember the last time a stranger had come to their village, and the consensus was that it was some time in the 14th century CE.
Human beings are all looking at each other out of huge hardened titanium silos marked “what makes sense and is familiar to me.”
And where does that come from?
(from South Pacific)
Little Henry!
For me, the original Baby Bird.
But I did not know Marcus Chang was a singer as well. Cool!
Hmm. Imagine that. Learning stuff on the Viki discussion board.
Ow! My brain just expanded!
(Giphy)
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One thing that I find getting in my way of appreciating any culture NOT my own is things that I absorbed unthinkingly from my own culture when I was a child.
One of those for me is: “Oh, those poor people. They have such hard lives because they don’t have X.”
Or: “Oh, those poor people. They are so superstitious.”
Or: “Oh, those poor people. Their economy is so bad.”
Or: “Oh, those poor people. They never learned how to be friendly.”
Or: “Oh, those poor people. Their food is so weird.”
Etc., etc.
Assumptions about others absorbed from one’s culture in childhood, especially early childhood, develop at a time when the ability to think abstractly and reasonably is very tentative.
And giving up assumptions that identify one as a member of a certain family or culture–even if those assumptions are irrational and unrealistic–can be incredibly scary.
(Giphy)
[And I have to say, aside from the above being a great illustration, what person would video his or her child and then allow such a fragile, vulnerable moment to follow that child around forever after? No “tiger parent,” that’s for sure.]
The really sad thing about this is that many companies encourage them to ‘play gay,’ but if they are gay there’s no way they would be allowed come out. I can’t imagine the torment of that bizarre double standard.
The few pictures I’ve posted of my kids online are on FB, private, so only family and a few friends can see them. Even now as teens, almost adults, I won’t post their pictures, there’s no chance I would have post something like that. Although I did tell my youngest if she watched Squid Games she had to record it as a reaction video because it’d be hilarious, she hates anything graphic, it’s never going to happen. lol
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Here’s some folks so dumb they don’t know you’re not supposed to eat any food from another culture that’s actually made by a person from another culture. They give Korea-boos a bad name.
Let’s all hire detectives so we can find where these friends live and show up at their houses at dinner time.
(From Tasty’s FB page)
Also, can anyone tell me if the tri-grams in the photo are from the I Ching? (I was super into that in college.)
Hmmm… what? I’m not sure I understand what that means. Could you please rephrase it?
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What I wanted to say was that, as far as I can tell from the behavior of supposedly very pro-Korea folks on Viki and other drama sites (mostly women, it turns out) who natter on and on about loving Korea and wanting to go there and meet all the stars and whatnot . . .
Their attitude is very dismissive of the real average people portrayed in various shows. They claim to love all things Korean, but do they even know how to make their own gimbap or kimchi? Do they even know that a seafood pancake is NOT an American pancake? Do they in any way at all know anything beyond the cheap cup noodle available at American corner stores?
Have they ever gone to any Korean restaurants and ordered anything off a menu? The first time I ordered budae jjigae successfully at my local Korean restaurant, it took twenty minutes of coaching from friends who had been going to that restaurant for twenty years.
I am certainly a Korea-boo in that I have a view of Korea based solely (Seoul-ly?) on books, movies, TV series, and news reports. It’s only been in the past five years that I have gotten to know . . . one of those actual Koreans.
But, if the world can aggregate its attitudinal matter in the next year or so, I really do want to visit Korea and attend a language school and stuff myself . . . as I keep hoping I can . . . with some small restaurant’s gimbap and kimchi. And I will absolutely need to explore Korea from the safety of an institutional setting since, as an “ugly American,” I know so little of daily Korean culture that I am sure I could earn a “kimchi slap” just by saying hello the wrong way.
And if I could go back to the States actually knowing to make gimbap, that would be astounding.
If I believed in reincarnation, I would be happy to come back in my next life as the gimbap-chomping ajummah in Healer.
Now I’m wondering what your definition of a Koreaboo is, because I associate it with negative things, just like with the term it came from:’ weaboo’. If you already mentioned it, then I didn’t see it 
.
If someone is interested in Korean dramas or Kpop, it doesn’t automatically make them a koreaboo, just certain behaviors. And you say that you are learning more about the actual Korea and have tried to learn more about the food culture, so doesn’t this disqualify you from being a Koreaboo?
I’ve met people who I consider to be Koreaboo’s and the whole encounter was 
.
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Oh, I definitely agree that being a Korea-boo is a negative thing. And I have some of that in me for sure. I am always going to be a bit culturally illiterate.
I think all human beings have the potential to feel entitled to special treatment they don’t deserve.
“Oh, aren’t you lucky, I’m noticing you. Now scurry off and show me how grateful you are.”
There were people like that in my high school who made my life miserable. The idea that I could make someone else’s life just as awful by my ignorance has haunted me since then.
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lol, if that were really a thing I couldn’t eat at any restaurant near my house. The Italian place is owned by South Africans, the Sushi place is owned by Koreans.
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Koreans, in general, are very forgiving of foreigners’ mistakes as they don’t expect foreigners know the proper Korean ways.
I LOVED her character so much that I made sure to spell her character as “ajumma” instead of the more common way of “ahjumma” when I was subbing that drama! lol
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I normally avoid any dish with the name “oriental or Asian”-something at an American restaurant, and I don’t get sushi at any Chinese restaurants, as they are usually awful!
Having said that, I thought the video was really cute, and I liked how those two friends shared recipes from their own culture for the other person to try out.
Are you saying that one should only make food from his/her own culture?
In addition to Korean and American food, I’ve made Chinese, Thai, Japanese, Malaysian, Vietnamese, Italian, Mexican, Peruvian, Spanish, Indian, Russian, and have even attempted to make some ginger beer from Ivory Coast at one time, and my family and friends enjoyed them.
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Dang it! I never get the spelling right. But I love Kim Mi-Kyung. If there were a Freaky Friday type incident and we switched bodies, I would not complain.
I would immediately adopt the name Kim Chi-Yum and glue my butt to a family restaurant chair for a few years.
I would feign amnesia of course, to cover my sudden lack of awareness of everything my helmoi taught me about cooking. I think I could pull it off.
I finally found a kimchi recipe I think even I could make, which I find super exciting.
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This has motivated me to make kimchi for Thanksgiving. I can use Kashmiri chili powder which has the most gorgeous velvety red color–I got it a while ago at an Indian market.
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Wow! What an amazing story! Yes, Korean elderlies can be very rude and blunt. While I really don’t appreciate the way the grandma said it, she wouldn’t have said anything if she didn’t care in a way. I am so glad that the lady didn’t just turn away, being offended, when that halmoni told her she is fat! The way she responded back was truly life changing for her. Good for her! And what a beautiful family she has now!
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My father’s mother, for whom I am named, was nothing if not blunt about EVERYTHING.
When I was in grade school, my grandmother came to live with us after my grandfather died, and she scared the living daylights out of me. I had only known her as the grandmother who gave me and my sisters a yearly Highlights magazine subscription (she was trained as a librarian).
First, I got kicked out of my room to make room for her; I had to sleep on the couch.
When she started complaining about us making noise and about how my mother’s cooking lacked "something, " I wanted to hide in the bathroom closet.
Things got a little better when we moved into a house my parents had built especially to accommodate my grandmother. We would watch TV together. She taught me about propagating African violets. And she had a recipe for a type of sweet bun that was to die for.
But it took everybody a while to get used to the Real Grandmother.
(Giphy)
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OK. Here’s one that I’m not sure about. Traveling to Korea to visit, and buying some high-fashion clothes and shoes and other wearable odds and ends while there.
Is that “boo-ish” or not? I am personally a lot like a magpie; I love to collect pretty things just because they are pretty.
https://www.audubon.org/news/do-magpies-stealing-shiny-things
If somebody handed me a free ticket and put a board-certified doctor at my disposal 24/7, I would hop a KAL flight tomorrow and visit with an eye to purchasing ONE pretty leather purse.
The plane fare is super-competitive. It would cost me about the same to fly 500 miles domestically to visit my family in Virginia.
(KAL website)
Only reason I would not fly KAL would be wanting to avoid this kind of thing:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nut_rage_incident
https://media.giphy.com/media/WOUJ8AzkLwDsvGFSZD/giphy.gif
(Giphy)
According to:
https://fashionbi.com/insights/marketing-research/fashion-industry-in-south-korea:
While western fashion capitals are known to witness the biggest industry events western fashion capitals are known to witness the biggest industry events - Fashion weeks and exclusive events by luxury brands, there is a revolution slowly brewing in the East. Saturation in the west has made many companies shift focus, and look for newer markets. South Korea is now considered one of the most important budding fashion capitals in the east, with Seoul Fashion Week becoming increasingly popular.
But, as one must expect, the fashion on this side of the globe certainly speaks another language. South Korea has its own trends, retail giants and influencers. There is definitely an affinity towards western luxury brands, but customers in the country have their own approach towards them. And hence, the strategy to reach these customers must be entirely adapted to their lifestyles. South Koreans use various social media apps, the popular western ones, as well as local apps.
South Korea has a thriving fashion market of its own, and several local brands make up a sizeable share in the total fashion sales. Besides this, Seoul has a strong street style influence, especially amongst the younger generations. Fashion forward style sensibilities, and a high demand for luxury and high street fashion make South Korea an irresistible market for brands. But, since the market functions in a completely manner, many brands use the help of local companies to enter it.
South Koreans are also immensely influenced by local celebrities and pop stars. It is not surprising that many western brands are using these influencers as brand ambassadors. Their unique style can swing popular opinion and lead to the biggest trends in the country.
Now, We Are Breaking Up is not far off the mark regarding clothes and accessories.
But to go all the way to Korea for a purse or a suit or a pair of shoes–even if it’s part of a vacation package . . .
Is that too much?
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That price is actually really good since it’s during off peak-season. If you try to go during the summer, expect to pay around $2000.
That would be only if you are flying 1st class with some super rich entitled biatch! lol KAL is known to be one of the best airlines in the world for convenience, service, and food.
I wouldn’t do that personally, but if you have the money and time and desire… Then, who’s to stop you? 
I honestly don’t even know the exact definition of being a “Korea-boo is,” but who cares if it’s “boo-ish” or not? Do what you believe is right. 
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