Gemma’s Fat Girl’s Food Guide
If you have lived in Seoul as a foreigner, chances are you have heard of the fabulous website, A Fat Girl’s Food Guide to Eating in Korea, written and run by British expat Gemma Wardle. The site has a wealth of helpful reviews of foreign food restaurants in Seoul, recipes, and places to buy hard-to-find ingredients. Gemma’s website won the 2014 K-Blog Award in the “Best Food Blog” category, and she has written for or been featured in a number of media outlets including the Korea Times. I had the honor of sitting down with Gemma last week at Ikovox Coffee in Itaewon. Gemma is an Itaewon local, and as I wandered the narrow streets lined with quirky foreign food spots–a mac and cheese cafe, a pub advertising fish and chips, kebab and falafel, a Bulgarian restaurant–it made sense why she would be drawn to this neighborhood. Gemma is warm and wonderful to talk with, the kind of engaging friend always game for great food and stories. She has high standards; she sent back her drink when the barista brought it out in a to-go cup even though we were clearly sticking around. And she is incredibly helpful. At one point she stopped and asked me, like a friendly tour guide to Seoul’s foreign food world, “Is there anything you are looking for I can direct you to?” “Hmmmmmm….. for me personally, I miss salads, and fresh fruit for smoothies…” “You just have to shop around,” she advised. “I usually find that one supermarket will be good for cheap vegetables, and one will be good for cheap fruit. You just have to keep an eye out, and you’ll find them!” Morgan: So what first brought you to Korea, and how did you get started food blogging? Gemma: I first came to Korea over seven years now. One of my friends who I had lived with in Australia was over here teaching. I wanted to travel more, so I came here. I have been teaching more or less ever since. I started the blog about three and a half years ago now because I had so much information about food, and it seemed like my friends were always asking me the same questions over and over again. “You can buy this in Korea?” “You can really make teas in Korea?” I didn’t really have any ambitions at first. But then the blog really gained momentum and became much bigger than I ever thought it would. Since your blog has gotten so big, what has it been like? Do you ever have people recognize you on the street? Hmmmmm… that has only happened two or three times. Once someone sent over a drink though! That was pretty cool. I think my blog is memorable because of the name, and I just have a lot of content as well. How do you chose the restaurants you review? And when you go in to review a restaurant, what would you say you are looking for? What do you pay attention to? I keep a list of places I want to review–places that friends mention or new places I see in this neighborhood. I keep an ear to the ground. Sometimes I am just craving something, or sometimes I am invited to try something on the house. The places I review I have to either really love, or there has to be something special or different about them. For example, because there are so many pizza places, for me to review a pizza place, it has to be really, really good. Whereas if you are the only Bulgarian restaurant in town, I just have to like it. I can be a lot more forgiving. I don’t write negative reviews. I critique individual dishes, but on the whole I want to blog to be positive. I think that adds a lot to your blog that it is so positive. And it has a lot of good content! One thing that is hard about being a foreigner in Korea is finding shops where you can buy good ingredients for cooking and baking. You have some suggestions on your website, but I was wondering if you could tell me some of the top places that you go to shop for ingredients? Costco. Once a month we go to Costco, because it is very cheap for dairy products. And then I shop weekly at my local Korean grocery store for fruits and vegetables. And the foreign food mart in Itaewon as well. If you were to characterize the changes you have seen in foreign food in Korea during your time here–food fads that have come and gone–what have you noticed? Oh, the changes have been insane… I remember several years ago when Paris Baguette started selling little chicken tender wraps, which were like some of my favorites at home. That was exciting. And then more and more products over time came–quinoa and chia seeds. There is nothing you can’t get now. Before there were things you couldn’t get, but now it is a very small list. And if you can’t get it, you can make it. Are there any food from back home that you really miss, or are really hard to find? I miss parsnips. I even bought seeds, but I haven’t planted them yet. Oh, and rhubarb. And “American” Chinese food, covered in batter and fried…. That sounds amazing… So most of the reviews you do are for foreign foods. Have you thought about reviewing Korean restaurants? I never reviewed Korean restaurants in the beginning because so many other people were already doing it. And it’s not hard to find Korean food–it’s everywhere. I do like Korean food. But I eat mostly foreign food. So you do a lot of cooking for yourself? I read somewhere you do a diet, “raw ‘til 4”? Yes, I only eat raw food until four, but now I am not as strict with it. I always make a green smoothie
Infusion Staff Interview: Monica Heilman
Infusion has been blessed with some pretty amazing staff members this year, all of whom are really worth getting to know. To celebrate these talented and dedicated ETA’s, here starts a series of web exclusive interviews, giving you a snapshot into our passions and daily lives in Korea. Last weekend I sat down with Monica Heilman, a second year ETA in Busan, and staff editor for Infusion this year. We met at a coffee shop in the D-Cube mall at the Sindorim stop in Seoul. The shop was so packed with Saturday afternoon shoppers that we could barely find a couple stool spots in the far back corner, near windows overlooking the taxi-stacked street and open square outside. It was the kind of crowded where it takes you over a minute to figure out where you can leave your puffy winter coat so it’s not in the way. We ordered coffee and tea and began to chat. Morgan: So first, tell us a little about yourself. Where are you from in the US? What did you study in college? Monica: I’m from Colorado Springs, Colorado, and I went to university at the University of Denver. I was actually born in Germany, because my dad was in the military and stationed there. How long did you live there? Only one year, so I don’t remember anything. My students last year–they wrote me goodbye letters, and they wrote a little in German but I was like, “I don’t understand any of it–sorry!” Haha it was nice of them to try… Yeah. I came to Korea straight after college. The reason I wanted to come to Korea is that my mom’s extended family is here. Actually this is the first time meeting all my family. It’s pretty surreal. I was here when I was younger, like two or three, but not since then. How has meeting your family formed a part of your experience here? I know that’s a huge question… Yeah it’s been really huge. (Actually I should write an Infusion piece about it…). Last year in Gimhae, my aunt came to my homestay, and I cried right away. She was really calm so I felt really embarrassed, but later I noticed she was dabbing at her eyes a little bit… I went to my grandparents’ after that and stayed with them for chuseok. That day, family members kept trickling in. It was just surreal, and hard to believe. I have a cousin who is my same age, and in Korea that is a big deal. People think, “oh you’re the same age! You can be really good friends!” So on chuseok I walked in and we both had a reaction like “oh, oh! It must be you!” I had heard a lot about her from my mom, but didn’t know her. So do you get to see her often? She lives in another city, Suncheon. I have three aunts in Korea. One is in Busan, one is in Suncheon, and one is in Seoul. And I have an uncle who is actually doing missionary work in India, so I still haven’t met him. But last year during winter break I spent a week with this cousin’s family, and hung out with them a lot. It was really hard to speak in honorifics. That’s one thing about being here–my Korean has improved a lot! One of the first things my grandpa said when he met me was, “oh, you really can’t speak Korean…” I could understand that – my understanding was pretty good – but speaking was hard. However just this last chuseok my grandma told me that my Korean is really good, so I really did improve! Recently I moved in with my aunt in Busan, and it’s been great. So tell me about your school. You are at a different school from last year…What have been some your best lessons, or most memorable students? Changing schools has been good, but a challenge. Last year I was getting a handle on what these students think and what motivates them, and now it’s all different. This year I am at an all-girls high school which is a little lower-level, but the classes are leveled which is really amazing. At first I found myself doing a lot of basic comparisons, like “oh this school has good technology,” or “students are more shy…” this and that. Last year I know my second semester I changed a lot and felt like I got so much better, and so I am hoping I feel the same this year. I really loved doing YDAC last year. We had five students to a team, and sometimes I wasn’t sure if we were going to make it, but we had so much fun going out, and meeting other students, and talking with other teachers. I really emphasized when I was recruiting students–”don’t feel like your English level has to be really high.” So we had a balance of some advanced students and some not. But at the end of the year, these were the students who wrote me letters and the note in German. So I loved your art submission last year, The Faces of Fulbright. What has it been like for you to do art in Korea? How has that changed or added to your experience here? I was really excited to find out more about Korean art. Last year I kept telling myself I should do more art, but I got really busy. But this year I have loved being in Busan because I can go out, and stumble into some random gallery without trying. I didn’t ever find an art class, which I might still try and do. But to be honest, I don’t feel like I have made real or substantial art here. Just still life sketching, doodling, or small things here and there. Last year, when the Ferguson non-indictment came out I was upset about it, so I did a couple
Web Feature: A Return to Normalcy
Written by Lea Crowley, ETA 2014-’15 As I began planning for my return to the United States, the phrase “A Return to Normalcy” kept coming to mind. This phrase was Warren G. Harding’s 1920 campaign promise; he was offering what nearly every American sought after the instability of World War I. After bringing WWI to an official end, the American people wanted to return to the way things were before the war. Back to normal. However, the definition of “normal” had completely changed after the war. American society had undergone innumerable drastic changes in a short window of time: women as wage earners, a lost generation of men and boys, transformation of technology, fashion, music, and art. Nothing was the same, but Americans desperately wanted to return to “normal.” After living in Korea for nearly a year now, I’m surprised at how well I can relate to that desire for normalcy. I have decided to return to the United States, and I am beginning the process of accepting my decision. Throughout this process, I keep finding myself revisiting the phrase “a return to normalcy” and wondering, “What is normal?” Normal in Korea is nowhere near normal in America, and vice versa. I have spent the past year adjusting to normalcy in Korea, and I finally feel comfortable with Korean norms. It’s normal to walk down crooked cobblestone sidewalks, to bow and be bowed to by my coworkers and students, to buy vegetables from grannies sitting on the curb. It doesn’t faze me that I’m completely surrounded by a foreign language; whether it be blaring from a radio, on a restaurant sign, or spoken aloud, it’s all completely normal. When I return to Chicago, what will normal be? Before I came to Korea, it was completely normal to be constantly prepared for a stranger to attack me in some way, shape or form. It was normal for the public transportation to be dirty, smelly and relatively unreliable. I became hardened to the negative aspects of my city, because I had never known anything else. Now that I’ve lived in Korea, my expectations for public cleanliness and personal safety have been drastically altered. I can walk around outside while looking at my phone without having to worry that someone will snatch it out of my hands and sell it. I don’t have to clench my fists and wear an angry expression to prevent people from trying to attack me whenever I step outside. And it’s really nice. I like this sense of safe normalcy. But in a few months’ time, I will have to get reacquainted with everyday, normal parts of life in Chicago. Don’t get me wrong, though. I do not hate Chicago, nor do I only recall the negative aspects of living there. Although I’m anxious about my capacity to readjust to Chicago’s low standards for normal public behavior, cleanliness and overall safety, I am looking forward to the more positive aspects of normalcy in Chicago. I’m ready and willing to embrace Chicago’s food scene once more – real pizza, tamales, curries, hot dogs, falafel, Chipotle – as well as the weight I’m sure to gain from enjoying it so thoroughly. I am excited to explore the diverse neighborhoods of my city, and rediscover the treasures each has to offer: thrift shops, cultural centers, yoga studios, musical performances, and views of Lake Michigan. Chicago may be rough around the edges, but that’s part of why I love it so much. Korea has become familiar, comfortable, and absolutely normal; how can anything else feel like home after this? Like the Americans who wanted a “return to normalcy” after the chaos of WWI, I am desperately hoping that I can adjust to life in Chicago once more. I am not hoping for things to return to the way they were before I left. I’m afraid that the intense changes Korea has wreaked on the way I think, speak and live, will make it impossible (or at least extremely difficult) for me to feel normal anywhere else. For example, living in Korea has changed the way I perceive social situations and how I decide to interact accordingly within specific social situations. I cannot shake the habit of being subconsciously “polite”; by Korean standards, younger people are expected to show politeness and respect to their elders in very obvious ways. Some of these obvious ways include: bowing to anyone who may look even slightly older than you, pouring drinks for others while eating a meal together, always handing things to people with two hands, and not crossing your legs in public. I feel afraid that these subconscious and completely normal parts of interacting within Korean society will earn me nothing but dirty looks and rolled eyes back in Chicago. In addition to affecting the way I perceive social situations, living in Korea has changed the way I communicate with others. Because I speak broken Korean seemingly more often than I speak fluent English, I have found myself attempting to speak English in a more Korean way. My grammar has become awkward, and I have begun using “aegyo” when speaking English. “Aegyo” is a Korean term used to describe acting intentionally “cute”; female Korean pop stars often use aegyo to win over fans. For example, these women will speak in a higher, more childlike tone of voice, overemphasize their “girlishness” by overdramatically failing at athletic activities, and use lots of cute hand gestures when they speak. In general, women in Korea (foreign or not) are expected to show off their aegyo, especially when addressing their elders. However, I know that my interpretation of “aegyo” would not be seen as cute or normal in Chicago; in fact, I am positive that Chicagoans would find it weird, annoying, frustrating, or some combination of the three. In a way, I’m grateful that I feel so conflicted about moving back to America. Feeling this apprehension about going back to my hometown made me realize just how meaningful my experience