"Good for Health"

I just had a breakthrough.

It was sooner than I expected, actually.

What is it, you ask?

I voluntarily ate kimchi with my meal tonight.

Kimchi, if you did not know, is basically the national food of Korea. It is a spicy red peppery side dish of fermented vegetables, most often cabbage (though it is also known to be made with radish or cucumber). If you go into ANY restaurant in Korea, unless it is McDonald's or something, you will be brought a couple of side dishes of kimchi. Koreans also like to say "kimchi" when they take photos just as Americans will say "cheese." Read about kimchi here.

I do not enjoy cabbage. I don't like coleslaw. I don't eat fried cabbage and sausage as my husband craves sometimes. I might tolerate a little bit of fresh cabbage in a salad now and then, but I will never purposely eat the stuff. Especially fermented cabbage. I never have before. That is, until tonight.

Koreans have a way of trying to eat extremely healthily. They have a phrase here that they use over and over when asked why they might eat or drink something--"It's good for health." I promise you, every Korean partakes of something simply because it is "good for health." In our writing classes, we try to correct this grammatical error when the students use that phrase. We tell them to say instead, "It is healthy," or "It is good for one's health." We have a lady from the Pulmuone company who delivers "health-juice" (as we affectionately refer to it in our office) each day to people who order a month's supply. My Korean co-worker that sits next to me has been receiving a little green pack every day with her heath juice for a while. Some days it is carrot juice, some days aloe vera juice, other days maybe broccoli juice, and so on. One type of juice simply says "Beauty" on it. She drinks it because it is good for health, even though it tastes disgusting. I have tried the free samples. However, last week I discovered that she sells Pomegranate juice. I decided I needed to order some of my own health juice, since it actually tastes good. I couldn't help it. It's good for health! So now, I receive my daily dose of Pulmuone juice for 40,000 won (about $40) a month. I am so jumping on the bandwagon of good health.

(Sorry for my digression. I didn't brainstorm before I wrote this blog post, as I tell my students they must ALWAYS do before writing something, and this is a prime example why. My goal was to tell you about kimchi and I ended up talking about beauty juice. That's called "prefacing," in case you didn't know that, and I do that quite often. Ask my husband or anyone who knows me well. I always feel the need to give the background information before I actually get to my main point. I guess it's the teacher in me, always trying to build schema!)

So anyhow, tonight I had a break for dinner at about 8:15, while everyone else was in class. I decided to walk down to the Orange Place (that's what we call it--just a little typical Korean restaurant, kind of like a diner--they have pretty much standard Korean foods and it's very cheap--and their sign is orange). I ordered my usual bowl of bibimbap (steamed rice with a mixture of vegetables on top and a fried egg w/sesame seeds).

I have never eaten at this place by myself, so tonight I decided to sit at the wall/bar type seats so I wouldn't take up a whole table. I have to add that a Korean guy came over to talk to me as soon as I walked in, and just kept talking for about 10 minutes about who knows what. His English was difficult to understand, but he just kept talking! It was tiresome I tell you. I gathered that he is Korean but he lives in Japan and is here for a few months on business. Couldn't really determine what he did, but he was nice, so I talked as much as I could for the few minutes. Anyway, I sat down and the ajumma brought me my food, plus a bowl of soup, plus the sides of kimchi and radish. I took a bite of bibimbap, a sip of soup, and then a piece of kimchi! Then I continued, and KEPT eating the kimchi! It was like I was the host body for a Korean soul, doing something beyond my control, and I just let it happen (by the way, I am reading Stephenie Meyer's sci-fi book, The Host, right now, so that was sort of a reference to that)! I couldn't believe it. Everyone told me that it was an acquired taste (definitely) and that after a while I would actually want to eat kimchi with my meals. Michael already eats it pretty often, but not me. I usually won't even try it, unless it's a completely new kind. I seriously thought it would take me a year or so before I warmed up to it. How about not even 3 months?? I am amazing myself.

Haha, I guess I have been brainwashed by the Korean thought that you should eat foods that are good for you, even if you don't enjoy the taste. Tonight, I didn't even mind it! Also, there is a lot of research that supposedly points to the fact that kimchi can aid in digestion and help prevent colon cancer, which I am at a higher risk for because of my colon disease (ulcerative colitis). I've been dealing with a flare-up of sorts, so maybe subconsciously I am hoping that eating kimchi will help with that. Whatever the reason, I am totally bewildered. I just spent my entire break time at work typing this blog post before my next class because I didn't want to forget about it!!

I guess I really am becoming Korean. :)

~Leslie