Article I wrote for Art and Culture magazine with my brother (april 2010)

Life here isn’t just tough for foreigners

By Ryan Weaver and Damien Weaver

When my brother and I first arrived in Korea we wanted nothing more than to fit in -or at least not to offend anyone with our ignorance of Korean culture. At any rate, we had confidence that our sincere curiosity and tolerance were our greatest assets in this endeavor, and knew that the experience we were undertaking would be a great opportunity to broaden our world view and assess the values of our own culture.

In our first year we each had our share of promising relationships as well as disappointing setbacks. During our second year there were times that we were ready to call Korea our permanent home, and then days when we felt rejected to the point that we considered dropping everything and returning to Canada. Finally, by year three we began feeling that we had increasingly less in common with fellow expatriates; sensing that we were becoming ever more embedded in Korean society -until shaken periodically, by a cultural wake up call.

What became frustrating for us, after spending the better part of our 20's in a foreign country, was that we began to wonder whether their were cultural walls that were not meant to be breached. Our western told us that all people are fundamentally the same; that we all have similar wants and desires whether we use forks or chopsticks to consume them. If you stay in Korea long enough you will notice that a lot of foreigners go through a stage where they throw down those chopsticks they have tried so hard to become accustomed to and use their knife and fork to cut up everything they find backward and illogical about Korean culture. For this reason we still call each other on the phone now and then seeking cultural vindication after an encounter with an aspect of Korean culture that we find objectionable.

Walking down the street in modern day Seoul, surrounded by state of the art skyscrapers and sidestepping double-parked luxury cars, its difficult to imagine that this all emerged from dirt roads and Korean traditional style buildings roughly a half century ago. Back then in Korea, spending foreign currencies on simple luxuries like imported cigarettes and candies was considered treachery, purchasing a foreign automobile unheard of. These days, visitors to Korea are often amazed to find that Seoul is well-developed and as functional and well-equipped as any other large city you might find in Japan, Taiwan, or China.

Henceforth, one has to wonder what a Korean born at the turn of the twentieth century might think of the development this society has gone through at the expense of cultural loss. While some effects of western capitalism have had an astoundingly positive impact on the life of the average Korean, for example, longer, more financially prosperous lives, the stress that individualism has put on the family has meant a sky-rocketing divorce rate, single-parent households and all sorts of social pathologies that follow. Perhaps Lee Kuan Yew put it best when he described how Singapore, not unlike Korea, needed the "good points from the west" to guide them out of the backwardness that gripped their country both economically and socially. He went on to lament, "We have left the past behind, and there is an underlying unease that there will be nothing left of us which is part of the old."

Can I enjoy korean cuisine if I dont like spicy food?

Visitors to Korea often worry that they may not be able to enjoy Korean cuisine because they are not accustomed to spicy food. Why is it that so many here enjoy igniting their tastebuds on fire at the dinner table they may ask. Part of the answer can be explained geographically. As Cornell University professor, Paul Sherman explains, "people in warmer regions of the world benefit from eating spicier foods, because spices are natural antimicrobials. Food-borne pathogens and parasites are more prolific in warmer climates, and spices can kill or inhibit their growth. So it follows, "Humans do what makes them feel good, and they learn from each other. He adds, that people in hot climates learned that spicy food is less likely to make them sick and thus developed a preference for it. Personal experience is also a big factor, if your parents fed you spicy food since you were a child then you will have become accustomed to it over time. And finally, there is likely a genetic component as well, scientific studies have revealed that people vary in their sensitivity of taste, with most women tending to have a more sensitive palatte than men. So if you are a non-smoker with highly sensitive taste buds then the burning sensation that you experience while trying spicy food may be too painful to grant a second attempt.

Nonetheless, non-spicy eaters often rationalize their preference with statements like, "spices were invented to offset the taste of bad food," and complain that adding excessive spices to food renders one unable to appreciate the quality, or distinguish more subtle flavors of other ingredients. They mock those of us who reach for the salt and pepper shakers without first tasting the food from our plate, and point smugly to the fact that most so-called First-Tier restaurants stay away from overly spicy food because it overwhelms other flavors. Perhaps some of their critique is warranted, but I for one am more than a little offended when my taste for spicy food at the age of thirty is likened to a grown child that despite his parents best efforts couldnt be weaned off the adding of sugar to his cereal bowl.

In response, spicy food eaters will retort that those who do not have the courage to try spicy food are bland themselves, too weak to bear the initial sessions of mouth burning in order to experience the euphoria that follows. A little exaggerated, yes, but not completely untrue. Capsaicin, the chemical responsible for the burning sensation, triggers the brain to release endorphins because it thinks the mouth is on fire and needs chemical relief from the pain. Its not enough to intoxicate us by any means, thats probably why weve never heard of someone being pulled over for driving while under the influence of jalapenos, but it is enough to make spicy food somewhat addictive. Yes, its true that the very word addictive rightfully raises some red flags, but as a matter of fact, studies have proven that eating spicy food in itself does not pose health risks, so long as you are not suffering from a preexisting digestive disorder and enjoy your suicide-chicken wings in moderation. And interestingly, further studies have suggest that eating spicy food also offers health benefits such as helping to boost one's metabolism and immune system, lower cholesterol levels, and even prevent some forms of cancer -since capsaicin is a natural antioxidant.

If you're still not convinced, or too scared, then there is no need to worry. There are several Korean foods to enjoy that are not very spicy, and restaurnteurs much to my dismay, usually modify the ingredients for non-Koreans without asking based on the assumption that foreigners dont usually share a taste for spicy food. So rest assured, if you don't like spicy food then you will not starve during your stay in Korea, and if you have ever thought about trying spicy food then you have nothing to lose!

First interview, with chosun ilbo in february (Korean)

February 22, 2010

You can read the article here if youre fluent in Korean:

http://www.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2010/02/23/2010022300036.html

Magazine articles

Art and Culture (cultural change)
April 2010

Queen Magazine (interview)
April 2010

Good Morning Pops (interview)
May 2010

Good morning pops, p.10

Queen magazine, p. 378

Interview with Kbs world radio

my interview with Kbs radio in Seoul will broadcast.
Overview of the interview: http://world.kbs.co.kr/english/culturenlife/culturenlife_seoulreport_detail.htm?font_size=13&No=2931

Go to the main page, and on the right hand side there is a list of shows, choose "Seoul Report" and when the player comes up click on "2010-05-08"
http://world.kbs.co.kr/english/radio/

Why do most foreigners living in Korea have mostly foreign friends?

I was recently asked this question by Matt Kelly on Kbs world radio and didn't have time to finish answering

1. Common interests
Let's face it, to most westerners especially young male Koreans are not cool-in fact they're stereotypical nerds. Studying like machines, playing videogames, and watching soccer? Boring!

2. Language barrier
Most young foreigners in Korea teach English thirty or forty hours per week for a living, how about teaching for free in your spare time? No thanks!

3. Sense of humor
Or lack there of, from a western perspective at least. Koreans predominantly like comedy of he slapstick variety. It's not just a coincidence or trend, I believe there to e cultural and sociological roots. In postmodern (developed countries-by that I mean socially as well as economically), people have more time to reflect on lifes bigger questions. These relate mostly to existentialism, and the answers we've come to are influenced by individualism. In short, we realize that life is absurdly pointless and it's funny to poke fun at the fact (dark humor), Koreans don't get it yet, they will, just wait!