For the second cultural artifact, my friend and I went out to eat at a Korean restaurant the past weekend for dinner. The Korean restaurant was called “New Grand Mart” and had a variety of Korean dishes that my family as made in the past. Before going to the restaurant, I studied the history and culture of Korean food. I found that Korean families traditionally have “bonchon” or sides that accompany their main dish. Similar to America, where we have mashed potatoes with our Turkey for Thanksgiving, Korean food culture always has many sides that accompany main dishes like meat or rice. For food, I decided to order Jja-Jang-Myun, one of the most popular noodle dishes in Korea. Derived and influenced by Japanese cuisine, Jja-Jang-Myun is a black bean noodle dish that had a sweet and flavorful taste to it. Attached is the picture of the dish. The food to the right of the dish is the “bonchon,” or the sides that come along with it. It came with Kimchi, pickled radish, and sliced onions. Ordering the food in Korean was very exciting. The conversation went something like this (in Korean).
Jiwon: Hello! How are you?
Cashier: Hello, what would you like today?
Jiwon: May I get one order of Jja-Jang-Myun
Cashier: Would you like sides to come along with it?
Jiwon: Yes please, and can I get extra pickled radish on the side?
Cashier: No problem! Total is 6.50. I will call your number when your food is ready.
It was very interesting to order food in just Korean by myself. Although there were some words that I couldn’t understand, I was able to understand the general sentences and ideas the cashier was telling me. The food was really good and filling. Most everyone in the restaurant was Asian and spoke Korean. I spoke to one individual on what they ordered and what their favorite dish was. It was really cool being immersed in a Korean environment. I also recognized the accents of the cashier and the other customer. They had a pure Korean accent that I couldn’t replicate. I also looked around the store for other Korean snacks and candy with my friend. There were really interesting, and I even recognized some of the snacks that I used to eat when I was young. The experience of going to the restaurant and Korean store was really fun and interesting. Learning about different foods and different Korean candy and snacks was cool and how they differed with American foods and snacks. Also, the radio station and music in the restaurant and store was in Korean, so I felt like I was fully immersed in a Korean community. The fact that there was a Korean community present in Richmond was really fascinating and I was proud to be a part of it. In the future, I will definitely revisit New Grand Mart for the food and the atmosphere. I may even cook some Korean dishes myself in the future. In conclusion, the general experience was very enjoyable. I felt like I was learning the Korean language without trying to learn specific vocab words.
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