Ian_Adkins

Korea has been probably my favorite trip yet. Great food and super friendly people. Could be that they were extra friendly because I've spend 3 months studying Korean for hours every day to prepare for the trip though 😁
(I've been to Japan the year before and had some troubles getting around with English only)

It sounds like you've been there before. Have you visited Gyeongju?

    Felix - you think you have problems. You speak and spell American English which most of the world understands. I speak and spell British English! There are not that many British comedy shows on TV's around the world so few understand our humour. Should we change our sense of humour? No chance! We have to retain that ability to laugh at ourselves.

    @Colin Hudson#806 haha Colin! British humor is great! There’s a few British shows and movies I enjoy watching.
    Felix that’s great you put so much effort into learning their language before going. I’m horrible at other languages. I did that before going to Germany, and I couldn’t retain squat. I learned more the week I was there than the three months preparing. Now, I don’t remember any of it! Dated a Portuguese guy for five years, and still only learned enough to be cordial to his parents. 😬

        @Colin Hudson#806 There's Mr. Bean, which everyone here in Austria absolutely loves. I've just started watching The IT Crowd, which seems also very british to me. I love your humo(u)r!

        doggymommee8301 I just really like learning languages! 🙂
        Problem is that I can't do it without some strong motivation like an planned trip to a country where people aren't that likely to speak English.
        I tried the same thing with Chinese last year. I have relatives working there who can speak Chinese, so I always had a translator and didn't learn anything besides "hello", "yes", "no" and "thank you" 😃
        Bom dia!

            Felix - the problem with Mr Bean is that he mostly grunts. Anybody saying that I do will get a smack in the nose!

              Felix I have not, my time has been mostly spent in the Cheonan-Asan area on the west coast, with day trips into Seoul. I'd like to see more of the provinces this time. I was in Busan overnight to catch a ferry to Tsushima for a day, and got around okay, but yes, the Japanese are fairly monolingual, though it seems they understand quite a bit, particularly in writing, but are reticent to use less-than-perfect English. Also visited the DMZ twice, which is surreal.

              With the sole exception of some pungent seafood I have always greatly enjoyed the food throughout East Asia. So far I've been to Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, and I've always eaten well for quite reasonable prices, even at Michelin-starred restaurants. Gourmands could do far worse than East Asia.

                @Colin Hudson Misunderstandings of British humor is real. My family is relatively fresh from Glasgow and London, and I've inherited a sense of humor a few beats off from what most Americans find funny. And it has definitely got me in trouble on a few occasions.

                @doggymommee8301 I'm from Orange County, so the stereotype fits a little bit, but I never spent a lot of time on the beach (too many people when the weather is nice) and I certainly never surfed. I usually go back once a year, but I prefer to hang around the desert. However, I've lived in rural New York, "the part with the cows 'n' sows," for the last 26 years, with the exception of a couple years in Indiana (not far from Muncie, in fact). I could not for the life of me convince locals I wasn't from the City, I had never been to the City, and that this area is more rural and isolated than anything there. The concept just doesn't register that New York is a very large state, only a fraction of which is New York City and its environs.

                Ian_Adkins You should definitely try to go to Gyeongju, the area is full of historic buildings and famous for their table filling meals

                If you'd like I can try and lookup the name of the place when you get there

                  Felix O my!! I have been in Seoul and LOVED the kitchen there! Also I adored sitting on their very low tables, it adds to the cultural spirit!
                  Mouthwatering here now!!! Would love to attack that table! 😆

                    If you like pickled and fermented things, banchan is half the fun of dining. I am always amused by the kimchi pots half-buried in almost every back yard. I heard a story where Generalissimo Park personally implored President Johnson to help get kimchi to the Korean GIs in Vietnam, because they were demoralized without it. What rubbish, I thought. Then I returned stateside and discovered I indeed missed it, even after only five weeks. Meals were missing that spicy sour crunch. I can only imagine what the withdrawal, so to speak, having grown up with the stuff.

                    Ian_Adkins It's strange isn't it? Returning from Korea I missed kimchi like I miss bread when I'm abroad. It went away after two weeks, but it was a very strange feeling

                      @Colin Hudson#810 I grew up watching Monty python and “Are you being served?”. I had an unusually comedy orientation as a child 😂

                      @Felix omg Austrian bread! I was there for 2 weeks when I was 17 and as much as I loved everything about the country the thing I missed most after leaving was the bread. My host family got fresh bread every morning for breakfast. It was glorious!

                      @Daddy'slilmonster#821 Jo seas! I'm Austrian too 😃