Trip to the Asian Store with Jeannie...

안녕하세요 여러분! (Hello Everyone)

This is the Asian Store I go to while I am at College. I finally got some footage (on my phone hehe) of what they sell there. The couple that own it are from Seoul Korea and they are so nice.

Even though she sells prepackaged sides she also sell some hand made food. I like her Kimchi, Kimchi pancakes(Love really hehe) and seaweed side. That is only because that is all that I have tried so far lol.

They sell, Korean, Japanese and Chinese brands.  I still have a lot to try from this store. hmmmm yummy.

I also get to practice my Korean with the lady, she is so nice. If you are ever in Savannah Ga, check this place out.

Han Me Oriental Food & Gifts
2 East De Renne Avenue,
Savannah, GA 31405-6712

Song: Happy Day
Artist: Freaky

Korean Playlists...

Buying my first Korean stuff...

Ok first I just want to say don't mind how much of a hot mess I am it was finals week and I am running on very little sleep but I had to finally make it to the Asian market my friend Jess had been telling me about a year now, before I went home for the summer.  You have no idea how excited and ridiculously happy I was after the trip, just look at the smile lol.   It's so funny I can still remember how I felt that day, my heart was all a flutter. Haha yep that's how much of a dork I am for this stuff.

Oh I almost forgot, I tried Kimchi for the first time that day too!  The lady who owns the shop had just finished making it and she let me try it.  It was really good, it was hot but that doesn't bother me because Caribbean people love hot and spicy stuff, so it was really good.

I had to talk quietly because I was at the student center and there were people sudying, so you might have to turn the volume up on your computer.
 

I finished the plum candies and got a few of my friends addicted to them as well, haha.  I really liked the egg flower soup.  Finished the water kept the bottle lol.  I still have the 냉면 (Naengmyeon Asian style noodles).  Keep an eye out on here for a video of me making it and trying it for the first time.   

That was a good day.  What was the first Korean thing you bought?

Making my first Korean 'dish'...

Beef kimbap (김밥) and heart shape fried egg....for my mum on Valentine's day.  :D

The heart fried egg was a request from Aeri's Kitchen (http://www.youtube.com/user/aeriskitchen) in honour of Valentine's Day to make the heart shape eggs and take a picture and send it to her and she would make a video for everyone.   I thought what else would be an easy dish to start off with, and which one can I get ingredients for (we don't have a big Asian selection). So I thought of doing kimbap.    I thought it turned out pretty good for my first try and obviously I still have to work on it but it's a start :D

How it all started for me...

I cannot remember when exactly my obsession, let me stop here for a minute.  I would like to say that obsession is a strong word to describe my relationship with finding out more about Korea...but then I would be lying.  I unfortunately am obsess with the South Korean culture.  Anyways, back to how it all started for me.

As I said, I am not sure when but I want to say a year or so ago my roommate Jess showed me G-Dragon's video for 'heartbreaker' it was love at first sight, haha.  Why? that's a good question, I think it might have been the fact it was and interesting change from the music that I had been listening too.  Also, first let me state that I am a film major at an art school and I've had a music video class before, so the fact that this was also something new to the booty shaking videos that were pretty in demand on this side of the world at the time. I liked the art direction and fashion and just the whole feel to the video.

Entertainment:
Researching G-Dragon led me to all things BIGBANG (LOVE them) and then 2NE1 (Love them).  I liked that YG Entertainment focused on vocals more than looks even though they were added bonuses.  My first dramas were, Yi San, Coffee Prince, My Lovely Sam Soon and Boys over Flowers.  So naturally I was hooked on Korean dramas.

Cutlure:
Being a Christian (not a über conservative) I liked that the main religion is Christianity and how society is run.  Hmmm lets see if I can explain that better.  I like the fact that the entertainment industry (to an extent) controls what age group sees what.  Unlike in the west where the sexual content is reaching younger and younger age groups.  I like that respect is a big part of the culture, but not so much the strict class system.   I also like the cute relationship 'customs.'  I am a romantic haha.

Language:
I thought well since I am listening to the music and watching the dramas I might as well learn Korean to understand what I was watching since I couldn't always find English subbed versions, hahaha.  I first stumbled on and youtuber called 'BusyAtom' and some how and thankfully stumbled on to another youtuber 'ever4one' who is a teacher at 'Talk to me in Korean' (Will expand on these and post links).  I use Talk to me in Korean mainly to study Korean.   

Cuisine: 
Here in Cayman I can get Chinese, Japanese and Thai food but no Korean so once again thanks to my friend Jess she introduced me to the Asian Market (run by a Korean couple) and so my exploring with the cuisine started.  I mainly started of with snack food except for Kimchi potstickers.  I then searched for videos on youtube to learn how to make a few Korean dishes and found a sweet lady named Aeri who shares videos on how to make certain Korean dishes.  (again I will expand on this)


So, yeah that's it, in a nut shell, how my journey started.  For those of you who aren't Korean how did your journey to learning more about the culture start?

Please keep an eye out for my next postings, more on how to learn the language, making my first Korean dish and much more.

Hugs
LA Nomster