A lesson on the Importance of Language and Communication, and the French Cuisine Influence in Korea
On our last trip to Korea, when we were staying at Hoam Faculty House at SNU, we had a free day. So, we decided to go to Nakseongdae Park and then have lunch in the shopping area close by, on our way to the Nakseongdae subway station. I wrote about Nakseongdae Park before (see here https://vivskoreanadventures.wordpress.com/2024/01/19/celebrating-general-kang-an-ancient-local-hero/ )
Our Korean hosts have been wonderful about taking us to various restaurants and sharing stories about the dishes, but we thought that we could do lunch on our own, and we got some recommendations.
We decided on La Bab, a small place that specializes in bibimbab, a Korean favorite and one that we’ve had a couple of times before. We got a table and then I realized that we had to order at an automatic machine. At other times in Korea, at various places (like the café in a museum), we’ve managed to order and pay with a combination of a part-English menu, pointing, body language, and watching what other people did. But, this machine experience didn’t go well! Everything on the screen was in Korean and, even though there were also pictures of the dishes, I couldn’t figure it out. Plus, the machine didn’t seem to accept my credit card. Luckily, a Korean lady with her young son at the next table saw my dilemma and came over to help me. She spoke quite good English and walked me through the whole process. It was very kind of her and I was really grateful.
It made me realize again how many of the international people who come to our campus in Illinois must feel when they don’t understand the language or how things work in society—sometimes ordinary things like ordering a coffee at the coffee shop.
Anyway, we enjoyed our lunch and then went next door to a famous bakery that many of the SNU students recommended. It’s been there since 1996 and is always very popular, as evidenced by the frequent long lines. It’s called Jean Boulangerie and has many French-inspired baked goods for sale. Here, it was easier to buy something, as we could just watch what other people were doing and then look at the cash register when the cashier rang the purchase up.
I’ve written before about how many Korean people really like French-type pastries and baked goods (see here https://vivskoreanadventures.wordpress.com/2016/05/03/love-of-french-names-in-korea/ ), and there’s even a branch of a Korean chain—Paris Baguette— in Paris. https://vivskoreanadventures.wordpress.com/2016/08/25/a-korean-bakery-in-paris/
Experiences in Korea and Japan 