Korean Expat Life Experience Takeaways
Experiences to try:
-Tea time
-Open market shopping from local farmers / fishermen
-Ocean / nature earthing; I enjoyed red clay walking trails in particular
-Sauna / rice enzyme
-Mineral springs water sources and bathing
Recipes / Ideas to continue to learn:
-Seafood preparation like octopus, mussels, fish
-Sauted side dishes like pickled onions, ginger, spinach, bok choy
-Shabu shabu soup
-Oxtail soup
-Seaweed soup
-Tofu for breakfast
-Biminbop
-sesame, dried sardines with rice
-Lotus root side dishes
-Mushroom tea
-Roast purple sweet potato
-Herbal remedies
-Ginseng smoothie
-Cream / pudding / custard bread desserts
-Tea red bean and matcha jelly
-Pinkberry (white strawberry), papaya melon, gold kiwi, salty tomato produce
-Mung bean sprouts as garnish / soup topping
Design ideas to consider in future home:
-Each room has it is own ceiling AC (sometimes with a fan overlapping the AC unit) + a heated flooring control system
-A turn off all lights button near the front door
-Bidet
-Compost / recycling system
Ideas / systems we are ok leaving behind:
-Traffic / sidewalk infrastructure
-AI / too much tech dependence
-Little green spaces in urban planning
-High AC bills
-Tigh living quarters; neighbors can look into one another's living spaces & floors are not sound proof
-No / little sound of birds, crickets, nature in neighborhood.
-Built in speaker announcement systems everywhere including apartments and on hiking trails
-Lack of public trash cans
-Little customization/ differentiation with coffee shops / restaurants / clothing; many establishments served similar drinks / dishes / clothing styles (some establishments had a mass manufactured feel)
-Low air quality
Clever Inventions / ways of doing things that stood out to me:
-Hot packs that stick to your stick with herbal remedies
-Circular table cloths that expand with water
-Jam packets that squeezed from the middle by pressing the ends together
-Complimentary gifts for purchase of an item
-Readily available outdoor exercise equipment
-Many places are within walking distance
-Culture centers / hogwans (after school activities like taekwondo ) + after school bus pick up at home
-Restaurants offer child friendly silverware and plates
-Visor hats, sun jackets, & parasols are used protect from strong sun rays
-Bathrooms offer child friendly toilets, urinals, and sinks
-Transportation is very clean and efficient; the same travel money card can be used for bus, taxi, subway
-Walking up a hill at least once a week to maintain good health
-Rice / soup dishes even dinner leftovers for breakfast
-Mochi / rice cake desserts
-Matcha / earl grey dessert flavors
- Korean dates are used for tea
