Mixing it up

Okay, I was feeling a little punchy yesterday, and Bobby and I decided to be unabashedly American for once. I feel a little entitled, having been a resident of Daegu for 8 months now. It's my house (literally, as you'll see in a minute) and I need to carve own little space in it once and awhile.

So we went to My House (see!), which is a restaurant right across the road from us. It styles itself as a western restaurant and has a fantastic buffet. Well, we sat down and the waitress revealed that they were offering steak specials. Bobby, a huge fan of steak, was excited about this. I am not a fan of steak, and as previously mentioned, I love the buffet. So we ORDERED TWO DIFFERENT THINGS!! The utter shock! The waitress was a pro and didn't miss a beat. But we weren't done being weird Americans. I then went to the buffet, made myself a bowl of naeng myon (fantastic, by the way), and proceeded to EAT BEFORE BOBBY RECEIVED HIS MEAL!!! We couldn't help but notice that a few people were looking at us, which is never unusual when you are an obvious foreigner. Well, I got maybe halfway through my bowl before the waiter came up and nervously said, “please, sir, why aren't you eating? Please, you can have the salad bar!” Bobby was not interested, but I prodded him towards it anyways to ease the situation and perform my wifely duty of forcing vegetable matter upon my carnivorous husband. (I'm such a tyrant).

I think as Korea opens its doors to more foreigners, wider ranges of behavior will become normal. I can't help but buck at the conformity sometimes, being so used to the magnificent smorgasbord of appearances, behaviors, and even languages that is America. That would be the thing I miss the most about my home.