What My familiy Likes

Soon my aunts called us into the living rooms for dinner. Ye-seul got the wooden mahogany colored fold out table from the storage room, and wiped it off with a rag. My aunts started setting all the food on it as everyone gathered around. So much food was on the table, it was great. I was truly grateful that Koreans were big eaters, because so was I. Various pan-chans, sort of like appetizers, but they’re eaten before and during the meal with the main dish. There are always a variety of them on the table with a meal, and they all range from kimchi to cooked seasons spinach. For all of you that don’t know Kimchi is a spicy pickled cabbage that Korean’s eat religiously from morning until night. That and soju, a bonafied Korean liquor. They all asked me if I was hungry, and I nodded my head eagerly. They mentioned that my mom had called to make sure they made all my favorite pan-chans. Fried scrambled seasoned egg, fried seasoned tofu, and cooked bean sprouts. The main dish was Kimchi-soup. While I don’t like kimchi, I do like Kimchi-soup. It mellows out the flavor and sourness of the kimchi. After traveling for so long, the soup was simply blissful. I observed my family. How my cousin Ye-seul kept her head down while she was eating, she ate more than anyone in the whole family, but to contest how healthy Korean food is, she isn’t a bit overweight. I also observed how my uncle, when he was done eating, sat behind my aunt and waited for her to finish eating. He sort of mocked her sitting position, almost in a protective way, and I realized that this was a subtle showing of affection that I often didn’t see in America. After the meal was finished, the table was wiped again and put in the storage room. Everyone went back to sitting on the hard wood floor on top of a blanket, while grandpa sat in a bright orange cushioned chair. The only piece of real furniture in the whole apartment. Sure, furniture was sold in Korea, but it wasn’t common for Koreans to buy a lot of it, that was an American custom. This chair was an indication of the little American things that Grandpa liked. I later learned that cushioned chairs weren’t the only things. He also like the big alarm clocks with the large red numbers on them, and Burger King Whoppers. On my first visit my American cousins and mother came with me. Grandpa told my mom that my cousin Steven missed American food and wanted a whopper, without consulting with Steven at all. Hence Grandpa’s antics for getting what he wanted. He told my aunt to make instant coffee. “Bianca!” He boomed, “You Daddy drink coffee after he eat?” “No,” I shook my head. “I like coffee after I eat,” He said. Just then all the kids started to file back into his bedroom again. I followed, and continued to watch TV.