White Rice

There is a lot of Korean etiquette that foreigners are never aware of violating because it isn’t discussed. Koreans don’t often seem outwardly offended by our breaches of politeness. They just shrug it off and think, “foreigner.”

My co-teacher at Tosan, Mr. Yang, is often telling me interesting bits of history and customs in Korea. Today he began my education with a casual conversation starter, “Do you like bibimbap?” Mr. Yang must have known I’d say yes. I’ve never met a single person who doesn’t like this rice dish topped with vegetables and an egg. Before bibimbap is eaten, everything is stirred well and seasoned to taste with a spicy red sauce.

My co-teacher told me that he also likes bibimbap, but he always feels guilty when he eats it. Mr. Yang informed me that apart from bibimbap, it is traditional not to mix food in Korea out of respect for the cook. His grandfather used to hit my co-teacher on the head with a wooden spoon if he didn’t keep his rice white throughout the meal. We both laughed at each other.

Eight months into being here I find out that it is impolite to pinch my rice with my kimchi, seaweed, sesame leaf or other side dish. I wonder what else I don’t know. Some of my kids have looked at me, pointed, and giggled at the way I pinch kimchi with my rice. I didn’t think anything of it though because kids universally don’t like mixing their food, and the students are always laughing at me so nothing seemed unusual. I had noticed that the adults rarely pinch their rice with other food, but it never occurred to me that it was an etiquette issue.