Bonus points for plots that include family drama and love stories. If you thought watching soap operas was just for women, then you’re dead wrong. If you stubbornly suggest a dining room table and chairs, he’ll make you wait so long to get one, you’ll eventually give in and join him on the floor. Even so, more and more you find yourself eating every meal on the floor, hiding money in the mattress, and eating rice at every meal. You’re just as stubborn as he is.ĭepending on how observant he is of his Korean heritage, chances are you won’t be converting totally to the Eastern way of doing things. If you don’t honor and cherish family as much as him, you’ll never become part of it yourself. If he’s the oldest son, chances are there’s a lot of responsibility on his shoulders to take care of “family business.” He loves his family so deeply that at times it has him running out in the middle of the night to take care of them. Visiting Asia is a big deal - and you’ll come to think of it as a a family reunion.

Even still, a Korean man has priorities and while you’re up there, family is always number one. He pays the bills, and hell, he has even taken you to meet Oma. Get used to eating feasts almost any time you get together - from Korean barbeque to cold bowls of naeng myun on a hot day. What to do? Watch Oma as she smears gochujang across her lettuce, piles on some white rice, spicy pork (after dipping it in the oil, of course) and a piece of kimchi, rolls it up and firmly shoves it into her mouth. You look down at the table and it’s filled with red leaf lettuce, gochujang, daikon and cabbage kimchi, white rice, marinated kalbi, spicy pork, burn-your-mouth-hot doenjang-jjigae, chapchae, pickled garlic, little anchovies, bean sprouts, and a salt-and-pepper sesame oil dipping sauce. Every time we sit down to eat, an all-out feast ensues.

I’m not referring to any run-of-the-mill meat and potato-type dinners, either. If there’s one thing Koreans love to do, it’s eat. Life goes back in time slightly when he expects you to be the domestic goddess of his dreams, not-so-quietly reminding you of how spoiled you really are…thanks to him. Thought about splitting dish duty? He has other ideas. He’s likely saving his brownie points for leverage. Don’t think all that doesn’t come without a cost, though. He’ll foot the bill 90 percent of the time and take you shopping when you complain you don’t have anything to wear. You don’t want to get spoiled.īeing spoiled is not always a bad thing. The good thing about delicious, stinky, fermented kimchee is the fact that it’s the most superb of all banchan (side dishes) and makes even the most ordinary meal taste drool-worthy. Unless you have a small kimchi fridge (we’re seriously considering buying one for outside), get ready for your house to smell “distinct” every time you fix yourself something to eat. Having a Korean boyfriend means having a jar of kimchee at the ready to accompany any meal. The only downside to kimchee is the way its pungent, fishy smell permeates the entire house upon opening the fridge. My boyfriend tells me he’s a glutton for punishment. They’re the only people I know that can hold down a full-time job, work 70 hours a week, and still party nearly every night of the week. I love a good time as much as the next gal, but after dozens of rounds of drinks and seemingly endless bottles of soju, I’m just about ready for my grave.

Korean notebooks