Midterms week!

Welcome to this week’s blog! Hello everyone from South Korea. My name is Niki Patel and I am studying abroad for the fall semester with a couple of friends from back home. This week consisted of lots and lots of studying for midterms! Out of my four classes, I only had three midterms thankfully. Taking the midterms were different as well from what the professors back home would format it as. The professors here give you a week’s time frame after they tell you what your midterm is to complete it. At Western Kentucky, the professors want it finished in one seating and in a small-time frame.

I wanted to talk about the different cuisines South Korea offers. My favorites here are Italian and Indian. The pasta here is quite different than what you would get back in the United States but in a good way. Honestly its two different inventions of types of pastas. Usually in the United States the main pastas are red sauce based and alfredo based. In South Korea there are three main pastas: Rose sauce based, oil based, and a white sauce based made from milk. I have also noticed how Koreans don’t use cheese while eating pasta and the cheese is different from the United States as well. The cheese in Korea is more on the sweet side. My favorite pasta dish is Rose pasta of course. The sauce is made from Korean pepper paste, Korean pepper flakes, garlic, soy sauce, cream, and brown sugar. The pink color of the sauce is where the name “rose” came from. Koreans also don’t eat garlic bread while eating pasta, many just prefer having a side salad instead.

The pizza here is crazy and one a whole extra level. There are so many different types of toppings here that we wouldn’t even have the options of choosing on our pizzas back in the United States. One of the most popular pizzas they have here is potato pizza. The pizza consists of huge potato pieces, sour cream, bacon pieces, and a sweet potato cream. Another popular pizza is a kimchi pizza. The pizza usually comes with sweet glazed pork, kimchi, corn, and chunks of mozzarella cheese. Kimchi is basically fermented cabbage with many spicy seasonings. Another thing that is also different is that Koreans don’t use ranch while eating pizza. Instead they prefer a sweet yogurt and a side of pickles.

The Indian food served here is quite similar to what you would get back home. I would say the only really difference is the use of less spices for flavor and the naan is made from a different flour here which makes it very chewy. Naan is a type of bread used to eat with curry. Indian food has always been my favorite since I am from India. Before coming to South Korea, I didn’t think I would find Indian food here, but I was so glad I did. When I do have my days that I’m missing home a little extra, Indian food is my comfort food and my go to.