When I’m sick I don’t want to be near food or see people eating it, but Hugh will still sit with everyone at dinner time and watch us eat! He watches what I eat carefully and urges me to eat certain things and chastises me when I’m not eating enough. I’m assuming this is also related to how popular ‘mokbangs’ are in Korea. A mokbang is a live stream of someone eating often copious amounts of food. Lots of people tune it to watch these. There is also such a focus on “eating well” in Korea. If you eat a lot at dinner you are complimented. My mother in law is always happier when I’ve eaten a lot at dinner and I get the type of praise you’d only give a child in Australia. “Well done! You ate well!”

Hugh gets really frustrated when he has no appetite because he is sick and thinks I’m not enjoying the food as much as I should be. Luckily he isn’t sick now, this was the other week.

He’s also been wearing a cute yellow scarf when he’s been sick to keep his throat warm.

My mother in law only knows about Kpop because of me. So what she knows may be a little bit YG biased.

Today’s comic is a bit sad. I always have many things to tell my mother-in-law but it’s really hard because my Korean is so basic. I studied Korean part time for 1 year but it’s only now that I’m in Korea I’m studying hard and trying to put it into use. However, speaking casually with Korean friends and throwing in lots of English is very different from speaking with my parents-in-law where I have to be speaking at a higher politeness level, and they have no English at all. Also there is the problem of dialect. Although there are things I can say in Korean it is very hard and confidence is such an important aspect of speaking in another language. Even if technically I know how to say something, it can be hard to remember it quickly enough.

I really envy my husband’s level of English because although his English is not perfect, he can express himself really well in English. I want to be able to do that in Korean. I’m studying every day but it is very overwhelming.

My husband told his mother that I have many things to say but I can’t yet, and she said she is looking forward to when I can speak well because it will be fun.

I’m addicted to dried seaweed. It’s annoying my husband because he doesn’t see it as a snack, it’s supposed to be part of a meal. Because his mother used to always tell him when he was younger that it’s not a snack. So he called her to tell her that I eat so many packets of seaweed, hoping to convince me to not eat so much. But doesn’t matter what she told him when he was young, she is on my side! Haha. So she basically said to let me eat as much seaweed as I want.

I am trying to cut back a bit. The other day I secretly bought a 3 pack and ate it all at once. AND I’ve only been eating it for 2 years, he has been eating it for all his life.

Sorry if this post is not written as well, I’m writing this as my husband is doing his own rendition of Les Misérables in the background. He is obsessed. Will talk about that another time…