Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Mr.NiceGuy]

It happens to me again and again. Whether it be cereal or jam, hamburger or bread, when I want to pig out in my favorite Western foods, the plumbing plugs up. What I'm talking about are the contaminants, or whatever they be, in these foods themselves. The cereal tastes stale and like wood chips. The bread, I'm told, has chemicals or something to preserve it from mold(Once I used to get allergic reactions from this,) and the hamburger? Man, one time I had to get a saline drip due to a fecal infection after mixing some with spaghetti.
So what's safe to eat and not to eat in Korea? I know that in the four months without "r" in them, May, June, July, and August, you shouldn't eat any shell fish, as well as raw fish. Dog meat is supposed to be unhealthy, due to bacteria, although the Koreans claim otherwise; and the ham is supposed to be junk. This I learned from some of the wisdom of the Koreans themselves, not Westerners.
But the worst has got to be the hamburger. I love hamburger. I especially love it with spaghetti. But once down the hatch, it clogs like clay in my stomach. Koreans told me to stay away from hamburger here too. Just wondering if any of you have found that this food, as well as any others, are some 'foods to avoid in Korea.'

[Harpeau]

A few things that I do that helps me remain relatively healthy are:

-Boil water- even the bottled water- I tend to boil it about 50% of what I take in. Even with bottled water- you never know.

-Careful using 1 liter water bottles over and over again. Bacteria can form in them. Wash them in hot soapy water, rinse them and leave them to drip dry.

-Take some vitamines. I find them very helpful. I take Centrum, Vitamines B, C,....etc.

- When drinking soju or other alchohol- NEVER take a used glass from another person and drink out of it. USE YOUR OWN GLASS!! It's not rude, it's just safe.

- I usually am willing to share denjang chigee (soy bean stew) with my wife and friends- but I'm not sure if I'm taking a dumb pill here. Some Koreans seem to think it's safe. What do you think?

At fast food rest. I tend to order a "custom made" burger (extra- pickles or something), that way I'm sure that it hasn't been sitting around for a dog's age. Same with fries- I make sure they're hot. If not, exchange them. (More personal preference more than anything else.)

About the spaggetti- depending on the sauce- sometimes spagetti sauce can be a "richer" sort of food. It may explain why you have that "lead feeling". Be careful where you buy your ground beef. Sometimes it may be better to use beef imported from the USA (at the Hannam food market). It may be a good idea.

-Drink lots of (non-alchoholic) liquids. Many here are dehydrated- especially this time of year. A Braun blender is awesome for making real fruit shakes with soya milk & crushed ice. Very healthy indeed.

-Get a humidifier. It's made a world of difference for us!

Get adequate amounts of sleep. Many who are here between 27 and 37 go through changes, where it's no longer easy to pull an "all nighter" like it was back in university. Our bodies are changing and we aren't as flexible as we once were. Be aware of these changes. Remember, many in Korea "play very hard". Pace yourselves.

-Hit the sauna once or twice a week. Get the scrape, scrub and massage. It's very therapeutic!

-If you spend lots of time in a computer chair, then get yourself an "Obus Form" - they really make a difference to your back.

-Take good care of your feet. A pedicure can make a change in your whole demeanure.

-Try to order food with red pepper past on the side. That way you can mix it in according to tast.

-Don't eat pork more than once or twice per week at the most. It can really make you feel crappy.

-Exersize regularly. (I'm one to talk- I know- time to hit the gymn.)

-Take care of yourself and no your limits.

I would like to see what others have to add.

The above are a few things that I personally find helpful. I'm not a doctor, so this isn't a perscription, but rather, just emptying the pebles from my pockets, they're the music of my soul.
Thanks for listening.
Harpeau

[weatherman]

Dude, I understand where you are coming from, but I, hypothetically could never live or get along with you. Your advice was all good, and is correct, but do you really live like that? I best thing you said was know your limit, and that is very true. In Korea I would say watch your skin, so eat lots of veggies and get lots of sleep and exercise when you can.

[Bulsajo]

Avoid chicken-a$$holes at the pojang macha. When it comes out at both ends for 2 days it ain't pretty.

[Zyzyfer]

Chicken butts!!!!!

I love informing people of what those are.

[sparkx]

As for the bread situation, I found that Milk Bread is the closest to and sometimes better than loaves from home. Just ask if it is fresh....believe it or not, makes a world of difference.

Also, I wholeheartedly agree about the sauna thing. I go about 5 times per week and glow after each session. Try to find a gym that offers a sauna all inclusive. Just watch out for random hands grabbing at your unit. Personally, I pistol whip those who attempt to get grabby with my lil' johnson.

[Mr.NiceGuy]

Harpaeu,

Thanks for your intelligent and insightful information. Despite the criticism, I think it's something all of us should heed, even if we can't always live up to it. I didn't know that about boiling bottled water either. I'll look for US hamburger if I can. Thanks.

[captain kirk]

things to avoid are the pig intestines cooked up in a delicious looking stew. wait a minute, it's looking more delicious...agh, i'm eating pig intestines, they're delicious!
as i was saying (ahem) things to avoid are.......hamburger? i eat hamburger all the time, uh, no problem! really. the cheap tofu is great, mixed with the hamburger and tomato sauce and spaghetti. yeah, cheap tofu, good.
re; bread. yaghh! in seoul there's the jel deli . there's an ad in the korea herald, inside front page. go there and via some classy seoul hotel's bakery is BREAD. sure, it's 4,500 a loaf. but it's heavy, grainy, real bread. for those in the know, that's where yah can go.

[Ya-ta Boy]

I had a co-worker who kept getting food poisoning all the time...like about 4 or 5 times a year. She had to be careful about everything. I think she was just a 'delicate flower'.

I've been here for years and years and have never gotten sick from the food. I don't boil the bottled water. I don't even boil my tea water from the tap. I just run the veggies under the faucet for a second or two. I trade glasses of soju like crazy and dig in to the kimchi gi-gay pan along with everyone else. As far as I know, I have never caught a cold or anything else from it. I do try to buy imported meat when I can, but only because it is cheaper than domestic meat.

I get my attitude from a nudist doctor I once ran into in an old mining town up in the Colorado Rockies. He said we would all be healthier if we ate a spoonful of dirt everyday. (For anyone with a prurient interest: he was wearing shoes and socks when he told me this.)

[beebee]

Avoid McDonalds, KFC and Burger King - they're really not good for your health. Lately I have given myself food poisioning from my own cooking - so I don't know what advice to give you now !

[Hank Scorpio]

[Tiberious aka Sparkles]

[necktie]

A couple of years back, a couple friends of mine and I went to a local little chicken joint for some chicken.

We all got food posioning because as it turned out, the place half cooked the chicken, then left it sitting out and cooked it the rest of the way--which wasn't enough to kill the germs that had grown on the chicken while it was sitting out. We were all as sick as dogs for days.

Another thing, if you are out in the boonies and come across some place of dubious quality but nothing else is around, get something boiled like ramien noodles. If the place isn't all that clean (and there are lots of them in the boonies when you're hiking or travelling, etc..) at least if it's boiled, you know it's probably not riddled with germs. Also, avoid eating at those little Ajuma places that are nothng more than stands on the side of the road, I've known people to get sick from them as well.

[JackSarang]

Avoid dokkboki and anything else with dokk in it (rice cake). Unless its from a decent restaurant its likely full of MSG and other junk.

I had a similar problem at a chicken joint... it was late and we ordered smoked chicken.. it came to the table partially bloody. We were all starving and piss drunk and we looked at each other, "Can you eat chicken a little rare?" "Ummm, no."

Bonsintang (dog soup) is pretty healthy. Its a soup.. boiled really hot and dog meat is super high in protein. Any of the soups are fine so long as it comes to the table boiling.. samgyetang, kalbitang etc.

I eat street vendor food all the time.. but I don't really recommend it, its all garbage, deep fried or meat of dubious quality.

Ham as they call it here is SPAM. Its not Ham as we know it. It is quite literally SPAM or its varients, they love that crap over here and its included in a variety of dishes. Also some trivia, Koreans generally don't consider Ham/Spam a meat. So if you're Veggie and ask for no meat you'll still get Ham if its part of the dish.

[mykrobb]

basically anything sold on the street is a gamble.