Why I Hate the Word "Diet"

"Are you on a diet?"

I am so incredibly mind-numbingly sick of this question. Don't get me wrong, I don't always hate the word diet. "These ancient peoples ate a diet consisting of..." is totally fine. "There should be lots of vegetables and hot sauce in your diet for health!" also gets past my censors. But that question. It eats away at me (if you'll pardon the accidental pun).

Before I moved to Korea, I don't remember thinking about it much, but I can't say if it's due to any cultural difference or just something that's been on a slow burn that finally blew up. There are so many instances where this question comes up. for example:

-when I'm eating a salad
-when I don't take a ginormous portion of rice at lunch
-when I don't want to eat any cake that someone brought into the office
...I could go on.

Now, I can see why people might jump so such dietary conclusions. Salad is the stereotypical non-delicious diet food. Most of the Korean people I've met seem to think I'll starve to death if I don't eat a heaping portion of rice. Why wouldn't a person want to eat cake? Well, I love salad, I'm not too impressed by plain white rice, and when it comes to cake, well, thanks to practically growing up in a bakery owned by my mom, I'm an INCREDIBLY picky cake eater. There, you see? It's never because I'm on a diet.

Except that, in a way, it totally is. I want to lose some weight. I want to be more healthy. So, why do I hate the question?

I think it's because the idea of "diet" or "to go on a diet" to me means something temporary, something you do for a while and then go back to eating pizza for breakfast. It's a means to a specific weight-loss end rather than an end in itself. Diet to me sounds like a crash diet, a fad diet, like eating only grapefruit and lemon water until you've starved off the pounds, only to gain them right back the second you go back to "normal" eating.

The other thing that bothers me is the dichotomy between enjoyable foods and foods you only eat because they're healthy. It creates this feeling that vegetables are a punishment and cake is a prize, and I don't think that's good for anyone. Now, I love pizza as much as the next person, but I enjoy fresh fruits and veggies just as much, even though that sounds crazy.

Treating food as a prize and punishment system doesn't seem like a good tool for being healthy. If I eat "bad" food I feel guilty and can't really enjoy it, and if I eat "good" food I feel like I "deserve" to eat something bad and tend to overeat. Or, I force myself to eat something I don't find delicious (kale, raw carrots) just because I've deemed it "good". Do any of those habits sound healthy? I don't think so.

So yeah, there's my rant of the day. Do you have any similar questions that drive you insane? Am I oversensitive?

How To: Prepare for and Pass the Epik Interview

Before I get started, I want to make it clear that I'm not just going to tell you exactly what happened in my interview, because that doesn't seem fair. What I can do is tell you all the dumb things I wish I hadn't done and the useful things I wish I had done, in hopes that you will have a better time of it than I did.

First off, make sure Skype works on whatever computer you plan to be in front of during the interview. I know this seems obvious, but trust me on this one: check and double check so there won't be any unforeseen technical difficulties. You know what they say about people who assume.

Get it? GET IT??

In the same theme, unless you use Skype all the time and have somehow figured out a way to NOT act like a total spaz while talking through it, I'd suggest practicing a few times with a friend or family member until it feels a bit more normal and you're not constantly staring at your own face in the camera and wondering what you normally do with your hands. Hold two coffee cups if it helps.

Next, and this might sound obvious, plan what you want to say. I'm not saying you need to write a full speech word for word and memorize it, because that would be overkill, but I think it's a good idea to write down a few key points. Why do you want to teach? Why did you choose Korea? What do you know about Korea? How do you deal with culture shock? What are your thoughts on Dokdo?

Okay, that last one is probably a bad idea unless they specifically bring it up. I made the mistake of hubris; I assumed that, with my intimidating elocutionary skills, I'd do just fine. No need to prep here! Haha! Which of course led to my roommate having to use her mime skills to remind me that I love Korean music and understand Korean drinking culture. Seriously. Music and drinking, two of my favorite things in the world, and I could think of neither of them under pressure.

Lastly, as I've said before, don't panic. I'm pretty sure the interview is just to make sure you're a human being capable of English speech. Plus, at least in my case, the interviewer was super chill and super nice. Your EPIK recruiter is not your enemy. Be honest, explain why you want to teach, and odds are you'll be fine. And if not? Well, there are plenty of other fish in the sea. EPIK is not the only option, so seriously, don't stress.

I mean, if they let a weirdo like me in, there's hope for just about anyone, right?

In the Country

I've had a rather enjoyable week, despite the humidity and the MERS scare. Actually, as horrible as this probably sounds, I'm feeling rather thankful to MERS. For one thing, there's soap in the school bathrooms for the first time since, well...ever? I guess people are actually washing their hands now? It's a miracle! Also, since parents were freaking out about it, my school decided to close for 3 days, because allowing students to roam freely around town is somehow safer? One way or the other, teachers still had to come in, though it still felt like a bit of a vacation.

I've been feeling pretty burnt out lately, so I decided to use all this desk-warming time to learn some new teaching techniques in hopes of fanning the flame of my inspiration. I started a class on differentiated learning and mastery-based teaching methods, and while I don't know how much of this I'll ever be able to apply here in Korea (more on that later) it's all very interesting and inspiring and whatnot.

But that's not what I'm here to talk about. I'm here to talk about delicious food and the fact that my manager is living my dream life. He's teaching at a great school, he has a nice house out in the countryside next to his manageable-sized farm, and he always knows where to go out for a delicious meal.

Look at his cute little cabin!

Making doenjang and soy sauce

On Thursday, instead of going out for lunch, we bought cup ramyeon and kimbap and had a bit of a picnic on the farm. It felt good to sit outside, enjoying the breeze, chatting with my coworkers, practicing Korean...basically the ideal afternoon.

Stealth shot.

 Another great thing about my manager is that he buys amazing fair-trade coffee and makes it for everyone nearly every day. I've gotten so spoiled. How can I go back to those instant coffee sticks?

Homemade wine.

Korean style raspberries.

It's funny...when I lived in a small town, all I wanted to do was get out, move to the big city. Then I lived in the city, and for a while I loved it. Maybe I'm getting older, but lately all I want is a cute little house in the country with a garden and a dog and a cat. I want to pick berries, make my own wine, and chat with my neighbors about the best way to grow tomatoes. Maybe that will happen in Korea, maybe somewhere else. Who knows? But I'm going to start researching how to make wine just in case.