My wife and I went to New Malden in London today. It is basically Korea Town in the UK. Apparently there are more Koreans in New Malden than anywhere else in Europe. It was an interesting trip for a few reasons.
- I heard more people speaking Italian than Korean.
- I heard more people speaking Mandarin than Korean.
- I didn't see that many Korean people.
But we stopped by the Korean Cultural Centre because they seemed to be having some kind of food festival. I
love a food festival. They had menus on the outside, and luckily for me, I can read Hangul, but I wasn't sure I was pronouncing everything properly. So when I was inside and was speaking to the Korean lady behind the counter, I told her I wanted some gimbap. More specifically, I wanted the triangle shaped stuff, Samgak-gimbap 삼각김밥, but I just pointed at it and said gimbap because I wasn't sure of the pronunciation. So I asked, 한국어로 어떻게 말해요? (How do you say it in Korean) and held up the gimbap she'd just handed me. She looked really confused, and then leaned over to show me how to open the packaging. But I said, "No, how do you say it in Korean?" and she finally processed that I was speaking in Korean. I suppose the big fat, grey haired, white guy didn't immediately trigger a response or listening in Korean.
So my conversation:
- 한국어로 어떻게 말해요?
- Oh, you pull on the thread here and it opens up.
- 아니, 미안이다. 한국어로 어떻게 말해요?
- 아! 삼각김밥.
When I was walking away with my wife, I said to her how disappointed I was about my bad pronunciation, because I had to repeat it before the woman understood. My wife just laughed and said she thought the lady just didn't register at first that I wasn't speaking in English, and it wasn't until I said it again that she worked out I was speaking Korean. Anyway, for everything else we ordered the woman told me the Korean word for it, and we got big smiles throughout the rest of the transaction. I think I got a discount also, because she charged me half price for the 삼각김밥.
I got a massive haul from the Korean grocery, lots of Soju, Makkoli, Mayo, Beef Powder, Gochujang, Ssamjang & Doenjang pastes, as well as some laver sheets and pickled radish. So lots of homemade gimbap, bimbibap, and KFC (Korean Fried Chicken) for me this month!