Food and computers

One of the best things about living in Korea is that nearly every restaurant will hand-deliver food to your door. The streets of Seoul are packed with young men on motor-scooters hustling in and out of traffic (and on the sidewalks) delivering food. Often the foods arrives in real dishes that you place outside of your door when finished eating. Another young man then comes by on his scooter to retrieve the empty plates and bowls.

Of course, not speaking the language is a hindrance to calling up and placing an order in the first place. So, it's especially nice when my girlfriend is over at my house because I can have her make the call for me. However, sometime last week I was home alone and starving. The temperature in Seoul has dropped tremendously lately, so I didn't want to venture out into the cold for something to eat. At the same time I was chatting with my girlfriend, who lives an hour away by subway, via text message. Swallowing my pride and taking a chance I sent a text message asking if she would, from her home, call a restaurant, near my home, and order some food, to my home. It was an all new low. But being the kind girl she is she simply chuckled and agreed. However, she added that the next time we met she would teach me how to call and place an order myself.

And so she did. I practiced several times with her before she forced me to actually make the call. Of course, it was a disaster. I'm very shy when it comes to speaking Korean in the first place. Having a Korean girl next to me laughing while on the phone doesn't help. Nor does the fact that the particular restaurant I called didn't deliver to my area (something she had not prepared me for). After telling me in Korean that they couldn't deliver and me not understanding a word and saying back in broken Korean "Sorry, I don't speak Korean well", the nice man on the phone simply said in English "Sorry" and hung-up. She tried to get me to call another restaurant but, by this time I was sufficiently embarrassed and my head was pounding from trying to remember my address in Korean.

I did not give up there, however. Tonight, home alone without the shame of her looking over my shoulder, I successfully placed an order and had it delivered to my door. I'm afraid though the whole process was slightly anticlimactic, since the food I ordered was not some exotic Asian cuisine nor did it come in proper dishes I could place triumphantly outside of my door. No, I just ordered pizza.

As a quick note, expect to see this site updated more frequently as I now have a computer in my home (an early Christmas present to myself, thanks Mom) and no longer have to sludge through the cold and into a smoke-filled PC room whenever inspiration strikes. Also, I have to cable to my camera now and can start adding pictures again.