AnthroScope Korea

Through my encounters with other Korean international and boarding school students during my years in the U.S., I’ve observed a direct correlation between Korean students and which foods they prefer to eat. There are two distinct groups among Korean boarding school students; one group tries to eat Korean food at least once a week, and the other prefers to cut out eating Korean food completely.

The first group orders Korean dishes at least once every week. Many kids I’ve talked to have told me that eating Korean food serves as a source of relief for feelings of homesickness, as ordering food from their motherland helps them feel connected to their culture. Through delivery apps like Doordash or Uber Eats, they typically order popular dishes such as Kimbap or Bibimbap, to experience a taste of their favorite childhood foods they used to enjoy so often in Korea. Being physically apart from one’s home country is difficult, especially when one is literally on the other side of the globe. Many Korean students tend to feel a diminishing connection with their Korean heritage due to years of studying abroad in the U.S. Enjoying Korean food once a week is a way for them to maintain and, to a great extent, protect this connection.

By contrast, the other group barely eats Korean food. I consider myself a part of this group. Taking even a bite of Korean food while I’m in the U.S. fills me with feelings of nostalgia and homesickness. As soon as my mouth touches the food, I’m suddenly overwhelmed by feelings of sadness as I remember how far away I truly am from Korea. The more I taste my cultural food (the food I grew up with, the food I eat with my Korean friends and family), it makes me miss Korea even more, triggering intense feelings of longing for home. When I’m in the States, I tend to go to the dining hall and eat what I’m served, or I order from fast food restaurants, such as McDonalds or Chick-fil-A, that are considered very “American”. I’ve met another Korean student at my boarding school who also thinks along the same lines. She avoided eating Korean food because it was a depressing reminder of her physical separation from Korea. 

Despite everyone being a part of one Korean international group, it’s ironic how these two groups differ from each other so much when it comes to Korean food. One group feels that Korean food triggers feelings of homesickness while the other group feels that Korean food ameliorates their homesickness. Through these contrasting opinions, I’ve come to the realization that everyone has a different method of connecting with their culture and heritage. Whereas some strategies may work for a certain person, the same approaches can actually have the opposite effect on another person. Through this I’ve grasped the importance of food in a cultural context – it can trigger feelings of happiness and home, but also sadness and separation.