Anyways, I got to thinking...maybe some of you wonder sometimes, "What does Rachel's kitchen look like? What kind of things does she buy from the grocery store over there? Can she buy the same food she does at home?" Well, for all 2 of you, I'm about to scratch that itch!
Starting from the back, we have some unhealthy cooking oil. This was bought my first week here when I was too terrified and exhausted to even search for good oil in the grocery store. Next we have soy sauce. This was bought at the same time, when I thought that since I'm in Asia, I should eat soy sauce. But you know what? I don't really like soy sauce. Since having realized that, the bottle is now purely decorative. The next two are EVOO and balsamic vinegar. I like to call these my lifelines. Next to the end is red pepper paste. I mix this with rice or sometimes eggs. And saving the best for last is my pepper grinder. Its not just any pepper grinder though. No sir-ee. Do you want one like this? Well you can't buy it! My Grandpa handmade this. BAZINGA.
If you turn around to face my island, you can see all of my morning and late night goodies. Oatmeal (thanks parentals!), yummy cereal, bananas, kiwis, oranges, and apples, a healthy attempt at chocolate, and coffee. Oh yeah, and a cute bread shaped cutting board. I bet you can't guess who made that for me too.
Cereal is a lot more expensive than in the U.S. That box cost $7! Most people eat rice and kimchi for breakfast. No lie.
Oatmeal is almost nonexistent. I can order some online, but its not the same as back home and its more expensive.
While some fruit is a little more expensive than back home, I don't even blink an eye before buying it without moderation. Fruit is just that awesome. Isn't that right Uncle Homer?
In the cupboard we have peanut butter, rice, and...wait what is that? POPCORN!
That small jar of peanut butter was about $5.50, but I don't care. If I go too long without peanut butter toast, I start to go a little crazy. Popcorn is not that hard to come by, but you get one choice and its only sold in the individual packages. Each bag costs about 80 cents. Before, I thought that only the Daiso (dollar store) in Suwon sold popcorn, so I would stock up when I stayed with Laurie. But I was wandering down the imported foods aisle at my grocery store this week and spotted the beautiful blue and yellow colors at the very bottom corner of the shelf. I quickly jumped down with joy to grab some!
It goes without saying that the rice is cheap.
Soy milk, sliced jalepenos (for my huevos), mini gherkins (I bought these tonight!), and some caffe latte drink a student gave me. Unless any of my friends want it, it will remain there for the duration of my stay in Korea.
Don't worry, this is the last picture. Damn this was longer than I expected.
From top to bottom, left to right we have salsa (courtesy of Costco and Rosalyn), prunes (In case you didn't know, I love fruit.), and my agua. No plastic bottles in this fridge!
And on the bottom shelf we have sliced carrots, some left overs from last night's gourmet meal, sesame leaves, and eggs. And do you see the open drawer at the bottom? And do you see that brown bag? Well, if you put your xray vision glasses on real quick, you can see that inside that brown bag is a plastic bag. And inside that plastic bag is a locked tupperware. And inside that tupperware is kimchi.
And, finally, a math lesson to finish this up.
Kimchi + a sealed tupperware container + a sealed plastic bag + a brown bag + a closed drawer = a still smelly fridge.
Good night.
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