Reflect Journal for a day - 15.08
Today, I finally slept for almost eight hours. It used to be normal for me to sleep ten hours a day, so I guess I'm slowly settling into my own rhythm again.
Tonight’s dinner was Korean. I’m not always particularly fond of Korean food, mainly because I can’t handle spicy dishes well, and I have a shellfish allergy (many types of kimchi use shrimp paste). The restaurant we went to, Bibigo, probably takes its name from the Korean word bibida (to mix) and bibimbap (mixed rice with vegetables).
Eleven of my classmates joined the dinner. I’m not sure if they’d tried Korean food before or whether they like it, but it’s always a pleasure to experience different cultures together.
The basement of the restaurant was quite cosy and just the right size for a group of eleven. Most people ordered different dishes—four had fermented soybean stew, while others chose noodle or beef-based options.
Reflect, think about
What I found even more interesting than the food itself was observing what others chose. As a Korean, I have quite specific images of what constitutes a Korean meal. But my classmates had no such boundaries. Some ordered ramen, others had marinated beef or spicy fried chicken.
To me, fried chicken or ramen is more of a snack than a proper dinner. Still, it was fascinating to watch how people from different backgrounds approached the menu. They seemed to interpret the descriptions differently, perhaps visualising something quite unlike what was eventually served.
Menu captions usually describe ingredients and cooking methods—grilled, roasted, broiled—but they don’t function like pictures. People have different culinary imaginations, and this gap between description and expectation is what makes trying unfamiliar food so interesting.
Analyse, explain, gain insight
Written communication is always a challenge. Without shared cultural knowledge, it’s hard to ensure mutual understanding. The same word can mean very different things to different people. Effective communication requires a shared premise—something common to both sides.
Cuisine is one of the most culturally grounded forms of expression. It changes depending on time, climate, region, and historical context. Because of this vulnerability to variation, it can be difficult to grasp the “core meaning” of a dish from an outsider’s perspective.
Conclusions
I’m always curious about how often communication can fail or go wrong. What if, after a long conversation, nothing is actually conveyed? What if I’m just talking to myself, and my words vanish into a void?
In this context, even something as small as a menu caption becomes interesting. It makes me think about how we explain things—and how easily our explanations can be misunderstood.