Stephanie Lynn Sirois Reviews The Kimchi Experiment
The Kimchi Experiment
Beth Ann Knowles
Pottersfield Press
Kimchi is a fermented Korean dish eaten at every meal and is often described as an “acquired or learned taste” for foreigners. It’s fitting then, that the title of Beth Ann Knowles’ second book and first work of nonfiction is The Kimchi Experiment; Naked Parent Teacher Meetings and Other Exploits of a Canadian in South Korea. The title encapsulates the idea of learning or acquiring something entirely unexpected.
Knowles travelled to South Korea in 2006 with her husband to teach English to the school children in a tiny village named Hwagae, near Jirisan National Park, for a year. Their goal was to discover if they might want to become teachers.
In this intricately detailed narrative, Knowles describes the standard outsider foibles such as Korean Coffee, (water boiled in a used rice dish), Hawaiian pizza (she orders it in a restaurant only to discover what appears to be the contents of a fruit salad can and peas and corn dumped on top) and trekking home at lunchtimes to avoid having to use the squatters (at least at home she has a toilet to sit on and toilet paper to use).
Knowles addresses the harsher topics and experiences with equal aplomb. She describes the racism by explaining how those hiring for the teaching jobs request photos so they can deny based on looks alone. She discusses the mirrors hanging on walls everywhere and how they are feeding the obsession of beauty. The author lets exhausted children sleep in class because she knows they’ve gone to extra schools to cram more after seeing her.
The Kimchi Experiment is factual, dripping with self-deprecating humour and the amusement that comes with hindsight. Most of the account is told in the present tense. Once in a while some new information slipped in and I got a sense of the author reminiscing fondly on her experience – even the bad parts! Every beautiful moment is followed by another where my teeth were grinding, and anger seethed in waves through my body.
The writing is easy to follow, paints clear pictures for the reader, and lays bare the lie that we are all grand adventurers up for every challenge, and are quick to adapt. In fact, we are a little homesick, we’re not entirely sure we like this kimchi and we’re missing our mothers’ care packages of chocolate treats.
Actually, this kimchi is pretty good. Gamsahabnida!
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