I know it may sound strange, but please give it a chance if you come to South Korea!
There is one food that I had a very strong emotional reaction to here, and that food is garlic bread. You would think that having garlic bread would give me a taste of home, but it couldn't be farther from it! In South Korea, garlic bread is sweet, not salty. Imagine a piece of bread with the filling of an almond croissant, but instead of tasting like almonds, it tastes like garlic. Doesn't sound very appetizing, does it? South Koreans really like this type of garlic bread, and it is very famous here. However, when I had it for the first time during orientation, I could not eat more than a single bite of it. The garlic bread is much better at my high school, but that is because you can't taste the garlic, so it is basically a dessert! I wonder if I will ever get used to Korean garlic bread.
Our school cafeteria is run by a nutritionist and multiple cooks who make the food for over 600 people every day. They also make dinner for the students who stay after school to study more. When you walk into the cafeteria, you get in line to grab a tray, chopsticks and a spoon. Then, you walk over to the giant bowls of cooked rice, where you can serve yourself as much rice as you want. After you get your rice, you line up in front of the kitchen, where the cooks serve you the main parts of the meal and your soup. In South Korea, rice, soup and kimchi are the staples of the meal. Finally, there is another self-serve station where you can grab kimchi, salad, and the treat for the day. They usually have some sort of drink or small dessert with the meal.
