Obtain Meeting Mr Kim: Or How I Went To Korea And Learned To Love Kimchi Presented By Jennifer Barclay Mobi

a fun way to get a peek into Korea! This is good armchair travel reading, The story follows one foreigner, unfamiliar with everything Korean, as she lives in and explores the country, Each chapter begins with historical info, so readers learn about Korean rulers, religions, wars, etc, including the progression and regression toward a unified Korean peninsula, This is helpful info I feel like I can talk about Korea with some knowledge after reading this book, and I might even be able to identify some Korean dishes in the future.
At times, I appreciated her personal storyline too, which seemed a way to keep the action moving forward or introduce a new subject, However, other times I felt that the personal details were unnecessary, Overall, a book filled with happy memories of Korea, and I recommend it, Recommended for travelers and those with little Asian history or knowledge about Korea, Доста трудна за четене и проследяване на историята. Разказите на авторката нямаха последователност и не носят никаква информация на четящите. Разочарована съм.
Не намерих смисъл защо са включени историческите факти.
Останалата част от книгата е "отидохме тук, видяхме това"
Скучновата ми беше като цяло. Preferred her books about Tilos I picked this up because I really liked the cover, I know I shouldn't judge a book by its cover but I did and I also liked the title so I had to buy it.
I started reading it without any prior notions and without knowing anything about the author,

This is mainly based on author's travels through Korea with her boyfriend at the time who was in the band, It's a difficult book to review as parts of I liked and then there were parts where I wasn't so sure if I should continue reading.
Writing was a bit repetitive but I did laugh out loud at some things and overall it's not that good but it's not completely terrible either.


.When looking for a book on South Korea, the options seemed rather limited, I kept running into this book, which got decent to good reviews,

I found, however, that it was badly written, Certain sentences made me read and reread them several times to grasp what was being said, Odd
and difficult words were used in otherwise simple sentences, On the whole, the writing just felt cumbersome, I've never thought about a book that it was badly written, I told a friend about it and he said "well, then it must be really bad",

The authors' personal love life that runs throughout the book is hardly interesting either, and quite selfindulgent,

I can't recommend anything else on Korea, but if you want a good travelogue from the far east, try Hokkaido Highway Blues, Not brilliantly written, and it turned out that Barclay only spentmonths in Korea, which hardly seems enough time to justify writing about it but quite good if you are heading here, but I'd recommend Simon Winchester's book first The world knows more about secret North Korea than the free society of the South.
As a peace summit heralded a new era for a country divided foryears, Jennifer Barclay searched for the spirit of South Korea, discovering a land full of passion, tradition and spirituality, good humor, and great food.
Jen quit her highpressure job and followed her musician boyfriend to South Korea, where his band had a contract to play funk at a luxury hotel.
But life in Seoul was lonely and bewildering, Desperate to connect with Korean life and the people, she said goodbye to the capital and set off alone to explore the country, With patience and determination she found her way to ancient tombs and Buddhist temples, strangers' homes and forestcovered mountains, where people's kindness and pride in their culture began to work magic.
They were on a mission to ensure she left with happy memoriesand perhaps a new set of values, Книгата за мен започна много интересно и увлекателно. Дженифър описва пътешествието й в Южна Корея, описва подробно храмовете и забележителностите, които посещава, храната, която яде, нравите и обичаите на корейския народ. Паралелно с това ни предава кратка история на Северна и Южна Корея. И до там. Като изключим тези две неща всичко останало са едни безсмислени обяснения какво казала тя, какво казал той скука. Някъде към средата установих, че така ще е до края. Доволна съм, но не е нещо супер впечатляващо. This book is a mixed bag for me,
I found the style of writing mostly without finesse and most of the 'events' in the book quite monotonous, Given the short time the author was in South Korea, she was only able to share a surface snapshot of the country, as perceived by a Westerner on an extended holiday, so didn't truly get under the 'skin of the country'.

What I did enjoy, is that the book introduced me to a country that I knew very little about, Who knew that spitting was so prevalent I also enjoyed that it introduced me to a broader understanding of Buddhism and 'new' authors I now want to explore, such as Yukio Mishima.

Reading through other readers' comments on this book I was surprised that nobody had mentioned their surprise at how trusting Barclay was, with jumping into and out of strangers cars in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the night.
I appreciate that these moments opened up memorable experiences that she would otherwise not have discovered, but I still felt that the fickle finger of fate only brought good, kind men her way.

The aspect of the book that I really enjoyed was Barclay's spirit and sense of adventure and in particular her thoughts on the joys and surprises of travelling on one's own, which particularly resonated with me.
Barclays' last paragraph sums up her philosophy nicely:
'I'm happy that I explored Korea in my own way, not the systematic Korean way but blundering into strange situations and finding my own path.
Wandering is good for surprises, and I still prefer unpredictable travel, Let a path lead you somewhere and see where you end up, ' Найпосле да прочета книгата. Не помня кога я започнах. В началото ми беше интересно, но след това всичко сякаш започна да се повтаря, пътуване в планината от храм на храм, места, които не познавам. Съжалявам, но ми стана малко скучно и за известно време в оставих. Скоро реших да си я дочета и ето днес приключих и последната страница. Очаквах повече действие, динамика, но сякаш всичко беше като будизма насочено към философия, хармония, природата и спокойния начин на живот. Все пак се радвам, че я завърших, хареса ми като цяло, особено последните страници. This is a basically a journal of Ms, Barclay's three month travel to South Korea in the earlys, hence the writing was very personal and unfortunately, monotonous, There are bits and pieces of interesting quotes about life and solo traveling, One can also learn a thing or two about Buddhism and Japan, If you read for excitement, this will make you sleepy, But if you're into Korean food, you'll find the Kimchi recipe at the end of the book very useful, In fact, I can't wait to try it after knowing it was that easy according to her recipe, though, It's been several years since publication, but this book is still such a fresh outlook on the still relatively unknown nation that is Korea, Even with the "Korean Wave" all people know about korea is the dramas, and celebrities and the songs, if anything at all, But that isn't Korea. It's a face of korea, and in my opinion the most unimportant part of it, Jennifer Barclay had the chance to experience this in a way not many other people can boast to have, She had an amazing experience that most foreigners don't, and also an experience most koreans will never have, The chances are Koreans are too busy and when they're not, do the korean thing and take photos next to famous things, Just like Barclay pointed it out, I am extremely jealous of Jennifer Barclay, and this was a very good read, Chances are you are reading this on one of the devices that is made in Korea, and yet aroundyears ago this was a almost unknown country, famous only as a place that America had fought a war in.


This is a few years old now, and even then Westerners were not that common in South Korea, Barclay was there on an extended holiday with a guy who had been

given a short term contract to play with his band in a hotel in Seoul.
She hadn't visited the country at all, and in this book she describes her feelings and experiences, It has maintained it's unique culture even though is has been the subject of many invasions form China and Japan, and is still occupied by American soldiers as they are technically still at war with North Korea.


It does sound like a fascinating country, she found that Seoul was less welcoming than other parts, As she moved out into the country the people were much more welcoming and friend as a whole, She found the countryside and scenery stunning, and the book helpfully list a set of experience to undertake if you are fortunate to visit,

Great little travel book, and whilst I can believe that it has change more since this was written, I think that a lot of things will have remained the same.
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