Persian life so far in Korea

I apologize for being so absent. I still owe a Philippines trip post to this blog, so hopefully I'll get around to that before Christmas vacation.

As previously mentioned, I have given dating a Persian a second chance. This second endeavor has been monumentally more successful than the first. It's been over a month now since we have started dating, and I've been quite taken in with the culture and the people, and yes even the language.

Yesterday I helped my boyfriend and his brother and sister-in-law make torshi. Torshi is basically Iranian kimchi (kimchi is Korean pickled cabbages or radishes). Torshi comes from the Persian word "torsh" which means "sour." It is very much similar to kimchi in that apparently there are as many different types of torshi as kimchi, depending on the region and any events. There are places where you don't eat a meal without torshi (again, very similar to kimchi).

The torshi we made consisted of (if I can remember everything): apples, bell peppers, chili peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, eggplant, carrots, celery, radishes, tomatoes, persimmon, cabbage, and probably one or 2 more things that I can't remember. These are packed into jars with spices and water added. They are going to be left to sit for about a month or 2 (or more). According to my boyfriend's brother it can actually be left to sit for about a couple of years! I'm very excited to try it once it's finished.

I'm slowly but surely learning Persian/Farsi. It's very funny because I have almost ceased to learn Korean... I just can't! I'm having a hard time retaining any new Korean words I learn because there's too many languages in my head, and they all have nothing to do with each other. I've learned so far:

salam: hello
salam jubi?: hello, how are you?
khodahafez: good-bye
lotfan: please
merci: thank you
khahesh mikonum: you're welcome
baleh: yes
na: no
azizam: a term of endearment
jigar: also a term of endearment, although in their language it also means liver, so that's kind of interesting
eshgham: term of endearment, means roughly "my love"
divone/kheili divone: crazy/very crazy (this gets said a lot between my boyfriend and me haha)
doset daram: I like you a lot/I love you (informal, depending on the context of the sentence)
asheghetam: I love you (formal, meaning more like "I'm in love with you")
chai: tea
ob: water
pesar: boy
dochtar: girl
zan: woman
koma: coma (I learned this because I was explaining to them what a "food coma" was hahaha)
tiripet mano koshte: you're outfit is killing me (this tends to get a few laughs)

I've learned a little bit more, but unfortunately these other words and phrases are a bit inappropriate.

Next post will be about the Philippines. I promise!

-AALA