Marrying Korean follows Stefano, an MIT graduate, as he meets the Korean woman who would become his wife and wonders to himself if he could even locate her country on a map. From his first tastes of soju, his first Korean drama addiction, and his first time getting naked with his girlfriend’s father to taekwondo sparring, interviewing at Samsung, and visiting an abalone-farming family on the remote island of Nowha-do, the author chronicles a decade worth of attempts to impress his new Korean family, communicate in the Korean language, and wrestle with the more difficult parts of Korean culture.

CONTENTS

- MEETING HER PARENTS, MEETING HER COUNTRY
- SOJU, BEER PONG, AND THE ROMANCE OF CULTURAL EXCHANGE
- KOREAN 101 (OR, HOW TO WIN OVER YOUR GIRLFRIEND IN A SEMESTER OR LESS)
- THE KOREAN HEALTH CLUB: A TRIAL BY FIRE, ICE, AND NAKEDNESS
- CONSUMERISM IS CULTURE: A TRIP TO THE LOTTE DEPARTMENT STORE
- IN KOREA, ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE (OR AT LEAST A LOVE MOTEL)
- A NEAR MISS
- KOREAN CHURCHES: LOOKING FOR THE “FACE” OF GOD
- GRANDMOTHERS
- THE MYSTERY OF PANSORI
- THE BARBERSHOP
- A TRIP TO MR. PIZZA?AND ONE TO THE DOCTOR
- TAEKWONDO (OR, THE ALMOST-OLYMPIAN DEFEAT)
- A NIGHT AT THE JJIMJILBANG (OR AN ATTEMPT AT ONE)
- SAMSUNG: THE INTERVIEW
- LOVE AND MARRIAGE, KOREAN-STYLE
- THE END OF THE LAND
- THE BATTLEGROUND OF LAUNDRY
- AN ISLAND HONEYMOON
- WHERE CHILDREN CHOOSE THEIR DESTINY: THE DOL JANCHI
- JUST STEPS FROM NORTH KOREA: THE DEMILITARIZED ZONE