Eat Your Kimchi


Simon and Martina is a video blog that publishes videos featuring the two creators, Simon and Martina Stawski and the name of a now defunct production company previously based in South Korea. They are known for their videos which compare the differences in Korean and Western culture. The YouTube channel featuring their videos is the 18th most popular in Korea and the YouTube portion of their videos accumulated more than 239 million views as of October 6, 2015 on four separate channels. The Stawskis have been interviewed by various media outlets around the world.
In 2012, the Stawskis officially registered Eatyourkimchi'' as a company in South Korea and opened their own studio in Seoul. On December 15, 2015, the Stawskis announced their decision to move to Japan since Martina's EDS was getting worse, and therefore closed down the Korean studio. The channel name has been changed from Eat Your Kimchi to Simon and Martina to reflect the change.

The K-pop, Korean Food, and Life in Korea Blog

The video series seeks to fill a gap left by travel guides and government organizations by helping teach visitors from other countries about daily life in Korea. According to Elsyabeth Hahm of Yonhap News, eatyourkimchi gives viewers "a local's perspective into Korean culture that you can't get from your average guidebook." The videos take a humorous approach.
The video blog has some recurring themes and topics such as the Korean language, food, and music. Individual videos have covered how a Korean washing machine works, delivery services, the table bells in Korean restaurants, and how to pay bills. The series has included cooking videos for kimbap, tteokbokki, instant ramen and many other foods. With the opening of their studio in Seoul, the Stawskis started interviewing K-Pop singers and artists. Before that, the two felt it was inappropriate to invite artists to their personal homes for interviewing purposes and declined several interview requests.
They also have regularly scheduled segments:
In December 2011 the WTF, segment was replaced with the WANK segment, due to the Stawski's wish to go out more often. When Martina fractured her ankle in February 2012, WANK was temporarily replaced by FAPFAP. However, due to the popularity of FAPFAP, they have decided to have FAPFAP and WANK on alternate Thursdays. The WTF segment however was reintroduced on July 27, 2013, after many viewers actively advocated for the series persistently and the Stawskis wanted to break out of their working routine.
In addition to their regular segments, they also have the annual Eat Your Kimchi Awards with 2012 marking the first ever awards ceremony. Categories of the 2012 awards included: Best Potential Music Mondays of the Year, Rookie of the Year, best gun usage and many more. Each of the winners is awarded with The Golden Spudgy Award, based on the Pekingese the couple adopted back in 2009.

Background

The Stawskis are a married couple from Canada who moved to Korea in 2008. When they arrived on May 30, 2008 there had been threats of violence between North and South Korea. As a result, they shot their first video at the Incheon International Airport as an attempt to show the couple's parents that they were safe. The video showed the tired couple enjoying a tofu dish called sundubu jjige. However, the video blogging grew into an "everything about Korea" channel.
In addition to its personal story, Eat Your Kimchi is also part of some larger trends in Korea. There were no Korean blogging services before 2002, but since then the number of bloggers has grown year by year and the number of Korean blogs created by non-citizens has swelled along with it. Then in 2008, YouTube entered the Korean market. According to Yoon Ja-young of The Korea Times, with the introduction of YouTube "life changed" for some Korean residents such as the Stawskis. As of 2011 their particular video blog format is still not common in Korea since according to Martina Stawski "barely anyone does dedicated videos about Korea."
After quitting their jobs as teachers, they became full-time bloggers living off the ad revenue from their YouTube videos and website. On September 5, 2012 the Stawskis launched an Indiegogo fundraiser for setting up a business and a studio to film in Seoul. After less than seven hours, the goal of $40,000 had already been reached. More than $110,000 were raised during the 45-day-long fundraiser.
On August 9, 2014 Eat Your Kimchi and Talk To Me In Korean had a grand opening for their cafe called "You Are Here Cafe." The cafe was announced on April 24, 2014 and the couple explained that the name came from maps in malls having arrows on it stating "You are here." Situated in the hostel part of Hongdae, the cafe serves as place for foreigners and natives alike to meet and greet, as well as offering Korean language classes in the classroom that is in the cafe building.
The word 'kimchi' in the name 'Eatyourkimchi' refers to the Korean dish, Kimchi.

Reception and audience

The Korea Herald included Eatyourkimchi in a list of 21 of "the nation’s most useful websites" and at Hiexpat.com it was voted the best expat blog in Korea. The video bloggers behind eatyourkimchi have been featured on television shows such as Heart to Heart, Quilt Your Korean Map, Star King, and Running Man. However, the blog has also received some criticism. The Stawskis report that large numbers of anonymous users have engaged the site with vulgar comments in response to controversial statements made by the couple.
Martina Stawski claims that Eatyourkimchi has a worldwide audience with the largest communities in Australia, USA, Canada, Singapore and South Korea. Eatyourkimchi videos are distributed online through Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, YouTube. and As of April 2016, their YouTube channel has more than 1,000,000 subscribers. Meanwhile, their website, which also hosts videos, receives more than 750,000 hits a month from more than 100,000 unique viewers.

Move to Japan

Since 2016 the pair have lived in the Kichijoji region of Tokyo in Japan. Their videos have become increasingly focused on gourmet and unusual food, with less of a focus on travel and day trips as Martina's condition has progressed.