I love Korean food but some dishes are way too spicy for me, while my Korean friends say they're mild?

The trick is to ask for it less spicy when ordering. "안 맵게 해주세요" (an maep-ge hae-juseyo) means "please make it not spicy," and "덜 맵게 해주세요" means "less spicy." Most restaurants will adjust, especially smaller mom-and-pop places.

Chain restaurants with numbered spice levels (Yupdduk, Sinjeon Tteokbokki) usually run 0-5, but their 0 is still about a Korean medium, so start at the actual numbered 1 if you're sensitive. Safer menu options when you're starting out are gimbap, bibimbap (ask for gochujang on the side), galbitang, kalguksu, and mandu-guk — these are mild by default. Pairing spicy food with milk, yogurt drinks like Yakult, or Korean rice wine actually neutralizes the capsaicin pretty well.