Gochugaru

Hi everyone, I am learning to make Kimchi for my Korean boyfriend. I will be going there in a few weeks. Unfortunatley I cannot handle spicy food at all. How spicy is the gochugaru?. I need to be able to try my kimchi . The recipes I have all basically say to put in approx 1/4 to 1/2 cup of the spice. That seems like a lot to me, but since i hae never used it before I cannot tell. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks