Korea: Love, Hate, and Everything in Between

Korea is an interesting place. Interesting is perhaps the best word to describe this country and its people. There are some things we love here, others that we hate, and still other things that evoke a balanced mixture of both. Both Leslie and I agree that we've never been to a place that so often provokes the thoughts: "Wow, I never thought about doing something like that!" or "Hmm, why do they do things this way?" or "What the hell are these people thinking!?"



From this constant curiosity of Korean ways, we have begun a quite unprofessional and at times we're sure ignorant analysis of Korean culture, and come up with some things that we truly cherish about Korea, others that we can't stand, and more that fall all places in between adoration and loathing. Here are some of those things...



What we Love



1. Safety: Minus Papa Kim's 1.2 million man army less than 40 miles to the north, Korea is a remarkably safe country. There is virtually no petty crime or violent crime. We have never felt uncomfortable while in Seoul, even late at night by ourselves.


2. Transportation: Mass transit in Seoul is awesome! Buses go everywhere and arrive every 5 minutes. Most inner city buses cost only 50 cents. The subway is great too. The systems has lines running everywhere, has everything in English, and costs 80 cents for a one way trip. Its also the fastest way to cross the city. Taxis are fantastic as well, and yes you guessed it, cheap. A ten minute taxi ride will only set you back about 6 dollars! But if you go with a group you can split the price and make it even cheaper.


3. Convenience Stores: Korean convenience stores are far superior to their western counterparts for one glorious reason: Many stores have patios with tables and umbrellas out front where you can eat and drink. The best thing to do is buy cheap beer and snacks from the store, sit out on the deck, and people watch. Genius!


4. Eating out: When it comes to restaurant management, we really need to take a page from the Koreans. Firstly, you call your server over when you want, they never come to you. (They are always very attentive so its quite convenient, and you never get interrupted during a meal.) Second, you pay your bill up front, so you can leave whenever you want, and there is never any pressure to make you leave once your meal is done. Third, the best part, for diners at least, and probably the worst for the wait staff, are the table buttons. At many restaurant you have a button at your table that you press when you want the server to come over. Finally, many restaurants give you free food if you order a certain amount, or if you are a regular customer. We're not talkin' mixed nuts or stale bread, I mean the good stuff. The other night a bunch of us were given two huge bowls of mussels and unlimited delicious sweet pancakes!


5. Our Job: So far at least, Leslie and I really enjoy our job. We work with good people and the students (most of them at least) are wonderful. They are very eager to learn, respectful, and fun to be around. An upcoming blog post will tell you more about our teaching experiences.



6. Respect: The vast majority of Korean people are extremely polite and respectful, which makes the cultural transition much easier.



7. Electronics: Electronics hear are cheap and plentiful. For example, today Leslie and I went to Yongsan Electronics Market (Seoul's largest) and bought the first seasons of The Sopranos, True Blood, and a season of Entourage, plus eight movies, for a little over 30 dollars. Good stuff!


What we Hate


1. Asian Big City: This generic, ambiguous term just means that we dislike the crowdedness and general filth of Seoul. The city is polluted, (nothing like China, but still bad, around LA standards.) Also, with the right wind pattern, certain areas can have a truly nauseating stench, that only a city of 20 million people cooking Korean food can have.


2. Spitting: Korean men like to spit, A LOT! Why? We have no idea, but spitting is as common as kimchi around these parts.


3. Motorcycles: Motorbike delivery guys are everywhere and ride their bikes on any navigable surface. They also refuse to obey even the most basic traffic laws (like stopping at red lights.)


4. Neighborhood Fruit Man: By our apartment, a flatbed truck comes down the road religiously at 10:00 every morning selling fruit. Seems harmless right? Well, actually no. The truck is equipped with a huge sound system blasting out Orwellian sounding messages, not about big brother, but about watermelons. Needless to say very annoying.


5. Oppositeness and Illogicalness: Koreans do so many things in an illogical fashion that we are astounded every day that their country is prospering so much. There are too many to get into at the moment, but hopefully we can talk about them in detail later.

Also, so many small things here are opposite from their western counterparts. For example, doors must be pushed to open and pulled to exit. You walk up the left side of the stairs not the right. To lock a door you twist to the left, away from the bolt hole, not towards it.


6. Shower: As you've probably seen in pictures, our shower is not separated from the rest of our bathroom by anything. As a result, whenever we take a shower our entire bathroom get covered in water and things begin to rust or dissolve, (like the molding around the toilet that connects it to the floor. God knows what will happen when it finally gives way!)

7. Shopping: If you decide to go shopping at any relatively upscale store, the store staff will stand right next to you the entire time you shop.

8. Soju: Soju is Korea's alcohol of choice, and Koreans drink it by the boat load. It is retched. It's like vodka, except it tastes just as bad and gets you drunk half as fast.


What Falls in the Middle


1. Korean old ladies (Ajimas): Ajimas are a thing unto themselves. These old Korean women, with their huge visors and curly short hair, are some of the feistiest and funniest people I've ever met. Don't mess with them. They will shove you out of the way to get off the bus first, or elbow you in the kidneys to eat that last free sample at Costco. They take crap from no one, and do what they want, always!


2. Food: As one of our previous blog posts stated, we have a love/hate relationship with Korean food. Some is delicious, while some is horrible. But we are starting to find better and better food with the help of our seasoned coworkers.

3. Hiking: Hiking in Korea is quite an experience. Between dodging ajimas barreling down the trail and taking in Korea's scenic mountain beauty, it is quite an affair. The best part about hiking in Korea though are the Korean hikers themselves. Why?, because they love hiking gear more than hiking itself.

Leslie and I and a couple friends recently did a little 2 mile hike up to a large hill in inner city Seoul and saw numerous Koreans in full hiking attire: poles, boots, carribeaners, rope, camping cups, stereo backpacks, gloves, wool socks, etc... All just for a simple 2 mile stroll. Ridiculous!

Well, that's the news from Seoul. Hope everyone is enjoying the last little bits of summer.