More observations

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Here are more of my observations from the past week:

Korean men are much more metrosexual than American men. They will hold arms while walking down the street, many of them get their hair permed, and the are very conscious of their attire. It is also typical that they will carry their girlfriends' purses while out in public.

Koreans in general are very stylish. It is interesting to see the unique and almost European fashion sense of the Koreans. Although designer clothes are more expensive here, there are a lot of very good knock-offs and most clothing in general is very trendy - minus the labels. Skinny jeans are common and loose fitting chaffon blouses that fall just above the knee compliment the look. Koreans are also very good at layering their outfits. I do think however, that most people look so fashionable in general because their figures compliment many kinds of clothing that the average person may not be able to wear.

The popular bands currently are BigBang and Wonder Girls. Think Backstreet Boys and Spice Girls - the Korean version. They are especially popular among the younger population.

No tipping, thanks. Koreans do not tip. I knew this before coming out here, but the remarkable nature of this, was displayed this afternoon in Seoul. Upon leaving a restaurant that specializes in American style cuisine, the total for the five of us came to 57,500 won. We left 58,000 and went on our way (just because we didn't have the change). When we had almost reached the outside door, down two flights of stairs, a Korean waitress came running after us to give us the change. Change that is equivalent to $.50 cents US.

According to all of my co-workers, both foreign and Korean, the country has a rather high suicide rate. Every month in Seoul there are reports of a person jumping in front of the subway trains. This is due to the high pressure society - forcing and expecting people to be successful. As I mentioned previously about the demand on the children, Korean children rarely do anything of their own choosing. They attend regular school classes, then go to hakwons to learn English, more difficult and specialized studies in Science and Mathematics, and are trained to play multiple musical instruments. Studies and practice are 7 days/week. My estimate is that even the youngest children may only get 5 hours of sleep/night.

It is rare to see a homeless person in Korea - even in the massive and extremely populated city of Seoul.

You can get almost anything American in Korea. Although it is usually slightly more expensive and not exactly the same, you can find almost any kind of consumer goods, restaurants and food that is available in America in a major city here. They also may be limited in number, but the ease of public transportation makes getting what you may want or be craving, always within reach. Certain parts of Seoul that we were in this weekend could have easily been mistaken for a city in America. There are especially a lot of Baskin Robbins, Starbucks and Addidas stores here.

I finally got my cable television set-up. There are not as many channels as with cable or direct TV back home, but there were a surprising number of them (about 5) that play English programming all the time. Mostly movies and reruns of popular American TV shows such as Friends, Sex & The City, and Law & Order SUV.

Koreans do not like the Japanese. Not at all. This is relatively understandable, given the history between the two countries. However, racism towards black people is also quite prevalent for some reason.

White men get a LOT of attention from teenage Korean girls. They giggle and point and say little things to them before running away. Gil, a tall, lanky Canadian (of South American decent), who looks like he himself is a teenager, especially gets attention from the school-girl age. Brett - a blonde-haired Canadian - gets attention from datably-aged girls, which of course he thrives on (I think he may have even come out here to teach because of the girls...haha).

The Korea of old has changed quite a lot. Many of the cultural things I was expecting to encounter, have not really come to fruition. People still bow to others when thanking them or to their elders, but it is not expected as much, and not done in the traditional way - you simply nod your head slightly down, not always a noticeable bow. People do not really practice the custom of pouring drinks for other people (traditionally in Korea, you should never pour your own drink or let someone else pour their own. They do it for you and you for them). Children are very loud and rowdy and do not respect their teachers as they once did. They are actually quite arrogant, call us names and question us. Some have even hit Ray during class (not like punches, obviously). During Ryan, another American teacher's middle-school class (14-16 yr olds in Korean age), two of the boys raised their hands to say to him, "Did you REALLY go to Berkeley?" after he was struggling with some of the teaching material. This isn't to give a completely negative view of the kids though - Korean children are the cutest kids you will ever see and the job is also very rewarding. You really just need to practice a lot of classroom management, but it is worth it.

Koreans are a rather straight-forward culture. Aside from being open people, they are also very honest with their comments.

Koreans are much more sociable than Americans and other westerners. They spend much of their free time simply dining, drinking and socializing with others. However, this is probably due in part to the fact that there is really nothing to do for fun aside from eating out from the abundance of restaurants and bars. There are indoor sports clubs, parks and some sights to see (touristy), but it is nothing like the United States where there are movie theaters everywhere, bowling alleys, every kind of sport, all kind of leisure stores and hotels and people spend a lot of time outdoors. There are bars and restaurants. Some indoor golf buildings. A few movie theaters here and there and the baseball stadiums. Outdoor activities and hobbies are definitely not the Korean way. Obviously, for anyone new to the country, there are many historic sites and cultural attractions to visit.

Jack's Mannequin is officially my soundtrack for Korea. I love walking throughout Daejeon, seeing and feeling everything around me while listening to Everything in Transit on my iPod. For some reason, it is the perfect music for the surroundings and the lyrics embody how I feel about everything around me.

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