Advertisement
Mad in Korea
On a drain coverI am not quite local, not quite stranger. I am either a local stranger or a strange local
After completing our first year of living in Korea, we've gone through the culture shock and emerged stiff kneed, well soaked, bad-breathed, Hangul- (Korean writing) reading, and with some well worn shoes. We no longer feel compelled to eat Korean food when we go out, we now cook Doenjanjiggae at home for supper and treat ourselves at the closest Indian restaurant. Along the way I made a (far from exhaustive) list of things that seemed unusual at the time. Looking back on it now it seems pretty normal, so I guess that means a whole new culture shock experience when we get home. Anyway, as way to wrap up our first year, here is my list of interesting Korean cultural differences:
Kimchi - The national dish of fermented spiced cabbage is literally served at
every meal. It makes your breath smell truly foul, but I'll admit meals won't be the same without it back home.
Side Dishes - Each person at the table is not given their own plate. Rather, the main course is served in one big bowl, and a vast array of side dishes varying hugely in flavour are laid all over the table. Everyone
uses their own chopsticks to grab a bite of whatever looks appealing. Even the smallest meals will be served with four or five side dishes.
Ajummas - Older women are the toughest people in Korea. Nobody messes with them. They do all the toughest jobs and have right of way anywhere, anytime. Once when chatting about cultural differences, we told a Korean man that it was weird to me to have women cleaning men's public restrooms while men are using them. He replied "They're not women, they're
ajummas" with sincere respect.
Markets - A very common way to do your shopping is in one of the many sprawling markets that are central to any town. Seoul has several, big enough to get lost in for hours. Some sell cheap clothing, others sell fish and seafood, used electronics, new electronics, vegetables. I've even seen microscopes, micropipettes, and other high-end laboratory equipment being sold out of little alleyway stores. To put it simply, if you want it, you can get it half price at the markets.
Motorbikes on pavements - Since there is so much traffic on the main streets of Seoul, motorbike drivers often elect to rather keep
Paper shop
Insadong, Seoul
to the pavements to avoid the hassle. This means that at just about all the time a bike, loaded to toppling point with goods could be bearing down on you wherever you are.
Ginseng & health drinks, Aloe juice - One of Korea's biggest exports is Ginseng. The root is used as a health tonic or pick-me-up all over the world, but is especially valued in Korea. The problem is that it tastes like the earth that it grew in. The older it is the more valuable. And the more it tastes like dirt. There are also a whole host of other health tonics that are for sale all over in tiny glass bottles. One of the drinks we were a bit hesitant to try was aloe juice. A light green liquid, with chunks of aloe floating in it. Surprisingly, it is actually delicious, and we now regularly have a big bottle of aloe juice sitting in our fridge.
No rubbish bins - For such a well-organised city, it is amazing how few rubbish bins there are in Seoul. They are a true rarity. The result is that piles of garbage start to heap up around light poles
Gift-wrapped Fruit
In a supermarket (5,000Won = US$ 5 = R40). For 1 apple. Now you know why we miss the fruit in SA! and at street corners. Fortunately, the city has a very efficient garbage collection system, so it doesn't stay around for long. A very interesting system.
Wine from around the world - After being spoilt with cheap, good wine in the Cape, we now regularly make a trip past the wines section when buying our groceries. All the wine is imported, so we've had an interesting year of tasting wines from all over the globe. We're always buying hthe cheapest bottles, but so far we've learnt to steer clear of the French wines, rather head straight for the Argentinean and Chilean wines. The californian and Australian bottles we've had have varied greatly.
Signs - Driving through Seoul, it will on the surface appear much like any other 1st world capitol, but soon you notice that you can't read any of the signs. Road signs, shop names, even just finding a toilet can turn into an exploration of its own. And it's not like European countries where you can figure your way through it. Here the alphabet is completely different, so until we learnt some
Hangul we were hopelessly lost. Nowadays we don't even notice it.
Pushing for subways, A load of rubbish
Beside a street in Busan toilets - The normal idea of standing aside to let people come of a subway carriage, elevator or bus before trying to enter doesn't seem to apply in the overly dense megalopolis of Seoul. I guess you just have to take the "When in Rome..." attitude and get ready to push as the door opens, but it can get a bit much when you have to elbow your way into a bathroom stall past the person on the way out, just to get your turn.
Squattie Potties - When you push open the door of a public toilet in a nice fancy department store, and all that greets you is a porcelain-ringed hole in the ground, you can only stand and wonder. The idea is obviously that you squat and aim. They're becoming more rare as Seoul modernises, but it seems that they actually preferred by some, because in places both the hole and regular toilets are offered. The differences considerately indicated on the doors.
Beans on Ice cream - So I've had a few weird ice cream flavours, including Garlic ice-cream in a Moroccan restaurant (served on fish) but the Koreans even have one to beat that.
A favourite desert is a big bowl of crushed ice, topped with fruit salad and... red beans. With loads of red bean sauce. We've tried, but we just can't get it.
Spitting - The first difference just about every foreigner notices as they leave the airport is a middle-aged man hacking deep from the bowels of his chest and spitting the mucous out onto the pavement. Happens all the time.
No tipping - Not only is tipping not expected, but if you try to leave a tip, waiters will follow you back onto the street insisting that you've overpaid. It's so much easier to work out bills.
2 min noodles restaurants - Small restaurants that look like bars except that behind the "barman" are not rows or bottles, but packages of instant noodles. Chose your flavour and sit down for a quick noodle dish.
Random T-shirts - There are some truly fantastic T-shirts here. Konglish is fashion. Grammar is not. Young twenty-somethings walk around with slogans like "Can a bag change your life?" or "They call me Zebra and Oreo" proudly printed across their chests.
Contrasting Architecture - It's fascinating to take a walk around
Calm in the great city
Ancient buildings in the middle of a very modern city
a city like Seoul where you can see ancient temples, palaces and city gates surrounded by huge modern skyscrapers and markets swelling with the latest electronics.
Petrol from above - When you pull into a petrol station, you often pay for the petrol, and then it is poured into your vehicle via pipes that hang from the ceiling. No pump on the forecourt. That's the future.
Braai at the table - A common way to eat meat is around a circular table with a hole cut in the centre. A bowl of hot coals is set in the hole and covered with a grill. Then the raw meat is brought to the table and the it is cooked on the coals and eaten as it comes off. It's a brilliantly social way to eat, and there's no waiting for your order.
Instant coffee everywhere - Just about anywhere people could be waiting, there are small machines that make tiny cups of instant coffee. They're all over the city too. A cup will cost about 300Won ($0.30 or R2.40)
Jjimjilbangs - Maybe the thing we'll miss the most. Much like roman bath houses, within a few blocks
A contended view
Standing on top of an abandoned gun-post looking over English Village towards North Korea
from you in any point of any large city is a place filled with saunas and pools of many different temperatures. Some pools have bubbles, others water jets or waterfalls. In many the water is run over a special stone or has a herb / type of sand added for some Eastern medical benefit. We've even found one with a Rooibos tea bath. At first it's a bit weird stripping down with so many other people around, but the sexes are separate, and soon you get lost in the cycles of trying various different baths. Then you put your complementary pyjamas and meet up on the communal floor. Collect your hard rubber pillow and lie down on the wood/stone floor to sleep. It's not the most comfortable bed, but it costs $7 a night and after all the soaking you're so relaxed that you sleep deeeeeply. A real treat!
Camping on the beaches - One of the best things about backpacking Korea with a tent is it almost always seems that we're the only ones doing it. Whenever we catch a ferry to one of the several thousand offshore islands, we just hike along the beach until we find
a nice patch of sand to pitch a tent for the night. One of the first times, we saw a small police station and went to check with them before pitching our tent. They seemed pretty confused that we would be asking and one disappeared off. When he came back he brought us 2 ice creams.
Posing for photos - We generally try to capture photos of people while they are unawares. This can be pretty tricky in Korea. Almost everyone really loves to pose for photographs. The victory sign (showing a V with 2 fingers) is a especially popular. Even 3 year-olds will take a few seconds to straighten their hair as soon as a camera is pointed in their direction.
Konglish & Bad transtations - It's amazing that in a country where there are so many native English speakers imported to teach, none are evere consulted in before companies spend huge amounts of money painting billboards or designing product packaging. Cracks me up every time.
No police - Although violent crime in Korea is practically zero, we almost never see police around. Except at the airport. Where they carry machine guns.
No deodorant - Modern Monk
On a cellphone, browsing Swatches
Our first summer here, when the temperatures began to rise towards 40C and the humidity was pushing 80%!w(MISSING)e suddenly realised that it's just about impossible to find deodorant for sale. Neither in supermarkets nor pharmacies. It's still a mystery.
Safety - After recently making a trip back to South Africa, the one thing that I've come to appreciate here again is the incredible safety of being out on the streets. Not the traffic, which is horrible, but the lack of crime. Today while walking back from the dentist (Aaarg!) I saw a little guy who must have been about 4 years old leave wave good bye to his teachers at the Heyri Play School and walk the few blocks across town back home on his own. What a pleasure to be living in a place where you can do that!
Our views are obviously very biased, but this is purely meant to be a summary of our personal observations and experiences, not a definitive portrait of Korea or it's people.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.326s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 35; qc: 153; dbt: 0.1732s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.5mb
Mom
non-member comment
strange locals!
well I would think the locals think you are strange? Will you come back wanting garlic and cabbage on everything? And speaking Konglish too :)