Observations About Korea Worth Mentioning..

I've been compiling a little list about Korea whenever new things come to mind, so I figure I'll go ahead and share what I have so far.  I'm sure this list will grow as time goes on.


1.  The food.  Samgyeopsal (and really ALL Korean BBQ), gimbap, makgeolli, and soju.  Korean food is good.    I am even starting to like Kimchi more.  Although, because of the massive rain storms this summer, Kimchi has become scarce, so I load up more than usual during school lunch.

Samgyeopsal pork belly goodness

2.  Ice Cream.  It's cool to eat ice cream after every meal here.  They have a Baskin Robbins on every corner, Cold Stone, and WAFFLES everywhere.  You will see 2 small women splitting an enormous 6 scoop  sundae, and they will demolish the whole thing.

My favorite gelato + waffle from Cafe Ti Amo

3.  Walking.  Now that monsoon season is over (I take that back because it's actually been raining again for the past few days), I really enjoy walking around the city.

BEFORE monsoon season ended.  Walking around with umbrellas in Anam.

4.  Public transportation.  The subway and bus systems in Seoul are amazing and reach pretty much every place you could ever need or want to go, and they are CLEAN (for the most part, cleaner than any other city I've seen before).

the subway is massive..

5.  Shopping.  It is everywhere.  Though, sometimes it's overwhelming because there are so many stores, you don't even know where to start.  Seoul=fashion heaven.

I also enjoy the funny Engrish shirts they sell here like this one that is supposed to say JUSTIN Bobby.

6.  Couples.  There are way more couples here than I have ever seen in my life.  They are everywhere.  They are also apparently automatically in "relationships" if they "like each other."  The main thing I enjoy about all the couples are the "couples outfits."  They will literally wear the exact same outfit on purpose.  Some stores even sell identical men's and women's clothing side by side for this exact purpose.  I have seen them matching all the way down to their tennis shoes and backpacks.  Cultural difference?  I think so.

matching bunny ears at Lotte World

snapped this one at the new Floating Island at the Banpo Hangang Park

7.  Heels.  Women are wearing sparkly 4 inch heels every day regardless of their outfits.  My favorite is the flannel shirt with baggy jeans and heels with rhinestones.  They wear heels everywhere...ie: to the zoo, to the beach, to the mall, hiking.  I'm not entirely sure how they survive considering the amount of walking done on a daily basis.

I did NOT take these pictures, but they're all over the WWW

8.  Compliments.  Native Koreans are always telling me how beautiful I am, even though I'm Korean too.  It's probably because beautiful is the only English adjective they know.  They also compliment a lot of white people on "having a small face," which is supposedly the equivalent of having a round, "big moon face."

9.  Students.  We were prepared for students that would be "shy" and unlikely to talk or answer questions during class.  My students are ROWDY and talk non-stop in Korean.  They lied to us.

a couple of my grade 3 students who are not too bad yet!

10.  Drinking.  Drinking is a serious part of the culture here.  A bottle of soju or makgeolli is less than $2.  People sip on soju during dinner, and old men are passed out on the subway all the time, likely from having too much soju at dinner.

Jinro Plum Soju we liked to drink at orientation (and have since realized is way too sweet to drink)

11.  Image.  Koreans are checking themselves out in every mirrored surface imaginable.  They are image obsessed.

actually..when searching for this picture I stole, I found out the mirrors are for suicide prevention?!

12.  Style.  Everyone here is very stylish and trendy.  Even the men.  The men are well dressed and well groomed.  +1 for the Koreans.

of course, Lee Min Ho is an exaggeration, but there really are guys that wear this outfit

he even looks good in a sweatsuit

13.  The temperature inside buildings.  When we first arrived in Korea, the temp was BOILING.  Koreans only turn the AC on in rooms when the rooms are being used in an effort to conserve energy.  When I say room, I mean ONLY rooms.  There is no AC in hallways or other general areas inside.  We were able to leave the AC on in our dorms during orientation, but it would get shut off around 4AM just in time for us to wake up sweating before it came back on at 7:30AM.  I imagine the exact opposite will be true in the winter so I'm not really looking forward to the FREEZING hallways in my school.  Koreans also like to "freshen the air" so the windows are always open as well, except on the buses when it's hot, people will close the windows so their hair doesn't get messed up.

not mine, but looks almost identical to the thermostat in my house

14.  Sweat.  Koreans don't sweat.  It doesn't make sense, but when normal people are dripping in sweat, Korean people are wearing jeans and long sleeves with no sign of a single sweat mark.  The also don't smell.  As a result, they don't really wear deodorant.

In fact, if you do happen to find deodorant, it's most likely gonna be of the spray variety.

15.  Norebang.  Private karaoke rooms.  You don't need a special occasion for these, and you don't even have to be drinking (although more enjoyable if you have).  Koreans love to sing, and norebanging is a serious sport.  You rent a room for about $15-30 an hour depending on how nice it is, pick out which songs you want to sing, and go at it until the lights come back on (or you decide to pay for another hour).

my first norebang experience

16.  Bathrooms.  First, there are the squat toilets that are so conveniently in many of our public schools as well as many subway bathrooms.  Although, the subway bathrooms in Korea are MUCH cleaner than any subway bathroom I've ever seen (plus way less sketchy).  Public toilets are also EVERYWHERE.  You're pretty much allowed to use the toilet anywhere you need.  Then, there are the showers.  Some people were lucky enough to get a door to their shower.  Others, like me have the whole shower head attached to the wall situation. The floor and counter get totally soaked every time you shower, and you can't put on socks if you plan on going back into the bathroom.

they can be heated and high tech

or they can be a squat toilet.

17.  Sleep.  I am probably getting sick from lack of sleep, but I don't think Koreans ever sleep.  You will be on the subway at midnight and see small children, school children going home from academy, and people drunk on soju.  Clubs stay open until 7AM, and it's not uncommon to stay out at least until the subway reopens sometime around 5:30AM.  Last week on the way to catch a taxi at 4:30AM, restaurants were still packed with people eating barbecue and socializing, which brings me to the question, when do they ever sleep??

stole these from my friend..

it's actually VERY common