I think that Seoul is a lot like any city in the US in a lot of ways. But there are some big and even very small noticeable differences between our two cultures. Here's a list I've been writing in my head for awhile.
1. Korean people don't drink water during meals. They drink water after. I am the only person in the school lunchroom who drinks while I eat. I think at first everyone thought it was weird but now they're used to it.
2. Koreans are the most well-dressed people ever. Korean men rock fitted suits, tight jeans, and man purses. They always tuck their oxfords into their tight pants. They look good. Korean women wear high heels EVERYWHERE (including shopping malls and amusement parks) and tend to wear tight skirts, nice blouses, and fitted blazers. They're also really big on jewelry, hair accessories, and real/fake Louis Vuitton and MCM bags. Apparently it's really cheap to get your clothing tailored here, so everyone just looks really nice. I haven't seen a single Korean person in sweatpants since I've been here. Everyone seriously looks like they've stepped out of a fashion magazine.
3. Publicly showing respect: every time I walk by a teacher in the hall, I have to bow to them. This becomes a problem at the end of school dinner parties when we are obligated to bow in farewell to the other thirty or so teachers. But it is awesome because all the students bow to me! (And then scream "HELLO MELISSA!" really loudly). There are also seats on the subway and buses reserved for old people and pregnant women. Even if no one is on the subway it's not appropriate to sit in these seats, even for a minute.
4. Technology: you can buy anything here by scanning your cell phone. The subway system is all done by card or phone and is so simple to use. Korea is the most wired country in the world and has the fastest internet. On the subway and bus, 99% of the people are watching TV on their phones. Having an iPhone here is kind of a status symbol, because it costs almost $1,000 (when I bought my cell phone I saw iPhones on sale for over 900,000 KRW.) Businessmen and rich teenagers like to flaunt their iPods on the subway.
5. All school students above elementary age wear school uniforms. They are all so cute! My school's is a blue plaid skirt, a white shirt, a blue tie, and a navy sweater or blazer. Some uniforms are pink!
6. Concepts like "waiting in line" and "waiting for one's turn" are kind of foreign here. I've even had ahjummas push ahead of me in the grocery line. As soon as the bus or subway stops where you are, everyone will shove to get on. It's not rude, it's just the culture. If you snooze, you lose.
7. An astronomical 46% of Korean men are regular smokers. In bars men smoke all the time. However, you will never see women smoke in public, because it's not considered appropriate for them to do so. Sometimes I have to wait in line for a ridiculously long time to get in a public restroom becuase Korean girls are huddled inside smoking their clandestine cigarettes.
8. My students know a lot about American culture. They love Justin Bieber, Beyonce, Lady Gaga, and Michael Jackson. However, they love their country's own idols even more. I think it's nice that they have such open minds, and they always surprise me with their knowledge of Western things (especially English swear words...)
9. Koreans are very chill, calm, non-violent people (everyone who's ever taught in Korea will really laugh at the last part.) Korean people just want to go about their daily lives and not interfere with anyone. This includes the world at whole: everyone just wants wars to stop and for the North and South to peacefully reunite. The crime rate here is, I think, one of the lowest in the world. Ironically, violence is ALL OVER television and Korean kids play super-violent video games for hours a day. Korean students also love to hit, push, and strangle each other. Everyone I know who teaches elementary school says their kids can't stay stuff like "I like oranges" but they know the words "kill", "die", "stab", and "strangle." This is genuinely inexplicable.
10. Koreans are vey proud of their country and are often confused why foreigners end up there. I've been asked numerous times how I "knew about Korea" or "heard about Korea." My co-teachers are always surprised when I do simple things like eat a spicy food, know who Kim Yu Na and Park Ji Sung are, and say random words in Korean (current favorite: cucumber). I guess this is because South Korea was pretty isolationist until about 20 years ago and has only in the past few years experienced such a great influx of foreigners.
11. Food is SO CHEAP here. I just ate a delicious dinner with my friend and fellow Bryn Mawr 2010 alumna Rachel Park. We got rice, kimchi, soup, salad, and a huge steaming plate to share of spicy Korean rice cakes and seafood. All of this was less than $15. And our waiter gave us a pack of gum as we left. You can get a huge plate of duck or beef ribs for the same price. Generally, you won't spend more than $10/10,000won at a meal. It's awesome. Korean ribs for two here would be like $15. When I had it in Manhattan it was about $50. Outrageous. Clothing is also less expensive. Of course there are boutiques (Chanel, Louis Vuitton) and high-end department stores (Lotte, Hyundai) and mid-range stores (Basic House, Uniqlo, all the stuff we have in America), but clothing from markets and tiny stores on random streets and the Dongdaemun wholesalers can be dirt cheap. I just bought a long-sleeve t-shirt for $3. CDs are also really cheap. I recently purchased a copy of the new 2NE1 CD because I wanted the poster, and it has really awesome packaging and comes with a like 50-page color book of postcards. It was about $14. A similar product in the US would be over $50.
That's all I can think of for now. I hope you found this interesting!
No comments:
Post a Comment