Again, I'm a bit late writing my weekly entry. Get used to it, dear readers, time's flying here, one week really is nothing for me. Yesterday it's been excactly 2 months that I left (or should I say switched) home. Since Andi already touched on the delicate subject of homesickness, I'm thinking I could pick it up too on that occasion.
What do I miss from Austria, or Europe?
First thing, there's family and friends, of course. It would be nice to see them some time, or have a chat, but I must admit that their absence isn't heartbreaking. Anyone who knows Asia a little will understand that it's difficult to feel alone here, cause you simply never are. Even in my Livingtel I'm not, cause the walls, thin as paper, are forcing me to eavesdrop on my neighbours every conversation.
There's a difference between being alone and being lonely, though. But also here, the answer is negative. Unsurprisingly, among a few 100 exchange students, there are some I really get on with very well, and I also have a couple of Korean friends by now and keep making more (so I hope).
Another thing that could possibly be missed when abroad is food. Could be, but doesn't have to be, as in my case. Back home, I used to practice the What's-in-the-fridge-School of Cooking (I can teach you) and this relatively seldom produces a Brat'l in da Rein or Wiener Schnitzel. I'm fine eating the latter every half a year, and since I did before leaving, I'll be o.k. having one again when I go back. Should I have a really weak moment, there's first, an Austrian butcher in Itaewon, the "foreigners-district" of Seoul, second, a dish called Dongkass that strongly resembles the Austrian Schnitzel, except that instead of potatoes, or fries, it comes with Kimchi, of course.
Yet, I'd rather not dwell on the thought of Grandma's Apfelstrudel for too long, but even a sweet tooth as me is more than taken care of in Korea.
More than I miss Austrian food now, I will definitely miss Asian food when I'm back in Europe. (I mean real Asian food. After my first stay in China, I never went to a Chinese restaurant again back home, cause I dreaded the disappointing experience it would have been.) I love Chinese food for it's incredible variety, and whatever I have tried in Korea, whether it's Korean barbequeue, or something as simple as Mulmandu (dumpling soup, or literally, water-dumplings) it was also always fuckin' mashissoyo (take your guess).
I can do without Austrian cuisine, and also very well without Austria, and most of its people. Salzburg is a lovely little town, and I'm happy about having had it as my Lebensabschnittsheimat (temporary hometown) for as long as 2 years. It was nice while it lasted, but after my degree, there'll not be too much that could make me go back.
What I do miss a little from there though is my "spacious apartment". Anybody who's ever seen it, knows now how my standards, regarding the definition of "spacious", have been lowered here. I'm currently writing in the library, and part of the reason why is that I don't want to spend more time than absolutely necessary in my Livingcell (The other part is that my computer is broken. I hate Windows, it just needs to be yelled out loud).
Another thing that I like about Europe, is 음악, eumak,(live) music. Not that they don't have it here, I find the traditional Korean drums particularly cool, but when it comes to non-mainstream music of today, I have a feeling as if Seoul can't keep up with Salzburg. That sounds weird. So, I guess it'll just take me some more time figuring out where to find it (or find more of it, there's definitely some exiting stuff around here). In particular, my weakness for Eastern European music that is danceable is a little underserved. But, even there's a spark of hope. I heard Shantel & Bucovina Club Orkestar in several Bars already, now somebody needs to convince them to come over and play one of their amazing shows (the same is true for all the other great bands in the field. I can't make a list due to lack of time, space and, sorry, priority).
Speaking of music, this Saturday, we, meaning 2 friends from Lithuania and the US and I, went to the Asia Song Festival, a huge event that was hold in the World Cup Stadium, featuring everything that's crappy and big in Asia right now when it comes to Pop. I guess, when I say Pop, I don't even have to add "crappy" and "big". That's just my personal opinion, no offence to all these approx. 40 000 kids who were waving neon sticks and screaming when Girls Generation, Big Bang, Gackt and the likes entered the stage to lip-sing and do their well practised choreographies.
Needless to say that I did not particularly enjoy myself, but this didn't take me by surprise. It was all about the unique cultural experience (always a good thing to say when a poor decision in a foreign country needs justification).
The facts that this event was sponsored by the Ministery of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Profile Plastic Surgery, and that it was free for foreigners only, are maybe also worth mentioning.
After this slightly bizarre and highly intense experience, we needed a retreat from the city, so on Sunday we headed to Muido, an island near Incheon. The weather was still nice enough for swimming, but when we eventually got to the beach after a hike over the whole island, there was sand, and beach huts, but no water. After initial bafflement, I remembered what I had read about the tides in the West Sea of Korea. It changes by several meters every day, and after some sunbathing, which caused some bewildered stares by Koreans who were hiking the island in their full hiking gear, the water came back and we jumped in. (That caused some more bewildered stares). At this time of the year, Koreans don't go swimming anymore, which left us pretty much alone on the beach. It was nice and this weekend I want to go to Jeju-Do, Korea's biggest island, to stretch summer a little further. Hopefully there's affordable flights out there.
Apart from all that, I'm pretty busy studying. Korean for Beginners got a little more challenging (we started to do stuff) and there's a couple of presentations to prepare. These however are very much like what I was used to do for 2 years at the FH Salzburg. Even though I'm usually rather critical of that institution, it apparently wasn't all a waste of time.
Dienstag, 22. September 2009
Dienstag, 15. September 2009
Ko-Yon-Games
Just to give you an idea of an event, that was soo far beyond awesome (and any of my expectations)... for more pics, refer to facebook (if you happen to belong to the elitist circle of my friends there) - in a little bit, nothing's there yet
That's us, cheering our Heart and Seoul out
That's us, cheering our Heart and Seoul out
Some other students, busy doing the same thing
Sonntag, 13. September 2009
The 3rd week: Celebration and Seoulemnity
In my last post I wasn't telling the entire truth. Not on purpose, but I feel like I should tell you anyway. When I said "Plans to take it easy from now on have been made and will not be shelved as the next weekend comes, I swear.", I wasn't thinking of the upcoming KO-YON GAMES:
My school, Korea University, has this tradition, where we are battling our archrival, Yonsei-University (I don't know why we don't like them, though) once per year, at major disciplines like Baseball, Hockey, Basketball, Soccer and Rugby. So it happened again this year, the previous weekend.
If you know me, you might be wondering how watching some sport event can get me to do anything other than yawn elaborately, let alone jump and dance. I was also having these worries at first, but I didn't want to appear boring and unsocial ( and had nothing better to do). That's why I went to the former olympic stadium, on Friday around noon, determined to pretend that I wasn't having a bad time.
To my own surprise, I didn't have to pretend much.
When I got there, just in time to watch the baseball game, which is a rather laid-back thing to do elsewhere in the world, or maybe an excuse for drinking beer (so I was told), the party was already fully in progress.
It was simply mindblowing. At noon, people were already being crazy, dancing, cheering and supporting their teams, half the stadium dressed in blue (Yonsei University - or blue monsters) half in red (KU). Even the most consequent adversary of attending social gatherings that involve spectating sporting events (or, in short: I) would get sucked in by the athmosphere there, right away.
As some friends and me were just about to leave the Baseball stadium, to go to a different stadium to watch Basketball, our team won. It was overwhelming... Some of the oftentimes so reserved Korean students just grabbed us, formed a circle and together we sang, and danced one of the various cheers of KU once again.
(Well, they sang. Due to lack of lyrics and the ability to pronounce them, we were just making noise)
We won at Baseball, but for the sake of fairness, I should also mention that we suck at Basketball. Actually, I can't judge, as I still don't have a grasp of the rules of that game (it wasn't about the game at all though, what mattered was the cheering, and the community of KU students at the time) but my American co-spectators couldn't believe the complete lack of strategy and skill that our team stood for.
But their fans deserve an A+ for commitment. Even in the last 7 minutes, when things looked bleak for us, to say the least, the guy next to me was repeating like a mantra "we can still make it, it's possible..." Of course it wasn't but it didn't really matter either. We suffered an epic defeat, but still, chants of "It's ok, it's alright..." accompanied our players, as they were leaving the stadium.
It was a pretty exhausting evening, but since there was still a victory to celebrate, (or we openly embrace any excuse to crack a bottle of Soju) Friday night turned into Saturday and after a delicious hangover-breakfast we headed to the stadium again.
Unlike us, the Koreans were showing no signs of slowing down, and again there wasn't much to do, but cheer and dance. By now we had even mastered some of the dances and after everything was over at around 5, and the outcome happened to be a tie, the games culminated in 1000s of students, of both KU and Yonsei University, dancing, singing and waving flags all together in the arena.
Despite our voices and legs being slightly sore already, the best was still to come:
Traditionally, after Ko-Yon-Games are over, the KU alumni (some of whom are really famous, such as South Korea's current president, Lee Myung Bak) give all the KU students FREE FOOD AND BOTTOMLESS BEER! No, I'm not bullshitting you, that's really what they do.
As you might have guessed, Saturday night deserves a paragraph of its own here:
Among the incoming students, the consensus was that there is no place in the world, that could possibly be more fun at that moment. Few things are for sure, but one is, that KU is the party-university # 1 on the planet, at least that night it doubtlessely was. Anam, the district near to the campus was turned into one crazy fiesta. Students were going wild, cheering and dancing on the street, or in the pubs, but instead of having the whole thing shut down by the police, they were photographed, celebrated and frequently had their cups refilled by their predecessors, the amazingly generous KU alummni.
Again, I'm giving you the impression that I'm not actually studying in this place. That is not true. Obviously, I'm focusing on the more exiting stuff in my blog, which are of course not the weekday-mornings, where I get up at 7, to go through my readings (which i finish sometimes late at night) again, or have a look at some of the new korean vocab that I picked up the day before. Neither is it the lectures, where the Sonsaengnim put even more emphasis on punctuality and attendance then at the Fachhochschule at home.
Additionally, I joined the English Language Club. Being from Austria and thus completely unaquainted to after-school activities, this was all new for me, but great fun, 'cause it's all Koreans and we go out to eat (and admittedly drink, but just a little!) after doing our English quizzes and exercises. It also gives me the chance to meet even more great new people, pick up some non-textbook-Korean and get an insight into Korean humour (which is quite different: Occasionally I get a joke, sometimes not, but often the humour probably gets lost in the translation)
Other good news is that I finally have my passport back. It was at the immigration office for longer than I was comfortable with. But now, my Alien Card, yes, that's really what they call this kind of ID, has been issued. Apparently, they still consider us Weiguks (foreigners) otherworldly creatures from somewhere like outer space, but now at least I'm an officially registered alien. T'feels great.
My school, Korea University, has this tradition, where we are battling our archrival, Yonsei-University (I don't know why we don't like them, though) once per year, at major disciplines like Baseball, Hockey, Basketball, Soccer and Rugby. So it happened again this year, the previous weekend.
If you know me, you might be wondering how watching some sport event can get me to do anything other than yawn elaborately, let alone jump and dance. I was also having these worries at first, but I didn't want to appear boring and unsocial ( and had nothing better to do). That's why I went to the former olympic stadium, on Friday around noon, determined to pretend that I wasn't having a bad time.
To my own surprise, I didn't have to pretend much.
When I got there, just in time to watch the baseball game, which is a rather laid-back thing to do elsewhere in the world, or maybe an excuse for drinking beer (so I was told), the party was already fully in progress.
It was simply mindblowing. At noon, people were already being crazy, dancing, cheering and supporting their teams, half the stadium dressed in blue (Yonsei University - or blue monsters) half in red (KU). Even the most consequent adversary of attending social gatherings that involve spectating sporting events (or, in short: I) would get sucked in by the athmosphere there, right away.
As some friends and me were just about to leave the Baseball stadium, to go to a different stadium to watch Basketball, our team won. It was overwhelming... Some of the oftentimes so reserved Korean students just grabbed us, formed a circle and together we sang, and danced one of the various cheers of KU once again.
(Well, they sang. Due to lack of lyrics and the ability to pronounce them, we were just making noise)
We won at Baseball, but for the sake of fairness, I should also mention that we suck at Basketball. Actually, I can't judge, as I still don't have a grasp of the rules of that game (it wasn't about the game at all though, what mattered was the cheering, and the community of KU students at the time) but my American co-spectators couldn't believe the complete lack of strategy and skill that our team stood for.
But their fans deserve an A+ for commitment. Even in the last 7 minutes, when things looked bleak for us, to say the least, the guy next to me was repeating like a mantra "we can still make it, it's possible..." Of course it wasn't but it didn't really matter either. We suffered an epic defeat, but still, chants of "It's ok, it's alright..." accompanied our players, as they were leaving the stadium.
It was a pretty exhausting evening, but since there was still a victory to celebrate, (or we openly embrace any excuse to crack a bottle of Soju) Friday night turned into Saturday and after a delicious hangover-breakfast we headed to the stadium again.
Unlike us, the Koreans were showing no signs of slowing down, and again there wasn't much to do, but cheer and dance. By now we had even mastered some of the dances and after everything was over at around 5, and the outcome happened to be a tie, the games culminated in 1000s of students, of both KU and Yonsei University, dancing, singing and waving flags all together in the arena.
Despite our voices and legs being slightly sore already, the best was still to come:
Traditionally, after Ko-Yon-Games are over, the KU alumni (some of whom are really famous, such as South Korea's current president, Lee Myung Bak) give all the KU students FREE FOOD AND BOTTOMLESS BEER! No, I'm not bullshitting you, that's really what they do.
As you might have guessed, Saturday night deserves a paragraph of its own here:
Among the incoming students, the consensus was that there is no place in the world, that could possibly be more fun at that moment. Few things are for sure, but one is, that KU is the party-university # 1 on the planet, at least that night it doubtlessely was. Anam, the district near to the campus was turned into one crazy fiesta. Students were going wild, cheering and dancing on the street, or in the pubs, but instead of having the whole thing shut down by the police, they were photographed, celebrated and frequently had their cups refilled by their predecessors, the amazingly generous KU alummni.
Again, I'm giving you the impression that I'm not actually studying in this place. That is not true. Obviously, I'm focusing on the more exiting stuff in my blog, which are of course not the weekday-mornings, where I get up at 7, to go through my readings (which i finish sometimes late at night) again, or have a look at some of the new korean vocab that I picked up the day before. Neither is it the lectures, where the Sonsaengnim put even more emphasis on punctuality and attendance then at the Fachhochschule at home.
Additionally, I joined the English Language Club. Being from Austria and thus completely unaquainted to after-school activities, this was all new for me, but great fun, 'cause it's all Koreans and we go out to eat (and admittedly drink, but just a little!) after doing our English quizzes and exercises. It also gives me the chance to meet even more great new people, pick up some non-textbook-Korean and get an insight into Korean humour (which is quite different: Occasionally I get a joke, sometimes not, but often the humour probably gets lost in the translation)
Other good news is that I finally have my passport back. It was at the immigration office for longer than I was comfortable with. But now, my Alien Card, yes, that's really what they call this kind of ID, has been issued. Apparently, they still consider us Weiguks (foreigners) otherworldly creatures from somewhere like outer space, but now at least I'm an officially registered alien. T'feels great.
Montag, 7. September 2009
The 2nd week: Getting settled, and eventually educated.
It's Monday already, so I'm late with my updates, sorry for that. It's not the best of all Mondays, even here, where my life's supposed to be exiting, fun and extraordinary (which it is most of the time), Mondays can be bad.
It's raining, and after being deprived of (a reasonable number of hours of) sleep for 3 days, the author isn't feeling 100%. Plans to take it easy from now on have been made and will not be shelved as the next weekend comes, I swear.
On Saturday, we, the exchange students were finally, officially welcomed.
However, despite us being so very welcome, we are considered a health risk. Not only for local's sanity, as we can be very noisy and besiege entire districts when we're being officially welcomed, but first and foremost because we could spread Swineflu. This is why the initial Welcoming-Party has been cancelled. Instead of one massive event, where all the exchange students (almost 500 of us!) would have celebrated their arrival together, we were split up in several smaller groups and scattered over various places nearby KU.
It was fun, the only thing I find a tiny little bit irritating is that whenever we're being welcomed, (a smaller event had taken place for business students at KU Business School earlier this week) they don't even bother trying to introduce us to Korean culture:
At the KUBS party, they served us Krispy Kreme donuts, and Papa John's pizza. At Saturday's welcoming party, we had Bratwurst, Pizza again, and chicken wings. The beer was Korean though, so was "The Unavoidable", Soju.
When I took part in a Chinese Summerschool programme last year, the universities organized huge banquets for us, that featured even the most obscure, local delicacy, be it jellyfish in cold soup, taste-bud-numbing spicy fish-stew, ox-stomach, or deep-fried aloe vera. Not that all of that was lip-smackingly good, but the point is, that the Korean cuisine has more to offer than US junk food imports, and KU could put a bit more effort into showing us so, goddammit!
In a way though, this sort of behaviour IS very Korean. That's what makes the place so easy for Westerners to feel at home. But I feel I didn't take an airplane to the other side of the world to find myself eating Western fastfood and drinking bad Starbucks coffee way more often than I do at home.
But despite these little annoyances, I'm having a great time.
Seoul is excactly the place where I want to be right now. I got kind of settled the last week, and I caught myself saying "I'm going home", when heading back to my... to my "apartment"? No, that's not the word I'm looking for. Well, I hate to repeat myself, but hole-in-the-wall is still the only expression that fits here. I'm seriously at risk of turning claustrophobic.
Still, it's my own place, and in a city this big and crowded, it's great to have one's own door to shut behind oneself when necessary and as I was going to say, that's nothing that could spoil my enthusiasm about being here at the moment.
Even though I'm not technically "travelling" right now, I still occasionally get this moments, where I just can't believe that I'm actually here, doing what I decided I wanted to do. It's intense, and pretty awesome. Occasionally, I had these moments in China, and the most recent one here made me decide that I'm not going back to Europe. I mean, not asap. I want to to my obligatory internship next semester in South Korea if there's any possibility to do so. There has to be.
My previous blogposts might not have given you the impression, but, surprise, surprise, I'm actually here to study. I'm majoring business, but here I moved away from my "traditional" subjects quite a bit, except for one Marketing- and one Finance course. Instead, I'm taking courses on business, economics, and politics in the region, meaning China and Japan. Classes started last Monday, and after all the introductions were over, it was in fact sometimes quite astonishing. The "typically Asian" top-down approach to teaching, where the Songsaengnim (professor) is sacrosanct, and the students are humble, is not practised here. The level of both the teachers and the students is high, classes are interesting and challenging.
An exception may be "Korean for Beginners I". I am a beginner, yes, but one who doesn't have the patience to spend 5 hours a week repeating the Korean alphabet and being clapped at for being able to say "a-a ya-ya ô-ô yô-yô..."
I'd rather be out there and speak to real people, even though it might scratch my ego a little bit 'cause it's certain that I won't get clapped, but laughed at.
But here, another problem comes about. Being a foreigner in this place seems to magnetically attract other foreigners, which is not bad in itself 'cause you meet tons of nice people, but it is indeed very hard to get in touch with locals. Students are so busy here, so they usually leave right after class, and don't have time for a chat, not even think about one that involves one party trying out very-basic-broken-Korean.
But, where's a will there is a way, and my motivation is unchanged, at a very high level.
To bring this post to an end, and give you some more ideas about what life in this big, shiny place is like, I will just jot down some random observations, in no specific order. If you find an order, that's coincidental, my apologies.
- After Annyonghaseyo! (Hello!) and Kamsahamnida! (Thank you!) , the most frequently used phrase seems to be Palli palli! (Quick quick!). Koreans try to do everything fast. What's quite amazing too is their ability to switch between "modes". Take the subway: On the subway, at least half of the people are fast asleep, but as soon as they have to transfer, they run as if it was for their lifes.
- On public transport, they do not usually speak. If on the phone, they'll talk quietly, and cover their mouth with one hand. The only conversations you'll hear on the subway, are usually in English, held by some ignorant Weiguks.
- These Weiguks however, unlike in China, are not being stared at. Their presence is acknowledged with a shrug, very rarely some elderly ladies appreciate our fair skin (here still a status symbol) with a thumb up, or two.
- It's hard to find proper supermarkets here. Everything's full of convenient stores. If you do however find a supermarket, they have everything, and I mean everything.
- Korean pop-music is superpopular anywhere in Asia, which doesn't mean it's supergood. It's the cheesiest crap I've ever heard and I'm happy I don't understand the lyrics (yet, I'm planning to change that).
- Koreans have excellent manners. There's no public spitting, at least very, very little.
- The essential piece of advice I give to China-travellers "ALWAYS have tissues!", can be abandoned here. Public toilets are simply extraterrestial. Even in places like the subway-station, they have additional features like seat-warmers.
- more random observations are to follow next week...
This is me in the most beautiful place in Seoul I've been so far. High up on a hill near Dongnimmun station, the view is mind-blowing.
Since you get a bird's eye view on the presidents palace, which you're not allowed to photograph, a friendly guard is up there too and he will check your camera.
It's raining, and after being deprived of (a reasonable number of hours of) sleep for 3 days, the author isn't feeling 100%. Plans to take it easy from now on have been made and will not be shelved as the next weekend comes, I swear.
On Saturday, we, the exchange students were finally, officially welcomed.
However, despite us being so very welcome, we are considered a health risk. Not only for local's sanity, as we can be very noisy and besiege entire districts when we're being officially welcomed, but first and foremost because we could spread Swineflu. This is why the initial Welcoming-Party has been cancelled. Instead of one massive event, where all the exchange students (almost 500 of us!) would have celebrated their arrival together, we were split up in several smaller groups and scattered over various places nearby KU.
It was fun, the only thing I find a tiny little bit irritating is that whenever we're being welcomed, (a smaller event had taken place for business students at KU Business School earlier this week) they don't even bother trying to introduce us to Korean culture:
At the KUBS party, they served us Krispy Kreme donuts, and Papa John's pizza. At Saturday's welcoming party, we had Bratwurst, Pizza again, and chicken wings. The beer was Korean though, so was "The Unavoidable", Soju.
When I took part in a Chinese Summerschool programme last year, the universities organized huge banquets for us, that featured even the most obscure, local delicacy, be it jellyfish in cold soup, taste-bud-numbing spicy fish-stew, ox-stomach, or deep-fried aloe vera. Not that all of that was lip-smackingly good, but the point is, that the Korean cuisine has more to offer than US junk food imports, and KU could put a bit more effort into showing us so, goddammit!
In a way though, this sort of behaviour IS very Korean. That's what makes the place so easy for Westerners to feel at home. But I feel I didn't take an airplane to the other side of the world to find myself eating Western fastfood and drinking bad Starbucks coffee way more often than I do at home.
But despite these little annoyances, I'm having a great time.
Seoul is excactly the place where I want to be right now. I got kind of settled the last week, and I caught myself saying "I'm going home", when heading back to my... to my "apartment"? No, that's not the word I'm looking for. Well, I hate to repeat myself, but hole-in-the-wall is still the only expression that fits here. I'm seriously at risk of turning claustrophobic.
Still, it's my own place, and in a city this big and crowded, it's great to have one's own door to shut behind oneself when necessary and as I was going to say, that's nothing that could spoil my enthusiasm about being here at the moment.
Even though I'm not technically "travelling" right now, I still occasionally get this moments, where I just can't believe that I'm actually here, doing what I decided I wanted to do. It's intense, and pretty awesome. Occasionally, I had these moments in China, and the most recent one here made me decide that I'm not going back to Europe. I mean, not asap. I want to to my obligatory internship next semester in South Korea if there's any possibility to do so. There has to be.
My previous blogposts might not have given you the impression, but, surprise, surprise, I'm actually here to study. I'm majoring business, but here I moved away from my "traditional" subjects quite a bit, except for one Marketing- and one Finance course. Instead, I'm taking courses on business, economics, and politics in the region, meaning China and Japan. Classes started last Monday, and after all the introductions were over, it was in fact sometimes quite astonishing. The "typically Asian" top-down approach to teaching, where the Songsaengnim (professor) is sacrosanct, and the students are humble, is not practised here. The level of both the teachers and the students is high, classes are interesting and challenging.
An exception may be "Korean for Beginners I". I am a beginner, yes, but one who doesn't have the patience to spend 5 hours a week repeating the Korean alphabet and being clapped at for being able to say "a-a ya-ya ô-ô yô-yô..."
I'd rather be out there and speak to real people, even though it might scratch my ego a little bit 'cause it's certain that I won't get clapped, but laughed at.
But here, another problem comes about. Being a foreigner in this place seems to magnetically attract other foreigners, which is not bad in itself 'cause you meet tons of nice people, but it is indeed very hard to get in touch with locals. Students are so busy here, so they usually leave right after class, and don't have time for a chat, not even think about one that involves one party trying out very-basic-broken-Korean.
But, where's a will there is a way, and my motivation is unchanged, at a very high level.
To bring this post to an end, and give you some more ideas about what life in this big, shiny place is like, I will just jot down some random observations, in no specific order. If you find an order, that's coincidental, my apologies.
- After Annyonghaseyo! (Hello!) and Kamsahamnida! (Thank you!) , the most frequently used phrase seems to be Palli palli! (Quick quick!). Koreans try to do everything fast. What's quite amazing too is their ability to switch between "modes". Take the subway: On the subway, at least half of the people are fast asleep, but as soon as they have to transfer, they run as if it was for their lifes.
- On public transport, they do not usually speak. If on the phone, they'll talk quietly, and cover their mouth with one hand. The only conversations you'll hear on the subway, are usually in English, held by some ignorant Weiguks.
- These Weiguks however, unlike in China, are not being stared at. Their presence is acknowledged with a shrug, very rarely some elderly ladies appreciate our fair skin (here still a status symbol) with a thumb up, or two.
- It's hard to find proper supermarkets here. Everything's full of convenient stores. If you do however find a supermarket, they have everything, and I mean everything.
- Korean pop-music is superpopular anywhere in Asia, which doesn't mean it's supergood. It's the cheesiest crap I've ever heard and I'm happy I don't understand the lyrics (yet, I'm planning to change that).
- Koreans have excellent manners. There's no public spitting, at least very, very little.
- The essential piece of advice I give to China-travellers "ALWAYS have tissues!", can be abandoned here. Public toilets are simply extraterrestial. Even in places like the subway-station, they have additional features like seat-warmers.
- more random observations are to follow next week...
This is me in the most beautiful place in Seoul I've been so far. High up on a hill near Dongnimmun station, the view is mind-blowing. Since you get a bird's eye view on the presidents palace, which you're not allowed to photograph, a friendly guard is up there too and he will check your camera.
Abonnieren
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