Waygooks Wandering

65. Where are the police!? Oh, right, there's a million of them just watching the demonstrations going on downtown or helping out with parking at large events. But they are certainly NOT giving out traffic tickets. I have come to the conclusion that the reason people speed, run red lights, and park wherever the hell they feel like is because WHY NOT!? They won't get a ticket or get towed because the police aren't around, so why not.

64. "Service" is the best word in Korea! It has a different meaning than it does in English. When you guys something at a store, sometimes the employees will say, "service" and hand you something. What they give you is FREE! It's the best!!! Check out this video about "Service" in Korea

63. At around 11:30pm (we are unsure of the exact time, it seems like the drivers just decide when they feel like being done for the night), the driver pulls over at a bus stop and just tells everyone left on the bus to get off. It doesn't matter where you are on the bus line, and he doesn't care where you had wanted to go. You have to get off and get a taxi or walk to your destination. I don't know why they don't just drive to the end of the line like everywhere else. In my opinion, it's really stupid.

62. You will only every get ONE menu at a restaurant.

61. The women don't take the husband's name when they get married. The kids have the husband's last name though.

60. Something about the air here makes jewelry tarnish and dust form really quickly. It seems like I'm constantly fighting dust, and I am thinking about keeping my jewelry in bags because I don't want to have to clean it every time I wear something. Maybe it's just that I typically always had my jewelry in a case, but I have never noticed it tarnishing this quickly.

59. The TV allows searing--at least in English, but maybe not in Korean--but they blur out any and all blood, weapons, drugs, and cigarettes. Not totally sure why they think people can't handle seeing these things, especially since smoking is so common here.

58. Koreans are really sensitive to seeing cleavage. They are totally fine with WICKED short skirts or shorts, but they show even the slightest upper boob, and they think you're a whore. Different standards of what parts of the body have been sexualized and what parts haven't.

57. People on motor bikes throw business cards and information for restaurants and businesses on the sidewalk. They literally just have a whole huge stack of cards and throw them, hoping you'll pick one up when you're looking at the sidewalk going by. What a waste!

56. At some restaurants and coffee shops, they have plastic food displays at the front for you to look at and order from. It's like the menu. It's kind of weird how realistic it looks. I guess it's better than at home when they put out real food for a bit and have to change it out throughout the day, like at home. Less waste. 

55. Most of the shirts are "free size," which for the Koreans means oversized. To me it means just right!

54. Some of the public restrooms don't provide toilet paper, so a lot of Koreans and foreigners carry toilet paper around with them just in case. Also, sometimes the toilet paper is located outside the stalls, near the sinks. In that case, you have to remember to get some when you go in, and you have to estimate the amount you'll need...

53. A lot of Korean teachers use a personal speaker to make their voices louder. Not sure why...I don't think my kids have trouble hearing me. It does save your voice though if you're prone to sore throats. I haven't been offered one though.

52. Gmarket is the Korean Ebay or Amazon. They sell EVERYTHING on it. 

51. Is there a point at which you can brush your teeth too much? If so, I think the Koreans reach it! They brush their teeth after ever meal, including lunch. Teachers and students alike keep toothbrushes, toothpaste, and cup in the bathrooms of school for use after lunch or whenever they need it during the day.

50. This is the only country I've been to where they don't have monthly metro cards. It's really frustrating, actually. We spend a lot of money on the bus/subway, and we always have to recharge our cards, and you can't recharge on the bus, so you have to remember to do it when you're getting on or off the subway. Also, there's only ever 1 or 2 recharge machines, which leads me to believe that more people in Korea buy single tickets...not sure why that would be. The single journey "tickets" are really tokens that you tap to get in the subway and put in the slot of get out of the subway. They are cool. 

49. Buildings that have fake top floors. I don't think this is a thing the in the US, but maybe I just haven't noticed. I first got a glimpse of fake top floors when we were at orientation. We were staying on the 8th floor and I noticed that several of the buildings below us had walls on the top of the buildings that, from the outside, were meant to look like a floor existed there. There were windows and everything. It's not like there was a roof area for people to go and have smoke breaks on either. All that was up there was ventilation stuff. I've noticed it a lot here in Daegu too. On my way to work there is a whole row of buildings that are around four or five stories, except that the last floor is definitely not real. From the front the windows continue going up and there is nothing to really alert you to this fact. If you look at the building from angle you can see that these are just facades. Some buildings, usually ones where all sides are easily visible from the street, have these weird facades all around the entire building, but I've also seen a lot where just the front of the building is made to look like it has an extra floor.

48. I heard that it was one kid's birthday last week and while walking through the halls I noticed him sitting on the ground surrounded by all his classmates singing happy birthday in Korean. When they finished the song they all closed in and started kicking him, somewhat violently. I made a move to stop it and almost all the kids walking by started saying "Oh teacher no. Korean tradition." The kid seemed to be laughing and they stopped so I kept walking to my classroom. When I turned the corner I noticed the same thing about to happen with a girl and all her friends. It reminds me of the birthday punch thing that happens in the US, except way more dangerous.

47. The tickets on the nice, luxury buses are only like $3 more than the tickets on the regular bus. I want to take the luxury bus all the time. They seem to have found a way to allow everyone to be comfortable by making all the seats able to lie back and put your feet up. Everyone can put their seats back and the person behind them doesn't get angry because all they have to do is lie back and put their feet up. Claustrophobia eliminated!

46. When you go to a movie theatre in Korea, you buy a ticket with a seat number on it. It's actually really nice. The movie theatre seats are all really big and comfy, not like at home when you have to pay extra for those kinds of movie theatres. It's nice not to have to rush to get the best seat because they are assigned to you.

45. On English words that end in consonant sounds, Koreans tend to add a vowel noise because their words and syllables typically end in vowel noises. They aren't used to English words that sometimes end in consonants and sometimes vowels. They say things like "lunchee" or "finishee." It takes a lot of correction to fix this.

44. When someone says fighting to you, they are really wishing you good luck on whatever it is you are doing.

43. They have screen golf, which is basically like batting cages but for golf. I don't know if they have these at home, but I think it's pretty cool.

42. They take tests SERIOUSLY! The KSAT, the college exam for Korean students, is held only once on one day. You either do well or you don't, and the test is really the only factor that determines what college you go to, and, ultimately, what career you have. On the day of the test, everyone goes to school or work late except the students taking the test. This is to keep people off the roads and sidewalks to ensure that the students get to the test on time. They take is across Korea on the same day and time. I've even heard of police escorts for students who are late to the test. Mothers will wait outside the school during the test for their children to be done. The craziest thing: planes are not allowed to fly during the speaking and listening portion of the test! Air space is cleared for an EXAM!

41. In Korea, the suburbs are the massive apartment buildings. Almost everyone lives in apartments, and those are the luxury apartment buildings. Here, you want to live in those apartments whereas at home, people aspire to live in a house in the burbs.

40. They collect students' phones at the beginning of the day and store them in a portfolio-style case with individual, mesh slots for each phone. They were shocked that they didn't do this in the US because they hate it.

39. People do not stand on one side of the escalators and let others walk up. No one walks up escalators.

38. Ondol, or floor heating, is the heating system they use in Korea for apartments. It's really nice.

37. Home Plus, and a lot of other stores, have magnetic "rampscalators" that your cart can attach to. They pull your cart up and down the escalators for you. They are quite helpful.

36. Korean bathrooms are completely tiled. They don't have shower stalls like we do at home, just a shower head on the wall. The entire bathroom gets soaked when you shower.

35. You are not supposed to flush toilet paper down toilets. The sewer pipes are apparently too old. I do it anyway, and it has been ok so far.

34. Homeless people--men, typically--set up little shelters within subway stations. They have umbrellas and blankets to shield them from the lights. At home, they would get kicked out of the stations, but in Korea, they are allowed to sleep there. Also, when they ask for money on the street, the people I've seen do it always do something to represent their shame. One guy sits outside our subway station all the time, and his head is always bowed. Other men we've seen wrap their legs in a black tarp and pull themselves along the ground on a home-made skateboard like thing while pushing a radio playing sad music in front. It's really strange and sad to behold.

33. Koreans love drinking. Love it. They stumble around drunk with their friends.

32. Hierarchy is a big deal. You pour drinks for older people, and you bow lower, etc.

31. Girls and boys are both really affectionate with their friends of the same gender. It doesn't mean they are gay. They just always touch each other and hold hands.

30. In Korea, they have superstitions about how blood type reflects personality. They sell books about it in weird vending machines in subway stations.

 29. There are no trash cans on the street anywhere. Throwing trash away is so hard!

 28. Hallyu, or the Korean Wave, is what they call the spreading of Korean culture around the world.

 27. They love brand names, even if those brand names are still knock offs from US companies.

 26. People are supposed to go to work even if they are sick just to show that they are dedicated to their work. For teachers, you have to come in, but then you just sleep at your desk all day.

 25. Students say the darndest things. Kids will tell me they love me and that I am beautiful, usually because they want candy or something, but still. I was also complimented by telling me I am white and have a high nose (like my nose is nice, and I have a good profile). They are also in awe of my blue eyes.

 24. They don't mind asking you really personal things really fast. They will ask your height, weight, and blood type. They will ask if you have a boyfriend, and why you don't have a boyfriend if you are single.

 23. So much pickled food!

 22. I have heard of Korean children licking black people to see if they are made of chocolate. I have also actually witnessed a black friend from South Africa have a middle-aged woman come up and touch her braided hair because it was so different to anything she'd ever seen. I understand curiosity, but no one in the US would ever just come up and do that. I think it has to do with the Korean culture of no personal space as well.

21. Koreans really like to remain pale (good for me!), and they wear cover-ups even in the summer to hide from the sun. Gianni has had some students call another student with darker-skin Africa. A lesson on racism might be called for.

20. There is a lot of plastic surgery here, especially eyelid surgery and surgery to make eyes look bigger.

19. For some reason, Koreans don't mind having humongous cell phones. The smart phones are usually from samsung or LG, and they have huge screens. Then, they make them even bigger by putting cases, especially animal-shaped ones, around the phones.

18. Zero personal space here. Zero. If a bus or subway car is crowded, there are people rubbing shoulders with you in all directions, and they don't try to give you space. They are pushy as well, so if you're in their way, they will push you without saying excuse me. It's just not in their culture.

17. The women in Korea wear high heels ALL. THE. TIME! There was a disabled girl, walking with crutches, getting on a crazy bus, wearing heels. Crazy.

16. There is no tipping in Korea for anything, and it is pure BLISS!!!

15. They don't jack up the prices for things like food and drinks at amusement parks and baseball games like they do at home. They keep the prices the same, and it's just, overall, a much nicer system.

14. Taxis are wicked cheap here. We basically went across the entire city of Daegu from Costco to Sangin for about $15 or 15,000 won. Not too shabby.

13. Couples clothing is a serious thing here. Couples will have entire matching outfits. This is something I had heard about prior to coming here, but it's much different to see it. I've spotted tons of couples with matching outfits by now, and I still laugh to myself every time I see it. Gianni refuses to do this with me.

12. Bus drivers don't give a crap about you. Once the last person gets on the bus they drive. They don't give a damn if you're still finding a seat or not holding anything. You are constantly in danger on the bus. And when you want to get off, they close the door immediately behind the last person off and drive away. There's no 5 second wait to make sure everyone who wanted to get off at that stop has gotten off. You have to run on and off the buses. They all drive stick shift, so the ride is a bit bumpy as it is with the gear shifts. Also, not only do they not care about you, but they don't care about other driver's either. I've totally been on buses that almost side-swipe cars or taxis. They will cut across lanes of traffic to get to the bus stop.

11. Motorized delivery scooters are the WORST! They drive on the street and the sidewalks, and they will beep at you on the sidewalk if you're in their way! The nerve. People on normal bikes will do this to you also on the sidewalk, but who could blame them for not wanting to ride on the crazy streets.

10. Korean driving is INSANE! There are specific u-turn lanes, which freaks me out. People beep constantly if you don't go right when the light changes. People drive on the sidewalks to get into and out of parking spaces at shops, sometimes they drive for a bit too long on the sidewalk in my opinion--when a car is coming at you when you are casually walking along on the sidewalk, you get a bit nervous.

9. Downtown is like a maze of shops. It was like this in Seoul also. I get very lost in there. There are so many people walking that you think cars wouldn't be allowed to drive there, but they can. It's so narrow that I'm always surprised when 2 cars can fit by--grantid they almost hit the people walking along the sides of the road when they do. It's NUTS!

8. Because Korea is such a small country with such a huge population density, there are some very large buildings. At home, the tall buildings are offices, and you don't typically go up unless you work there or you know the business. Here, you may need to go up 5 floors to get to a bar or a dentist. There are shops and restaurants way up, so you need to look at the side of the buildings to see what's inside.

7. Old people, especially the women (ajummas), look like they are constantly dressed for a hike. Not sure if they've just been, are going, or just like the clothes, but that's what a lot of them wear.

6. Koreans love to squat. I have seen the young do this. I have seen the old do this. They bent down so far that their knees are at their necks and slightly pointed out. This is apparently comfortable for them. I don't know if their legs go numb like mine would, but they do this everywhere all the time!

5. Older Korean people have the strangest jobs. There's the yogurt lady who brings the teachers yogurt snacks at school. She's like an Avon representative but with yogurt instead of makeup. There are the people that sell any number of things on the sidewalks, from clothing to snacks to fruits and veggies. There's the ajummas we saw power washing the sidewalk. There's also old men and women who walk around collecting the buckets of food waste that everyone leaves out when they are full. Weird freaking jobs. Seriously.

4. There are seats on subways reserved for people who are old, pregnant/with young children, and disabled/injured, and no one sits in those seats for fear of ajumma and adjeossi stare down! And when I say no one sits there, I mean it! Even if those are the only seats available.

3. Old people just cut you in line without saying anything, and you are meant to let them do this.

2. The persimmons smell terrible when they rot. Do not eat them!

1. Ajummas (아 줌 마) and ajeossis(아 저 씨)-- or old Korean women and men-- are like SCAVENGERS! I think this comes from the era in Korea just after the war when the country was still seriously underdeveloped. People feel that they need to collect the fruits from the trees that grow on the sidewalks. I believe they are persimmons fruits. It's like how older people in the US who were around during the Great Depression still hide their money.