Interesting Things About Korea (That I Like or Dislike)

this is like a grab-bag post of my thoughts about Korea.  many of them were first originated from previous trips to the Motherland.

1) “Koreans are the best at…” – Whenever you talk to korean people about anything and the issue of comparing comes up, they always say, “Koreans are the best at ____.”  Whether it’s the subway system to airlines to traditional dress (cough cough, YOONJEE and SUSANNA) to cell phone design to food, Koreans claim to be the BEST at it. (Although i must admit, the subway system, food, airlines are pretty awesome. .)

2) Option to Deselect Elevator Floors – if Serendipity were filmed in Korea, the movie would be about 5 minutes long.  On most elevators here, if you press the floor button a second time, it will deselect the floor.  Man, Koreans are the BEST at designing elevators.

3) Obesity PANDEMIC – So in previous visits, i was always shocked by how anorexic thin everybody in korea looks.  While there are still quite a few such people still around, it seems like there are more chubby people around than before.  I think high fructose corn syrup and larger portions are being exported to Korea.  U-S-A! U-S-A! Make everybody fat!  Oh, and pandemic as opposed to epidemic because pandemic refers to larger populations like the WORLD.  Ryan Chan and David Yun (both MPH’s) would be proud of me.

4) FOB Fashion? – in previous visits, i’ve had a fob day where i buy an outfit of fobby clothes and then where it for a day.  Not sure if it will happen here because yoonjee and susanna unintentionally celebrated fob day yesterday.  HAHA.  but anyways, i’ve noticed that the fashion (esp guys) is not so far removed from American dress.  Although i do see quite a bit more skinny jeans on guys here, and i’ve noticed more flamboyant shoes (with the pants tucked into them) on some people.

5) Toilet Hole Squatter Things – So there are very few toilet hole squatter things in the ground these days (at least in seoul), so praise God!  however, i did come across something interesting yesterday.  At a rest stop on the way to Gyung-joo yesterday, in the men’s bathroom, there were over 10 toilet stalls, all marked with the picture of a western style porcelain seat toilet.  BUT, the last one was marked with the ominous and threatening hole picture.  If the ratio of seat to hole bathrooms was 1:1 or 2:1, i would understand that maybe they couldn’t afford to switch all the toilets.  But 10:1 makes me think some people prefer the hole.  What!? Koreans are NOT the best at designing toilets.

6) Korean hygiene – so it turns out i am more Korean than i thought.  So some of you may know that i’m not the most hygienic of people (but in the hospital i am!).  I would fit in perfectly here!  There are rarely any toilet seat covers (sorry Richard).  And… more people don’t wash their hands after they go to the bathroom.

7) Food – seriously… i just love having korean food, drinks, ice cream at every street corner.  nothing profound or original, i know, but it’s just… so… beautiful.  koreans are the best at FOOD.

8) Korean modesty? – koreans are not known at all for their modesty, and are rather known for their massive amounts of pride.  But i’m not talking about THAT type of modesty.  I’ve noticed that purity and lustful thinking are much easier here because the way the ladies dress here.  Obviously, we all know Korea is a super superficial (heh heh, super x 2) society, but walking around makes me realize how scandalous some people dress back in the US.  This modesty might be exaggerated by the fact that the weather is relatively cold (50’s) and that we haven’t been hanging out in Gang-Nam much, which is the more rich and clubbin’ population.  (it also helps that i don’t find the native korean fob look very attractive)

9) Shiny Suits – i’ve noticed a significant amount of people wearing shiny suits around.  it’s like suit material that has a reflective shean to it.  like halfway between normal suit and polyester.  i can’t tell if it’s just because the suits are cheap or if it’s intentional.  i think it might be intentional, though, because i notice quite a few of them.  Maybe this is already popular in the US.  I’m not so fashionable.  Steven Hong, thoughts? (not because you’re fashionable, but because you THINK you’re fashionable)

10) Man Purses – Seriously… So many man purses abound here.  Actually, my prediction is that the iPad will make the man-purse acceptable.  I actually think i’m gonna rock one in the hospital and church.  iPad, a few papers, some adapters/cables.  That’s it!

So I Almost Beat Up a Korean Guy

so yes, i have a wordpress… i have many things that i’d eventually like to blog about (my review of my nutrisystem diet, my pre-ordered iPad, some holier thoughts), but for now i figure it’d be a great place to blog about my trip across asia. so yeah, it’s super ugly right now and stuff, but i’ll get around to beautifying it when i get home.

crazy story number 1 actually happened to me morning i arrived! i almost beat up some korean guy!

well, something like that… so i arrived in korea super early, and got to my hotel at around 7AM on Sunday morning. My mom and I were kinda hungry, so we walked around looking for a place that was open. The only place that was open was this random hole in the wall place (that was SUPER ghetto – like some old lady’s kitchen and 3 small tables. no joke. she even had her bed there). There was this guy there that was kinda looking at us funny, and he finally turns around and says to my mom, “are you from Japan? you have an interesting accent.” and so my mom says, “no, i’m Korean!” and he says, “but you speak differently, are you sure you’re not from Japan?” and my mom says, “no, i’m Korean” and he says, “well, you speak in a very beautiful way.”

so we’re both kinda creeped out and not really talking to him too much and stuff like that, but he keeps on looking over at us and my mom. And since i’m like trying to look out for my mom and stuff, i’m kinda keeping an eye on him, hoping he’ll get a hint and leave us alone. At this point, we notice that he’s drunk (at 7AM!) because he offers to pay again, after he had already paid! So anyways, he leaves the place and then comes back again like 5 minutes later. He then starts asking my mom AGAIN if she’s from Japan, and my mom is more annoyed and says “i’ve already told you, I’m Korean.” (This whole time i try not to say anything to make it obvious that i’m not very good at korean). Then, he’s like, “is that guy from Japan? he keeps on looking at me funny” as he points at me. She keeps on saying that we’re not, but he walks over and grabs my shirt and lifts me up!!! At this point, i’m seriously annoyed and not sure what i should do. I really (really!) think i coulda taken the guy myself, but i didn’t know if i should defend myself and push him off and throw down and show him what’s up (you know, open up a can), or if i should hold back and let him keep his life. My mom grabs me and the lady that owns the place and another male patron are kinda holding him back telling him to sober up and leave us alone. I’m just standing there assessing the situation, thinking whether i should activate RAGE-mode or just let it pass. Finally, the other people forced him out, and me and my mom just finished eating. My hands were shaking for about 5 minutes afterward. (Not out of fear, but just out of sheer adrenaline).

It was quite an intense welcome to Korea. And really, i really was about to beat him up. No joke. You mess with my mom, i mess with your LIFE.