- Unlike Japan, there are lots of young people and there are lots of kids
- They drink a lot. Maybe too much.
- As they drink a lot, Soju is the best selling spirit drink worldwide. And it is only sold in South Korea!
- They like dating a lot. There is no Korean without a girlfriend.
- As there is no Korean without a girlfriend, they don’t need to spend a lot of time buying clothes. Couples dress in the same clothes, some times matching, most of the time identical.
- It is normal for friends to be holding hands. Even the same sex.
- Koreans like to use the last tech they can afford. They are not shy about last-gen gadgets (videogames, cellphones or pmps) and they like to see movies and soap dramas on the subway.
- Korean food is tasty and spicy. Very strange for my western Europa taste. They eat silk worms from street vendors and I don’t like them (I only know one Korean guy who likes them)
- You can’t buy whatever you want in a restaurant, no dog meat in a Korean BBQ restaurant
- Karaoke is a normal friend activity.
- If you are Korean you like to protest publically.
- Koreans wear T-shirts with English sentences they clearly don’t understand.
- Renting a room in a store to see a movie with your partner and having sex there is perfectly normal and expected.
- Koreans like to buy lots and lots of shoes.
- Korean girls are skinny and they spend half their wage in make up. Maybe the other half on shoes.
- Korean boys are skinny and they spend half their wage in presents for their girlfriends. Maybe shoes.
- Unlike the rest of the world, it may be cheaper to get a cab than the subway. Seoul subway is very dense but slow, maximum velocity in busy areas must be 40km/hour.
- They are extremely polite and foreigner friendly.
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Hola, david!
Have you had a nice weekend?
I have some comments I wanna write here about your post.
1.
I don’t know whether there are especially lots of young people in comparison with other countries.
In the downtown of seoul you often visit and know well, Of course, every person there can experience a flood of “young”
2,3.
Yeap. Obviously and actually we drank yesterday, are drinking right now, and will drink a lot tomorrow not enough to die. It could be a sort of the korean culture.
By the way tracing back in my memory, in such a competition, the world champion title is belong to Russia!
As you know, I don’t like much soju because of its hangover.
4.
Frankly I don’t like it so far.(If she knew this, I would be about to die…) Well, I think that a habitual dating is unworthy in a sense. Just going out together, ordering coffee, seeing a movie and having dinner in certain restaurant. These activities in a row can’t stimulate the realationship any more if she and he have gotten enough close. You’re right David, in korea there are many couples who do date as a routine, and I’m one of them. But I intend to do something different and inspiring the relationship.
In addition, there must be only gorgeous guys around you. Don’t be surprised, David. Even though I’m so cute, but I hadn’t have a girlfriend for 24 years before I met ma boo.
I have no any hesitation in saying that the fact every korean boy has his own girlfriend is impossible. Because in korea, in fact, the male population is larger than female’s.
5. I have never worn a same cloth with someone, except for my football team uniform.
6.
It is absolutely abnormal for boys to be holding hands. But it is common for girls to be holding hands, unless they are homosexualist. I don’t like to see such a view in a sense. Because it is a waste of hands-economy, only if they are beautiful.
7.
Some people want to be on the top of the high-tech, and the others don’t. I am the latter. As a computer engineer are you a “early-adopter”?
Indeed, koreans spend the time with their gadgets
on their ways to work or home. When a foriegner gets on subway, he can see various typical scenes of korea.
8.9.
Do (some) koreans eat dogs? Yes.
Do koreans eat dogs from street vendors?
no, yet. And it will be never happend.
And David, I will take you there.
“Whatever you imagine, you will see beyond that.”
10.
“Karaoke” comes from Japanese. Right?
In korea, another genuine word is existing to call it. That is “No-Rae-Bang”. It means singing room. A noun (song:norae) a noun (room:bang).
I don’t know what does karaoke mean, cause I don’t know Japanese. Please use the word, No-rae-bang instead of karaoke, although you aren’t not familiar with the new word. Whenever you use the correct korean expression, surely, you can let the polite koreans be more polite.
11.
I can’t understand exactly what you say.
12.
Yeap. It seems to be true.
They, dressed in the T-shirts with English sentences, might regard them as not scripts, but a design. Yes, so do I. Yes, almost of them don’t care about what is written on it. But if the sentences include such a followed expression I’ve seen, it must become a serious problem. “mother-fucker”. Carrying “motherfucker” on the chest or back, walking along the street is a pity for them, if they don’t know what it means.
13.
I’m very curious about why you write the end of the sentence in italic type, David.
Do I have too keen observation?
14.
Number by Number, gradually I’m getting more curious about who are the koreans around you.
15.
Yes, they do. They really spend much money on cosmetic. But who on earth are the koreans that spend half their wage on shoes?
16.
Yes, they do. They really spend much money for their piances. But who on earth are the koreans that spend half their wage on shoes?
17.
I think the korean taxis are cheaper than its value in contrast to other transportations. There are several character they have. I will talk about it to you.
18.
More or less koreans are nice people like me.
Many young koreans know English very well.
But they don’t know how they encourage themselves to speak English in front of others.
Is it interesting you, David?
The purpose why I have been writing this is …
I want you to have well balanced and not prejudiced notion about korea. Furthermore, not only for you, but also for visitors looking into this page.
It is so hard to write in English.
Though during reading this you have a trouble to recognize, won’t you blame me? cause I did my best!!! (almost takes 2 hours and half)
I’ve been writing as objectively as possible.
and I always hope you have lots of impressing time in korea.
See you, David.
Hey hello, don’t get angry with what is written here. It’s not very serious. You should understand that my culture and yours is very different and I’m frecuently shocked with things I see that are completely normal for you. Actually, I think Korean culture is very interesting because of the special characteristics of the country. It’s a super civilizated state that developed economically super fast, but the society can’t change as fast as the country and that’s probably why Korean people are like they are.
It’s not something to blame, but to understand and appreciate as a distinct feature of your culture. If you were living in Spain you would think we are lazy and superficial, something that is bad but I accept as part of our culture. Not everyone is going to be like that, but there a huge bunch of people in Spain living in a bubble, only thinking about soccer and drinking with friends. That’s the image the foreigners that visit my country use to store in their minds.
I really appreciate your comment and the effort you put in it. Thank you so much.
See you soon!