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A world of difference

I've been here in Seoul for nearly three weeks (three weeks tomorrow, to be exact), and now have somewhat of a feel for the way in which life is lived differently here from back home. Koreans do some things better, some things worse, and some things just differently. 

The Better

Cellular and wireless technology: Korea is home to Samsung and LG, so it should come as no surprise that Korea is a world leader in all things cellular. Every Korean in Seoul seems to have a smartphone, from elementary school kids to grandmothers and grandfathers. And you can use your smartphone to pay for just about everything, which is convenient but also a little Brave New World for me, especially considering the rampant identity theft here. As for wireless, you can get a WiFi signal in the subway--no awkward eye contact there--everyone has their head down in their phone.

Bathrooms: Korean bathrooms don't have bathtubs or shower stalls. Instead they feature tiled floors that slope down towards the center where a drain lies, which renders the entire bathroom one great big shower. The first few times you shower and spray water all over the floor you feel like you're violating some unwritten rule, but it quickly becomes normal. 



Garbage disposal: You have to pay to have your garbage picked up. You must also separate food waste from the rest of the garbage in a container like the one below, which looks like a cross between an organ donation cooler and a lunchbox. Separating food waste makes you cognizant of not only the amount of food that you eat but what you throw away.


The Worse

Cost of living: "Inexpensive" is not a word I ever thought I would associate with New York, but with regard to food at least, I long for the reasonable price of groceries one pays in New York. Grocery items are outrageously expensive here. Korean Thanksgiving is this week, so a lot of marts have special gift boxes of food for sale. A box of what looked like about 20 apples cost the equivalent of $30. It is literally cheaper to eat out, as we have been doing. A bowl of spicy noodles or tofu stew can be had for about $5. Coffee is about twice what it costs back in the States. Despite that fact, there is a coffee shop on every single block of this city.

Driving: Some of this is my own doing because I don't fully understand some of the differences in the rules of the road. It is only a slight exaggeration to say that it appears that green means stop and red means go. To turn left you must wait for a red light. Turning right on a green light you must stop at the crosswalk until the crosswalk signal turns red. U-turns are not only legal but practically mandatory. And there are traffic cameras everywhere.

The Just Different

Beverages: There is something called "Milkis" (think milk mixed with Sprite), which in small doses is tolerable.


And then there is "Makgeolli," a milky liquor made from rice that I tried to like but just couldn't. 


Comments

  1. MomSeptember 17, 2013 at 10:16 PM

    Different is the word, John! The bathroom setup of 'one big shower stall' takes me back to Grandma and Grandpa Schneider's York, Pennsylvania basement in which they'd had installed -- *in the center of the room* -- a floor drain and faucets with an overhead shower. No curtain; just an open 'there,' with the hope that other family members remained upstairs.

    Grandma's own hope was for guests to shower downstairs rather than disturbing the neatness of the upstairs bathroom. When our family would visit York your big brothers didn't seem to mind this 'public showering,' but it was a definite no-no for Mom and sister Gail! Do you have any recollection of those visits?
    Love,
    Mom xo

    ReplyDelete

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