The eccentricity that is Korea needs to be documented (in words – I started a photo documentation on FB of “stuff that happens in Korea” but it needs to be explained in words). Tho too difficult of a task to do in a succinct narrative, this will likely just be a running list of random oddities. This is long overdue and so it goes.
1. At the grocery store: the assortment of cheeses can be counted on one hand however there are roughly (I say roughly because there are likely more) 60 different varieties of rice to choose from. Same goes for Ramen.
2. Drinking piping hot things: Koreans like all things scalding. I will be returning stateside with barely a taste bud to call my own. I partly blame the water coolers which only have 2 options – cold and blistering. Water coolers seem to be a standard “appliance” in every household and likewise, every place of business. So when you’re being served a nice hot bowl of yukgaejang, more than likely the water came from the water “cooler”.
3. Random English words: Words and phrases translated in English pop up everywhere. Their random placement can be found in shop windows, on signs, t-shirts, etc. Often times it's a literal translation and the result is a nonsensical hodgepodge of words. For example, a few weeks ago I saw above a coffee shop (Café the Park) these words: “sometimes…memory origins space…maybe, it’s Park”. Another example, I was helping my South African co-teacher sign-up for a cell phone. The two guys working in the store did not speak English but lucky for us they had an English translation program on the computer. There was one last transaction that needed to be resolved before Steph was to be a proud owner of a Korean cell phone. While one of the guys went to the back room to fetch some cookies (?) the other was typing frantically into the computer. As the guy returned from the back room and handed us a bag of cookies, they motioned for us to look at the message on the computer screen. I can’t remember word-for -word but it went something like this “please take our cookies that give you tax and purchase hand phone if you need to change your bed sheets…”. Um yeah. Who knows what they were trying to communicate to us. Steph and I were killing ourselves laughing on the floor and the two guys were staring at us, dumbfounded at the whole thing.
4. Men walking together: Men walk together with their arms linked. In public and very often.
5. Men walking with purses: Men walk with handbags. In public and very often. The handbag belonging to their wife, girlfriend, mother, etc. is carried so effortlessly. Let’s not make any hasty judgments tho. Remember, the likes of Kanye West and Snoop Dog? They were/are no strangers to Louis Vuitton hangbags.
6. Asians come in all shapes and sizes: I know it comes as a shock but not all Asians look alike. I’ve seen some of the tallest people while being in Korea and some of the shortest. Everyone's facial structure is totally different. It's also not uncommon to see a Korean having an uncanny resemblance of a person I know back home. I now believe everyone has an Asian counterpart.
7. Drunk people in Korea: like nothing you've ever seen.
8. Witnessing drivers in Korea: it's like watching your life flash before your eyes on a daily basis. The delivery scooters are the worst traffic offenders. I've never seen a stop sign ever and the red lights are merely suggestions.
9. Asian (South Korean) work culture: This one is deserving of its own posting. Very very strange.
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