Five culture shocks

Yes, I'm merely repeating a trend of a few of my blog friends in the past. However, I believe it is an entertaining, perhaps almost necessary post that I'm required to show to the rest of the civilized world.

Five things about Korea that has appalled/interested/surprised me in the past two months since I've been here. I feel like there may turn out to be more than five, but I don't want to copy anyone so I'll think intently about the subject before putting a new series up.

1. I'm going to start with the most revolting. Now, it may be because I grew up in a country where we kill insects, not consume them, but I'm pretty sure that 번데기 has got to be one of the most stomach churning consumable I’ve ever heard of. 번데기 translates to Pupa, in English. Yes, you have the correct image in your head. If not, here’s one to help.

I’m just being honest, but I think I’d rather eat a multitude of other dishes on the planet than this, not to mention, it smells like dirt and feel s like dirt when you bite into it. Yes, indeed I have eaten it. It reminds me of a dirt bean. Yum! There are some things that I just wonder, “why would you ever put that in your mouth? “

2. Commercials. I know at home, they suck. I hate it when you’re in the midst of an emotionally epic film and a commercial pops up and you groan. Luckily at home, they’re just long enough to get up, go pee, maybe grab a drink really fast and run back to the T.V. to continue. Not in Korea. Here, instead we watch a film for a good 30-45 minutes. Yeah, that rules. However, the commercials are so long that I have found myself multiple times having enough time to pee, grab a drink, drink it, make dinner, eat it, sit around aimlessly and then give up and call my friends to see what bar we can go to (perhaps this is an overstatement). Literally, the commercials last so long I get tired of the movie and almost lose entire interest in the film itself. That and the same commercials are pretty much on constant repeat. Oh Korea. There’s only so many times I can watch yellow clad Korean singers dancing to a loan shark commercial before I feel like punching the television screen.

3. Koreans I have found are, for the majority, a very kind and welcoming group of humans. Yes, I have seen the odd fight among four businessmen in Seoul who were just way to fucking drunk and smashed shot glasses over one another’s head, resulting in much blood and ruined suits (which is a pity, seeing as Korean suits are usually silvery and shiny and downright amazing!). However, they are understanding when you can’t speak Korean, and will play the mime game with you any old time if you have to, say, find the toilet or need the directions to the nearest subway/train/bus station. In fact, almost to the point where they feel comfortable to whip out all of the English they have EVER learned in an attempt to communicate, despite the fact that, no, it doesn’t make any sense. Usually, you’ll just find yourself nodding, smiling, saying 감사합니다 (thank you) and trying to get free of their un-bashful groping of your ligaments. This happens very frequently, usually among those of the inebriated Korean race.

4. In America, I always hated trash. I think trash was my least favorite chore that I was given as a child. Korea in comparison is a nightmare to my American upbringing. While at home, we had trash taken on a scheduled day. Food trash was merely disposed of in the trash can and placed in a giant green bin that, yes eventually smelled bad and sometimes got infested with flies, but it was all manageable. In Korea you just put your trash on the side of the road and wait for someone come get it. Seriously. You leave it in a fucking bag and someone in the middle of the night may or may not throw it out. But there's not real way to tell precisely when they will be there. I usually wait till the pile on the corner of my block is about to my head level. Then I know the trash man must be coming soon. And trust me, walking past that every morning to get to my bus to school smells fantastic! As well, I feel at constant battle with fruit flies. At first moving into my apartment, I kept my food trash in my kitchen. In my feeble attempts to save money and not be a waste of plastic, I didn’t (and still don’t) take out my food waste bag (btw, there are different bags for different wastes here. Forewarning) until it was brimming full of partially composted, moldy food. As such, such cute little creatures like maggots take the chance to grow and flourish into cute little flies that harass my entire apartment. I don’t like killing things, bugs included. However, flies/mosquitoes/cockroaches serve no purpose in my life/on the planet so I feel no remorse in destroying them. The war has lasted the entire time I’ve been here even though I’ve long since placed my food trash outside on my balcony to reduce the number of fucker flies zooming around my head. I promise my apartment is not that disgusting. I think I’m winning the fight. Their numbers seem to be diminishing.

5. This last one is a pleasant surprise, yet a surprise none-the-less. To be honest, I’ve never felt I’m a totally unattractive person. Yeah, everyone has felt those moments of non-satisfaction in themselves and have hated the way they look or the way their shaped or what not. Yes, I’m included in this bunch. Living in Korea however, has kind of inflated my ego insurmountably. So much so, that I think I could wear sweats and a baggy tee, go a few days without shaving and wear my giant clunky glasses and still get Koreans telling me that I’m “handsome boy”. In fact, the other day (maybe a week and a half ago) a Korean girl got off at the bus stop where I was waiting for my bus to come home and asked if she could have my picture with her. When she took the picture, she looked at it, squealed and then for the next block and half kept turning to me and saying “bye handsome boy!” A vast majority of the school and school staff has called me attractive and offered me gifts solely for this fact, and I’ve even had Korean men (drunk mind you, but never-the-less) get up from their tables and shake my hand and introduce themselves to me, all the while saying, “you are handsome!”. My physical education teacher at my school (a male) even said to me, “You are more beautiful than woman!” It wasn’t a joke. He was legitimately attempting to compliment me.

That’s it so far. I’ll try to put more up as I see them. :P Keep watching for updates!