Culture shock in Korea

My friends and I were in hysterics when we learnt about our exchange allocation results and most of us were assigned to the same University in Korea, which is not in Seoul but in Dynamic Busan. (This is the term Koreans used to call Busan - Dynamic Busan.)

Korea is kind of like the in-thing at that time in 2015. It's not totally due to the rise of K Pop but mostly cause of the fashion and make up trend on-going.

The reason why I've decided to go to Korea for my exchange is not because of K Pop nor the actors/actresses. It's the cost of exchange. I have the option of UK or Korea and Korea is the most logical choice I have.

So Korea it is!

Korea is a country with great fashion sense but culturally wise, there's more for them to learn.

I know many tourists gave Korea high praises, but there are times when I seriously couldn't stand Koreans and their foul attitude. This is in no way, bad-mouthing about Koreans. Don't get me wrong. There are always good and bad people anyway, so I'm just saying that there are some rude Koreans too. It's not all glamorous like in the dramas you see.

So why is my topic on culture shock?

Because that's what my friends and I faced when we're there.

We're so used to seeing Running Man members being so kind and generous to one another. We're so used to the elegance in dramas that when we were in Korea, facing the Koreans, all those ideas kind of popped and wither away.

In Korea, people can jaywalk as and when they like. Even though the cars are coming, the Koreans will just cross the road as if they own the road and the cars will slow down for them. Albeit some of the drivers may honk at them if they walk too slowly. This is the total opposite from Singapore. In Singapore, people have to give way to the vehicles. In Korea, the vehicles gave way to the people. I remember in the first few weeks in Korea, my friends and I were still having the habit of giving way to the cars. We paused at the junction for the car to drive by, but the car slowed down and halted to let us go. For that 3 seconds, we looked at the driver and the driver looked at us. Then we ran across the road and when I turned back, the Korean driver was giving us the quizzical look. So lesson learnt, walk like you own the road.

Next, I noticed that Koreans don't really talk in train carriages. They seldom do and hence, when we were speaking, they were all looking at us like we're aliens. It was really uncomfortable. Also, there are assigned seats in the train for elders, pregnant ladies and injured people. All these seats are on the far ends of each train cabin. However the funny thing is, most of the elders will sit on those seats. I always see them snatching seats with youths in the 'normal seats' area. That begs the question, why allocate seats for the elders when they refuse to sit there? Seriously? Sometimes, in a crowded train cabin, the assigned seats are empty and you'll see a few elders sitting in the normal seats. WHUTTTT.

Then there are lots of Koreans who smoke. Their cigarette packs are really cheap. Although the government has decided to increase the price (increase by twofold to curb smoking in the country), the cost of each pack is merely about $4 SGD. Can you believe that! So the original price is about $2 SGD. No way you call that an anti-smoking campaign!?

With the smoke, comes spitting. The Korean guys love to spit. Anywhere. Anytime. It's really gross. They will puff their smoke and suddenly spit, which is quite scary cause you may be stepping on their spit. Oh no!

Koreans are really tall and skinny, and when it's crowded on the streets, be prepared to be bumped by the Koreans. They will not give way to you and will just shoulder bump you or push you away to walk through. Some of us were pushed quite harshly and to us, it felt rude. We initially thought the Koreans were doing that to us because we were foreigners. But I noticed that they do the same to their fellow Koreans. So we think that it is their culture to bump you or push you away. Talk about being cultured. Though there are few who are nice and will say excuse me, most do not. So be prepared to get pushed.

Okay, the above mentioned are some of the culture shock we faced. In later posts, I may mention more, but I can't really remember them.

Korea is a really good place to shop and hike. Some of the Koreans are really biased but some are really nice. So if you ever faced any rude Koreans, don't let it get into your head.