What I Hated
(just so I can end on a positive note)
- The staring
This gets the top spot, because it NEVER STOPPED! All day every day. In my small town or in the big city of Seoul. Staring, staring, staring. At first people told me, "Don't be offended, they're just fascinated." Then people told me, "It's not rude to stare here." Well to both of those I call BULLSHIT. Here's why. If I get caught staring at another person, I look away because I know it's impolite to stare. Also, the last time I went to the zoo, some 3 or 4 years ago, I stared the HELL out of those animals and did not give two licks if they caught me staring. In fact, if they did, I'd call my friends over to say, "Hey look, the animal is looking at me too! I wonder if it can understand us!" Well.... for my entire time in Korea, I was one of those animals. The staring was unabashed and unending. And it was never between two Koreans. Because they KNOW it's rude. It was always between a Korean and a foreigner (me, in this case), because foreigners are not Korean and therefore not people. And when I stared back, depending on the age of the Korean, I actually saw them grab their friends to stare at me too.
And you know, it's funny. I tried explaining this to a foreigner who'd been in Korea for 4 years or so and she just didn't get it. Then again, she's White and being White in Korea is like being God, whereas being Black is like being, well, you can guess (generalization, yes. based on my experiences, yes. get over it). Anyway, shortly after giving up trying to get HER to get IT, I saw a Korean dude with a BRIGHT RED MOHAWK walking down the street. So I said, "Whoa that's so cool, check out his hair!" Naturally, fellow foreigner jumped at the chance to call me a hypocrite (using different words, but that's what she was doing). Yes, you're right fellow foreigner. I woke up one morning and decided to be Black. It's really the same thing as waking up one morning and deciding to do something that I KNEW would get me A LOT of attention, because I KNOW A LOT about the society I live in. Yep. Exactly the same. I knew people would stare a little before going to Korea, but I never would have expected it to continue right up until the day I left, even in my small town where everyone knew who I was and had seen me every day for a fucking YEAR. Anyway. What was just as bad as the staring, though, was
- The TOUCHING
- The Spitting
Or more accurately, the HORKING and spitting. No matter where, when or who. That disgusting sound would ring through like church bells at a wedding. Followed by the inevitable SPLAT on the ground. During the Summer when I kept my windows open (No A/C), I actually awoke to this sound every. single. morning. *shudders*
- Opening the windows in the Winter
Like FULLY Winter. Minus 10 degrees Celsius Winter. Then they all get sick and don't understand why. But they won't close the window because of the need for 'fresh air.'
- Sneezing and Coughing into the Open
Because coughing into someone's air space won't spread germs. Just ugh.
- Passive Aggressiveness
Or maybe I just mean, "not saying what they mean." This.... this is all over the world, to be perfectly fair. So yeah, it's not Korea-specific at all, but it annoyed me to find out that "maybe" meant "no" and "I think it will be okay" meant "It's not okay, but we know you won't agree if we don't lie" ......
- No Sense of Privacy
I had really bad stomach issues and couldn't figure out what was causing them. So I went to the local hospital/medical clinic I'd been going to since I got to Korea, met with the internal medicine doctor and we set up a time for an endoscopy and colonoscopy. It was scheduled for a Saturday. I don't work on Saturdays. They called my school and told them EVERYTHING. Not just my manager, though. No they didn't have the number for my department, because I didn't give it to them, because it was NONE OF THEIR BUSINESS. So they called the admin department. And told them EVERYTHING (cause that was necessary). The admin department then called my head teacher, THEN my head teacher came to the English department to share that they had told him everything and were requesting that one of the Korean teachers in the English department ACCOMPANY ME to my very intrusive, very embarrassing, very PRIVATE procedure. To translate. Needless to say, I cancelled my appointment and went further from town to a more established hospital.
It was explained to me that Koreans love talking about their illnesses, and that was why they didn't mind talking about mine. But the difference is *I* wasn't talking about it to them. They were just talking about it with each other independent of me. And, the WHOLE school found out. Lovely times.
- No Inner Filter/Censor
I didn't realise I needed indoor shoes for school (when I asked my manager what I needed to bring for work wear, that wasn't one of the things she mentioned), so I didn't bring any. Then I was informed of my need for them. I'm a size 11 in women's, so I had to ask my mother to send me shoes. She very kindly did. I opened the box at school, excited to finally be apart of the culture or whatever and my manager says, "OH! So big!" Thank you, Winny. Ever the picture of grace and tact.
What I LOVED
- If they like you, they are unbelievably kind to you
Seriously. I had a very kind new manager in my second semester and he honestly did so much for me I wasn't sure how I was going to repay him or even properly express my gratitude when it was time to leave. He listened to me, was thoughtful and went above and beyond what was necessary for his role as my manager. He really made himself like an ambassador for Korea. I wish he was my manager from the beginning. And I found this to be all over Korea. Any Korean I met who took a liking to me was really kind and generous and I miss that a lot.
- 1+1 deals
They were everywhere! It was really easy to save money all the time for this reason mainly, but also because of
- Service
Pronounced "Suh-bi-suh," Service is when you get something extra for free. And it doesn't matter where you are. In a restaurant, you may get an extra roll of kimbap free. If you're in a shoe store, you get a pair of socks free (yes I did). If you go to a sushi place, you get an entire sake drinking set for free (YEAH MAN). Coffee shop? Extra coupon stamp. Laser Eye Surgery? Discount for being a foreigner (and another for being an English teacher). Seriously, when they want it to be, Korea can be the land of generosity and FREE SHIT.
- Wine Train
Novel idea, really. Get on a train and drink as much wine as you can en route to ginseng town (museum and such). Great time!
- Lasek
So I mentioned the mad discounts I got above. But do you know it only came up to 1.8 million won? That's a bit less than $1800 Canadian. In Canada my surgery would have been $4000 and would have been LASIK not LASEK. LASEK is better and safer. The end.
- Cost of living
If the 1+1 deals and the Service and discounts weren't enough to convince you, things were incredibly inexpensive there. Everywhere except the places I had to buy my clothes. I'm a monster huge giant thing by Korean sizing standards, so my shopping haunts were international stores like Forever21 and H&M and speciality "Big Size" (yes) stores like "OKBT" (BEST STORE EVER). Other than clothes and shoes, though, mad cheap but good quality items could be purchased often while still saving money or paying off my line of credit. OHYEH!
- Hongdae/Sinchon/Ehwa
My favourite parts of Seoul. Really artsy and trendy and I always seemed to have a good time when I went to these places.... well.... except that one time in Hongdae, but that was bound to happen. It just happened to be in Hongdae. So moving on. Coolest parts of Seoul for me. The set of Coffee Prince (my favourite K-drama) is in Hongdae. I went there. It was lovely.
- Cherry Blossoms
It's not just for Japan, folks. Around April/May, the cherry blossoms were out in full effect and absolutely BEAUTIFUL!! I couldn't get enough. I also loved how they were all over the place, so while we went to Yeouido to get an overdose (for reals), I could enjoy them every day in my town.
- Jeju
It reminded me a lot of Jamaica, which is amazing since it's not a tropical island. Sometimes called the Hawai'i of Korea, Jeju is really folksy sometimes, really touristy most times, and just very .... "island'. I liked it, but wouldn't want to live there. Not my speed.
- Innostel
When my parents came to visit, this website was great! We found a pretty good hotel to stay in in Seoul for a good price. You should check it out! It's run by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, so the hotels/hostels are regulated.
- My Lifestyle
I was able to travel A LOT (Japan, Busan, Jeju, Busan again, Gangreung, Geumsan) and STILL pay off my bank loan. I made some FANTASTIC friends that I've managed to stay in touch with (though it's hard with the time difference).
- The Lessons
I learned a lot about that side of the world and TONS about myself. I changed (for the better, I think) and I grew. So, thank you very much Korea for what was an infuriating, humiliating, soul-breaking experience. Because it was only in my fury that I got to the root of my issues and expectations. It was only in the humiliation that I truly learned humility. And it was only in breaking down my soul that I was able to rebuild it to be stronger, more compassionate, more understanding, more patient with others (still working on this one) and more accepting of myself.
Cheers.
