Wednesday, July 4, 2007

Cultural Differences - Only the first few days

I thought I would jot down all the cultural differences I have discovered already. I'm sure I'll have stories to add to them in the future but here goes:
1. Stores seem to carry women's sizes 0 and 2, with some 4. Do I feel huge!!
2. Korean women seem to be very aware of their weight.
3. Koreans don't seem to tan. They like light skin which is much more healthy than what we do in the States.
4. When it rains, no one seems to use their windshield wipers.
5. You are asked you age a lot!
6. If you are a Korean woman, you are under a lot of pressure to be married and have a baby by 30.
7. Kimchi is served with every meal. It is a cabbage, bean paste, garlic... dish. Our apartment comes with a separate kimchi refrigerator.
8. If you take a picture of a Korean, they usually give you the peace symbol.
9. Girls walk the street arm in arm, men do too.
10. Women are always very dressed up and wearing high heels.
11. Traditional Korean restaurants serve you 6-10 dishes.
12. They use metal chopsticks. They are harder to use than wooden but I'm practicing.
13. Traditional Korean restaurants have you sit on the floor.
14. Cars will drive right up onto the sidewalks and park.
15. They like to back into parking spots and they spots are just tiny!
16. They have the best parking spots reserved for women. WooHoo!
17. They have gas attendants. No more pumping your own gas. Although, my husband just filled up our Sonata and it was over $90.00 U.S. dollars. Yikes! But I think it is worth it to have it pumped for you. I hate to pump gas.
18. Children and young adults love to come up and talk to you in English.
19. It is amazing to see children of all ages running down these busy streets without a parent around and no care in the world.
20. No guns. The police officer don't even carry them.
21. Lots of traffic. We are only 15 miles south of Seoul but it takes over an hour by car. It is much worse during rush hour.
22. No clothes dryer! You hang all your clothing on drying racks in your windows. Clothes washing has become a major part of my day.
23. No ovens. We did request one for our apartment. No one used them in Korea.
24. Taking off your shoes when you enter a home or restaurant. I need more slip on shoes.
25. Lots of the English t-shirts don't make sense. For example, I saw a guy wearing a t-shirt that said: DRUGS NOT HUGS.

Wow, I can't believe how much I have learned in only a few days. More to come.

1 comment:

AmandaKnits said...

The best parking spaces for women are also bigger because women can't drive, apparently.

I always thought the DRUGS NOT HUGS t-shirt was a play on the anti-drug slogan of HUGS NOT DRUGS.

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