Even though I'm back in Melbourne, I figured that I should keep blogging about every experience I had in Korea.. so that I don't forget all the memories that I've created.
Sooo let's get back into action!! Since it's been a while since I last blogged, I'll begin (again) about the culture shock that I experienced in Korea. I didn't think I would experience a culture shock because I had some knowledge about the Korean culture... but having the knowledge about it and actually experiencing it are two mutually exclusive events.
Drinking culture
Koreans LOVE to drink. I didn't think it was a big deal, but after having dinners with my group and experiencing it first-hand, it was definitely a shock, since I don't drink lol. In the Korean drinking culture, there are a lot of rounds (if I'm not mistaken, there are five rounds I think?). So every round, there are different activities.. and in each round, there's always drinking and drinking games involved. And every round is at a different location. I've only experienced round 1 - which is dinner and drinks. I always felt so awkward being at dinner meetups because of the drinking culture. On a positive note, I've had first hand experience with dinner meetups so I guess, I'll know how to avoid them in the future lololol.
Loaves of bread in convenience stores
Back home, the easiest breakfast to prepare was bread + something else (like strawberry jam, or nutella).. and maybe if I feel a little bit fancy, toasted bread. While I was in Korea, I realised they don't really sell loaves of bread at convenience stores, like they do back home... See, I figured they would have e v e r y t h i n g at Korean convenience stores, but sadly, no bread.. You can only find loaves of bread at a bakery.
Of course, I was shocked by this because I didn't think that convenience stores wouldn't sell bread at all. But then I realised that bread isn't the staple food in Korea - it's rice. You wouldn't have an issue to find rice anywhere while in Korea because they sell it in handy microwaveable containers.
Loaves of bread in convenience stores
Back home, the easiest breakfast to prepare was bread + something else (like strawberry jam, or nutella).. and maybe if I feel a little bit fancy, toasted bread. While I was in Korea, I realised they don't really sell loaves of bread at convenience stores, like they do back home... See, I figured they would have e v e r y t h i n g at Korean convenience stores, but sadly, no bread.. You can only find loaves of bread at a bakery.
Of course, I was shocked by this because I didn't think that convenience stores wouldn't sell bread at all. But then I realised that bread isn't the staple food in Korea - it's rice. You wouldn't have an issue to find rice anywhere while in Korea because they sell it in handy microwaveable containers.
Ham in kimbab
If there was one other thing that Koreans love, it's meat. And more specifically, ham in their kimbab. Just a cultural note, kimbab is the Korean version of the Japanese sushi, and the only difference between them is that the rice wine vinegar used in sushi is replaced with sesame oil. Also just in case you didn't know, I don't eat pork lolol. Anyway, even if it says 야채김밥 (vegetable kimbab), there will be ham in it. They will not miss out the ham. Not too sure why ham is included but yeah...
Road rules
The road rules here are not really enforced.... Some drivers here are actually pretty scary in my opinion. You'd need to be vigilant of your surroundings at ALL TIMES.
There was one time where I was crossing at the intersection, and the car just literally swerved and turned without waiting for pedestrians to get to the other side of the road. Even though it was my right of way (i.e the green man was lit up), the car didn't even care if there were pedestrians around. I was really shocked by this but looking at the expressions of other Koreans around me, they don't seem surprised by this at all.
This is just my opinion based on my experience, but I feel like most drivers here expect pedestrians to give way for them. They won't stop and wait for you to cross the road if there is a red man light. Even if you're centimetres away from the road and there's a red man light showing, cars will not swerve and avoid you - you'd have to swerve and avoid them. On the other hand though, even if you are doing the right thing and crossing at the intersection when there is a green man light, cars would still dash through and ignore the traffic lights... which is exactly what happened to me lol.
There was one time where I was crossing at the intersection, and the car just literally swerved and turned without waiting for pedestrians to get to the other side of the road. Even though it was my right of way (i.e the green man was lit up), the car didn't even care if there were pedestrians around. I was really shocked by this but looking at the expressions of other Koreans around me, they don't seem surprised by this at all.
This is just my opinion based on my experience, but I feel like most drivers here expect pedestrians to give way for them. They won't stop and wait for you to cross the road if there is a red man light. Even if you're centimetres away from the road and there's a red man light showing, cars will not swerve and avoid you - you'd have to swerve and avoid them. On the other hand though, even if you are doing the right thing and crossing at the intersection when there is a green man light, cars would still dash through and ignore the traffic lights... which is exactly what happened to me lol.
Bar soap at a public toilet
Some toilets in Korea don't have liquid soap, but instead, they have a bar of soap just hanging there. My first experience of that was when I was in the toilet of Bupyeong Train Station. I have no issue with bar soaps but it just seemed out of place for me, yknow? I've always been so used with liquid soap so yeah that was something new..
Some toilets in Korea don't have liquid soap, but instead, they have a bar of soap just hanging there. My first experience of that was when I was in the toilet of Bupyeong Train Station. I have no issue with bar soaps but it just seemed out of place for me, yknow? I've always been so used with liquid soap so yeah that was something new..
INTERNET EXPLORER
The number one thing that annoys me the most. INTERNET. EXPLORER. South Korea, the country that's advancing in terms of technology..... still uses Internet Explorer. It is honestly a pain sometimes because some websites just don't let you to access the page just because you're using a different web browser. I really don't know how else to express the frustration that I have for IE....
I think that concludes my culture shock experience in Korea. Now that I'm back home, I'm having some difficulty readjusting myself back to the Australian culture lol. I got so used to speaking basic Korean for the entire 4 months and it just feels.. weird.. speaking English again HAHAHA. Anyway, apparently this is normal so as time goes by, I'll be able to readjust myself again.
I've got more blogposts (with pictures) coming up so stay tuned!!
I think that concludes my culture shock experience in Korea. Now that I'm back home, I'm having some difficulty readjusting myself back to the Australian culture lol. I got so used to speaking basic Korean for the entire 4 months and it just feels.. weird.. speaking English again HAHAHA. Anyway, apparently this is normal so as time goes by, I'll be able to readjust myself again.
I've got more blogposts (with pictures) coming up so stay tuned!!
