Everyday is opposite day in Korea!!!
"They don't have potable water, but they have GPS in every cab. They have cell phones that can do anything, but they believe in fan death. Everyday is opposite day in Korea." - Brian Jenks
Reasons why Korea is... um, Korean -
1. Fan death - South Korean firmly believe that an electric fan, if left running overnight in a closed room, can result in the death (by suffocation, poisoning, or hypothermia) of those inside. This belief also extends to air conditioners and the fans in cars. When the air conditioner or fan is on in a car, Koreans are apt to leave their car windows open a crack to avoid "fan death".
From Wikipedia...
"The legend is remarkably resilient, and is accepted even by many Korean medical professionals. In summer, mainstream Korean news sources regularly report on cases of fan death, even if more likely causes (e.g. heart attack, gunshot, alcohol poisoning) are evident.
A typical example is this excerpt from the July 28, 1997, edition of the Korea Herald, an English-language newspaper:
The heat wave which has encompassed Korea for about a week, has generated various heat-related accidents and deaths. At least 10 people died from the effects of electric fans which can remove oxygen from the air and lower body temperatures....
On Friday in eastern Seoul, a 16-year-old girl died from suffocation after she fell asleep in her room with an electric fan in motion. The death toll from fan-related incidents reached 10 during the past week. Medical experts say that this type of death occurs when one is exposed to electric fan breezes for long hours in a sealed area. "Excessive exposure to such a condition lowers one's temperature and hampers blood circulation. And it eventually leads to the paralysis of heart and lungs," says a medical expert.
"To prevent such an accident, one should keep the windows open and not expose oneself directly to fan air," he advised.
2. Ghost people - In Korea, if you haven't been introduced to someone then they don't really exist. This becomes really evident when it's crowded. People will walk into you, push or shove you, and go through a lot of extremely physical contact with no "excuse me" or anything because, basically, you don't actually exist to them. Since Korea was my first Asian country, I didn't know what things were Korean and what was Asian. The pushing/walking into people is Korean. I got to Japan where there is a very strict no touching policy. And "sumimasen" (excuse me)'s all around if any touching does accidentally occur.
3. Squatting - Tired? Need a smoke? Well then let me introduce you to squatting. Feet flat, knees bent. It's actually kind of hard. The picture I have is a guy, but the ladies were doing it too. On the subway, outside the office, wherever.
4. Screaming/loud voices - I thought that German sounded scary when spoken, but woah, Korean may be worse! Very very harsh and loud. I would turn around thinking there was some huge fight going on behind me and it would be two mothers sitting down at a restaurant. I would guess they pick this up young which probably accounts for the intensity of the 5 year old "HELLO HELLO HELLO" chant I talked about before. The cabbies are the worst/scariest.
5. Speaking English - So in Suwon, no one knows English. If by chance they do, they would still have no chance keeping up with the speed or slang of any native speaker. This made it quite an interesting environment. Brian Jenks used to be a very polite, respectful person. Then he moved to Korea. Now he can walk around the street giving very frank judgments on anyone, pretty much to their face, without them having a clue. And he does. Also, there is no topic too rude or obscene to be spoken about in the most public of places. Preferably in as loud of a voice as possible. Danny, Brian and Brian took full advantage. I had a harder time getting into it.
6. "If they didn't invent it, they're the best at it" - That's just the way it goes in Korea. Their national food (kim chi) will prevent SARS, their people are the most intelligent, and pretty much they are the coolest in every and any possible way.
7. Starcraft - I don't know if it's one word or two, but Korea is obsessed with it. Our first night out in Seoul there was a Starcraft tournament happening on an outdoor stage with a huge audience. Two kids playing and the game being projected onto a movie screen. When we got back to the motel Brian showed us the Starcraft channel. All Starcraft, all the time.
8. Traffic - U-turns in the middle of streets are just the way things happen, red lights are only a suggestion, even for left turns. Busses don't always stop you just have to kind of run up to them, bang on the door, then jump in. Not at all stops but at the big crazy Suwon Station ones. They're not really into addresses or street names either. To get to Brian's apartment I would show the name of the girl's middle school on the same street and get dropped off there. Real addresses will do you no good.
9. The cars - About 99% of the cars are either Daewoo, Kia or Hyundai and either white, silver or black. Brian said LG and Samsung made cars too but I don't know if I saw any of those. Trucks are allowed to come in blue. There's a 40% import tax on cars, so pretty much if you want to show how rich you are you get a foreign car.
10. Korean education - So education is really important to Koreans. Wait, let me rephrase that. Grades are really important. The actual act of learning, not so important. The act of doing whatever you have to do (lying, cheating, bribing) to get good grades, very important. They make teachers and principals change schools every two years in an effort to curb corruption.
11. Trash - First, there's a lot of trash around. Seoul, Suwon probably don't count as those "clean" cities like Singapore or Toronto. Second, Brian doesn't know what to do with his trash so he just kind of takes it outside and puts it behind a car. As I said before, Brian is a good person, just living in Korea. He told us that old people get paid to pick up trash so he's actually helping them out. And he lives by himself so it's only a shopping bag or two at most. And when he does "bring it out" it's gone by the time he gets back. And there are also a ton of other bags around so maybe no one has a clue what to do with their trash and the old people are really taking care of it all. I have no idea.
I don't want to give you the wrong idea though. Korea has some really awesome things too!!!
1. Heated floors - Heat for Brian's apartment came from the floor!!! It was really nice. The fake hardwood floors became really nice to stand/walk/sit on.
2. Cheap - Meals were never anymore than $8, my haircut was $15 for the whole thing, taxi rides started at $1.50 and there was no where we couldn't get for less than $5 and tipping is considered rude. I think I took out about $200 which lasted 5 days even including the DMZ tour that was $75. I only used my credit card on the last day for my haircut and the bus to the airport.
3. Ice cream fondue - Baskin Robbins has an ice cream fondue dish that Brian, Brian and I split on the last night. Small balls of different flavored ice cream, some green tea cake stuff and a couple pieces of fruit (including tomato). Korea 1, USA 0. Does this exist and I just haven't seen it?
4. "Fusion" restaurants - Their shot at "Western food." We ordered nachos. They were chips with ketchup (salsa), cheese whiz (cheese) and what we decided was probably whipped sour cream. We got a fruit dish that didn't have a drop of mayo on it so that was really exciting. Brian ordered a "Midori Shower" and I went back and forth between a "Matini" or a "Dequila Sunrise" but then ordered a Sex on the Beach and was then given a Blue Hawaiian.
5. Dance Dance Revolution - I finally found a place where I wasn't too embarrassed to try it out! And guess what?? I sucked!! I had wussed out countless times in America and Australia because I generally don't like doing things that I know I'll be bad at in front of an audience. But in Korea I felt a sense of American pride in that, I am American and chances are I'm going to suck and you all (Koreans) know this, so come on, gather 'round, and watch the white girl look like an idiot. I'm American, this is what I do. So Brian and I put out 500 Won in and had a blast. You get graded, I got an F, Brian got a B. But then we did it again two days later and I got a D, Brian got an F. But hey, in America we care about more than just the grades, we care about the effort and I give myself an A for effort! I have a video from our DDR experience and when I get a chance I'll make a link for it.
6. Bowing - I know how to give a formal Korean bow, words and all. I have video of Danny and me practicing. And I can show you the real thing when I get home!
Reasons why Korea is... um, Korean -
1. Fan death - South Korean firmly believe that an electric fan, if left running overnight in a closed room, can result in the death (by suffocation, poisoning, or hypothermia) of those inside. This belief also extends to air conditioners and the fans in cars. When the air conditioner or fan is on in a car, Koreans are apt to leave their car windows open a crack to avoid "fan death".
From Wikipedia...
"The legend is remarkably resilient, and is accepted even by many Korean medical professionals. In summer, mainstream Korean news sources regularly report on cases of fan death, even if more likely causes (e.g. heart attack, gunshot, alcohol poisoning) are evident.
A typical example is this excerpt from the July 28, 1997, edition of the Korea Herald, an English-language newspaper:
The heat wave which has encompassed Korea for about a week, has generated various heat-related accidents and deaths. At least 10 people died from the effects of electric fans which can remove oxygen from the air and lower body temperatures....
On Friday in eastern Seoul, a 16-year-old girl died from suffocation after she fell asleep in her room with an electric fan in motion. The death toll from fan-related incidents reached 10 during the past week. Medical experts say that this type of death occurs when one is exposed to electric fan breezes for long hours in a sealed area. "Excessive exposure to such a condition lowers one's temperature and hampers blood circulation. And it eventually leads to the paralysis of heart and lungs," says a medical expert.
"To prevent such an accident, one should keep the windows open and not expose oneself directly to fan air," he advised.
2. Ghost people - In Korea, if you haven't been introduced to someone then they don't really exist. This becomes really evident when it's crowded. People will walk into you, push or shove you, and go through a lot of extremely physical contact with no "excuse me" or anything because, basically, you don't actually exist to them. Since Korea was my first Asian country, I didn't know what things were Korean and what was Asian. The pushing/walking into people is Korean. I got to Japan where there is a very strict no touching policy. And "sumimasen" (excuse me)'s all around if any touching does accidentally occur.
3. Squatting - Tired? Need a smoke? Well then let me introduce you to squatting. Feet flat, knees bent. It's actually kind of hard. The picture I have is a guy, but the ladies were doing it too. On the subway, outside the office, wherever.
4. Screaming/loud voices - I thought that German sounded scary when spoken, but woah, Korean may be worse! Very very harsh and loud. I would turn around thinking there was some huge fight going on behind me and it would be two mothers sitting down at a restaurant. I would guess they pick this up young which probably accounts for the intensity of the 5 year old "HELLO HELLO HELLO" chant I talked about before. The cabbies are the worst/scariest.
5. Speaking English - So in Suwon, no one knows English. If by chance they do, they would still have no chance keeping up with the speed or slang of any native speaker. This made it quite an interesting environment. Brian Jenks used to be a very polite, respectful person. Then he moved to Korea. Now he can walk around the street giving very frank judgments on anyone, pretty much to their face, without them having a clue. And he does. Also, there is no topic too rude or obscene to be spoken about in the most public of places. Preferably in as loud of a voice as possible. Danny, Brian and Brian took full advantage. I had a harder time getting into it.
6. "If they didn't invent it, they're the best at it" - That's just the way it goes in Korea. Their national food (kim chi) will prevent SARS, their people are the most intelligent, and pretty much they are the coolest in every and any possible way.
7. Starcraft - I don't know if it's one word or two, but Korea is obsessed with it. Our first night out in Seoul there was a Starcraft tournament happening on an outdoor stage with a huge audience. Two kids playing and the game being projected onto a movie screen. When we got back to the motel Brian showed us the Starcraft channel. All Starcraft, all the time.
8. Traffic - U-turns in the middle of streets are just the way things happen, red lights are only a suggestion, even for left turns. Busses don't always stop you just have to kind of run up to them, bang on the door, then jump in. Not at all stops but at the big crazy Suwon Station ones. They're not really into addresses or street names either. To get to Brian's apartment I would show the name of the girl's middle school on the same street and get dropped off there. Real addresses will do you no good.
9. The cars - About 99% of the cars are either Daewoo, Kia or Hyundai and either white, silver or black. Brian said LG and Samsung made cars too but I don't know if I saw any of those. Trucks are allowed to come in blue. There's a 40% import tax on cars, so pretty much if you want to show how rich you are you get a foreign car.
10. Korean education - So education is really important to Koreans. Wait, let me rephrase that. Grades are really important. The actual act of learning, not so important. The act of doing whatever you have to do (lying, cheating, bribing) to get good grades, very important. They make teachers and principals change schools every two years in an effort to curb corruption.
11. Trash - First, there's a lot of trash around. Seoul, Suwon probably don't count as those "clean" cities like Singapore or Toronto. Second, Brian doesn't know what to do with his trash so he just kind of takes it outside and puts it behind a car. As I said before, Brian is a good person, just living in Korea. He told us that old people get paid to pick up trash so he's actually helping them out. And he lives by himself so it's only a shopping bag or two at most. And when he does "bring it out" it's gone by the time he gets back. And there are also a ton of other bags around so maybe no one has a clue what to do with their trash and the old people are really taking care of it all. I have no idea.
I don't want to give you the wrong idea though. Korea has some really awesome things too!!!
1. Heated floors - Heat for Brian's apartment came from the floor!!! It was really nice. The fake hardwood floors became really nice to stand/walk/sit on.
2. Cheap - Meals were never anymore than $8, my haircut was $15 for the whole thing, taxi rides started at $1.50 and there was no where we couldn't get for less than $5 and tipping is considered rude. I think I took out about $200 which lasted 5 days even including the DMZ tour that was $75. I only used my credit card on the last day for my haircut and the bus to the airport.
3. Ice cream fondue - Baskin Robbins has an ice cream fondue dish that Brian, Brian and I split on the last night. Small balls of different flavored ice cream, some green tea cake stuff and a couple pieces of fruit (including tomato). Korea 1, USA 0. Does this exist and I just haven't seen it?
4. "Fusion" restaurants - Their shot at "Western food." We ordered nachos. They were chips with ketchup (salsa), cheese whiz (cheese) and what we decided was probably whipped sour cream. We got a fruit dish that didn't have a drop of mayo on it so that was really exciting. Brian ordered a "Midori Shower" and I went back and forth between a "Matini" or a "Dequila Sunrise" but then ordered a Sex on the Beach and was then given a Blue Hawaiian.
5. Dance Dance Revolution - I finally found a place where I wasn't too embarrassed to try it out! And guess what?? I sucked!! I had wussed out countless times in America and Australia because I generally don't like doing things that I know I'll be bad at in front of an audience. But in Korea I felt a sense of American pride in that, I am American and chances are I'm going to suck and you all (Koreans) know this, so come on, gather 'round, and watch the white girl look like an idiot. I'm American, this is what I do. So Brian and I put out 500 Won in and had a blast. You get graded, I got an F, Brian got a B. But then we did it again two days later and I got a D, Brian got an F. But hey, in America we care about more than just the grades, we care about the effort and I give myself an A for effort! I have a video from our DDR experience and when I get a chance I'll make a link for it.
6. Bowing - I know how to give a formal Korean bow, words and all. I have video of Danny and me practicing. And I can show you the real thing when I get home!
posted by beth at 9:34 AM
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