My time in Korea is sadly coming to a end, so I think it's time for a few reflections, musings and observations.In no particular order. . .1. Eating cabbage everyday is a pleasure. A vegetable I would not even consider back home has gradually become an obsession. The national dish kimchi (fermented cabbage) took a long time to draw me in, but now I have a daily craving which needs to be satisified! I'm under no illusions that I love it so much because it's pickled in chilli and garlic and not just boiled to death like in Britain. And that I'll most probably turn my nose up at it once again as soon as I get home. But that is exactly why I need to ingest as much as humanly possible in my last few weeks here!
2. One must always carry an umbrella about one's personage at all times in the rainy season. Sounds obvious, but how many men back home have an umbrella? Us Western fellas would rather get soaked to the bone than carry a good 'ol brolly. But here, the definitions on what constitutes a man are different (and common sense prevails - on this point at least as the rain does get pretty epic), so I happily carry my umbrella with pride. And remain DRY. Now I have an umbrella it is so smack-in-the-face apparent that if it rains, use one and I will endeavour to keep this up when I'm back in rainy Bristol, no matter how much mocking and ridicule this incites from my mates.
3. Bumping into people is not a problem and does not require an apology or even an acknowledgment. Coming from a town rather than city this took a bit of getting used to (and I think I've alluded to this in a previous blog), but as Seoul is one of the most populous cities in our overcrowded planet, you're going to unwillingly touch people (and be touched) in ways you dont want to. But I got over it pretty quickly. Shame on me, I've grown quite accustomed to buffeting folks out the way, especially when a precious seat is up for grabs on the commute to work I now face each day.
3. Bumping into people is not a problem and does not require an apology or even an acknowledgment. Coming from a town rather than city this took a bit of getting used to (and I think I've alluded to this in a previous blog), but as Seoul is one of the most populous cities in our overcrowded planet, you're going to unwillingly touch people (and be touched) in ways you dont want to. But I got over it pretty quickly. Shame on me, I've grown quite accustomed to buffeting folks out the way, especially when a precious seat is up for grabs on the commute to work I now face each day.
4. The adjumma is KING. Adjumma is a Korean word, literally meaning "married woman" and although there are many, many sweet and friendly ones (particularly ones which live in the countryside and/or work in Shikdang - cheap Korean eaterie. If you go to a shikdang in the countryside, you are in for a motherly treat), unfortunately the word has taken on more negative connotations amongst the expat community. You see, adjummas may be small and look tame but they are ferocious, aggressive creatures, who are especially combative when it comes to claiming that seat on the subway. Sturdy body-checks are the norm as soon as those subway doors open and if you try and stand your ground, the elbow will come into the mid-riff, momentarily hindering your progress, leaving the triumphant adjumma to proudly claim her seat and flash you a toothless grin. The reason they are so much stronger, faster and more agile than their Western counterparts is the lifetime of back-breaking work they have to endure, coupled with the Korean obsession with hiking. These old dears bomb past us wheezing Westerners on their way up the numerous slopes of Seoul. Great endurance training for the subway scrum when they descend the peak.
Joking aside though, older people in Korea enjoy much higher levels of respect that our OAPS back home. They stand their ground and demand to be treated with dignity and consideration. And why not? They have worked hard for their country and their children and should be regarded with esteem and love. Just one of the many lessons I think the West could learn from the East, look after your old folk. Which leads onto my next point. . . . .
5. Crime is far less of a problem here. I'm going to make this fairly brief as I haven't undertaken any research into this, looked into any figures etc AND I've only been here just over a year so I'm not really qualified to judge this properly. BUT just from my experience here and that of my friends, Korea is an incredibly safe country (intermitent posturing with the North aside of course). Petty crime and anti-social behaviour is absurdly low. There is about as much chance of getting, mugged, robbed or beaten-up anywhere in Seoul at any time of night or day as there is of Korea renouncing the health benefits of kimchi and giving up rice. Seriously, you can walk around anytime, in any state and you're pretty much guaranteed no one is going to try and take your wallet or kick your head in for some imaginary sleight aimed against him. As an extension of this is the fact there is just less of a 'big-man' attitude which blights much of England. There doesn't seem to be any idiots with a chip on their shoulder, with the need to prove themselves. This is definitely one of the aspects of Korea I value most and which I think will be even more obvious when I come return to Blighty.
6. Dress for the occassion, especially sports. Koreans, as a whole, cannot do any leisure pursuit half-heartedly. Any new activity that a Korean tries their hand at CANNOT but be undertaken unless decked out entirely (and without exception) in the flashiest, most expensive gear available on the market at that time. Take hiking, for example. What could and probably should be a free leisure activity, quickly becomes very expensive once you visit one of the copious specialist hiking shops and adorn yourself from head to toe in the latest apparel. What makes it even stranger is that all the specialist boots, poles and other supposedly essential safety equipment become fairly redundant when you take into account how many of the pathways up the mountains have been man-made There are even vast wooden bridges, staircases and walkways to make the experience as hassle-free as possible. Not that I'm saying parts of it aren't challenging and it is definitely a great way to exercise, but the fixation on looking the part appears to almost supercede this at times. Still, what do I know? If I end up falling off the next time I'm up a mountain, I'll realise (as I plummet to my death) that the Koreans were right all along and I should have dressed up like everybody else.
7. Safety. Safety is an odd one in Korea. This ranges from complete abandon in some scenarios to over-zealous control in others. Let's start with roads. Traffic is pretty scary here and road accidents are notoriously high (my Korean friend told me that Korea once held the dubious honour of being number one in the world for road accidents. They are now number two.) The problem seems to be that the disregard for anyone else which occurs on foot is unfortunately not remedied once people get behind the wheel. Everyone bombs around like they are the only vehicle on the road, cutting each other up and failing to indicate, resulting in obvious chaos. No-one appears to be even slightly aware of the existence of other human life forms, let alone other cars around them. This can make for pretty interesting bus journeys, as bus drivers push on through better than the rest of them. This apparent lack of safety is completely turned on its head though when one visits a swimming pool or waterpark. Many of these places not only insist that young people wear a life-jacket at all times but that every half hour, everyone must vacate the pool for an enforced 15 minute rest period. So for a third of the time no-one is actually even in the water! Seems crazy to me, but I reckon it's just a cunning ploy by the lifeguards to do less work. Pretty clever really.
7. Safety. Safety is an odd one in Korea. This ranges from complete abandon in some scenarios to over-zealous control in others. Let's start with roads. Traffic is pretty scary here and road accidents are notoriously high (my Korean friend told me that Korea once held the dubious honour of being number one in the world for road accidents. They are now number two.) The problem seems to be that the disregard for anyone else which occurs on foot is unfortunately not remedied once people get behind the wheel. Everyone bombs around like they are the only vehicle on the road, cutting each other up and failing to indicate, resulting in obvious chaos. No-one appears to be even slightly aware of the existence of other human life forms, let alone other cars around them. This can make for pretty interesting bus journeys, as bus drivers push on through better than the rest of them. This apparent lack of safety is completely turned on its head though when one visits a swimming pool or waterpark. Many of these places not only insist that young people wear a life-jacket at all times but that every half hour, everyone must vacate the pool for an enforced 15 minute rest period. So for a third of the time no-one is actually even in the water! Seems crazy to me, but I reckon it's just a cunning ploy by the lifeguards to do less work. Pretty clever really.
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