I owe my journal an update.
More thoughts:
Advertising
Advertising is everywhere here, on every conceivable surface. Buildings that would normally be faceless, soulless concrete construction devoid of any architectural merit are made busy by the proliferation of endless logos, slogans, and company names. It's impossible to go anywhere without something screaming 'buy me' in hangul in your face every two steps.
This might be acceptable if it were limited to the constant visual noise, but there is an accompanying soundtrack. Stores pump out terrible house, or k-pop, or regular pop, and bullhorns seem to be a national hobby. Every now and again (read, fifteen minutes) a truck will rumble by, with a quadruplet of the things mounted on the roof shouting out a pre-recorded sales pitch on loop. One truck that frequents my neighbourhood is a fishmonger's, and damned if he doesn't have to announce to the world that yes, the back of his pick-up is in fact filled with fish.
Television is somewhat different. Koreans seem to have fewer commercial breaks, but when they come, they are more intensive. Between programs, the break can last ten minutes, or so it seems, anyway. Musical choice for these things is often hilarious. Yesterday I was watching something on Discovery when this ad for, well, cosmetics or shampoo or whatever comes on. And the music is suitably soft and flowing...and then I catch the lyrics: "I want to kill myself." Hilarious.
Oddly, considering how well-developed Korean cinema seems to be (very, they have their own stars and singers and whatnot in great multitude), fashion advertisement appears to be exclusively the domain of whitey. Koreans are used to advertise services and products, and there is this one girl who appears in ads for everything, possibly because she is so unsufferably cute. Honestly, she comes off as a little creepy to me, but that's a tangent. In any advertisement for clothing, it's always a white person. Always. Man or woman, no matter the store, no matter the target audience, no matter the time. Strange.
Attitudes
About time I tackled this.
Koreans, like most asian countries, seem to have a fairly closed society. Despite the proliferation of white-people fashion ads, the strong american military presence and the quiet invasion of English teachers (we're everywhere), they all still stop and gawk at foreigners like zoo exhibits. I haven't really noticed this personally, since I am asian enough to pass for something of a local, and I've been stopped at least five or six times by Koreans looking for directions. Suffice to say they are usually disappointed to find I don't speak any Korean whatsoever.
The whole North Korean thing doesn't seem to faze them. For the most part, RoKers seem to consider their northern brethren just that: brethren, divided by a political tragedy that hasn't quite played itself out yet. Mail is apparently allowed to cross the border still, and no doubt there are numerous families that have members on both sides of the demilitarized zone. Nuclear testing had no real effect on life here at all, besides an air-raid drill that Kirsta and Nara both had the misfortune of falling into. It was noticed by a chain of convenience stores, however, that condom sales increased by something like 60 % following the test. Buh?
Business and work is a central facet of Korean life. It seems to drive just about everything, and the axiom "If you fail, try, try again" seems to be a universal motto. It's not uncommon to see stores turn over every two months or so, and there are a few stores near me that have opened very recently -- we'll see how long they last.
Saving face is huge here. Admitting you screwed up seems to be difficult for some people to accept, but it's possible my judgement is coloured by the actions of one individual, now fortunately removed from my life. There's an enormous drama bomb attached to that, but if you really want to know what went down, ask me on MSN or something.
Children have a pretty raw deal at school, it seems. School is six days a week, in all seasons, and they are pushed much harder here than in North America. My kindergarten class is currently writing and reading at a grade 2 level, and one kid already has his multiplication tables memorized. No doubt they have a school system similar to Japan, where grades in elementary school dictate which high school you go to, and from there the quality of your university education.
Otherwise people seem to be polite. Bowing is of course part of everyday interaction, and I pretty much find myself bowing to just about everyone.
Food Redux
I'm a goddamn mandu ramen addict. Every damn day for lunch this week, has been mandu ramen, which is essentially a bowl or ramen in spicy soup with a couple of dumplings. Not bad for $2.50, or 2500 won just about.
That aside, a few discoveries. Soju is absolutely terrible for you.
In its raw form, it is foul tasting, at least from the reaction of the Koreans when they drink it. They have palate cleansers in the form of pseudo shrimp chip thingies at the one bar I went to just to deal with the aftertaste, it seems. On the other hand, you can also order it in modified form, where they do something to it that makes it unutterably delicious. It's very deceptive. Despite the high alcohol content, you can't actually taste the alcohol, since it comes in all manner of flavours including peach, lemon, yogurt, ad infinitum. Or nauseum, if you overdo it.
It's also served in little tiny shot glasses that you pour out of a pitcher, which makes it impossible to gauge just how much alcohol you have in you. So yes. Soju is bad for you, no matter which way you pour it.
Eating is still occasionally a risk. I tried the chumchidopbap (which is tuna and some stuff with rice, it's tasty) and was warned that I may experience dopbap fever. I originally assumed this was some kind of addiction one could acquire eating it, but later figured out that my coworkers were actually referring to some kind of malady. Apparently, if the tuna is improperly stored following the opening of the can, many people have a full-blown allergic reaction. Whoops. Food standards are very much lower here than at home.
Last time I also forgot to mention galbi, which is known as Korean BBQ at home. Basically, you sit down around a table with a grill on it, and put pork on there until you are full. There's not much to say about that, really.
Still keeping off the kimchi. Jesus, that stuff is nasty.
Photoblog bit to come.
Advertising
Advertising is everywhere here, on every conceivable surface. Buildings that would normally be faceless, soulless concrete construction devoid of any architectural merit are made busy by the proliferation of endless logos, slogans, and company names. It's impossible to go anywhere without something screaming 'buy me' in hangul in your face every two steps.
This might be acceptable if it were limited to the constant visual noise, but there is an accompanying soundtrack. Stores pump out terrible house, or k-pop, or regular pop, and bullhorns seem to be a national hobby. Every now and again (read, fifteen minutes) a truck will rumble by, with a quadruplet of the things mounted on the roof shouting out a pre-recorded sales pitch on loop. One truck that frequents my neighbourhood is a fishmonger's, and damned if he doesn't have to announce to the world that yes, the back of his pick-up is in fact filled with fish.
Television is somewhat different. Koreans seem to have fewer commercial breaks, but when they come, they are more intensive. Between programs, the break can last ten minutes, or so it seems, anyway. Musical choice for these things is often hilarious. Yesterday I was watching something on Discovery when this ad for, well, cosmetics or shampoo or whatever comes on. And the music is suitably soft and flowing...and then I catch the lyrics: "I want to kill myself." Hilarious.
Oddly, considering how well-developed Korean cinema seems to be (very, they have their own stars and singers and whatnot in great multitude), fashion advertisement appears to be exclusively the domain of whitey. Koreans are used to advertise services and products, and there is this one girl who appears in ads for everything, possibly because she is so unsufferably cute. Honestly, she comes off as a little creepy to me, but that's a tangent. In any advertisement for clothing, it's always a white person. Always. Man or woman, no matter the store, no matter the target audience, no matter the time. Strange.
Attitudes
About time I tackled this.
Koreans, like most asian countries, seem to have a fairly closed society. Despite the proliferation of white-people fashion ads, the strong american military presence and the quiet invasion of English teachers (we're everywhere), they all still stop and gawk at foreigners like zoo exhibits. I haven't really noticed this personally, since I am asian enough to pass for something of a local, and I've been stopped at least five or six times by Koreans looking for directions. Suffice to say they are usually disappointed to find I don't speak any Korean whatsoever.
The whole North Korean thing doesn't seem to faze them. For the most part, RoKers seem to consider their northern brethren just that: brethren, divided by a political tragedy that hasn't quite played itself out yet. Mail is apparently allowed to cross the border still, and no doubt there are numerous families that have members on both sides of the demilitarized zone. Nuclear testing had no real effect on life here at all, besides an air-raid drill that Kirsta and Nara both had the misfortune of falling into. It was noticed by a chain of convenience stores, however, that condom sales increased by something like 60 % following the test. Buh?
Business and work is a central facet of Korean life. It seems to drive just about everything, and the axiom "If you fail, try, try again" seems to be a universal motto. It's not uncommon to see stores turn over every two months or so, and there are a few stores near me that have opened very recently -- we'll see how long they last.
Saving face is huge here. Admitting you screwed up seems to be difficult for some people to accept, but it's possible my judgement is coloured by the actions of one individual, now fortunately removed from my life. There's an enormous drama bomb attached to that, but if you really want to know what went down, ask me on MSN or something.
Children have a pretty raw deal at school, it seems. School is six days a week, in all seasons, and they are pushed much harder here than in North America. My kindergarten class is currently writing and reading at a grade 2 level, and one kid already has his multiplication tables memorized. No doubt they have a school system similar to Japan, where grades in elementary school dictate which high school you go to, and from there the quality of your university education.
Otherwise people seem to be polite. Bowing is of course part of everyday interaction, and I pretty much find myself bowing to just about everyone.
Food Redux
I'm a goddamn mandu ramen addict. Every damn day for lunch this week, has been mandu ramen, which is essentially a bowl or ramen in spicy soup with a couple of dumplings. Not bad for $2.50, or 2500 won just about.
That aside, a few discoveries. Soju is absolutely terrible for you.
In its raw form, it is foul tasting, at least from the reaction of the Koreans when they drink it. They have palate cleansers in the form of pseudo shrimp chip thingies at the one bar I went to just to deal with the aftertaste, it seems. On the other hand, you can also order it in modified form, where they do something to it that makes it unutterably delicious. It's very deceptive. Despite the high alcohol content, you can't actually taste the alcohol, since it comes in all manner of flavours including peach, lemon, yogurt, ad infinitum. Or nauseum, if you overdo it.
It's also served in little tiny shot glasses that you pour out of a pitcher, which makes it impossible to gauge just how much alcohol you have in you. So yes. Soju is bad for you, no matter which way you pour it.
Eating is still occasionally a risk. I tried the chumchidopbap (which is tuna and some stuff with rice, it's tasty) and was warned that I may experience dopbap fever. I originally assumed this was some kind of addiction one could acquire eating it, but later figured out that my coworkers were actually referring to some kind of malady. Apparently, if the tuna is improperly stored following the opening of the can, many people have a full-blown allergic reaction. Whoops. Food standards are very much lower here than at home.
Last time I also forgot to mention galbi, which is known as Korean BBQ at home. Basically, you sit down around a table with a grill on it, and put pork on there until you are full. There's not much to say about that, really.
Still keeping off the kimchi. Jesus, that stuff is nasty.
Photoblog bit to come.