愛 Korea: Interesting Things about Seoul/Korea 2

Delivery service is pretty much a male-dominated job (a la Coffee Prince). Most of the time when I go into restaurants, it's common to see all the girls work at the restaurant and all the guys are delivery.

I have a fear that I will one day witness the death of someone on a motorbike. I don't think there is a helmet law in Korea or if there is, it's hardly enforced (like most things). Also, delivery boys drive insanely fast, usually disregarding meaningless things like signals, lanes, or traffic lights. They also weave in and out of traffic, try to squeeze in between cars, and if they can't get through on the road, sometimes they'll just ride along the sidewalk until they can turn onto another street. Not to mention the amount of times I've seen high schoolers ride 3 people to a bike, one jumps off in traffic, and attempts to jump back on while the bike is moving.

Everyone has a gps in their car and I mean everyone-- I have yet to see a car without a gps. Also, most taxi drivers have satellite television, so they watch as they drive. One of my friends who was here during the World Cup took a taxi and told me that all the taxi drivers were watching Korea's match. She was so scared that if Korea scored a goal or missed a goal, all the taxi drivers were going to crash into each other.

Traffic tickets are ridiculously cheap here and after I found that out, I realized why so many people break traffic laws. Tickets are usually anywhere from $25-$75. Speeding tickets are about $60.

Taxis are also relatively cheap. If you take a 30-40 minute drive, the fare will run about $20-$25. But it also depends on the time of day, traffic, and how fast the taxi is going. The timer first has 1000 seconds on it for the first 2400 won (~$2.40). Once you break through that, its about 240 seconds for every 100 won (~$0.10) after that. Also, the timer is directly proportional to the speed of the taxi. If there's no traffic and the taxi driver is gunning it, you'll run through the the "240 seconds" in 30 seconds. Once I took a taxi from Jamsil, which is usually a $5 fare. But because it was 2 am, no one was on the road, and my driver clocked at 120 km/hr, my fare was $8. If the car has to slow down, the timer slows down. And if the car is stuck in traffic and we're not moving, the timer stops. If you're taking a taxi late at night, though, the fare will be a little higher because I think it's only 140 seconds instead of 240 for every 100 won increase and the timer doesn't stop when the car stops, it just slows down. Although, I have noticed that the fare rules are a TINY bit different between cab companies.

Drivers in Korea usually don't put much weight into traffic lights, speeding, or pedestrian crosswalks.

Even though the light is red, if no one is coming (or if they can squeak by without getting hit), drivers will just run the light, make illegal turns, etc.
If the light is red due to a pedestrian crosswalk and no one is crossing, drivers will drive through the red light. Or even if there is a pedestrian, if the car can run the light before you cross its path, it won't stop for you.
Seoul is very into speeding cameras, but it's kind of useless, because (as I mentioned above) everyone has a gps that tells them where the speeding cameras are. Also, speeding tickets here are $60, so everyone speeds.

Bus drivers are as aggressive as taxi drivers and will also run lights and pedestrian cross walks.

There are two things that are ridiculously hard to find in Seoul: trash cans and bathrooms. Restaurants will rarely have bathrooms, only if you go to a big chain or Western restaurant. Most of the time, if you ask them where the nearest restroom is, they'll direct you to a public restroom that will most likely not have toliet paper or soap. It's standard practice in Korea to carry around a pack of tissues and hand sanitizer. Also, if go somewhere where there are several different businesses in one building, typically all those business will share one bathroom in the building, continuing the no soap theme. Trash cans are also rare and hard to find, so people will normally just put down their trash anywhere and start a pile.

In my last list, I mentioned that sale signs always start with the highest percentage (e.g. 60%-40%). Continuing this trend of when all the teachers went out to eat together, Reina called the restaurant and told me it would be a 45-20 minute wait. However, when I asked my Korean friends about it, they all told me that that was really weird and that they've never heard somebody give the higher wait time before.

same same: meaning that the things listed or referenced are the same or similar. In practicum: "You guys know what the Earth is, right? Well, Earth and world-- same same."
so-so: In Korea, "okay" is more commonly used as "alright, I understand" as opposed to a state of being-- "I'm feeling okay" or "I am okay." Instead, people say, "I feel so-so" or "I am so-so."
One day, my kids said, "Oh, Sarah teacher. Today, you are pretty." And because I like to give my kids a hard time, I said, "I'm only pretty today?" Then, they said, "No, everyday you're pretty." But now, my kids say, "Sarah teacher, you are everyday pretty."

I love how the word "style" is used in Korean. It's not just used for fashion, but also for taste or preference towards a particular thing. Romantically, for example, you can say, "Oh, he's not my style" meaning that I'm not into that type of guy.
When I tell Koreans that I don't eat rice, the typical response is, "How can you live???" or "How will you live???"
This is going to be a little hard to explain, because this phrase is used in a variety of contexts. But, a common explanation for things is "because I'm human." For example, "I worry about this, because I'm human" or "I feel this, because I'm human."

Stores in Korea are multi-leveled as opposed to a huge one-story store. So, if you go to an equivalent of Walmart or Kmart here (a store that has everything from food to electronics), each floor is a department. Also, you have to pay before going to another department. So, if you need to shop in 3 different departments, you need to go to 3 different floors and make three different transactions. Also, there are typically parking garages on the upper levels. They have conveyor belt versions of escalators that will take you to each floor, so that you can take your buggy with you.

You usually can't find bread at grocery stores. You have to go to a bakery in order to get most of your baked goods. Costco being an exception to this.

Banks here give you bank books, as well as atm cards. You bank book has a read out of all your past transactions and balances.

Theft in Korea is ridiculously rare. You can leave your purse unattended and no one will touch it. This is something that I really love about Korea.

No one has checks in Korea, personal or otherwise. Also, everyone is on direct deposit.

When dealing with fights in Korea, it's not about who started it or who's in the wrong, it's about who's the most injured. When guys get into fights, it's a slap fest because they don't want to injure the other guy. When the police come, the person with the least amount of injuries has to compensate for the most injured party. Start watching this at the 5:00 mark-- http://www.dramacrazy.net/korean-drama/mary-stayed-out-all-night-episode-2/105508

愛 Korea