Well, after a couple of days here in Korea, I have made a few interesting observations about the culture and the community. My first one is that the driving here is very frightening. There must be some kind of unwritten laws about what to do when you're cutting someone off because no one ever gets hit, but I'm on the edge of my seat all the time. They always honk at each other, but it almost doesn't even mean anything because they're all always honking. Most of their side streets are one way, which also doesn't mean anything because there's always two way traffic going down them. Two cars will drive right at each other and just at the last second one will veer off and let the other one pass. A little harrowing to say the least. And we haven't really even been driving with people yet.
Walking everywhere can make you tired. Maybe I'm just old and out of shape, but boy am I tired by the end of each day.
Korean people seem to all be skinny. I assumed it was just a stereotype. It's not. I've seen maybe 3 people here during the last few days who are anywhere near obese, and they were nothing compared to most Americans. I'm beginning to see why though, with all of the kimchi and walking and whatnot, it would be hard to be very heavy out here. We'll see.
Koreans may be the friendliest people in the world. I don't have a lot of world knowledge to know if this statement is actually true or not, but I'm beginning to think it is. They try very hard to accommodate us with our faltering Korean (yes, no, thank you, hello/goodbye) and several of them have come over to us to help us in situations where we were out of our element. Such as, yesterday, we were trying to figure out what to do with our trash at a coffee house; they had a different set up than we were used to; and a gentleman sitting at the table near the trashcan came over and took care of it for us. Later in the afternoon I was eating Bimbop (I think that's how it's spelled) and didn't really know how to get it set up or eat it, so I was doing my best to eat it, and the lady from behind the fast food counter came over to the table, smiled at me, and mixed it properly for me. Mind you she was talking to me all along in Korean, but still, very friendly.
Koreans will talk to you in Korean for long periods of time in Korean after it's clear you don't speak it. I'm not sure why this is, but it's random and amusing.
No one in Korea wears sunglasses. They only use the visors. I don't know why this is, but they look at me like I'm crazy. What they don't know is I am a little crazy.
So that's what I've figured out about Korean's so far. Maybe they'll prove me wrong on some of this, but so far this is what I've seen. Lots of love to all of you out there.
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