Expressing my Seoul

Annyeong Haseyo!

For some more incriminating photos from another mate of mine:

go to http://photos.yahoo.com/chrisjlee11

and click on the "Korea 6/20" link.

And yes, thats me, having a "nap" on the floor of a Karaoke bar. With
casanets in hands. Clearly i've partied too hard that night...


I'M FAMOUS?

According to some Korean friends of mine, I look like a famous Korean
action actor called something along the lines of "Shin Ha Koon" or
something. Cool! I'll have to find some more info and photos and
then let you decide if they are right or not.


IT'S SEOUL WET HERE

The one thing I don't like about Seoul is the weather. It goes to
extremes here. In summer there is the rainy monsoon season, followed
by a really hot and humid dry spell, followed by more rain. In winter,
it's all cold and snowy and -10 degrees.

At the moment, it's monsoon season. I've never seen pouring rain so
hard and thick, even in traditionally rainy places like England! And
when it rains, it rains non stop for hours. This year especially Korea
has had the worst flood since 16 years ago! There have been
casualities, lots of damage and businesses out of work, as well as
several places under water.

Usually, at the start of the hot humid season, everyone has chicken
soup with gingseng, or even dog meat soup. These hot soups are
apparently good to have during such weather. Hot dog!

And no I haven't tried dog meat soup, thanks for asking.


MUD FESTIVAL ANYONE?

During the summer, there is a famous Mud festival held on the beaches
south of Seoul. An interesting concept, it revolves around people
getting covered up in mud and doing muddy things, like mud wrestling,
dancing, sports and other mud activities. This is usually accompanied
by much drinking and music. Best of all, it's all free (and it should
be, I mean it's just dirt you know...)! The mud itself is supposed to
be good for the skin, and is probably one of the few places where it
doesn't matter if you spill beer on yourself

However, after much thought, I never went. Firstly because it was
raining, and secondly because I've seen and walked through enough mud
here that I have no real desire to soak myself in more mud! But maybe
next year...


SEOUL DRUNK

Koreans love to mix their drinks. Their "rounds" consist of a huge
quantity of different drinks at different locations. Usually averaging
3 rounds, one ends up having gone to 3 different places in the same
night, each time someone else paying for it. Round one might be dinner
with some beer and soju. Round two and Round three (should one make it
to round three) might be at a bar with beer, soju and whisky,
sometimes all at the same time (mixing them together, they are known
as "explosive" drinks)!

This explains why many of my students come to class hungover.

There is also a type of drink that was popular two years ago. It
involved mixing soju (20% alc) with a slightly larger quantity of
Chinese Herbal Wine (10% alc) called Back-Say-Ju (100-year-old wine -
brandname). The end result is something called Oh-Sip-Say-Ju
(50-year-old wine). The taste is hard to describe, quite unique in a
strong herbal way.

The good thing about all this is that it's very easy to drink...

The bad thing about all this is that it's very easy to drink!!


KOREAN BUSINESS CARD ETIQUETTE

It's amazing how many unwritten rules and laws there are for the
simple transaction of a business card. Here are the basic rules:

1.Cards are given with the right hand, received with the left, simultaneously.

2.Cards are read with both hands.

3.Cards must not be placed below the level of the table or waist.

4.Cards should be left on table till end of meeting.

5.Cards must be put in wallet. This wallet should go into shirt or
jacket pocket.

6.If several cards are received, the most senior* card goes to the top
of the line.

7. Age is almost as important as position.


HOW "SE-O(U)LD" ARE YOU?
(I'm really pushing the puns now )

Asking someone their age in this part of the world early in the first
meeting is quite common and not rude. This is because learning one's
age helps people classify you, work out the pecking order of your
relationship with them, and thus how to address/talk/deal with you.

This is why you often get people cutting you off in queues, ignoring
you in general, not acknowledging your presence etc, until you are
introduced and age is known. This is because you have not been
"classified"; you have no placement to the other so therefore they
don't know how to treat you. It can be annoying but you get used to
it.

Conservative Confucion Style Korean tradition states you must always
respect your elders: - They get the first bite of food on the table,
eat first, drink first, etc. The youngest must serve the elders first,
ensure their cups are full etc.

To serve drinks, Korean tradition and etiquette states you must serve
everyone except yourself. To do so, you hold the bottle with two
hands. The person receiving the drink holds their glass with two hands
too. Of course, the more senior doesn't have to show this respect at
all to the younger. Also, the more close friendship you have with
someone the less you have to bother doing it.


SEOUL CONFUSED

Seoul is changing so quickly, even though I've only been here for a
month I can notice the differences. One of the major proponents of
change has been the rise of feminism. In the recent past, the norm was
that women would marry and play the subserviant housewife role,
serving the husband when he comes home from work, walking behind him
on the street, etc. The house was the womans' domain - she would clean
and look after the children. (And at some point in the past, they
trained any left handed children to use their right hand for doing
tasks, as left handed people were considered inferior). Nowadays,
women are increasingly scrapping the idea of marriage and traditional
roles for working hard long hours in the workplace, and refusing to
worship their husbands.

This has caused alot of confusion, as both men and women are still
learning their new places in society, and are uncertain of how the
future will unfold. Examples of confusion are the odd male who
accepts the wife as equal in earning money and respect, yet also
expects them to still cook and clean at home - also the women will
boast their indepedence, yet by force of habit, will still find
herself serving her husband and taking on the traditional role without
even realising it. Korea still has a long way to go in terms of womens
rights and equal opportunity, but it will be interesting to see what
will happen in the next 10 years.