So I’m sure that I’ll have more to add to this list, but
here’s a list of some of the cultural differences that I’ve noticed here
so far. These are all things that I have noticed repeatedly and
constantly, not one-time occurrences.
Sidewalk Etiquette:
1. People walk slow.
Now, part of this is that I’m a really fast walker. My school in the US
is HUGE and I’m used to having to literally sprint between classes to
make it to my classroom in the allotted 15 minutes. I get really
impatient walking behind people here.
2. People take up the entire sidewalk. Especially
the couples. I don’t know if the couples or the giant groups of at least
6 or more Koreans. If I walk with more than one person, I’m aware of my
surrounding and will get in a single file line so people can pass us.
No one does that here. And on top of that, it’s the people who spread
themselves out to take up the entire sidewalk that usually walk the
slowest. ㅠㅠ
3. “Excuse me”s and “sorry”s are rare. I think this
is a difference between me being from a small town and Seoul being a
huge metropolitan area. You’re going to bump into people and people are
going to bump into you, so no one really apologizes for it. Some people
won’t even move out of the way if you’re on a collision course, they’ll
just barrel right into you.
4. At the slightest hint of rain everyone pulls out their umbrellas.
I usually only use my umbrella if it’s really coming down. Today I was
out walking around and it was barely sprinkling, I maybe felt a drop or
two here and there but not anything most Americans would justify pulling
out their umbrella for, but almost everyone on the street had their
umbrellas open. (Which, is annoying for a fast walker like me because
these take up even more space on the sidewalk so it’s harder to dart
around the slow people.)
Interacting with Koreans:
5. If you don’t look Korean, people will speak to you in English (and usually be amazed if you use Korean).
I used to get upset about this because I’m here in Korea to study
Korean and my goal is to become fluent, something I can’t do if everyone
refuses to speak to me in Korean. To me, I viewed it as racist and
discriminatory, like people are assuming that because I’m white I only
speak English. I find it very annoying when people assume that I can’t
speak Korean. However, I’ve had several Korean and Chinese friends tell
me that it is considered polite to speak to a foreigner in English, so
I’m more forgiving now.
6. If you don’t look Korean, people will stare at you.
It happens. It made me uncomfortable the first day, but it literally
happens so much that I barely notice it anymore. Recently I’ve gotten
the courage to stare back at people, or smile and wave at them. They
usually always smile and wave back when you do so.
7. No foreigner/minority protection laws. People and
business are allowed to discriminate against you. This doesn’t happen a
lot, but it does happen and when it does, there’s really nothing you
can do about it. (Ex: #1 There are times when I walk into the store and
the person working will greet the Koreans, but won’t greet me. This has
happened when I walked in after Koreans and saw them greet the Koreans
but just stare at me. This has happened when i walked in and saw them
stare at me and then a few minutes later greet Koreans walking in. It’s
not accidental, it’s definitely purposeful because I’m not Korean. Ex:
#2 many of the clubs at my university do not allow foreigners to join,
even if the foreigners can speak Korean. These are both very minute
examples that I could brush off, but they still hurt.)
8. At my university - and I want to stress this
because I’m sure it’s not like this at all Korean universities, just at
the one I attend - Koreans don’t want to be friends with foreign
students. Even in the Korean and International Student Club at
my school, the Koreans aren’t really interested in being friends with
anyone who’s not Korean. In class and at events, the Korean students
will segregate themselves from the international students whenever
possible. Maybe the Korean students get uncomfortable because of
speaking English with the International students, but as I said, I speak
Korean. In fact, I am a Korean major, and they still won’t talk to me
in Korean. Many of them I try to get to talk to me in Korean and they
always switch back to English. And it’s not because I’m not good enough
in Korean. I have a Korean friend who does not speak English well and we
speak exclusively in Korean together. My Korean is at a comfortable
conversation level and many Koreans still refuse to speak to me in
Korean or English. In my school’s club, it seems like many of the Korean
students want to party with the International students and get drunk
with them so that they can hook up with them and then afterwards never
talk to them and never have a relationship with them (DISCLAIMER: not
everyone’s like this, but a much more significant portion than I
expected.)
9. Being approached by drunk (much) older men to go drink with them (and presumably more). This
has never ever happened to me in the US. I’m sure it happens in clubs
and bars at the US, which I have never been too. But here’s a fun thing:
I’ve never been to clubs or bars here in Korea either! There’s a park
by my house where when my friends and I try to sit there to relax or
people watch, we will always get approached by old men. We even had one
man try to tell my roommate and I that “고추 주세요” meant “go away.” This
was after I told him I spoke Korean. (So you know, that means “give me
pepper.” But 고추 can also refer to penis… so I think he was trying to get
us to say “give me the D” in Korean. Not cool, man.)
So those are just a few things that I’ve noticed since being here.
I’m sure I’ll think of more to post later! Also, I do not mean for this
post to be extremely negative. I have had some negative experiences
Korea, but I still love it here. I feel like I’m always posting very
positive things, which is why I kind of shifted the focus on this post. I
do want other people considering coming to study in Korea to have a
realistic view of what to expect. ^.^
