One of the things that you will encounter in your time in Korea can be quite annoying. It is lack of personal space given to you by others. Whether walking on the street, getting on a bus, subway or train, sitting in a cafe, browsing in a shop or store and on and on and on.
Koreans in general do not value their 'personal space' and the space of others. Their peripheral vision is almost non-existent.
On many occasions I have actually stood behind my students and Korean teachers and not moved for in excess of a minute or so sometimes. They don't even realize that you are there until someone else points it out or they turn around and see you. They never see you out of the corner of their eye..... bizarre really!!!!
Another thing is waiting in line-ups or waiting to get on a bus. People will barge in front of you or just plain flatly cut you off. Don't ever think that a person will hold a door for you. That does not exist here.
Although I am generalizing, it is the case in about 99 percent of the people here. I have been here 4 years and lived in different cities and met all kinds of classes of people. It is the same style with all of them.
Today, I was walking with my girlfriend and an older lady came out of the bank that was to our left. She walked towards me, being on the left side and walked right in front of me. I had to stop walking or I would have kicked the back of her legs. She just carried on like nothing had happened. That is normal for here, like I said. I am used to it, but sometimes still want to say or yell something to them when it happens.
At my school, the teachers bang into my chair while I am writing, reading or just sitting. They do it all the time. It drives me crazy sometimes. They will apologize occasionally, but only occasionally.
What I am saying is that the bad manners are not just directed at us foreigners. They do it to each other. It is commonplace everyday. They think nothing of it.
If someone jumps in front of you and you say something to them, they usually are quite apologetic, again I think it is something that they are not aware of at all!!!!!!
One other thing that I MUST add is about Korean drivers. Here in Korea, the rule is that cars come first and people second. I am dead serious. The delivery scooter drivers drive on the side-walk and car drivers will cut you off and do anything to make sure they go first. You actually get a 30 dollar fine here for jay-walking.
You have to be careful or you will end up injured or dead! They have the worst pedestrian fatality rate in Korea per ratio of population. So, be careful and always expect the drivers to do whatever they want. Don't trust that they will stop, it could cost you your health or life.
My conclusion is that if you live here or are thinking of coming here, then this is something that you must ready yourself for and not get upset about. It is not an earth-shattering thing to accomplish, but it can be quite frustrating to handle sometimes. You have to 'err on the side of caution' and you will be quite alright. If not, then you will have some problems, either personally or health-wise.
5 comments:
That dog is funny. It reminds me of when we were in junior school and in PE we had to climb up these ropes. Sliding down them was always a bit of a thrill like. Ahem.
sometimes that happens to me too...sometimes someone will walk in front of me..if I hit them I hit them..I'm in a hurry too! not in my car though LOL
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