It is just a way of saying that certain things about living amongst another culture, can sometimes be frustrating, both for yourself and the host country!!!!
First of all I would like to talk about the general 'no cheating' amongst the students. I have actually had students give me a marked test back because I have added up the score wrong; too high!!!! When this first happened, I was in shock and slowly realized that it is just part of the culture. They don't want to get something that they don't deserve. Don't get the idea that Korean children are little angels, by the way because they are not. They are just as disrespectful as children from any country, but they do do some neat things sometimes. They help each other with lots of things in school and it is not uncommon to let someone completely copy from you..... I caught a few of them today copying their homework. I gave the one copying a zero and the one who let him copy -2 out of 10. I have to do my job, come on, I am a teacher!!!!!!!!!
One time I offered money for the winning team when we had a mini-quiz game in class. I am talking about 2 dollars. There was one team with three girls and one of the girls didn't answer a lot of the questions, but the team ended up winning. I gave the girls a 1000 won bill, so they had to split it three ways. It would have worked out to 330 won each, which is about 50 cents. When I said that, the one girl said, "Oh no, she is older than us two, so she gets more money," which meant that they would give the older girl 400 and the other would take 300 each. Again, I was shocked, but in awe of what had happened and realized that age here has certain advantages.
One of the first thing that people ALWAYS ask you here, is how old are you? Age is a very important pinpoint of your status, i.e. They will treat you in a certain manner or with an appropriate amount of respect due to your age.
Another neat things about Korea is the way that EVERYBODY will share their food or snacks with you. You will never see the Korean teachers with a snack or some food and not offer it to everyone that is in the room. It is a cultural thing about food and it is very important to Koreans that they eat and share their food at all times.
I was told that way back in the earlier times of Korea when it was quite poor, one of the most important questions was, "have you eaten something yet?" That has carried on to the present day and the exact same question is posed all the time. I hear it all the time. It is one of the phrases that I know quite well in Korean. "Pamogossah?" It literally means; have you eaten something?
I am trying to keep a list of some of the cultural differences that I encounter, but it is sometimes difficult and as usual, I find myself not being organized enough. I will try my best to keep going on some of these neat things though!
This picture above is just some picture taken off the funny pics website of what some people wear for Halloween. I think it is a great costume and I am sure that the fella got loads of compliments on it while he was wearing it.
One of the other things that is really neat about Korea is the whole thing about selling things. You don't need a licence to put up a stall or to have a truck selling something out of. You can see lots of people that sell at the subways or on corners, although I have noticed you don't see a lot of abuse of the system. There are trucks that sell all kinds of foods and usually quite healthy. It is such a neat thing to see and I love that part of Korean culture.
Another thing is that the variety stores and grocery stores all sell booze. From whisky to vodka to beer and soju and it is 24/7!!!!! You see lots of variety stores here with tables and chairs outside where people will actually sit down and have a few beers or a cigarette. Dave and I did it Tuesday night. We sat and drank 2 bottles of soju mixed with orange juice. It is a hell of a lot cheaper than buying a drink at a bar or hof and really nice to do sometimes when the weather is awesome.
Most Koreans will not walk around drinking beer or booze. You are allowed to do it, they just don't look at it as being the right thing to do. Lots of the foreigners that come have done it and are still doing it. Koreans want to go to the businesses that sell alcohol and give money back as such. It is also a very social thing as 99 percent of Koreans always eat while they drink. That is why all the eating places are so popular and always full.
Now I know why there are so many variety store owners in Canada that are Korean. It is because there are variety stores everywhere in Korea. It is not unusual for there to be 3 or 4 on the same side of the street or within a block or around the corner from each other. Koreans buy things at them all the time and they do a fairly good business here in Korea. There are some chain stores, but there are also loads of independently owned ones. Most of the people that own the independent ones are either retired from their original jobs or its a family business. The range of things that can be bought at these stores is staggering. They really are not that much more expensive than the big grocery stores or the department stores either!
Enough for now. I have to go back to my list and try to find some more neat things about Korea. There are lots more and I will blog some more in the near future. I also want to post some pics of some of the kids in my school.
I am off to see Jay Z tomorrow night with Tony, my friend from Ulsan. I got the tickets last week and I heard that Beyonce will be with him... rumour is that she got a visa to come here sometime this week. I have the day off work, so it will be the gym in the morning, clean the apartment and listen to Jay Z all day on the computer. I have a cd that has 800 songs from him on it. MP3s of course!!!!!! It is called Library of a Legend; Sean Carter, which is his real name for those of you who are not down with it..... hehe.
I can't wait to go and Tony is hyped too. It is at the Olympic Park in the Olympic Gymnasium and starts at 8pm. Tony should be down here about 4pm. I am meeting him at the bus terminal, then we will drop his stuff off at my house and then head to the concert. It takes about 40 mins by subway to get to the Olympic Stadium, but it drops you off right at the entrance to the place, which is cool.!!!!!
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