Sunday, January 30, 2011

Swings and Roundabouts (Part 2)

picking it up again here. I preface all of this by acknowledging that what I am comfortable with isn't what is inherently right. Without further ado, here are 5 things that are harder in Korea. 

1. Grocery shopping. The bane of my Korean experience. I've never been a good shopper, but I really struggle here. Partly it's hard because my Korean is dreadful (my own fault). Partly, it's hard because Koreans eat different foods to what I am accustomed to (their fault?). 

Mostly, it's hard due to cultural differences. Koreans have a different concept of personal space to what I have grown up with. Australian cities and towns are sprawling affairs, fueled by the knowledge that there is a pretty decent middle to the continent that is basically uninhabited [citation needed]. Korea is exactly the opposite, with the 22nd greatest population density in the world, as opposed to Australia's ranking of 233rd [Yes, Wikipedia said so]. I like to imagine (while grossly oversimplifying culture) this is why Koreans are much more likely to position themselves in a place where they are touching strangers for as long as it takes to choose which vegetables one might want to buy - which can take a while in any country.

In addition to personal space differences, Koreans and westerners have a different idea on how to behave towards strangers. In the west, we are (supposedly) polite towards strangers, while more likely to be distant towards the vague acquaintance we work with or live near, etc. Koreans, instead, have a concept of in-group versus others (according to the books we have read).  They are conscientious towards people in their in-group, maybe work colleagues, family, club members, but less bothered by strangers. I almost daily get to enjoy being in an in-group as a co-worker, but struggle with being a stranger in a crowd. It is not uncommon to see someone block a grocery store aisle with their trolley (editor's note: cart for y'all Americans) as they casually browse the shelves, or push in front of others to taste a free sample.

Anyway, shopping = harder.

2. Pedestrian safety. Koreans drive their cars like they drive their shopping trolleys. They park them like they park their shopping trolleys. This could be well out from the curb, congesting traffic, or more commonly, by mounting the curb and parking their car on the sidewalk - which, let me tell you, is a bit of a surprise until you get used to it. It makes sense, and is an efficient use of space when there is almost no on-street parking, but I am still getting my head around dodging moving cars (and motorbikes!) while window shopping.

Something Emily and I initially found interesting was that people rarely J-walk in Korea, particularly at traffic lights. Road rules aren't especially policed, so why this aversion to a law that everyone breaks in Australia? Well, we now think it is because of the aforementioned lack of road rule policing. Drivers in Daegu run red lights at will, especially fast food delivery motorbikes, who blow their horns, close their eyes and keeping going almost regardless of the flow of traffic. In such a situation, J-walking becomes a much more dangerous proposition.

3. Home maintenance. We rent a place in a 5 floor building where the landlords occupy the top floor. This is very convenient in some ways, we can ring their doorbell whenever we have a problem, and they are the most obliging lovely couple. But then what? How do you mime that plunging the toilet didn't solve the problem? Do you take the plunger with you? How do you explain that there is an odd water build up along the external walls that is resulting in mould? And most pertinently during the winter, how do you explain that sometimes the hot water doesn't work or disappears mid-shower only to return 10 minutes later after you're freezing, dry and dressed?

4. Cold school. This problem is almost universally complained about by foreign teachers working in Korea. Apparently, the school administration likes to save money on heating bills, and Koreans believe that cold, fresh air is good for our health (maybe it is, I don't know). I say 'apparently', because I haven't experienced this problem, my school is toasty warm except when students leave the staff room door open. Em's school, however, is cheap about heating. She recently got such cold toes that they exhibited signs of frost bite and we had to cancel a ski trip. Fortunately the toes seem to be healing now.

5. We aren't near all of you, our faithful readers (Ohhhhhh!). Nah, I lie, the cold showers are so annoying that they deserve a second mention.

I keep having to remind myself that I've never lived in a place before where I was so free to choose whether to leave or stay, meaning that Korea comes under closer scrutiny than I would normally subject my home to.  Em and I are loving living together, we love being in Korea, we love the area in which we live. 

This time, I'm really finished.

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