Korea Semester Abroad 18: Conclusion

Keen Korea #1: Eating & Drinking

The cost of food in Korea is very cheap, topped only by a few countries (e.g. Vietnam). Water is even free in restaurants, bars, etc. Tap water is also safe to drink.

But also the good stuff: beer, soju, Pepsi & orange juice, as well as fried chicken, oxbone soup, dakgalbi, bibim, kimbaps, kimchi, fish ... as long as it's local from Korea, you rarely pay more than €7.

Keen Korea #2: Public transportation

One of the best experiences in Korea, as strange as it sounds among all the other impressions. At the beginning you buy a "T-Money" card, which can be used throughout Korea for buses, trains & cabs:

• Scan at the entrance: Amount up to the terminus is debited.
• Scan at the exit: Costs for remaining stations are refunded.

No ticket inspectors, no ticket machines, no fare maze. You can top up at any convenience store. Only for the express trains KTX, ITX and Mugunghwa does a seat have to be quickly & easily reserved & purchased via the website.

All public transport also has one thing in common: cheap & delays "없어요". Cabs are a wonderful alternative due to their sheer number and low prices, especially late at night.

Keen Korea #3: Convinience Stores

The American conviniense stores have also made it to Korea. And they are everywhere. At most every 200 meters in larger cities: "GS25", "7-Eleven" and "CU". Open 24/7, these supermarkets selling a variety of groceries and odds and ends for everyday life are like Korea's kebab shops gone grocery store. People always like to take a quick detour here to get a quick drink, onigiri/gimbap or something else and then get back to the action.

Keen Korea #4: Karaoke & Photos

Wherever there is nightlife, there are karaoke bars. Here you can sing and dance with up to 8 people in a noise-insulated room for as long as you like into an overdriven, reverberating microphone at a volume of 100. 3 songs cost around 1000₩, i.e. 70ct.

Drinks, if you don't already have enough in your blood, can also be included. Everyone does it anyway. You forget everything here, even the time. Afterwards, the remaining people usually go to one of the many self-photo studios that are open 24/7 and buy a Polaroid for another 1000₩ as a souvenir of the successful evening. Typical K-evening:
Eat together -> 1-x bars -> karaoke bar -> photo as a souvenir.

Keen Korea #5: The people

As little English as the Koreans know, they are just as helpful once you have started and managed a conversation with them. Especially the young people. As hard as they learned in their childhood (we'll come to that in a moment), Koreans party just as hard at night. It's quite normal for people to mingle in the club, chat, get together and travel the streets together. It's the same during the day - if you're looking for help or company, you'll find it.

Kooky Korea #1: English

Due to the World War and the Korean War until 1953 & the support of the democratic USA, we assumed that many Koreans knew English well. Nope. English was only added to the education system in the 90s. Before that, military regimes were used to fight communism and poverty. For this reason, the population is roughly ok in English under 30, but not above that (restaurants, hotels, convenience stores, etc.). Those who can only speak English halfway are unfortunately less likely to speak it due to Confucian and conservative attitudes and the fear of saying the wrong thing and thereby offending family honor. A lot of communication therefore takes place with hands & feet, "K-English" and the Korean we have learned.

Kooky Korea #2: Food

Even though it's damn cheap, the food in Korea is very greasy. Everything is deep-fried. Thanks USA. Accordingly, the intestinal flora is working well: Diarrhea pills were used up after 2 months and then given up. In addition, food is always well seasoned - the spiciness helps the intestines less... Good bread, cheese and fruit / vegetables, except oranges and kimchi, are also very expensive. Food & drink is incredibly cheap, I said - only as long as you stay local. Away from here you end up with the "normal" or even higher prices.

Kooky Korea #3: Mosquitoes & Weather

In August & September alone, it was incredibly humid & hot in Korea. I don't even want to know what it's like here in high season. By the way, Asians sweat a lot less than us Westerners - because their skin is thicker, which is why it looks so clean. Autumn then lasts for maybe a week. The late drop in temperature in December then happens incredibly quickly and suddenly it's two digits below zero. Until then, there are the mosquitoes. My God... Our dormitory had fly screens everywhere and yet we had them around us EVERY night. I probably lost 1 year of life to bug spray.

Kooky Korea #4: Racism & "Private" - Clubs

There were no notable incidents of racism in Korea. The only noticeable thing was the search for night-time party opportunities, as many clubs are inaccessible to foreigners. Admittedly because there were incidents of harassment etc. by idiots interested in culture and feelings. In Daegu, often from the Americans' northern military base. Whether this is the right method is debatable, but it was definitely the biggest "racism" incident.

In Seoul and Busan, foreigners are more common and there are fewer problems due to "habituation". Not yet in all other cities. Somehow, world tourism has still largely spared Korea. On the one hand, this offers authentic insights into the culture, and on the other, you are sometimes looked at like a unicorn here. The (older) Koreans say: "The hammer hits the nail that sticks out". Prejudices or not, everyone here has the same hairstyle and black hair. People try to conform to standards. Plus the masks: Oh my name memory.

Kooky Korea #5.1: Education system

Through personal conversations and the "Korea in Motion" module, I learned that I would not have survived as a child in Korea. To cut a long story short: There is no childhood until university. Questionable grading patterns, such as "relative grading", continue right through to university: Certain student percentages get a 1, 2, 3, .... This means that if everyone is great, some will still fail and if everyone sucks, some will still slip through the system.

It all comes from high school days: 6 days of full-time school + 1 day of private tutoring. Why?
In Korea, it is (still) not really important for job application processes what individual qualifications (or grades) a student has. What is important is which university the student graduated from. If it was one of the "SKY" universities (Seoul National University, Korea University, Yonsei University), they have a good chance of getting a well-paid job. Otherwise not.

Kooky Korea #5.2: Education system

The result is a domino-like educational competition to get into university. Logically, the popular universities only have enough space for the best students, which is why everyone from kindergarten onwards tries to get the best grades. Of course, this involves learning more than everyone else and dancing to the system's tune. That's how it gets out of hand. The famous high school final test also dates from this time: CSAT, in which there are no airplanes, work, etc. and students throw up the WHOLE high school on a paper in ONE day.

The whole thing is now still relatively complex in monopolies of tutors and purchased exam solutions and is rooted in the hectic, poverty-stricken short but hectic history of Korea out of colonization and wars, which quickly resurrected Korea from rubble and ashes as a phoenix after 1953. But one thing is clear: this is not healthy in the long term. As a result of this system, Korea has an incredibly high suicide rate of 29% and a general 74% depression rate among adults due to social isolation and a lack of individual support during childhood.

Kooky Korea #6: Road traffic

It's nothing really bad for me personally, but holy shit. Road traffic in Korea is wild. Drivers don't know how to blink, even if they're not in a BMW, they can't park, just stop or do other wild things. Honking is a normal language of communication, crosswalks are street decorations and traffic lights only apply to some cars. Every car also has tinted windows, looking for eye contact and then crossing the road is not an option here. Ambulances wait at red lights, while scooter riders are allowed to ignore everything. Scooter riders... young ones. It's like giving our nimble cyclists from Darmstadt a line of coke, 100 hp instead of an electric motor and poking an eye out.