Thirteen funny, surprising and iconic situations that you can’t escape on your trip to South Korea. Do you recognize any of them from your travels?
1) Toilets are everywhere
On top of a mountain, at a very remote tourist site that nobody ever visits, you name it. I only had trouble finding a toilet once in two months of traveling in South Korea and I can’t even remember where it was so the lack of it didn’t leave a lasting impression.
2) How did you find this place?
And when you do visit this very remote or unknown place they will ask you how you came up with the idea to visit. Without fail. Even if it is a big, well-known cafe in Seoul.
3) You’re from VERY far away
Strike up a conversation with a local and they’ll ask you where you’re from and how long it took you to fly to South Korea. I can even have this conversation in Korean and answer “from the Netherlands” and “10 hours” fluently. If it’s an elderly couple asking then they’ll spend the next minute or so talking among themselves about how far it is.
By now I can follow that entire conversation and interestingly enough: the further away from tourist areas you get, the better your pronunciation of Korean becomes (optimistic self-assessment). In rural areas, they understood everything I said while in Seoul I had to fall back to English. Fortunately enough, the more Korean you try, the better their English becomes… unless there is nothing to start with.
4) Set your own table
If you can’t find your cutlery, then it’s inside the table. They’ll only have to explain it to you once and you’ll make sure to remember it as not to draw stares from the locals. Also: water is free (an improvement over my country where you pay a premium price for it). Beware of finishing your unlimited refill side dishes early or they’ll bring you a replacement when you’re probably too full to finish your main dish already.
5) Breakfast is overrated
Who needs breakfast anyway? After failing my search for Korean breakfast restaurants on my first trip, I aced this exercise on my second one.
6) Cross that line
When driving, I challenge you not to cross that solid (double) line dividing two lanes. You may not know it, but solid lines are an illusion and only exist in the minds of foreigners. If you fail that challenge then you have successfully integrated into Korean society.
But just to keep you on your toes: when there is too much asphalt for you to easily decide how to turn left or right, they’ll paint the road like a work of art and add orange posts to confuse you about the path to take. (Light version in the picture above)
If this is too much of a challenge for you, you can always use a mobility scooter and drive in the middle of an 80 kilometers per hour road.
7) Zigzag on the sidewalk
Imagine you’re walking in a straight line towards your destination… you’ll be the only one. Locals will suddenly veer right or left or cross your path from out of nowhere without glancing backward even once.
8) Iced drinks for the win
Ordering hot tea or coffee is a challenge as they naturally assume you want it iced, no matter the weather. There’s an extra hurdle here: your way of pronouncing ‘hot’ is wrong. Watch and learn.
9) Outside is where it all happens
Most people live in small apartments so they spend a lot of time outside on the streets or in one of the many parks. It doesn’t matter how cold it is; the streets of Seoul will be crowded all day. Likewise, many holidays like for example Christmas are celebrated on the street as well which is great for tourists!
10) Exercise is good for you
Especially outside! With these exercise machines and the many mountains in the country, there is no reason for you to slack.
11) Join the queue
Around lunch and dinner time you’ll see big, orderly, queues in front of popular restaurants. This would never happen in my country as we reserve a table most of the time, but it is quite common in other countries. So if you’re too late to beat them, join them?
12) Dress well
There are kids on school assignments heading your way to practice their English on foreigners and take a picture with you as proof. As before, you only need to tell them where you’re from and say yes to their picture request.
13) Show don't tell
Luckily for you, if you’re traveling with your significant other, only one of you has to decide what to wear: the other can simply wear the same as that is what couples do in South Korea.
Does any of this sound familiar to you or did you experience the complete opposite? Let me know in the comments.
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