South Korea was so different!
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Recently I visited South Korea. First of all, I must confess I had an absolutely wrong idea of this country as I thought it was completely Americanized. So, I didn't even make the effort of learning "Hello," "Please" and "Thank you" in Korean before going.
The youths all study English but, like in China, can hardly use it. When buying things, hands are the most useful instrument. Public signs (except commercial advertisement) are written in Korean, English and Chinese, and sometimes Japanese also. But there are differences with China's English; for instance "Way out" is always used instead of "Exit". Street names are indicated in Latin alphabet, but the spelling is not standard and I was never sure whether Kyong, Jeong, Geyong were different names or the same.
Not only South Korea was different from the one in my imagination, but its historical culture, its art concepts, its way of living, and the way people consider non-Koreans and interact with them immersed me in a word totally different from China.
My first impression was an olfactory one: From the moment I got out of the airport, I smelled "wood", just to discover that the country is totally green. Mountains and hills, making 70 percent of the area, are visible everywhere and are all covered with forests and woods. In the fields are rice paddies or vegetables. On both sides of the highways are trees, and on both sides of the city streets and hutongs, are potted plants, flowers or red chilies. In a way to allow cars to circulate in narrow alleys, people use plastic pots that are cut vertically in two with a flat back. What an ingenious space saver! It was raining when I arrived, what could amplified the wood odor on streets and in parks, but I noticed that houses, museums, and commercial buildings also smelled of wood, as Koreans use a lot of wood in building and decoration.
My second impression was that Koreans were disciplined drivers and pedestrians. Coming from China, it was not difficult noticing the difference. Street light system is very well organized. I saw no pedestrian crossing a street on red light or where there were no white lines. The lines are large and they go in two directions, allowing a crowd to cross in one or the other direction without bumping in other pedestrians. Following the rules, I never had to check whether a car or a bicycle would hit me. It was good to feel safe!
I had met a Korean couple on my flight from Beijing, and they invited me to Chungju, in the center of the country. Staying in a real family for three days, I had a chance to learn about Korean customs and culture. For example, it's compulsory to take off your shoes not only in a house but in temples, some boutiques, and even in traditional style restaurants where people sit on the floor around a square low table. I also learned how they make the omnipresent kimchi (picked vegetables), and the soya sauce, in huge quantity that they keep for two to three years. Some restaurants boast having 10-year-old da jiang.
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