a couple things that have stuck out to us while being in korea:
-women in korea are not afraid of the 5 inch heel. i have seen them wear them on subways, malls, walking on the street, and even farmers markets! even better, are these moms with babies in their arms still sporting a tall heel.
-while driving on the streets here, i have noticed that many people drive with a very casual, laid back attitude despite how crazy people drive. for example, the other day when i was at at red light i saw a motorcyclist waiting at an intersection also at a red light on a four lane road. traffic was backed up by 6 or 7 cars in each lane. suddenly, a motorcyclist came weaving in and out of the cars, trucks, and motorbikes so he could speed through the red light. i was startled of course to hear this loud roar from his bike, but even more surprising--the expression of the law abiding motorcyclist waiting patiently for the light to turn green. i saw his face as he was sleepily waiting for the light to change and as the traffic violating cyclist zoomed through, the motorcyclist didn't even flinch and he even managed to yawn. i couldn't help but laugh.
-i am finally beginning to understand korean comedy. at first i thought it was just cheesy, but it's actually pretty funny. many tv shows feature various competitive challenges with consequences that involve some kind of mild torture.
one show i watched had a group of 6-7 korean celebrities all in a very hot sauna. the challenge they had was to sing karaoke in the sauna without making any errors (the song was really difficult because it contained all of these phone numbers). if you made any errors, you had to stay in the sauna and wait for your turn again, but if you made it through the entire song perfectly, you could leave the sauna, dip yourself in the cool pool, drink smoothies, eat fruit, and drink as many cold beverages as you wanted. of course, the walls of the sauna were glass, so all of the sweaty, defeated, people could watch jealously as their successors ate and drank excitedly. people would mess with one another by pulling down shorts, tickling, or hitting them while they sang karaoke to ensure their failure. i know it all sounds kind of weird (and it is), but once you get used to it and watch it it's pretty funny.
-glasses here (particularly thick framed) are very popular. in fact, many people wear them here without lenses or with no prescriptive lense.
-people are not as shy to sing or dance.
-the "oooooh, ahhhhhh, wowwwwww" crowd response recording is used quite freely, and perhaps excessively, on korean television.
-koreans are hopelessly romantic. there are lots of "couples" products, such as matching t-shirts, cell phone chains, rings, and there's even "couples coffee shops". there are tons of buildings called "wedding building" or bridal shops. many bakeries offer heart shaped confections or boxes of chocolates for a romantic gift. lots of tv shows are devoted to setting people up on dates and matchmaking, but ironically, pda is not common. a kiss on the cheek can arouse many "oooh, ahhhhh, wowwww's" on tv.
-people only drink one cup of coffee a day here and usually the cup of coffee is measured less than half of a dixie cup. they believe excessive amounts of coffee is bad for one's health.
-eating out can be super cheap. pete and i went out to eat at a kim bop restaurant (like california rolls with cooked meat instead of fish). our meal consisted of two side dishes, two bowls of soup, and two rolls of kim bop. our bill: 2,000 won = $1.40 (and koreans don't tip--i don't know why, they just don't)
-customer relations/service workers are extremely helpful and efficient here. whether at a restaurant, in a store, or at our apartment building, people are always very courteous and take their jobs quite seriously.
i'm sure we'll add some more to the list later...
