Top 10 Interesting things
about (our experience in) Korea...
10. In our city, we can hear
"Taps" being played at the Air Force base every night at 10:00 pm
(reminding us that it's our bedtime).
9. At the movie theater on
the Air Force base, they ask everyone to stand for both the Korean and the US
national anthem before the movie starts.
8. Our heat comes up from
pipes under the floor, making sitting on the floor the
preferred seat in the room in the winter.
7. At some of our favorite restaurants, it is customary to remove your shoes and sit on the floor to dine.
6. Christmas is more of a couples' holiday, kind of like Valentine's Day in the US.
5. Koreans try their very best NOT to get a suntan because pale is beautiful. They even wear tight sleeves during the summer and carry umbrellas. Haha, Laura's in the right place.
4. There are A LOT of customs regarding age, but one is that the youngest person in a group of people is responsible for serving the rest of the group. For example, at our favorite restaurant, it would typically be Laura's job to pour the water into the glasses, walk up to refill the side dishes (which are SO YUMMY), and cook the meat on the grill.
3. "Red is dead."
That is, writing someone's name in red is VERY unlucky, and it is akin to
"wishing someone dead."
2. Peanut butter squid is a
regular snack item at the movie theater.
1. There is a widespread
belief in Korea that sleeping with a fan blowing on you can cause "fan
death." The reasons behind
this belief are many, but three common ones are...
The fan chops up the air
molecules in the room, making them un-breathable.
The
fan causes hypothermia in its sleeping victim.
The
fan sucks the air out of the room like a vacuum, causing the person to suffocate.
Ah, international life is
never dull!
And...before you think, "Wow, what a weird place!" Stop
and think about what a visitor to the US would put on their top 10 list.
(Hmm...black cats, broken mirrors, exposing yourself to harmful sun rays to look "beautiful," the number 13...)
~Laura and Jonathan~
