5 Things I've Noticed While Living in South Korea

안녕하세요 여러분! That means, "Hello everyone!" in Korean.

It's been 5 months of me living and working as an elementary English teacher in South Korea. Holy, almost at the 6-month mark. While I'm almost halfway through my 1-year contract, I am reapplying to the English Program in Korea and will be staying for a second year. I know I will continue to learn more about Korean people, culture, and the language (eek!), but I thought I'd share what I've noticed (the funny and the odd) in these past 5 months.

**These are just observations from my personal opinion and outlook. This post is meant to be a conversation starter and not an attack on Korean people or their culture. Take what I've said lightly and feel free to message me your opinions or discuss this with the Korean people you know!

1. Spitting culture - YALL. With Kpop (Korean pop) and Kdramas (Korean TV dramas) on the rise internationally, they've created certain ideas of who Korean people are. Many people assume Koreans are well-mannered and poised like in all Kdramas. Sure, that can be true! However, sorry to burst your bubble, but even a handsome Korean man will openly spit on the sidewalk. I can say that the public spitting culture is alive and well here, but I am not living for it HAHA. Usually, it's men who are in middle school or above who spit in the streets, but I've seen women do it too! I will forever be haunted by the sound of someone trying to inhale all their mucus. Watch your feet for spit puddles -_-
   

2. Teeth brushing after lunch at school or work - Starting at a young age (I've seen grade 2 kids do this), students will bring their toothbrushes to school. You eat lunch in the cafeteria with your class, play outside, and brush your teeth. When I worked in Canada, I already had a routine of brushing my teeth after lunch, so I was delighted when my coworkers showed me the special cupboard in the teacher's bathroom where I can keep my toothbrush. Yay for dental hygiene!
   

3. Apartments VS houses - The majority of young Koreans live in apartments with their families. Buying a house is extremely expensive and pretty much impossible if you want to live in Seoul (the capital city). In Canada, houses are the norm due to lower prices (in some areas of Canada) and the vast amount of land we have. South Korea is a small country, so they must build up, not out, hence the rows and rows of identical-looking apartment buildings. I got to go inside a Korean apartment when visiting a Korean friend and his family and I liked it! Granted, some Korean kids sleep in the same room as their same-sex siblings when they're teenagers and even into their 20's due to lack of rooms.
   

4. Competitive education system - This topic always fascinated me even before coming to Korea. I've had a couple conversations with my Korean friends and coworkers about the pressure to succeed in Korea. What university you get into and your grades determines your entire future and your family's (financially). There seems to be no room for errors, or if there is, there's a lot of judgement from everyone. It starts as soon as grade 3. Many of my elementary students will go to public school during the day, finish around 2pm and go to their hagwons AKA private academies. Students may go to multiple hagwons in a day (ie. English, math) and also have extracurriculars like taekwondo or piano lessons. Students often come home to eat dinner with their family, do the piles of homework the public school and hagwons give out, fall asleep, and wake up early to do it all over again. It's not uncommon for me to see high school students sleeping on the bus in the morning on my commute to school. One of my coworkers works full-time at the school and works at a restaurant on the weekends so she can pay for her children's hagwons that cost 500,000 Korean won (~$550 CAD) per child per month. She has 2 children so she pays over $1000 CAD per month. Not only is there pressure on the children, but on the entire family. I told her about my relaxed school experience and she said she wishes she lived in Canada.
   

5. Traditional views on gender expectations and sexuality - Koreans tend to be more on the conservative side. Naturally, things are changing with the younger generations, but many foreigners feel like they cannot be 'totally free' unless they're in Seoul or in the larger cities where things are more liberal. Heterosexuality is the assumed sexual orientation of everyone and not many people, especially older, hold space for anything outside of that. There's still a lot of resistance and discrimination against the LGBT+ community. As a woman, showing shoulders, your stomach, or even a deep V-neck shirt is a no-no. I wear a cardigan if I'm wearing a tank top. Only when it's 31 degrees plus 97% humidity do I reluctantly take off my cardigan to expose my oh so scandalous shoulders. Despite the unbearable weather conditions and the fact that I'd die from heatstroke if I continued wearing my cardigan, I can't help but feel guilty and ashamed.

As a teacher in a very small town, I have a certain reputation and professional image to uphold. Will showing my shoulders cause the parents of my students to judge me and deem me as unprofessional? Will they think I'm unfit to teach their children because of how much of my upper body I show?

I don't want to offend anyone because this is their culture, but at the same time, it's sweltering hot and I can't breathe, so let me take this dang thing off!! It's an internal debate that I struggle with. What do you think? ALSO, for whatever reason, short skirts/dresses don't apply and are okay???

Thank you for reading this post! Feel free to comment or email me any questions you have about living and working in South Korea. I'll be writing another 'Things I've Noticed While Living in South Korea' post because I'm learning so much about the culture! Perhaps you'll even see a 'Dating in Korea As a Foreigner' post in the future ;)

Take care and stay safe,

Kira