Tell me about South Korea (Seoul)

[Tiger Beer]

Originally Posted by danielsa1775

Any Koreans hear? anyway from my experience Koreans have very strong family loyalty, extreme respect for elders and your status in society is very much determined by what sort of job you have, what school you went too, these are a really big deal in Korea.

From my experience they are not Drunks and are reserved quite people, the koreans will often tell me its the Jappanesse who are the drunk loud ones. Compared to Australia (home) however both races are reserved and quite. For the most part their is still an extreme dislike for anything japanesse in the country.

Koreans are the worlds hardest workers, weekends are short if existant at all, if you want to work their prepared for very long hours. What little time they have off will usually be spent drinking, eating, singing Kareoke or in a PC bang playing all thoes weird games. The country is also full of moutains, thoes who get outside often head to them, there are moutain trails everywhere.

Soju is toxic stuff, i dont know what it contains but its cheap and will give you a wicked hangover if you drink too much of it. The Koreans usually drink it straight, i prefer to mix it. You could try a somek (half beer and Half Soju) down a few of thoes and you could be on the floor in no time.

As for the women, well my wife was born and raised in seoul, so you could say my opinion on them is favourable. I have heard it many times they love white guys partially because they still preceive white guys as having lots of money, and partially because they just like white skin. If you work as an english teacher all the better! The white skin thing is a bit of a status symbol because koreans with whiter skin are the ones who work indoors, and are preceived to earn more money, the darker skined ones were traditionally peasents or farmers who lived outdoors. If your not white i am not sure what sort of reaction you might get. Korean girls almost always live with their parents until they get married, and she generally will not introduce you to her parents until it is confirmed you are actually getting marreid. Their are love hotels all over the place, and the DVD bangs often serve another purpose way more exciting than watching any stupid DVD.
Koreans are also huge gift givers, In my experience if you want a korean girl, by her gifts and often.

Most of this I would agree. But some of it just different opinions.

For example, I dont find Koreans to be reserved and quiet at all. They are loud. Everywhere they are loud, shouting in trains, in the streets, in public spaces. Very loud. Not reserved at all, they pretty much say everything they think, as if there is no check in place, regardless if it is appropriate or not.

I also disagree about the white people are perceived to have money. Not true at all. Pretty much all the white people in Korea, are teaching english in Korea. Koreans know exactly what are wages are in Korea, and most Koreans make significantly more money than foreign english teachers. Also, Koreans are much more generous...

Otherwise, I agree with everything else...but those two things, I just see a bit differently...maybe some other posters will chime in with their opinion as well.

[kofem]

koreans are not like japanese --totally different culture
there is a nightlife in korea but mostly in large cities i believe
and soju is pure alcohol or close to it i never heard of a drug being mixed in
remember to bow and wait for others to eat or drink
remember do not touch people
and bring presents for future bosses
take off your shoes when you go to someones house and be very respectful with women

[kofem]

i agree koreans are not quiet they yell when they get excited but are quiet in church
i dont agree that korean women want american men or white men for money there might be desperate souls but i dont think theres a majority===most koreans i know respect americans for being themselves

also koreans tend to want to marry koreans and brave ones dont --they marry who they love

[Sandpointian]

Originally Posted by stolpioni

I am currently learing the korean languange and I'm planning to go over there eventually. I just wanted to know a few things.

- How is Seoul in terms of food, culture, things to do, nightlife etc?
- What are the people like? Are they culturally equal to the japanese or are there any major differences?

Things like what korean people do on the weekends etc. is exactly what I'm after. How is it to live there? What are the women like?

I also heard some stuff about their national drink, soju, that it might contain some pschycadelic chemical. Is that true?
Can anyone tell me what it's like to drink it?

Cheers

Sexy. Hip. Fashionable. Passionate. Intense. Great food. A lot of love/hate consistent with their history, North Korea across the DMZ, and a foreign military presence. Very xenophobic.

Very intense lifestyle for Koreans themselves. Many want to leave due to intensity and expense.

S.

[recklesscognition]

I have lived in Seoul for 8 years, so I'm really over it, please don't be offended by anything I say! Food that is served in cheap restaurants is the lowest-quality food and it is nearly going bad. That's just how it is here, it should be expected, it is cheap. There are plenty of fine expensive restaurants (korean) that serve excellent food. BBQ is only cheap if you eat at the restaurants serving the old frozen meat. New, fresh meat is very expensive in Korea. A meal of 400g of fresh beef at a restaurant will run you at least 60 dollars. The frozen old stuff can be had for 20. Pork is a cheaper alternative.

Young people in Seoul have no hobbies, they study morning till night until they graduate. Then they work themselves to death trying to save enough money to be able to afford the ridiculous housing prices here. By the time they do that, they get married, have a kid, and then have lost most of their lives and know not what to do with it. The lucky few that break the cycle like to hike, ride mountain bikes on paved sidewalks, and hang out in the few fashionable areas of town.

Nightlife is great here though the options are limited after you start going too often. People will go out 7 days a week and there are no closing times. Drinks are not marked up very high in clubs, so it isn't too expensive. Cover is only charged in the bigger dance clubs. Women can be very nice.

Public transport is quite nice, lots of buses and subways. I do think Koreans are very loud people. They do everything loudly. They do not talk to people they are just meeting loudly, only when they are drunk, talking on the phone (like the entire country just got their first cellphone and is 80 years old, yelling into the thing since they don't think the other person can hear), and arguing over silly things. Quick tempered, don't cross a Korean, they get pissed off quickly, many of the men will try and fight so they can get the other person to throw a punch and then will take threaten to take them to court and get a bribe to stay quiet. Yes, happens a lot. Lots of pushing and shoving, and like some Asian cultures, Koreans are not good at forming lines to wait for things. They also cannot follow directions and walk on the correct side of a sidewalk or staircase in a public place. The government launched a city-wide campaign to get citizens to walk on the right side of everything and no one can do it. People are all over the place, running in to each other left and right and getting hit by bicycles while walking in bicycle lanes.

Soju is a horrible drink, it tastes disgusting and is horrible for you. I am a heavy drinker, but this is too much. There is no competition in the beer market, two distributor hold 95 percent of the market share and their beer is comparable to Milwakee's Best or perhaps Natural Ice in America.

Other than what I mentioned, everything is great here!