There are many things I have come to know about Korea after living on this land for almost a year. Instead of writing about big and important things, I wish only to write about something trivial and insignificant or should I say my simple life in Korea.
1. Underpasses don't go underground, they go straight. Roads are built over underpasses instead of underpasses going underground beneath the roads.
2. The button at the traffic light is not meant to activate the green man. Instead, it activates voice assistance which is meant to help visually handicapped cross the road safely.
3. There is no need to give detailed information when approached by people for direction. It is adequate to point in the right direction and say "쭉 가세요" (go straight). Because anyway, Korean will ask the next person at the next corner for direction again.
4. The word 'complex' (콤플렉스) in Konglish doesn't mean complicated or shopping complex. It means lack of confident. For example, 'face complex' (얼굴 콤플렉스) means lack of confident in one's look.
5. Patbingsu (red bean ice) is more expensive than ice cream. A tub of ice cream can be bought for 3,000won or less but a bowl of patbingsu can cost 5,000won or more. Depending on how you look at it, ice is pricier than ice cream.
6. Stock prices rise is indicated by red up arrowhead while drop is shown by green down arrowhead. I thought this is an ingenious way of warning people to prepare for drop while the stock prices increase and stay calm while the prices ditch.
7. There are more Dunkin' Donuts outlets than McDonald here. As Dunkin' Donuts like to take up corner units for their outlets, in some way, you can say there is one Dunkin' Donuts at 'every corner'.
8. Ajumma won't sell her crispy and tasty 'pajeon' (fried pancake) if you refuse to buy 'dong dong ju' (a type of rice wine) from her. What I want to say here is pay for the 'dong dong ju' even if you don't drink because the 'pajeon' is so delicious here.
1. Underpasses don't go underground, they go straight. Roads are built over underpasses instead of underpasses going underground beneath the roads.
2. The button at the traffic light is not meant to activate the green man. Instead, it activates voice assistance which is meant to help visually handicapped cross the road safely.
3. There is no need to give detailed information when approached by people for direction. It is adequate to point in the right direction and say "쭉 가세요" (go straight). Because anyway, Korean will ask the next person at the next corner for direction again.
4. The word 'complex' (콤플렉스) in Konglish doesn't mean complicated or shopping complex. It means lack of confident. For example, 'face complex' (얼굴 콤플렉스) means lack of confident in one's look.
5. Patbingsu (red bean ice) is more expensive than ice cream. A tub of ice cream can be bought for 3,000won or less but a bowl of patbingsu can cost 5,000won or more. Depending on how you look at it, ice is pricier than ice cream.
6. Stock prices rise is indicated by red up arrowhead while drop is shown by green down arrowhead. I thought this is an ingenious way of warning people to prepare for drop while the stock prices increase and stay calm while the prices ditch.
7. There are more Dunkin' Donuts outlets than McDonald here. As Dunkin' Donuts like to take up corner units for their outlets, in some way, you can say there is one Dunkin' Donuts at 'every corner'.
8. Ajumma won't sell her crispy and tasty 'pajeon' (fried pancake) if you refuse to buy 'dong dong ju' (a type of rice wine) from her. What I want to say here is pay for the 'dong dong ju' even if you don't drink because the 'pajeon' is so delicious here.
wow thanks for sharing! I can't stop laughing when i was reading this :D
ReplyDelete5,6 are the funniest. I can't wait to try patbingsu. it looks so delicious ^^
you can eat all you want when you go for your exchange but prepare a lot of korean won cos' patbingsu is an expensive dessert. a bad news is korean won is starting to appreciate in value. it may become very ex by the time you eat it.
ReplyDeleteyou may want to start stashing up korean won while the exchange rate is still favourable.
ohno. ): The earliest I can go for an exchange will prob be june next yr. I've never been abroad so there's loads that I dunno. Do all money exchanges offer the same rate, or is there anywhere that is particularly good? >.<
ReplyDeleteOf course not all money exchangers offer same rate. There is one store in Chinatown which offers one of the best rates. You can easily identify it by its long queue. It is very near to the chinatown station's exit (near to OG).
ReplyDelete