Kyla In Gunsan: Differences Between My New and Old Home

This is going to be a little list of some differences I've noticed between Korea and America. Reminder: I'm not very cultured, so some of these might not be as odd as I find them to be, but this is the only place I've ever seen besides America, but some of them are so strange to me!

There are no stop signs in Korea. None. At all. That's why people drive like crazy around here. The streets are tiny and there are ALWAYS people walking/biking on them but taxis and cars don't slow down or move over, they just honk. There are basically no driving rules. You just go! It makes me wish I had my car here! haha Pedestrians also do not have the right away. One day I'll remember that one. haha Also, red lights are just a suggestion. I've been in so many taxis here that run red lights, it's unreal. They just look both ways, don't slow down, and keep going! (Sorry mom, I'm still alive though!!) One taxi new we were scared and he ran a red light and made a funny noise showing that he knew we were scared. It was hilarious. Probably had to be there for that one though. I've also witnessed a long line of cars sitting at a red light and no other cars were coming from any direction and the cars behind the first ones were honking telling them to go. haha So weird. They also park anywhere. When I saw 'anywhere', that's an understatement. They'll just pull their car up on the sidewalk, get out and go. Oh, Korea!

Now on to a more positive note so my mom feels better for a second. Most Koreans are so, so, so incredibly nice. It might just be because we are foreigners and walk around with a confused look on our faces 99% of the time, but they are almost always willing to help. Here are some real life examples. When we were in Jeonju, we were at a coffee shop trying to warm up before we continued walking. Before you know it, these two older Korean men come up to us and start asking us where we're from, what we're doing in Korea, what we think of it so far. Their English was excellent. This isn't as common in older people unless they're businessmen or teachers usually. So he talks to us for few minutes and finds out we're all going to be living in Gunsan after orientation. He then gets out all of the business cards he has left and tells us that he lives in Jeonju, but if we ever need help with anything, give him a call because he was born and raised in Gunsan. How sweet, he could have easily just left. We'll never call the man, I'm sure, but it's the gesture that was so sweet. Here is another story that I heard in orientation from one of the previous English teachers. She and some friends were in Seoul and they wanted to go to a Dog Cafe. (This little beauty is exactly what it sounds like...unless you think it's a cafe that serves dogs. haha If you think that it's a cafe where you can buy a coffee and sit on the floor and play with about 30 dogs, then you're exactly right!) So it's a little slice of heaven for dog and coffee lovers, so naturally they wanted to go. They were standing on the street with this lost/confused foreigner look that's all too common around here, when a man asked if he could help. His English was limited but he knew they needed directions to the Dog Cafe. He tried and tried to look stuff up for them but couldn't get the directions across because of the language barrier. He then says, "Wait!", and calls someone. About five minutes later, a women with much better English pulls up, gets out of her car and tells the girls where the Dog Cafe is. They thanked the kind people and were turning around to go towards their destination when the lady decides to lead them there herself. She said it was about a ten minute walk, lead by this sweet Korean lady and she dropped them off at the Dog Cafe, they thanked her again and she made the long trek back to her car. Who knows what that sweet lady was doing before she got the call, but what ever it was, she dropped it and came to help these lost foreigners. So sweet! I can't get over it! I had more examples, I just can't remember them right now, but you get the point!

They recycle all trash, everywhere you go. McDonalds..separate trash for food waste, plastic and paper. Cafeteria..same thing. Your house...same exact thing. I have a tiny trashcan that is for food wastes and I'm supposed to be separating my trash as well. I'm not very good at it yet, but I better learn quick! I think this is why it's so hard to find a trash can on the streets. They're almost non-existant. But if you do find them, it's normally a tri-bin trash can and you have to try to read the Korean and figure out what goes where, or try to match the other trash that's already in it.

That's all I have time for today. I have more, but I'm about to meet my Mentor Teacher to see my school!!! Stay tuned for a post about that, I'm so excited! I'll leave you with one more "Great Inventions of Korea" before I go. You're welcome! (Disclaimer: I don't know if Korea actually made these things up, but I discovered them in Korea, so that's what I'm calling it.)