Korean Job Discussion Forums

[crazy_arcade]

[bijjy]

[bijjy]

[bellum99]

The smell is the deoderant. Koreans don't wear it and I have had a student mention the smell. I think the clean smell is so at odds with their normal life that the smell of clean actually smells dirty to them. I am not joking...a lot of Koreans actually think they don't sweat and so they don't stink.

----The korean who said western people smell and hates them...well...perhaps she is one of these Koreans who doesn't shower and thinks it is okay to stand near me on the train. If I have to choose between the mixed smell of old socks and Kimchi or a pine smelling deoderant...I choose the western man.

[Don Calliente]

[Don Calliente]

[cbclark4]

When plumbing technology catches up with electronic technology.

Or, what's an "S" trap?

[Holoholo]

I found out last week the source of one particularly bad smell I'd come across often in my walks around town. I couldn't quite put my finger on what it was but it was a cross between rotting food and the oh-so- lovely smell of vomit. As my co-teacher and I were walking down the street, she commented on how she hated the smell off ginko trees. That was the disgusting smell that made me wretch every time I smelled it! Apparently, the female trees produce the stink and something inside of the shell of the nut produces the awful odor. When the nuts fall off the tree and people step on it, the shell breaks and odor hangs in the air. Seoul is abundant with ginko trees.

[mrsquirrel]

I find it quite worrying the number of Koreans that smell of mothballs (napthalene).

Everywhere this strange lingering smell moth balls.

[haute 4 teacher]

Ginkgo trees....interesting. There are quite a bit around here, but when I looked it up only the female trees smell. I'll have to investigate that later.

I feel as though I just missed an opportunity for a witty joke.

[jhaelin]

use a scrubbing rag when you shower.

[kat2]

The smell doesn't go away. I just get much better at hiding. Even when I go home, I don't notice any smells that my friends or family comment on. It's like I've shutdown one of my senses. I also notice myself subconsciously holding my breath as I pass the bondaegi stand or the sewer smelling end of my street. Sometimes I get distracted and don't do it, and then i realize that I've been doing it. Basically, it never goes away, you jsut get less sensitive and better at coping with it.

[R-Seoul]

Nothing beats the early morning stench on the 604 bus, that aroma of soju, garlic and rotting cabbage is a unique cultural experience.

[bijjy]

[da_moler]

This is a very interesting subject.

When I first came to Seoul, as a visitor for two weeks, I could smell rancid odors everywhere. Honestly, I felt physically sick all the time and during that holiday I lost a lot of weight because I couldn't stand to eat anything in that smell. Every reastaurant, bar, and even the streets - everywhere had a terrible smell.

Now, however, after returning and living here, I don't smell anything at all!

So, you definitely get used to it. I never thought that I could, but I did.