Korean Job Discussion Forums

[murmanjake]

I think big differences are talked about often enough here, but it'd be interesting to know how the little things stack up as well. I'd also like to know which differences hold true for most of the big 5.

Being back home for a visit now, I just realized that most windows in Korea slide open to the side, and windows here(New England, USA) mostly slide up.

Also, our towels are much bigger.

[jvalmer]

- Korean houseflies are smaller and grey. Where I'm from they are maybe double the size and usually black.
- Cicadas are ubiquitous in Korea and very noisy.
- Canadian banks are trending to opening on weekends and opening later in general. Korean banks went the other way.
- All urban left-turns in Korea are traffic-light signaled. In Calgary, if you driving a small car, you're risking being T-boned by a pick-up truck and killed at a lot of intersections. However there is much less of a risk of some dump truck running a red in Canada.
- U-turns are common in Korea, there are even u-turn zones. In Canada people are pretty hesitant to make u-turns. Same thing applies to honking.
- School uniforms.
- Korea has tons of people on the streets on Sundays.
- Korea has way less vagrants riding public transit. You probably will never have to deal with some Lysol smelling 'person' (if you're from the prairies you know what I mean) hassling you for money, or some drunk 19 year-old acting all aggressive.

[johnnyrook]

[indieROK]

Paper products: napkins, toilet paper, paper towels. Korea has seemingly different uses and practices for these common items.

Napkins the size of postage stamps.
Toilet paper rolls at the dinner table.
"No toilet paper in the toilet, put it in the bin."
No paper towels in restrooms (and no air dryers either).

It's confusing at first.

[weso1]

I was surprised (at first) to not see that many cars with crazy paint jobs, big rims, or booming speakers. That's everywhere back home, I just thought it would be here as well. I guess that's because so few young people drive here.

House fans look exactly the same, except they come with a timing switch.

Ordering in is very common here. Back home it's only pizza and occasionally Chinese food. You can almost order any food you want here and have it brought to your door. It's like a WoW player's dream come true.

[Joe Boxer]

Little differences...
- no hot water in the public bathrooms
- police lights flashing 24-7
- stalled cars are not pushed to the side of the road
- car ashtrays NEVER used
- most clocks seem to be 5 minutes fast
- watermellons are roundish
- pears aren't "pear-shaped"
- movie rentals are cheap
- people don't use keys to get into their apartment
- families keep children out later; late night walks in the park, late dinners.
- no daylight-savings time
- holes in your socks are funny
- apparently no goddam noise pollution laws
- theaters play cell phone commercials instead of trailers
- people take their own trash out of the theater
- Oh, and each K-pop song is a little different from the western one they ripped off.

[Swampfox10mm]

Koreans often drink warm water or lukewarm water and usually after rather than with a meal.

[pegasus64128]

[giraffe]

little things that are different ( to me atleast)

- No shower curtains
- washing dishes with cold water
- leaving cooked food out for long(ish) periods of time and covering it with a small peice of paper/foil soo small that it barely covers anything and eating it the next day. ( As if that peice of paper will protect the food from bacteria or fly....)
- wiping the floor at least 2 times a day.
- not washing hands properly before preparing food.
- touching someone elses food with dirty hands/ chopsticks ( as if if touching it will me it taste better? )
- obsession with Ginseng.
- going to doctors for the slightest symptom.
- older people not knowing how to clap hands , chew gum and do things that people should know how to do by their age.
- Door fixtures and trims in apartments are in odd configurations.

Sooo many more ...

[Mr. Peabody]

[giraffe]

[Died By Bear]

This isn't a minor difference, but what the hell...

I love walking into an upscale supermarket in my nice neighborhood, and everything is calm and ordered, music playing in the background, no one screaming and selling their wares out in the aisles and people playing chicken with their strollers/shopping carts. I love being the only one in a huge aisle, and having so many choices, at decent prices, and I love checking out the sales on good beef.

That is all I wanted to say.

[hogwonguy1979]

In Korea the power grid goes down because of excessive demand due to the "heat" when its only 85F (30C)

[UlsanBoy]

You never see anyone reading. ever.

[murmanjake]

One that I love:

Shopping cart wheels rotate in both the front and back, making them oh so much more maneuverable and fun to ride.