Cray Cray Korean Culture

 

  For those of you who  are thinking  this post is about narcotics and sexual endeavours I’m afraid you are  reading the wrong  blog .Although the title suggests such indulgences , this post will be far more fascinating especially for those who have yet to leave the western shores. In the short two months that I have been here I have come across some weird and wonderful Korean customs . Despite all the research that I did before embarking on this new adventure , google failed to mention some vital points and as a result I have found myself in numerous uncomfortable situations.
 

"Spit and don't swallow rule"
In western societies we have been taught that when one needs to cough or get rid of an irritation in one's mouth we simply take out a tissue ,  subtly cough up what we need to and politely throw it away in a bin or alternatively swallow if a tissue is not in reach.  It seems that Korea never received memo about this one.  Instead you will find yourself in a situation where you may be enjoying a lovely delicious Paris Baguette  pastry  on the streets of Korea , only to  have your experienced ruined  by a  pig like  snorting  sound ,  then a sound  that resembles a thunderstorm . What is the result of all this noise you may be asking? A lovely fresh warm pool of saliva which usually ends up within a  1 meter radius of where you  were walking or even worse on your shoes. Personal space is not a concept that is widely understood here in Korea.

I finally understand this concept of " inside shoes " and” outside shoes ".  I would have a house infested with Korean saliva if I were to wear my outside shoes inside.
God forbid you put your bag down on the street , you will either need  to toss that out and invest in a new one or soak your bag in detol or any  other detergent you can get your hands on.

So yes snorting and spitting your bodily fluids on the streets is totally acceptable. However , blowing your nose  in public or not brushing your teeth after lunch  , these my friends are crimes you don’t want to be caught doing.

 Brush , brush  brush
I’ve always viewed myself as someone who looks after my pearly whites. Brush after breakfast , brush after dinner is the standard general procedure for most people , although I do know a few people who find it too difficult to commit to this twice a day. For those of you who fall under that category, perhaps you should move to Korea. They will very quickly help you change your poor teeth brushing habits. Toothbrushes stuck onto the classroom wall. Toothpaste on the edge of the sink in the staff room. I kid you not. 12 :50 comes and you stand no chance getting into the bathroom as you have a couple of hundred students frantically brushing their pearly whites. You stand no chance of getting a cup of tea in the staff room either because the sink and the general kitchen area are being dominated by tooth brushes and toothpaste. It really is quite a bizarre sight.

" Sniff , dribble but don't blow"
Coming from a Western society  blowing your nose in public is regarded as  a totally socially acceptable   thing to do as long as the nose blowing doesn’t lead to you shoving your finger up your nose. Here in Korea however I do  not encourage anyone to pull the same move. I made the idiotic mistake of attempting to blow my nose on the train .From Korean death stares to people actually moving a seat away from me , I have never felt so belittled in my life.  Moral of the story sniff , get off the train or let your snot dribble down your nose.


For all the weirdness and wackiness that Korea has to offer I really do love this place  and embrace their cray cray culture. Life is never dull here and I hope it never gets to a level where I am too comfortable .

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