Hello! So it's been about a month since I came back from my 3-week exchange at Yonsei University 연세대학교 in Seoul, and it was honestly one of the best decisions I made. I'm planning to do up a quick photo/journal-style blog for each of the 25 days I was there (if there was anything interesting accomplished that day), which means that it will take "a while" for it to be done.. But for now, here's a quick little post on a few observations I made while in Korea, and my thoughts on them.


Bad driving
My gosh, do South Koreans drive terribly! And I thought China was bad. While I was in Seoul, bus drivers obstinately filtered into oncoming traffic, cars honked at each other all the time, taxis swerved in and out, and sometimes even traffic lights or signs were ignored. On the positive side, it must take a fair amount of skill and courage to drive in Seoul but as for me, I'll stick to safe ol' Brissie roads!

Seongsan-ro 성산로, Yonsei Uni


Ubiquitous beauty stores
I knew Korean beauty was a huge enterprise, but truly, they were everywhere! In more well-visited areas like Myeongdong, it was not uncommon to see stores like Tony Moly, Etude House, Missha, The Face Shop, Nature Republic, Skinfood, Banila Co and so many others jostling for your attention as you walked past them. For someone as inexperienced with Korean beauty as I was, they were places you went into, wide-eyed at the type of products, number of options and the myriads of colours available at every store. Then you turn the next corner, and behold, the same few stores are there too, and you wonder how franchising 3 stores within a 500m radius makes a sound business strategy.

As overwhelming as it was, going into those stores was exciting and fun (except for the fact you'd probably leave with your pocket that little bit lighter). Although that feeling of excitement died away a little in the middle of my trip owing to the overexposure to those brands, but towards the end, when I had to buy a few more things on my list, going into the stores rekindled that excitement and made me wish I knew that little bit more about Korean beauty. But I'll be back! Hopefully wiser and more prepared to tackle your cute packaging and overwhelming beauty choices!


Homogeneous fashion/beauty
It might have been the fact that it was winter, but it felt like everyone sorta looked the same.

For girls: Hair worn down and fairly straight/relaxed, no hair accessories, black eyeliner, a thick layer of pale BB cream, a red/pink gradient lip, a parka/coat, dark jeans, sneakers/boots.

For guys: Well... they kinda have more limited clothing choices so I'll excuse them, but they basically wore coat/parka, dark jeans, boots/sneakers.

I think what really surprised me was that unlike what I was made to believe, South Koreans don't seem to wear beanies or gloves that much. All those 'street-style' photos you see of cool Korean girls wearing beanies and a couldn't-care-less graphic top just weren't there! But again, it was winter; people care more about staying warm than getting snapped by street photographers, and I'm willing to make a concession that spring or fall would be a better time to people-watch.

Images from pinterest by searching "stylenanda winter"


Couples everywhere
By the second week, I started to notice couples everywhere holding hands/wearing their couple clothes etc., and I couldn't help but wonder: was there something wrong with me? I'm normally pretty confident in my singlehood (heh) but something about being surrounded by a considerably-higher-amount-of-couples-than-in-Brisbane/Singapore made me feel slightly insecure haha. If so many people my age have found their other half, surely I would have found someone by now? I can see why sogaeting 소개팅 (Korean-style speed dating) would be socially acceptable there. Since coming back to Brisbane, that awareness of being single has pretty much diminished to what it was before.

E.g. at the Ihwa 이화 Mural Village


Heating systems
Ahhhhhhh, nothing was better when I was outside in the cold than coming back to a room with heated flooring. This was reminded me of my trip to hot spring territory (i.e. near Rotorua) in North Island, New Zealand, where the toilet floor was deliciously heated to a nice toasty temperature for my feet. Talking about heating, the metal seats on Seoul's subway trains were also surprisingly heated--it was so warm at one point that I actually started sweating a little.


Sanitary issues
Why, oh why, when Seoul is so fantastically high-tech (see: technologically-advanced heated train seats!), we can't even flush our toilet papers down but have to throw them into a primitive wastebin at the side?? This is reminiscent of the toilet system in Taiwan, or China, where I've heard that the reason for this phenomenon is because their waste pipes are just too small to cope with the extra volume of toilet paper. Granted, I may have faced more of this problem due to the fact I was staying at International House (double room with shared bathrooms on each floor), in comparison to most of the other people in the WAY program, who were staying at Global House and had their own private bathrooms. Come every weekend (thank goodness I only experienced three of them), when the wonderful cleaner had those two days off, the toilets' wastebaskets became piled up with swaths of toilet paper and the stink intensified greatly. I only spent the required amount of time in there, and I got out pronto. Although most toilets I went to, whether in public or at uni, were as primitive as this, there were a wonderful one or two that had fancy biodegradable toilet paper which could be flushed down the toilet. Still, I expected better from you, Korea.
(Sorry, I didn't mean to spend such a long time talking about toilets, but this was a major gripe of mine.)


Further thoughts
Interestingly enough, I think Seoul is actually a lot like Singapore and China combined. It has the advancement and commercialisation that Singapore is known for, yet has the disorder and gross habits (smoking and spitting, ew) that China has. In that way, it was pretty familiar to me.

Seoul was also familiar in the sense that quite a few of the people there not only spoke fluent Korean, but could speak Chinese as well. This proved to be pretty helpful for me, especially in those beauty cosmetic stores and some of the busier food places as well. Definitely a bonus when you're bilingual! (It also helps if you can read and understand a little Korean as well, since not everything is in English).


xx

Labels: korea, seoul, thoughts, travel

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