Comics illustrating a foreigner's life in Korea
I found this comic artist who does comics featuring what it's like to live a teacher's life in Korea. It's pretty cool, and I thought I would share some, or a lot, of these pictures with you and explain their significance to me.
Click the cut to read more!
It's not odd to be walking along the sidewalk and all the sudden see a motorcycle, perhaps carrying food, go rushing past. They usually don't go very fast, but it's always a little frightening. It is even scarier in Seoul, which is more crowded. There are streets with hundreds of pedestrians walking around and then all the sudden a car or motorcycle will come rumbling through, right in front of people. And sometimes they would ride right up onto the sidewalk! I spent the first few days being afraid of getting run over.
This happens every Saturday and it wakes me up when I'm trying to sleep. It drives me insane. Anyway, the first time I heard this I was in Seoul, talking online to one of my friends. I heard some guy announcing stuff in Korean on a loud speaker outside and I began to panic a little. What if it was for an evacuation? What if something bad was going on? I couldn't understand the language, so what would I do? Then I came to Incheon and began to hear it weekly. And found out it was some guy trying to sell me stuff. And now it just annoys me.
This is why I don't go shopping on the weekends, or try not to. The stores are packed, and people are continuously advertising the store's wares. Wanna buy a squid? Or maybe some meat? The minute you show even the slightest bit of interest in something they're all over you, trying to get you to buy it. It's almost like a market.
And yes, the woman really do wear those purple visors. They usually have a shade over the front that blocks UV rays but lets them see through it. It's like a form of sunglasses. And it kind of makes me laugh.
I GET THIS ALMOST EVERY DAY! We have our own temperature settings in the room, and every day the children are asking me to turn it down because they are hot. When they have their coats on. I tell them to take off their coats and they refuse, so I keep the heat up. It's my little way of getting revenge; I'm so mean. But seriously, it's ridiculous. And some of these kids wear coats and then two or three shirts under it.... it's insane.
I was given spam for the first time on Christmas. It was even wrapped in wrapping paper. It is still sitting in my fridge. What am I supposed to do with it? I mean, I know it's edible, but it's SPAM. Do people actually eat that stuff?
Phones are amazing here. My phone has text, a map of the subway (but only in Korean), a English to Korean dictionary, and mp3 capabilities. Oh, and I can call people too. And that's only the basics! 90% of people on the subway are glued to their cell phones, and they're all busy watching TV, listening to music, etc. 90% of people use their cell phones as mp3 players. It's insane.
This really surprised me when I first got here. I guess I was expecting them to kind of buckle up and speak in SLOW Korean to me, or even try speaking in English, but they do neither. Most of them just repeat the same sentence, as lightning fast as before at you, and you either stare at them and try to comprehend what they are saying or just answer ne/nay (yes) to everything.
This is so true. The other day I was coming in from shopping at 9:25 pm and I saw a nine year old girl eating dinner with her parents. Dinner at 9:25? Okay, that's kinda weird. But then you go to the store after work around 11 pm and you see mothers dragging their seven-year-olds through the store. Now correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't most kids in bed at 8 pm in America? Yet when I come home from work around 10:30 there are kids everywhere, walking around, playing basketball in the park. Hello, curfew?
I had this happen to me one time at the subway station. Now I carry toilet paper with me AT ALL TIMES. Some stalls just don't have toilet paper dispensers, and sometimes they're outside of the bathroom. It's really weird.
Koreans are immune to the cold. Or something like that.
I have done this a few times, though usually this happens with the kiddy stalls. They have mini toilets for small children. It's kind of cute, actually.
Yes, they have in-store advertisers. As if the talking machines weren't enough. This is the reason I shop late at night when most of these people get off. They will try to con you into buying something you really don't need, like toothbrushes that stick to the wall so you don't have to worry about germs (seriously). They will come up to you and start rambling at you in Korean, trying to sell things like toothbrushes or hair shampoo to you. I think I can pick out my own shampoo, thanks. And I don't really need a seven pack of toothbrushes, even if they DO stick to the wall.
This is the reason I wash all my clothes on Friday night or Saturday morning, so they have two full days to dry. And even then they are sometimes damp Monday morning. So I usually do a load of pants on Friday morning or Thursday night so I have something dry to wear to work. There's nowhere to hand our clothes up outside, so we have to hang them up inside our houses, which means they take forever to dry.
Kimchi opseyo = we don't have kimchi)
Because sometimes you get sick and tired of eating nothing but noodles, rice, and kimchi.
Aaaand that is all. I'll post more if I find some more good ones!
Click the cut to read more!
It's not odd to be walking along the sidewalk and all the sudden see a motorcycle, perhaps carrying food, go rushing past. They usually don't go very fast, but it's always a little frightening. It is even scarier in Seoul, which is more crowded. There are streets with hundreds of pedestrians walking around and then all the sudden a car or motorcycle will come rumbling through, right in front of people. And sometimes they would ride right up onto the sidewalk! I spent the first few days being afraid of getting run over.
This happens every Saturday and it wakes me up when I'm trying to sleep. It drives me insane. Anyway, the first time I heard this I was in Seoul, talking online to one of my friends. I heard some guy announcing stuff in Korean on a loud speaker outside and I began to panic a little. What if it was for an evacuation? What if something bad was going on? I couldn't understand the language, so what would I do? Then I came to Incheon and began to hear it weekly. And found out it was some guy trying to sell me stuff. And now it just annoys me.
This is why I don't go shopping on the weekends, or try not to. The stores are packed, and people are continuously advertising the store's wares. Wanna buy a squid? Or maybe some meat? The minute you show even the slightest bit of interest in something they're all over you, trying to get you to buy it. It's almost like a market.
And yes, the woman really do wear those purple visors. They usually have a shade over the front that blocks UV rays but lets them see through it. It's like a form of sunglasses. And it kind of makes me laugh.
I GET THIS ALMOST EVERY DAY! We have our own temperature settings in the room, and every day the children are asking me to turn it down because they are hot. When they have their coats on. I tell them to take off their coats and they refuse, so I keep the heat up. It's my little way of getting revenge; I'm so mean. But seriously, it's ridiculous. And some of these kids wear coats and then two or three shirts under it.... it's insane.
I was given spam for the first time on Christmas. It was even wrapped in wrapping paper. It is still sitting in my fridge. What am I supposed to do with it? I mean, I know it's edible, but it's SPAM. Do people actually eat that stuff?
Phones are amazing here. My phone has text, a map of the subway (but only in Korean), a English to Korean dictionary, and mp3 capabilities. Oh, and I can call people too. And that's only the basics! 90% of people on the subway are glued to their cell phones, and they're all busy watching TV, listening to music, etc. 90% of people use their cell phones as mp3 players. It's insane.
This really surprised me when I first got here. I guess I was expecting them to kind of buckle up and speak in SLOW Korean to me, or even try speaking in English, but they do neither. Most of them just repeat the same sentence, as lightning fast as before at you, and you either stare at them and try to comprehend what they are saying or just answer ne/nay (yes) to everything.
This is so true. The other day I was coming in from shopping at 9:25 pm and I saw a nine year old girl eating dinner with her parents. Dinner at 9:25? Okay, that's kinda weird. But then you go to the store after work around 11 pm and you see mothers dragging their seven-year-olds through the store. Now correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't most kids in bed at 8 pm in America? Yet when I come home from work around 10:30 there are kids everywhere, walking around, playing basketball in the park. Hello, curfew?
I had this happen to me one time at the subway station. Now I carry toilet paper with me AT ALL TIMES. Some stalls just don't have toilet paper dispensers, and sometimes they're outside of the bathroom. It's really weird.
Koreans are immune to the cold. Or something like that.
I have done this a few times, though usually this happens with the kiddy stalls. They have mini toilets for small children. It's kind of cute, actually.
Yes, they have in-store advertisers. As if the talking machines weren't enough. This is the reason I shop late at night when most of these people get off. They will try to con you into buying something you really don't need, like toothbrushes that stick to the wall so you don't have to worry about germs (seriously). They will come up to you and start rambling at you in Korean, trying to sell things like toothbrushes or hair shampoo to you. I think I can pick out my own shampoo, thanks. And I don't really need a seven pack of toothbrushes, even if they DO stick to the wall.
This is the reason I wash all my clothes on Friday night or Saturday morning, so they have two full days to dry. And even then they are sometimes damp Monday morning. So I usually do a load of pants on Friday morning or Thursday night so I have something dry to wear to work. There's nowhere to hand our clothes up outside, so we have to hang them up inside our houses, which means they take forever to dry.
Kimchi opseyo = we don't have kimchi)
Because sometimes you get sick and tired of eating nothing but noodles, rice, and kimchi.
Aaaand that is all. I'll post more if I find some more good ones!