Little Differences

Going to a new school in a new country with new people is quite an adventure, but sometimes it is the smallest things that strike you as odd as you go about your day to day life. Here is just a simple list of things about Korean culture or Handong/dorm life that I am still adjusting to. They are not negative things, and not things I dislike. Just little, fun things that remind me I am far from home.

1. People here usually walk very slowly, and quite often in groups that are hard to circumvent (even in America people don't walk in groups as often as they do here)

2. It is not considered weird for men to walk arm in arm with one another

3. Men wear make up in Korea and get perms for their hair (not all men, and it is not always extreme, but still...)

4. Breakfast is not the same here--it's just a meal you eat in the morning, so a Korean breakfast may include hearty soups or seafood that we consider to belong in an evening meal

5. Very little drinking of beverages typically happens during a meal, and the cups are tiny. At the cafeteria, there are water fountains near both exits that you go to after the meal to get a drink

The water fountain

Typical size of the cups

6. Asians are pretty economical in most areas, which means that not a lot of A/C is used. The classrooms here can get very warm, and the hallways are even worse

7. My mattress is very thin compared to my bed at home. I heard it was because Handong wants students to spend little time asleep and as much time studying as possible, but who knows if there is any truth to that...

This is all the padding we get, and it isn't a very soft pad

8. And of course, this is Korea, so don't get too attached to your shoes being on your feet. They have to come off before we enter our dorm floor, and they are certainly not allowed in our rooms

9. One thing that I am still getting used to is how important age is, because it is a big part of the culture. One of the first questions you get asked by anyone is how old you are. Although this is not a blanket statement by any means, their treatment of you can change depending on if you are older or younger than them. As a younger person you defer to your elders almost always, and if there is an age gap it might be harder to become friends with a person just because of how their culture works. As a foreigner at a place like Handong this has not had any negative impact on me, but age is still very important here

So that is my short list. I could go on for a lot longer if I wanted to.

Upcoming: On Tuesday, September 17th I leave for a trip to Seoul. School shuts down from the 17th until the 22nd for a nationwide holiday known as Chuseok--otherwise known as the Korean equivalent to Thanksgiving. I will hopefully have some good pictures and stories from that trip, as well as the sight-seeing I got to do this past weekend. Look for more updates soon.

Thanks for reading!