Koreans don't know street names

Okay - well, here's something that's shockingly bizarre to Westerners when coming to Korea. In Korea - they don't know the street names of even the busiest and most common streets! No joke!

There's a very busy street running right down the middle of Jongno - a famous part of Seoul. It goes past a cluster of famous locations and tourist areas, such as Insadong, Myongdong, Seoul Tower, Doksugong Palace... and several other locations. When I first arrived in Korea I wanted to learn my way around as quickly as possible, so I asked somebody, "what's this street, here?" as I pointed the aformentioned street.

"I don't know..." they said.

I was blown away. Since then, I've learned, Korean people just don't consider street names. Nobody knows the street names! It's crazy (from my perspective)!

This probably brings up a bunch of questions. So how do Korean people contemplate directions? There are a few ways.

1) What area of the city do you live in? Different parts of the city have different names. The city is sectioned off.

2) Are you near any famous landmarks or mountains? Those have names.

3) Are you near a subway stop? The subway system in Korea is great. So you can ask a taxi to take you to part of the city - and you can just name a subway stop and they'll take you there.

That's about it. And that's how you have to travel.

I hope this LONG overdue blog entry clarifies any misunderstandings! It's VERY difficult for my friends back home to understand why I don't know my own address - where I live! I don't know what street I live on... etc. It's not common knowledge, even for the locals! lol

Don't ask me how DHL or UPS or the mail system works... - I can guess, but that would make this post a lot longer and more boring. Suffice it to say, they have a system that works.

I know this is a poor analogy... but this is how I think about it. I think about a messy office. If a stranger walks in, you can't find ANYTHING because it's organized in a way that only the office owner knows (like a certain person's house that I know!). But to the office owner, when you ask for something, they can get it very quickly.

Get it? Got it? Good!

Wonder Girls! - So Hot [MV] English Subbed

Sorry this post is so late!


If you've been following my blog since I started it - when I had my first job in Incheon - you might remember me talking about the Wonder Girls. They are a Korean pop group - and they're very popular. You can always hear their new songs playing when you walk down the street in front of shops in the city. I posted their first hit single "Tell me" when I started this blog. I thought I'd give you an update. lol - because they have a new song that is very popular. So here's the music video.





Anyway - of course, they are very cute girls - but they're very young. They're all teenagers. I think the youngest of them is... 15 or 16. I don't like the first video I posted "Tell Me" - but actually I don't think this video/song is so bad.



My friend Forrest HATES it and everything they represent. hahaha

Severance Hospital - EXPLANATION!!!

Okay!!! One of my students at YBM was so curious after I told her what "severance" means in English, she looked up the reason why many hostpitals and medical services in Korea have the name "severance" on them!

By the way - if you didn't read my previous post on the huge, well known "Severance Hospital" that I wrote in July 2008, go read it! It's short and has a picture.

So, apparently, "Severance" is the last name of an English speaking foreigner that came to Korea and opened hospitals and medical services! Thank goodness! That makes a LOT more sense! And it just happens that, in Korea, many Koreans misassociate the word "Severance" with positive things instead of remembering the guy.

How interesting! If I can get more information on this dude, maybe I'll make a third post on this topic.

Sunday, 3 August, 2008 - a great day

Today I went to church in Dobong, again. It's so nice! And every time I go there, I think to myself, "wow! Such a nice area." If I could live in Dobong, I might just do it.

Anyway, there's a special walk that I like to take after church. There's a nice stream and, in certain spots, lots of Korean kids and families like to play there in the water. It's probably about 2 feet deep, maybe a little more. Along the waterway, you can see lots of people doing different things: playing in the water, playing basketball, jogging, riding bikes, and other stuff; but you can also see the nice view of the mountains, the sky... it's just a great walk to take after church. I'm not sure if I could ever get tired of it.

So, today after church, Sujin and I walked back to the area near where she lives and she coaxed me into going into the water. I was reluctant, at first, but it was such a nice day! I knew I would get all wet.

Anyway, when I got in, there were some little kids. One of them could speak English. She was definitely in grade school - and not higher than 4th grade. Her English was actually pretty good, and of course the kids are cute. They started a splash fight with me and asked a few questions. She told me her mom made her study English.

It was a great day. (^_^)