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. (^_^)

Sujin and Jeong Eun

I was also very happy to recently have had the chance to spend time with my friends Sujin and Jeong Eun! They're so funny and so much fun to spend time with.

Actually, I recently realized that when we hang out, we always eat. I don't know why! So I told them we have to start doing OTHER thing too. And we will go to a singing room soon. :) Korean singing rooms are awesome!

The first time the three of us were able to spend time together since I returned to Korea was pretty recently. I went to Dobong to shop at HomEver, and they met me there. It was my idea to eat pizza because there was a place called Pizza Mall that had inexpensive pizza.

Well... let me tell you (sorry Pizza Mall)... this pizza was BAD! All we got was pepperoni. The problem wasn't with the cheese, or the sauce, or the pepperoni, but with the crust! It was dry and SO bland. No, worse than bland! Of course we ate it anyways.

In the end, we had 1 peice left but we were all full, and the next 20 minutes were spent trying to decide which unlucky person would have to eat it.

My opinion? DON'T go to Pizza Mall! Here's a list of pizza places you should try BEFORE you eat at Pizza Mall...

1. Dominos (I think it's the best in Korea. It's better than the Dominos in US)

2. Mr. Pizza (surprisingly, I like it more than the following)

3. Pizza Hut

4. Papa John's

5. Etang Pizza

6. ANY pizza place (except Pizza Mall)

7. A dumpster behind one of the above pizza places

8. The floor of one of the first six pizza places

9. Pizza Mall

Ok ok ok... it's not quite THAT bad - I'm just being dramatic. Give it a try and see for yourself. It seems there are some other people who like it.

ANYWAYS - some people don't know - but I have problems being anything but honest. This includes telling white lies. I don't believe in it. So when we were leaving Pizza Mall, Sujin and Jeong Eun beat me to the register and the lady said something to them in Korean. Then they looked at me and said, "Yeah... Chris... what did you think about the pizza" and they directed me to confront the lady at the register and answer her question... ... ... so I said, "ummm... next time, I will choose a different kind of pizza."

Which is true - except there won't be a next time ;)

On the left is Sujin, and on the right is Jeong Eun. Sujin is the one who plays the piano at my church.

SEVERANCE Hospital??? WHOA!!!

Ellie and I were walking around in Sinchon (pronounced Shinch-un), a well known area of Seoul, when suddenly I saw this enormous and well-known hospital called Severance Hospital.

Severance?!? How SCARY! I would never want to go there! Why on earth would they give a hospital this name??? Yikes!

"I'm sorry, we're going to have to cut it off." - and that's about all I imagine their solution is.

Of course I'm just joking. I'm sure it's a great hospital... but seriously, change the name!

I asked some of my students about it, and that never occurred to them. They thought severence had something to do with being saved. lol! I was like... "nope... guess again..."

French-Fried Korean Face?

Ellie and I went to Burger King (seriously... it was her idea, so don't judge!) and I made a face out of french fries. My USUAL idiotic behavior. When I was finished... I realized the face looked Korean (with the exception of the burnt eye. No symbolism intended... it was just the only fry short enough and I didn't want to bite down a new one).

How bizzare. You be the judge. Agree? Or Disagree?