Korean Culture 101

There are many ways Koreans are just like Americans and many ways that they are different.  Today I will focus on some of the differences.  These are behaviors or beliefs that I have not seen before, either in the USA or in other countries I've visited.  Learning these differences has helped us more easily adapt to this new culture.

1. Korean Age
In Korea, they define their age differently.  In order to know how old you are in Korean Age, you look at the year you were born, subtract that from the current year, and then add one.  So, if you were born in 1979, you'd take 2018-1979+1=40.  There are two things to notice about this equation.  The first is that it doesn't matter if you've had your birthday already this year or not.  Everyone born in 1979 is 40 in Korean Age.  The second thing to notice is the plus one.  Here, they start counting at conception, not birth.  Another interesting point on this, is that everyone turns a year older on the same day.  New Year's Day is everyone's birthday.  They celebrate their actual birthday, but they don't count themselves a year older until New Year's Day when everyone gets a year older simultaneously.  What makes this challenging, as an expat, is that we are used to calculating our age differently.  So here, we give two ages: Korean Age and International Age, whenever anyone asks.
INTERESTING ASIDE: in the Korean language, the word for friend, 친구,(pronounced 'cheen-goo') can only be used to address someone born the same year as you.

2. Socializing with Friends at Cafes
In the majority of cases, all socializing is done outside the home in Korea.  Adults will meet for coffee at one of the umpteen million coffee shops.  Coffee shops are open very late here and adults drink coffee all day long.  When kids want to play together, they meet at a Kids Cafe.  All Kids Cafes serve coffee to the parents, but also have juice boxes for the kids.  Kids Cafes come in a variety of themes.  There are Cookie Cafes, where kids can roll out dough to make and decorate cookies.

There are Slime Cafes where you start with your basic clear slime and then you add scents, colored dye, glitter, and little baubles into it.  There are Lego Cafes, where you pick a Lego kit from their selection wall and build it right there in the cafe.  When you're done, you just give it back to them so they can take it apart again.  There are Pet Cafes where you can bring your pet and let it off its leash.  These are usually either specifically for cats or for dogs, not both.  

There are Zoo Cafes.  You do not bring your own pets to these.  The animals are already there.  You pay small entrance fee that gives you access to all the enclosures, a drink, and some vegetables to feed the rabbits.

There are Baby/Toddler Cafes with all the role playing type toys, like pretend kitchens, little baby toys, and these little pools (pictured below).  They put the baby's head through the inner tubes lined up along the back.  The kid just floats in the water.

There are PC Cafes where teenagers or adults go to play PC video games. In the pic below, you can see the rows of computer monitors.  I have never done this but apparently it's very inexpensive, like $1/hr.  Teenagers go here to hang out with their buddies.

There are VR Cafes where you can have your pick of virtual reality games. 

3. Day Camping
Anytime the weather is gorgeous, people drag their tents outside and pitch them in one of the many wooded parks nearby.  They will bring a picnic, a Frisbee, their dog, maybe a hammock and a book, and they will stay all day.  At sunset, they pack it all up in their red wagons and take it all home.

4. Honesty and Respect for Other People's Belongings
The picture below is one example of this.  This mall has a grocery store in it, as well as some restaurants.  My friend and I went shopping first and then got hungry.  The yellow tape on the floor denotes where you can leave your cart, full of paid groceries, while you go into the restaurant to eat.  No one will touch it.

Another example is that you can leave your bicycle unlocked all day long, and it will still be there hours later when you return for it.  My kids test this theory daily.

And lastly, 2 weeks ago, we wanted to go hiking and then have a BBQ at a friend's house.  We brought a full cooler bag of beer and food to the park where we wanted to go hiking.  We left it under a tree, on a picnic mat, with a birthday gift in a bag.  We hiked for 3 hours and then returned to where we had left everything.  It was completely untouched.  There were thousands of people in the park that day.  No one touched it.

5.  Parking etiquette
People double-park here all the time.  They will block in other cars that are also illegally parked.  These facts by themselves are not unique to Koreans.  What is interesting is that they will do 2 additional things.  First, they leave their cell phone number on the dashboard.  If the person they are blocking comes out, they will call the cell phone number of the person blocking them, not the police.  The second thing the person will do is to leave their car in neutral.  This way, if they don't answer their cell phone, you can just push their car out of the way, so you can get your car free.

These are all parked cars.

6. Daytime napping
Park benches here do not have armrests in the middle, preventing people from lying down on them.  On a nice day, folks will come outside on their lunch break and take naps on the benches.

7. Free and abundant restrooms throughout the city
The buildings here are multi-story with many businesses and restaurants on every floor.  Instead of each restaurant or business having their own restroom, there is one restroom on each floor.  I have only once run across one that was locked.  The restrooms are clean, and usually have soap and toilet paper.  I do carry tissues and wet wipes with me just in case.  But, you don't have to make a purchase to use the restroom.  You don't even have to have any other reason for being in that building other than you need to use the restroom.  There are clean restrooms in every park and subway station too.  Just take note if there is a picture on the door.  Not all toilets are the same (see examples below).  One subway station even had separate powder rooms (from the restrooms) for the women and men to fix themselves in front of the mirror.  The point is that in Korea going to the restroom is considered a basic human right.  They are free and available to anyone who needs them.

blue bar of soap between the sinks

separate powder rooms from the actual restrooms

8. Lending libraries in every park.  

These little phone booths filled with books are in every park.  The sign says you can take a book and read it while you're in the park, just please return it before you leave.  I have seen kids sitting on the benches near these little libraries, flipping through the books, while their parents work out on the outdoor exercise equipment.

9. Gloves and Face Masks
Koreans are very protective of their skin.  The clerks at the grocery stores wear gloves with rubberized finger tips.  I've seen women put on plastic food-grade gloves to eat hamburgers at a restaurant, so as not to get messy.  I see people wearing face masks all the time.  I think it is for a variety of reasons.  It might be a bad air day.  They might have a cold.  They might have a zit.  You'll never know.

10.  Smoking Prevention is serious.
Instead of a Surgeon Generals warning on the cigarette boxes, they have pictures of people with serious issues resulting from years of smoking.  It's enough to scare anyone away from even touching the box.  Outdoors there are special areas where you can smoke.  Like a glass cage to keep the smoke from reaching others.