The culture and lifestyle of each country are different from each other, and people have their unique characteristics apart from each other. Today I will introduce seven unique characteristics of Korea. To locals, they are natural, but to foreigners, it could look odd.
Friendly Koreans?
Source: Newsworld
The friendliness mentioned here is not the ones that help in need, but ones that are "too active in showing friendship". These people usually pair up and try to make a conversation with you, and once you get talking, they introduce you to their religion.
I have met these people in the past, and whether you are a child or an adult, they will approach you and try to start a conversation. They still start saying if you know how to get to a random place, or if you could do a quick questionnaire for them. There are many ways in which they try to get you.
Source: Aljazeera
If you happen to open a conversation with a stranger and realize that there is something suspicious about them, stop the conversation and walk away. The best thing is not to talk to them in the first place. Just say you don't speak Korean and walk away.
No stray cats and dogs on the street?
I don't know if you have noticed, but there are very few stray animals in South Korea. The most common animals on the streets are pigeons. Compared with dogs, stray cats are easier to find. If a stray animal is captured and not adopted within a set period, as regulation, the stray animal will be euthanized.
Kimchi in every meal?
There is this joke where a Korean asked a Japanese "Do you eat sushi every day?" and the Japanese person replied saying "Do you think that is possible?". Then the Japanese asked back, "Do you eat kimchi every day?" and the Korean replied, "Yes!"
It is one of the traditions for Koreans to have kimchi served in every meal. Whatever the meal is, kimchi cannot be left out. You will see kimchi being served in every Korean restaurant.
Eating Alone
For Koreans, it was not common to eat alone, but this has become a thing of the past. More and more Koreans are starting to eat alone, and a one-person meal option has been added to many delivery services.
The reason why eating alone in Korea was not common is because, in the past, if you ate alone in Korean society, it meant you have no friends and lack social skills. However, for most of the younger generations eating alone is convenient, easy, and money-saving, and now you can see many people eating alone. You can even see more restaurants designed to serve just one person per table.
Racing Taxi Drivers?
Anyone who has taken a taxi in South Korea would know that taxi drivers are very good at driving. Although it is a bit scary when a taxi driver does a U-turn in the middle of a road, this is quite common on Korean roads. Some lanes are used explicitly for doing just U-turns.
Although Korean drivers have rough driving skills, they are very cautious when it comes to the crosswalks and sidewalks.
Hair Curl in Public?
Korean teenagers and early twenties have this new trend of rolling their hair in public. It looks like they came out in a hurry, and they forgot to take their hair rollers off, but surprisingly, this is intended.
Some only put on the hair rollers to save time when preparing for a date. When they arrive at the place, they take it off.
Korean Couples Have No Limits?
Young Korean couples have no limits when it comes to love. They would celebrate their 100th, 200th, 300th days and so on. They celebrate Valentine's Day, White Day, Pepero Day, Christmas, and many more days. They would match clothes, shoes, phone cases, and put each other's pictures everywhere. However, as it quickly boils, it cools down just as fast.
I don't know if these characteristics can be seen back in your home country, but you will see more than one of these characteristics here in Korea. If you have anything unique to your country, share with us in the comment below!
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