So It’s a Survival Course…
I’m currently reading the Seoul Survivor and am finding it
to be quite interesting. I’ve already
discovered, within five minutes of reading, that I’ve already broken quite a
few rules in the Korean culture not to mention throwing in countless idioms in
regular conversation. In fact, out of
the twelve that the author suggests to erase from my vocabulary, in the twelve
hours that I’ve been up and about, I have already used seven of these. Not to mention that I find it quite odd that
a common greeting here in Korea is “Have you eaten yet?” and this is not an
invitation to go for dinner but just another way of saying hello. So yesterday when I said yes that I had eaten
and I told my co-workers that I had eaten by myself in the restaurant
downstairs they were shocked that I had been able to order by myself and against
Korean culture, had eaten by myself. I find it very relaxing to be able to go and have lunch or dinner by myself although I'm going to have to get used to people watching me while trying to be inconspicuous about it. I think I should take it upon myself to sit and stare back, even take it up a level and allow myself to be slack-jawed while watching them, lol. I wonder what other kinds of societal faux-pas I shall take part in while I'm here?
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