Seoul

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This place is whack. I don't have any better explanation for what it's like to be in South Korea. Let me elaborate on what it means to be whack. It's busy...super busy.

Stores stay open until at least 10 pm, sometimes 12, sometimes all night. I actually like it because it makes for a more energetic city at night...but it also demonstrates how dedicated to work people are here and how ingrained it is in the culture. I'm here for work and my project team's average working day is 9 am to midnight (and that's just average). It's crowded, especially the streets. NYC and LA have nothing on the traffic in this town. Add to it that traffic lights and lane markers are merely suggestions and you've got a crazy driving culture.

Culture...if there is one thing I like to explore when I travel, it's the characteristics of the cultures I visit. This means people's habits, the food they eat, their lifestyles, their workstyles, their funstyles, the transporation, art, music, architecture, social norms, social taboos and anything else that distinguishes one place from the next. Safe to say, South Korea has a TON of distinguising characteristics...at least for a westerner who has never been to asia. Here are a few:

-after lunch, at work, the bathrooms are jammed with koreans brushing their teeth
-every toilet i've seen has an electronic bedet and a seat warmer
-dinner generally consists of some sort of raw food. i ate raw crab for the first time here. i probably won't go back for seconds. i also ate jellyfish for the first time. it was delicious.
-at my client site, the water fountains don't have cups, they hace flat, white, water proof envelopes that you fill with water and drink from.
-living - you live with your family until you are married and then you move in with your partner, often in one of your parents homes. nobody lives alone
-drinking - they drink A LOT here. the other night, as a hazing ritual, i watched people sequentially drink a mixture of beer, whisky and red wine out of a large salad bowl. narsty.
-kareoke - they love it. absolutely love it. i did my best rendition of George Micheal's "faith" and it was a hit.
-politeness - Koreans have an odd dichotemy of being extremely polite in direct interactions and shocking rude in anonymous environments. for example, if 15 people are waiting for the elevator, they all rush to get in first when it comes. and people cut you off all the time when you are walking (and driving)

It's not "bad", but it's not for me. For whatever reason, I don't feel very welcome here...it's just not a warm environment. I wonder if Koreans feel the same way when they come to London or the US. This weekend is my last weekend here and I'm going to give it my best. Every place deserves a second chance and Seoul has 2 days to prove that it's worth its salt.