Alright, here are my final thoughts about Korea.
Korea:
Favorite places to visit in Korea:
Disclaimer:Alright, I realized that my rating of favorite mostly had to do with the amount of people (the fewer the better), the neatness of the place, and the scenery. Haha. So yeah, if those places suddenly have an influx of people or is disorganized, they might get off of my list....
Least favorite places to visit in Korea:
Disclaimer: in the same logic as my idea of favorite places to go.... these are often the most crowded places.....
#1 LOTTE department store or any department store - Unless you are there for a specific shopping purpose, it's just like any other department store. They usually sell more American stuff, because those are the rare items you can't get in Korea. LOTTE is FULL of tourists who want to get a lot of make up in bulk at tax free prices. Too many people and too many tourists. I really don't like to go unless I really have specific things I need to buy....
#2 Hongdae - I know, a lot of people like to go there for the shopping and atmosphere... but personally, I don't feel that they are that big on shopping. Clothes-wise, there aren't as many stores to shop from than Ewha University street. They have a lot of restaurants and A LOT of noraebangs and clubs. There are also a lot of buskers that garner a lot of attention from onlookers. This is young-people central..... which is very happening at night. But for me, I really don't find it very interesting... and I often finish walking around in 30 minutes or so :(
Favorite Food in Korea:
Favorite things to do in Korea:
#1 Clothes shopping - so cheap and so good. But take good care of them because some quality isn't so great, so they tend to break faster. You cannot try on any clothes (except some stores that let you try on pants or skirts by letting you wear a "tent" and then let you change inside the "tent"), so you gotta have a good eye on what fits and what doesn't. Most clothes I was looking at are either 5,000 KRW or 10,000 KRW. You can get a lot of nice looking stuff for cheap.
#2 Cafes - they have really nice cafes everywhere. But yes, the coffees are expensive.... you gotta be willing to pay for the price of atmosphere!
Things that I find surprising about Korea.....
Disclaimer: Not bashing Korea, because I really love that place! But there are a few things I don't understand about it... and just some of my thoughts at this time...
- I think something that still puzzles me is that why Koreans don't really say "excuse me" if they want to pass someone. They would either just try to squeeze through, or they would try to figure out how to squeeze through without talking to you...... sigh.
- People seems to always walk in danger of on-head collision. Somehow they always walk straight towards you and you're thinking "should I move now, or will they move when they get closer?" But no, they won't move.... it's almost like a joust and you're trying to determine the winner by seeing which more cowardly person is going to move away first -_-.
- The young people in Korea seems very self-absorbed in their lives and beauty. Everyone is very well dressed, but they seem to only live in their own worlds and have no thoughts about people around them. However, people who are married or older seem to be much nicer and would be more likely to help you out if you ask. HOWEVER, people are usually a lot nicer once you get to know them. Everyone Korean I know from the program is super nice! But I'm pretty sure it's because I actually have a relationship with them, so they are more prone to help me out.
- Korean makeup store employees will ALWAYS hover over you. It's really scary. Actually, a lot of store employees will always hover over you..... everything you touch they will say something about it. Just try to ignore them if you don't like their help.... at least that's what I've come to do...
- People don't wear sunglasses here. If you want to stand out a lot a lot, go ahead and wear sunglasses everywhere.
- Koreans drink a lot of alcohol. I always thought Kdramas overdramatize the drinking... but no! They do drink a lot! One Korean told me that the bbq places don't like it if you don't order alcohol because that's where they make money.... so you see a lot of people drinking in the bbq places even till late at night. People drink everyone... at parks, near Hangang, in airports (yes, I saw a bunch of Koreans buying Taiwanese beer at the Taiwan airport and passing one can to everyone, and they all drank it at the airport near the gate while waiting for the airplane. I was really shocked because they drink it like coke or juice...), baseball games, school (our program had a big party at the school stadium and I heard they drank until past 2am... I was not present to witness, but my roommate was).
- Cheese is the "in" thing! You would think Asians don't like to eat cheese... not so in Korea! If it's trendy, it will have cheese on it. Cheese tteokbokki, cheese inside hotdog, cheese katsu (inside the katsu), and a whole lot of other cheese stuff.
- People who don't normally wear makeup will wear makeup everyday in Korea. Why? Well... we think of it as having "manners" in Korea. Koreans generally dress and groom themselves very well when they go outside.... so not wearing makeup is like you just decided to wear pajamas outside. I know Americans do that anyways, but it seems quite rude in Korea. Just so that I don't look super terrible to others, I try to wear makeup everyday if I remember. One day I got too lazy and didn't do it, my teacher asked if I had enough sleep last night because I didn't look so good..... yeah, my face doesn't "shine" if I don't do it.
- Koreans take care of their skin very well, so everyone wears sunscreen when they go outside. Which we really should...... so I started doing that more consistently now.
Other travel tips for Korea:
- When you shop at any store, if you spend more than 30,000 won, they will give you a tax deduction receipt for you to get tax return. If you have your passport with you, some stores will give you back the tax credit immediately. If you don't have your passport, they will give you a receipt that you can get tax credit back when you go to the airport kiosk to get it done.
- Google map was a big help for me. I think the Korean roads are a bit confusing for me... maybe I'm really used to the American roads where an intersection consist of only 4 directions. In Korea, an intersection usually consists of AT LEAST 5 directions and I get super confused on which way is which..... If it were not for the little arrow on Google map that points in the direction your phone is, I'd get super lost.
- Koreans don't use Google map. They mostly use Naver map. It's in Korean... so if you know a bit of Korean, it will help you more than Google map.
- Most bigger stores will have employees who speak Chinese, but not so much English. If you know Chinese, just ask them if they speak Chinese instead.
- Korean makeup store will almost ALWAYS give you a face mask in your shopping basket or in person when you walk in...... they're not free if you're not planning to buy something! But then again, some of them don't mind it very much if you take it. I've always lived in places that don't just hand you "gifts" that they WILL give you only if you BUY something.... so I was really nervous when they hand me those masks and I always want to give it back to them.....
- Definitely learn some Korean before you come.... it will help you at least a little bit :) Along that line, learn Hangul. It will take you less than a day to learn it (I learned it in 2 hours!), and it will help you at least read everything, which a lot of it will just be straight translation from English, or it will sound a lot like Chinese (if you know Chinese)... so you can just guess the meaning.
- Things to buy in Korea (from my experience) are makeup and clothes. Clothes are pretty trendy and cheap, and makeup are about the same price as in the US (Korean brands), but without the tax.
- Bingsu is expensive :( No matter where you go, it's about 8,000 KRW for one :(
- It's better to do currency exchange in popular places like Myeongdong. I exchanged some of my money in the airport and then realized the Myeongdong exchange rate is maybe 100 won per dollar better.... which if you exchange a lot of money, it makes a lot of difference.
- T-Money card is gonna be your best friend. I probably spent more than $50 on transit.... sigh. But yes, you gotta do it. However, I probably should have planned my day better so I don't keep taking subways or buses for one stop only.......
- While most tourists will be inclined to use subway as their primary means of travel, buses are sometimes the better option. Why? Because sometimes the buses take you from A to B directly, while you may have to walk to and from the subway stations. Traveling by buses is pretty easy.... if you have something like Google map with you ;)
- You don't need to press the button next to the light pole when you want to cross the street! Yes, I know we do it in America, but not so in Korea! I heard that they are for the vision impaired...... so they talk when you press on them. They don't make the lights go faster. Bleh. I was pressing them for 2 weeks until someone told me.
- If you take Asiana or Korean Air, you can check in your luggage in Seoul Station 3 hours before the flight so you don't have to lug them around if you still want to shop in Seoul some more.
General Travel Tips
- Eucalyptus oil! I was using them for the five weeks I was in Korea to prevent getting sick... and it works!!!! I gave it to Darren and Adele before going to Taipei thinking that I am at the last leg of my travel and there is no way I would get sick... well, I got sick. The people I gave to on the trip who have sick people next to them, used it, and never got sick! Seriously!! It works!
