Subway etiquette in Korea

 

It has only been two weeks since I arrived back from Korea, but I am already missing the country like crazy. But more on that later. While doing some research for one of my upcoming blog posts about my Korea trip (stay tuned!), I stumbled upon this in the Seoul Metro website, and decided it would be interesting to share. ^.^

Not too long ago, I remember one of our ministers saying that even though Singaporeans may be compliant (we follow rules well), we don’t have much community spirit. In Korea, the sense of community goes without question, and people actually do go out of their way just to help you. Even though some of the etiquette here go without question, and we do the same in Singapore, there are some that caught my attention immediately.

2. Shameless free riders. Do you really want to exchange your conscience for small changes?

I am not even picking on the English here but this made me laugh out loud. I could totally imagine being scolded by an ajumma in these exact words. Tried to find the Korean version but apparently they have a totally different set in Korean. Shucks.

4. Fold your newspaper for others.

I suppose this means while reading the newspaper. It can get quite squeezy on the train seats. Maybe I just take up a lot of space, or I end up sitting next to people who do that, but I’ve never had a comfortable seat in the metro. I mean unless I sit at the end of the row. Nonetheless, I don’t really think there is much space to read the newspaper on the metro. If people don’t fold their papers then it would totally intrude into the next seat.

5. Even if you are in a rush, please wait for another train.

I am amused that this is even in written etiquette. It really signifies the community spirit of Koreans, always looking out for one another. In Singapore, the only reason you wait for another train is if it is impossible to get into the current one. I took the train once in Korea during rush hour, and even though there was a tiny bit of space left in the train, the commuters just waited it out and took the next one instead. I guess it was so as not to inconvenience the other commuters who were already in the train. That was nice of them.

7. It only takes 3 seconds to find a person to offer your seat to.

Respect for the elderly in Korea totally goes without question. The elderly there are treated so well! I guess they kind of have the same aging population crisis as do most other developed Asian countries. They even have seats at both ends of the train specially dedicated for the elderly. If you sit there by accident, people do give you weird stares. Kind of the same idea as the “priority seats” in Singapore, where people actually avoid sitting there. I guess now we know it works!

Anyway, I really miss Korea and hope to go back soon. I am trying to apply for a student exchange there, so I hope I get it! Wish me luck guys!

Learning Korean through Disney

I am a HUGE fan of Disney. For me, it really brings back memories of my childhood, and even during secondary school I remember being re-obsessed about disney songs. I even bought the Disney Magic CD and listened to it over and over again!

Then a few days, my friend introduced me to this video of this little French girl called Juliette singing A Whole New World in French for a talent competition! Watch the video below! She really is adorable, and the innocence fits perfectly ^_^

Anyway, after listening, I thought to myself, “Hey! maybe the korean version will sound awesome too!” So I went on youtube to search for my favourite disney songs…

아름다운 세상
그대에게 보여주리
말해봐요 그대가 보고 싶은 것들을
맘의 문을 열면
사랑으로 가득 찬
요술처럼 펼쳐지는 저 꿈같은 세상
아름다워
하늘을 수놓은 별들
어디를 가든지, 자유로워
정말 꿈만 같아요
아름다워
이렇게 신기할 수가
그대의 손잡고 날아가리
하늘끝까지 함께 갈테야
그래 함께 언제까지나
너무 아름다워
믿을 수가 없어요
수정같이 빛나는 하늘 날으는 기분
아름다워 (눈을 감지 말고)
하나도 놓칠 수 없어 (숨을 죽이고 봐요)
흐르는 별처럼 날아가리
다시 가기엔 너무 멀어요
아름다워 (아름다운 순간)
밤하늘 가슴에 안고 (가슴에 새겨두고)
마음껏 날으리
이 순간을 그대 함께 나누고 싶어
아름다워 (아름다워)
우리 세상 (우리 세상)
오 그대여 (함께해요)
이 순간이

This video is particularly good, it even explains vocab from the lyrics!! One of my favourite songs from Hercules (:

가만히 귀기울여 보세요
무당벌레 춤추고
작은 산새들은 노래해요
함께 살면 즐거워
산을 향해 소리치면
메아리되는 그대의 이름
나무 꼭대기 올라가면
바다 끝이 보이죠
우린 함께 있어요
그래 함께 있어요
이 세상은
하나가 됐어요
함께 있어요
그 누가 뭐래도
언제나 그대와 함께
그대 모습은
또 하나의 나
서로 서로 사랑을 하며
모두가 바라는 푸른세상
우리가 만들어가요
우린 함께 있어요
그래 함께 있어요
이 세상은
하나가 됐어요
마음을 열면
친구가 되죠
따뜻한 손을 내밀어요
함께 사는 세상
그대가 웃으면
행복하고
그대가 슬프면
나도 눈물이 나
함께 사는 세상
마음을 나눠요
우린 함께 있어요
언제나 함께 있어요
그대와 함께 이 세상은
하나가 됐어요
오 함께 있어요
우린 함께 있어
그 누가 뭐래도
사랑해요
우린 함께 있어요
따뜻한 사랑
사랑
우리 사랑
가슴이 따뜻한 사랑
언제까지나
행복을 만들어요
영원을 꿈꾸어요
행복을 만들어요
우리 사랑해요

This song used to be able to have the ability to make me cry every time i listened to it. This version, sung by Yoon Do Hyun, is really really good!

These are 3 of my all-time favourite disney songs, and I am now in love with the newly found korean versions (: The songs all sound so cool in Korean, and I love singing along! It is much easier reading lyrics because you already know the tune of the songs! And the pace isn’t as fast so if you like learning through songs, try searching for your favourite disney songs! Most of them should be easily found on youtube!

However, one thing about disney movies translated into korean is that they always seem to be dubbed by old-sounding people i.e. the people talking sometimes sound like ajummas. After they are dubbed, the voices lose their innocence, so the english originals are still way better IMO! But nonetheless, it’s really fun listening to disney shows in Korean! Best part? Your korean doesn’t have to be fluent to catch what they are talking about, so great for learners to practice listening as well!

If you like Disney and are learning korean, what better way than to merge the two! What are your favourite disney songs in Korean? Don’t forget to comment below!

[Books] This is Korea: All you ever wanted to know about Korea

 

Written by CHOI Jung-hwa and LIM Hyang-ok (2011)

Another recently published book, this is more of a travel-guide book. Although it covers roughly the same grounds as CultureShock! Korea (read my review here), this book is not nearly as detailed. This book introduces the things that Korea is famous for, and by introducing I really mean a short paragraph or two about the subject. Hence, if you are looking for details, this is not really your book. However, they do cover a broad range of topics from korean food to korean art so if all you are looking for is something easy to digest and brief, this is the book for you.

One feature I liked about this book was the fact that they used hangeul in the book. All chapters in the book had titles in korean as well, and this was useful for learning vocabulary. While covering the korean zodiac (which is same as the chinese zodiac), every animal had an idiom related to it in the book. (I will write another post on these idioms when I get my korean keyboard stickers, so lets keep it at this for now.)

I finished this book in 2 hours so you can tell how short is is – good read for a boring flight. Not nearly as detailed as I’d like it to be, so if you want to know more, you may want to stock up on other books that provide more information.

[Books] CultureShock! Korea - A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette

Written by Sonja Vegdahl, Ben Seunghwa Hur (2011)

Written in 2011, this book is probably one of the most up to date out in the market – perfect for someone looking for a 101 guide to etiquette in Korea.

NOTE – This is not a travel guide, but rather it is targeted more towards foreigners (or westerners) who will be working in Korea in future/are already there. Nonetheless, it is an interesting read even if you, like me, are just interested to find out about the culture in Korea without having to step out of your home country.

This books starts off with much generalization about the korean people and culture, and the unique differences between the western and korean cultures. Examples would include things like koreans never wearing shoes in their homes, how physical contact between close friends (eg. a close friend’s arm resting on your thigh) is normal, how different groups of foreigners are viewed by koreans etc. I am not sure how much of it is actually true, so take it with a pinch of salt, but keep in mind that most of these are just generalizations of the culture and I’m sure not everyone behaves according to what is written in the book.

Then, the author writes about how to settle in and manage culture shock in Korea. This is the part catered more towards expats moving to korea and it details how to find accomodation, transport, internet etc. Very helpful even for students going there for a study exchange in a particular korean university.

The next part of the book is would be similar to a normal travel book – introducing places/sights to see, the drinking culture in korea and the list goes on.

However, the most unique part about this book is that it introduces the business culture in Korea – in detail. Of course for the most part this is mostly generalization again and the old traditions and customs are rapidly changing, but it is still very useful to keep in mind, especially if you are or you’re planning to do business in Korea.

Overall, I really liked this book because it was exactly what I was looking for. The author was really detailed when delving into the culture part and covered most of the situations an average foreigner would encounter in korea and how to deal with those situations. I found that particularly helpful to note as it is extremely different from how I’d normally deal with those situations (in Singapore), and I would expect it to be even more so in more westernized countries. However, this book did contain much generalization so do take everything with a pinch of salt.

Very informative book overall and I would reccommend it if you are looking culture101 on korea!

My first encounter with koreans

I am an introvert by nature. I have a small fear of meeting people, but still I try. But the people I am most excited to meet… are koreans! (no points for guessing why)

Today, we (a couple of school-mates from the school’s korean cultural club and I) met a group of middle/high school students from Korea and brought them around singapore. It was a first for me in terms of proper interaction with koreans who could barely speak english. Thus I was forced to speak korean (or whatever little I could muster!)

I must say, it was an amazing half a day.

The only time I ever speak korean to ANYONE is in my korean language class at Daehan, because I always feel so self conscious when speaking korean and it just sounds all wrong when it comes out, even though it sounds fine in my head. (hmmm…) I’m sure I’m not the only one with this problem. Anyone, due to the lack of practice, speaking korean today was a struggle for me. I’d like to qualify that some of the students could understand simple english, and they did an awesome job of translating, but I spoke whatever little korean I could to some of the younger students who weren’t very good in English.

Challenge #1

What to talk about?

You know in dramas when they have this.. “…” sign to signify awkward silences?

Well, it wasn’t so much of an awkward silence, but imagine a tour guide who could barely speak Korean leading a group of Korean students who could barely speak English. There were times when I couldn’t think of anything to say while they chattered in Korean among themselves. I felt a little left out, or maybe guilty that I wasn’t entertaining them properly.

Challenge #2

How do I say it in Korean? (ponders for a really long time, before giving up and just saying it in English)

And the thing about not speaking in Korean frequently is that you kind of know your stuff but you take really really long to extract it out from your brain, and out of your mouth.

One of the more embarrassing moments..

[when I needed to leave]

Me: (to friend) I need to leave!
Me: (to korean students) 가.. 가.. 가야 돼요.. (in a super unconfident voice..)
Bubbly korean students: 가야 된다구요? (before I could finish my previous sentence)

Anyway, I stopped at that and just replied 데 because I didn’t know what to say and I was embarrassed that such a simple 4 words took so long to come out of my mouth, even though my brain was working on overdrive trying to find the right words.

Challenges aside, this experience is one that I will definitely treasure.

1. I made new friends – they have both facebook and kakaotalk (hooray for SNS and technology!)
2. I had lots of fun – we even endured hardships (the sweltering hot sun) together
3. Learnt new things – apparently Korean muslims pray on Saturdays while Singaporean muslims pray on Fridays. Is this right? Someone please enlighten me!
4. Spoke korean for the first time outside of class – miserable attempt, but attempt all the same!
5. First korean to wish me 화이팅 personally!

One of the baby steps you take when you learn korean (or any language, really), is to force yourself into a situation where you would have no choice but to speak the language, whether it be visiting the country, or hosting an international friend.

I will definitely be doing this again!