While that's a pretty judgmental comparison, things generally aren't better or worse between the two places, they're just (say it with me) different. So here are some differences I've seen so far between the US (my home country) and the country I'm currently expatriating in, South Korea.
The first thing that stood out to me was the public restrooms. Let me start by saying that public restrooms in the US range from pretty good to downright disgusting. Korean restrooms have that same spectrum. I've seen some that made me feel comfortable, and others that seemed to be a portal directly into the depths of Hades. However, I think that's about where the similarities stop and the differences begin.
I still remember my first trip to Seoul. I was excited and in love with this shiny new city. It was adorable really. Everywhere I went, I was wide-eyed and gleeful and myself and all of my friends (also new to Seoul) all declared our love for this amazing city. Then I went into a restroom. First thing I noticed: most restrooms here are not climate controlled. At all. If it's winter, that skimpy plastic seat will feel like the cold touch of death on your posterior. It's almost nightmarish.
The second thing I noticed is that in some places, there is a hole in the ground where the toilet ought to be. My first reaction was, "Oh this toilet must be out for repair". After finding a proper toilet, handling business and telling my expat friend about this, he laughed and informed me that the hole was the toilet.
What you talking bout Willis?
That is called a squat hole. I haven't used one yet and being extremely Western, I simply refuse to. But in Eastern countries the squat hole is far more common than a toilet, a sentiment which both terrifies me for future travels and concerns me that the Western countries will eventually fall to an Eastern country and as punishment for our arrogance, squat holes replace all the toilets. Okay, that's not a realistic concern, but somehow that's what my pathetic imagination turns to.
Another fun note, in Korea, flushing toilet paper is pretty much frowned upon. Instead of flushing it, in most restrooms you'll find a small wastebasket beside each toilet. Where (wait for it...) you place your used toilet paper. I haven't seen this in full effect in summer, but I can only imagine how crazy weird that must get.
Okay, last restroom related difference. In the US, there is a nice clean liquid soap dispenser with a button you press and out comes a proper portion of soap. That exists in some areas of Korea. In other areas, there is a thin metal bar which swings between the two sinks. At the end of that thin metal bar, there is a ball of soap. You wet your hands and you touch the soap that possibly thousands before you have touched. Again, this is my Western sensibilities speaking but...come on.
Okay enough bathroom related differences. The other night I walked over to Dasarano's Chicken and Pizza. First let me say, this is some really good chicken. Like, really good chicken. Koreans do chicken extremely well. I order and I get a giant platter of what looks like delicious bite-sized chicken. I like delicious bite-sized chicken and I'm REALLY hungry, so I bite into a piece. It's a spine. No meat attached, just the spine. At first, I'm kind of puzzled. How do you mistake a spine for meat? But I'm a trooper, especially when it comes to chicken and in the spine's defense, the batter and sauce that cover it IS delicious. I toss it to the side and grab another piece. It's meat. I am more than thrilled. I take a finishing bite and I discover a piece of what feels like a rib. At this point, I'm borderline angry. Who deboned this? I don't care if it was a factory full of innocent young orphan slaves, in my mind, they deserve to be flogged for such shoddy workmanship. I spit out the rib and cautiously bite into the next piece. More bones. Now I'm starting realize: the words bite-sized in America means boneless. The words bite sized in Korea means bite-sized. My plate contains an entire chicken that has been mercilessly chopped down to smaller pieces, battered, deep fried and covered in spicy sweet sauce.
Once I came to the realization that each of my pieces of chicken would have bones, I was unstoppable. I plowed through half of the platter with the aplomb of a man who's been eating chicken for years, though I have to admit, the thought of choking on a chicken bone did slow down my progress somewhat.
Another small difference is the electricity not having a ground prong on the outlets here. My laptop has a largely metal case. Normally, it's grounded so the case doesn't store excess amounts of electricity. Here, there is no ground wire, so my charger isn't grounded. Which means my entire loft has turned into a hot bed for static electricity. I'm sure there's a Expat Negro Tip in there somewhere.
Expat Negro Tip: Look for adapters that properly accommodate a three-pronged plug. They exist, though they may be hard to find. Otherwise, you'll be just be walking generator of low-level electricity.
There's other differences, and truthfully, I could go on and on about them but the main point I feel like I should make is that different doesn't mean where I'm from is better, just means I've been conditioned to expect things to be one way, and now I'm realizing my way isn't the only way. And that, ladies and gentleman, is how you open your mind with new experiences.
No comments:
Post a Comment