Pros and Cons

Lately I have been thinking about what I like and dislike about Korea. So I decided to write it down and share it with everyone who reads the blog. (All two of you)

Always break the bad news first so here are the things that I don' like in no particular order:

Generally Korea is expensive. (of course this is relative) There are certain things that are even more expensive than the States. A watermelon for example is 20 US dollars. Beer is another commodity that is really expensive. A decent beer at a restaurant or bar will run you at least 7 bucks, over two a piece in the supermarket. Western food is at minimum 15 dollars a plate.

This may sound a little obvious but not many people here speak even a little English. In Cambodia you could almost always find someone in whatever vicinity you found yourself in that spoke a little English. On top of that Khmer was not that difficult to pronounce and understand.

Conversely I have found Korean very difficult to pick up. (granted I haven't put that much effort into it) It's not a simple language to pronounce and understand. On top of that it is rude in Korea to get to the point directly so most people are very ambiguous when they talk which makes it more of a challenge.

We live far from the city center so it takes us about an hour to get into the city when we want to go. Granted this includes hailing a cab, waiting for the bus etc. but that is all part of getting where we want to go.

It is also expensive to fly in and out of Korea. I miss the days of 90 dollar round trip flights to Thailand.

Korea is pretty monoculture. It has been a closed society for quite a while and people are very aware of what their neighbors are doing and feel they have to do the same. This of course is a generalization but nonetheless an observation I have made in my limited experience.

I miss riding my motorcycle.

We miss our family and friends.

OK now for the things I like:

Korea is a very modern city and as such it is easy to get what you need. If you want something you can usually find it fairly easily.

We don't have to worry that much about getting sick. The restaurants are usually really clean and the water is not really bad. Some people we work with drink straight from the tap. I don't do that in the States so I'm not doing it here. We just run it through a Britta filter, just like the States. The real reason the water issue is nice is that when we give Q a bath we don't have to be hyper conscious about him getting a little tiny bit of water in his mouth when he is splashing around.

Health care is also top notch and inexpensive.

The public transportation is safe, reliable, and inexpensive. We are getting to know the bus and subway system. They have bus only lanes on the expressways so even when traffic is bad the buses cruise right along.

There is mountain biking 10 minutes from the apartment. I started to GPS the trails in my area and have a plan to do some more exploratory sessions this weekend.

There is a sauna/bath house in the basement of our apartment building. It is huge and sweet. This will be the topic of a separate post.

The school we work so far has been bueno. The admin has been super supportive and the people we work with are A++. We are treated with respect and our ideas and opinions are valued. They are only concerned about our well being but the well being of Q man. It nice to know that he is being looked out for even when we are not around.

We make more money than we did in the states.

The air is clean and we have access to open space very close to our apartment. There is a river path that we can follow to school, and if we wanted to, all the way into Seoul. There is also a skate park and rock climbing wall across the street. And of course the trail system a short ride away.

Korean food is cheap and plentiful. Some friends recommended a great restaurant across the street. We went the other night and dinner for four people with beers came to 23 US.

Overall the people have been really friendly. Especially when they see Q. He of course loves the attention and makes new friends all the time. Last week J needed to have something done at the bank but doesn't get home from practice until 6 every night. I tried to do it for her but the bank would not let me. I explained the situation and they told me to come back at a little after 6 the next night. They waited for an hour and a half after they closed so that J could get her stuff taken care of. Over the top customer service. I have had this type of service on a number of occasions. I think it comes down to people being solution oriented. People seem to take pride in getting things done.

Tomorrow is Thursday and one day closer to the weekend and maybe some bungee. I'm off to bed...