Year 1 - End of 1st week.

Hi guys

Hard to believe I have been here a week. Time flies.

Someone asked me what I thought of the local cuisine. The food is spicy, and very tasty. I will post more on it later.

As much as drinking seems to be a pastime, so is spitting. all those years I spent breaking myself of what in the west is a bad habit, here it is VERY acceptable. Blowing your nose in public is another story, it is considered VERY bad manners, and insulting to those around you. People sniff a lot here.

Also when eating it is VERY bad form to stand your chopsticks up in your dish. It is a sign of disrepesct for the deceased. My friend Hilda said she did this and had it explained to her.

Chu-sok is an annual 3 day holiday in Korea. Families gather and give thanks to their ancestors for the years harvest. Basically, it equates to our Thanksgiving in Canada, and takes place a week or so before it. Food is left out for the ancestors spirits, chopsticks are left standing straight up in case the spirits want to eat. By doing this anytime other than Chu-sok you are showing disrespect to your ancestors. A westerner doing it, who does not follow in the same beliefs as Koreans, is being even more disrespectful. It is a mistake I won't be making now that I know.

Internet cafes are EVERYWHERE. There are 3 within a 3 minute walk of my apartment. 10 within a 5 minute walk. They are usually open 24-7, and in the afternoon and evenings are packed. Diablo 2 and Starcraft are very popular here. ;)

Take care

Flint

***************

If Hilda and Lonely Planet hadn't mentioned the chopstick thing I probably never would have heard of it. Most times when I talk about customs and taboos it NEVER comes up. When I bring it up many students say they never heard of it. which makes me wonder if it is REALLY a cultural faux pas. Or just one of those things that foreigners/apologists pass off as cultural?

I do like the line I wrote about the chopsticks thing that said "A westerner doing it, who does not follow in the same beliefs as Koreans, is being even more disrespectful." That is how it was told to me. And since I was drinking their kool-aid I never asked why. Why would it be MORE disrespectful for a foreign to make a faux pas out of ignorance than a Korean doing it while knowing it was wrong?

Starcraft is STILL popular here. :)

I am so going to miss wired Korea when I am gone. When I didn't have internet the PC Rooms were so cheap and available. They are too bloody expensive back home. A friend's father opened an Internet Cafe about 10 years ago. THEN he was charging $7 an hour or more. I hate to think of what it costs now.