This blog entry has no story to it; it’s just a collection
of observations that seem odd to me. Korea is a wonderful country, but almost
everything is different even the most ordinary things.
One of the first things that caught my attention as being
weird are the marketing methods of phone shops. In most cases they have mannequins outside the shop on spinning platforms. They’re usually holding the latest
Samsung model and are used to entice people to go in and buy. I’m not sure what
the thinking was behind this method, I’m not sure who looks at a plastic doll
wearing a long read coat and says “I need to buy a new phone!” Buying a mobile
phone usually comes out of necessity, either you need a new phone or not.
One thing I have never understood is Asia’s obsession with anime.
On my travels around Seoul I have found a video/bookshop that has a wide range
of amine/manga material. I just don’t get it. First of all I don’t understand
an adult’s interest in comic books, but each to his own. Comic books are
generally considered geeky but it’s kind of acceptable to read about Batman or
Superman, but if you read anime then surely that makes you King of the Geeks. Anime
is definitely on the same level of the geek-o-meter as Dungeons and Dragons, collecting
Lord of the Rings memorabilia, and playing Quidditch as a “sport”.
You can buy anything and everything in Korean supermarkets.
The nearest supermarket to me is an e-Mart. They sell the conventional items
such as food, electronics, clothing but I noticed in e-Mart that they also have
a pet section. At first I thought it was just the butcher’s suction as I saw a
tank of fish and a pen of puppies but apparently these animals weren’t for
eating. It was great; the range of animals was huge, rodents, birds, cats, dogs
and even turtles. I often go into the store just to look at the animals; it’s
like a free zoo.
Speaking of animals, I had the strangest experience on the
subway about a week or two ago. I was minding my own business reading a book,
when coincidentally I looked up at the right moment and watched at the woman
sitting opposite me. She had her coat zipped all the way up to her neck, and as
I looked at her she pulled the zip down very slightly and suddenly a parakeet
flew out! I shat myself. It flew up and down the carriage before landing on a
Korean man’s shoulder. None of the other passengers looked bothered, like it
was an everyday activity on the busy transport system, I was terrified. The
woman collected the bird from the man and sat back in her seat, she placed the
bird back in her jacket and I noticed a second parakeet within the jacket. She
zipped it up once again. I looked around at the other passengers astonished,
but they all just carried on looking at their phones continuing their Candy
Crush saga. It was like the scene in Borat, when he’s trying to catch the chicken.
Everyone in South Korea has such a trusting nature. When I travelled
to Thailand everyone warned me to be careful, watch out for pick-pockets, and be
wary of my surroundings as foreigners are an easy target. Since I’ve been in
Korea I’ve never had that thought, the Koreans seem too honest to even attempt
a petty theft. Josh told me a story of how he left his iPad on a table in a bar
and only realised a few hours later, when he went back to the bar it was still
there untouched. Remarkable. I couldn’t imagine that scenario back in the UK,
if you had your back turned for a second; it’s likely that your belongings will
disappear. When you walk down the many busy roads in Seoul you’ll notice that
people do not chain their bikes to any railings. They’ll put a lock on the wheel
to prevent people from riding it away but essentially anyone could come along,
pick it up and walk off with it. I feel like I should teach these Koreans a
lesson, I should rent a van, and take all of the bikes in Seoul. You can take
the boy out of Bedford…
I’ve talked about Korean fashion before but something else
which is obvious to anyone that’s been to Korea is that pretty much all Koreans
wear thick-rimmed black glasses. At first I just thought that they’d all been
watching too much anime but it turns out that they all just like to wear
glasses. Some of them wear glasses without lenses, so they walk around with
empty frames on their faces. To me that seems ridiculous. There used to be an
eccentric woman in the barbers that I used to go to in Bedford, she would be
covered in tattoos and have the sides of her hair shaved, you know the type.
One time I went in and she was wearing thick-rimmed black glasses and I asked
her “are they prescription?” To which she said no. As someone who cuts hair she
needs to have good eyesight to do the best job possible. She shouldn’t be
wearing stupid glasses with cloudy plastic lenses that decrease her eyesight
just so she can look quirky. I never went back.
Something else that’s very peculiar in Seoul is that there
is a unified nod amongst foreigners. It’s similar to the jogger’s nod, or the
dog walker’s nod. All you have in common is that you’re both out jogging at the
same time or that you both own a dog. The same applies to foreigners in a
distant land, you’re white, and I’m white. I laugh every time it happens.
Valentine's Day is approaching and the love related tat has started to appear in shops. But this is my favourite Valentine's gift I think I've ever seen. Nothing quite says "I love you" more than a bouquet of Ferrero Rocher. You've got to love Korea.
