Support The Channel By Becoming a Patron: / kexplorer i asked foreigners living in Korea what's the cultural shock they've experienced while living in Korea My Socials Instagram: / jerry.ric TikTok: / k.explorer Patreon: / kexplorer
I'm Korean, but I don't know since when did it become a Korean culture to make noise when eating noodles and food. I was also taught by my parents to eat without making a sound when eating, and I was told to eat without making a sound when eating in the old traditional education.
According to the genetic test I took, some people are actually genetically predisposed to be bothered by the sound of other people eating. To me, this is like telling someone to stop breathing loudly. Just deal with it.
No, I was taught to not talk when eating, but in terms of making sounds like slurping noodles or soups, absolutely it was all good! Making sounds regarding the eating of various foods, Koreans traditionally felt not only was it a natural part of eating, but in fact a good manner to make a good show of it for the one who cooked.
@@Riaaonline It's the first time I've heard of it. From what I heard from my parents, I heard that in Korean traditional food etiquette, those who eat while making noise are the way servants(either hierarchically or morally In today's terms, a shallow person? similar meaning) eat.
@@Riaaonline Our traditional way of eating nice is to eat quitely what are you talking about😂 Eating out loud is more of a Japanese thing as far as I know. Parents teach us not to make sound and keep your mouth shut while chewing, although at current state young ppl don’t really give a damn and just eat as they like
Serious question but how do you have top level interviewing skills. You just ask a question and don’t interrupt them as they answer. Ask follow up questions
I love your interviews! Thank you for not cutting people in their explanation and listening from A to Z without being overhyped or loud. It’s so soothing
i totally felt for everyone who could not speak Korean. the biggest shock for me was when i would see people just get up and leave their belongings behind to go out for a smoke. and no one took their stuff.
In my country this would never happen. Even tho we’re a safe country (Portugal is ranked as 6st safest in the world; above SK) this is something anyone would do it. Everyone is very cautious about their belongings.
@@thenewmeee03 in Korea, you don’t even NEED to be cautious of belongings. People don’t even think of taking your stuff, unlike people in European countries. There’s no way Portugal is ranked higher than Korea in terms of safety.
I'm Korean and I'm not OK with people spitting on the ground either. I think it's very disgusting and ill-mannered. I hope there's a law making street spitting illegal and fine them. There's tones of Korean people feel like me. In general, most people are aware of bad stuff in their home country although that's seen very common and normal in their country. it's just the way it used to be so it's hard to change on the country level. Just because it's something you are used to see, doesn't mean you can approve it. We Koreans feel uncomfortable with many things such as wild driving, trash littering, not having all sorts of social manners, buses not stopping at bus stops, having to stand up befor buses stop to get off, illigal parking, lacking of parking spaces, ill-conditioned housing, not having trash cans enough, being timid and not smily to strangers, not saying sorry or thank you a lot to strangers in treets, not small talking too, sharing soup with others in one bowl with each one's spoon dipping in it, poor map application system or administration system that are not informing people of extra charges of taxi fare for various reasons like late night or suburb district whatsoever and poor source for that info on related applicstion and not telling about the logic about it, not showing the very next subway station's name on the plate at escalator or stairs so that you can easily and quickly recognize it's direction, not alerting passengers about the subway stop loudly ad repeatedly and not noticeably showing the stop's name everywhere while the subway is stop at the station opening the door, etc. It can go on an on. We also get very much bothered and want it to change like all the time. I think it's the same thing in any other countries. Everyone has their country's own downside and they already know it well and acknowledge it.
Every country has it’s pros and cons. As Finnish I admire and respect South-Korea’s work-life, clean streets, well-mannerism, mandatory military service and education because of our culture has same links to it.
And yet foreigner say that korean in korea have no expression on their faces and even in europe, they make mean faces to strangers. East asian are generally cold and never smile to strangers so I dont understand you lying about it. Clealry the majority of you have no problem woth it.The only asian who are warm at first contact are southeast like filipino. With chinese being the most rude and impolite but I'm used to it as I grew up in their community. The robot stereotype of east asian didnt came out of nowhere.
@olkdks I know! I cannot agree with you more and that's what I'm talking about. I don't understand why you are thinking I'm lying. I'm saying the same thing. The important point I was trying to say is that all sorts of common things around us, regardless big or small, that seemingly most of us are so used to so that we don't seem to have no problem with, does not mean we have no idea it's a bad or unreasonable thing or don't feel comfortable with it. I totally agree that mostly east Asians are cold, timid, not smily and I always realllllly hated that. And also agree with that south east asians being nice and much more smily and confident in the way talk, behave, dance and treat strangers too. That's actually one of the things I've alwas thought of too. I understand you cound easily think that we are OK with it and we are not aware of it but you know, actually it is not! If you really get to talk with people about it, mostly they already know it well and even often bothered by it like me although they behave like they don't know. A lot of time, in any place of the globe, the social environment impacts you much more than original yourself. It's really hard and takes long time for an individual to change the society but society instantly change the way individuals behave in a moment. It's just that there's stuff you are not happy with but it's been the way it is and not easily change. We Koreans also don't understand why Koreans only steal bicycles not phones and laptops, why don't start a small talk when deep down we are really in for it and wanna care and help others. And toooo shy to dance the way we feel from very young age. Speaking of age, age is a huge factor that affects almost everything in the way we meet people and live our lives here. And of course, like I sad, we Koreans hate that so much! Surely there are many pros of Korea that I love and find very efficient. And also those can be things that's not common in other countries on the other hand. Nothing is to be taken for granted. I really hope and want Korea to improve all the cons and keep bettering itself even though that's gonna take a long time. So I'm trying my best to be smily and cooperative with strangers (but not nosy) and always hold doors for people behind me. I contact administrative department asking for improvement when I go through some kinds of uncomfortable or unreasonable operation.
I mean the whole purpose of the video is to talk about these. They are not saying every single person in Korea is like this, but that they have seen these
@@olkdks 근데 표정은 솔직히;; 내 입장에서 서양인들이 너무 오바해서 얼굴을 쓰는 경향이 있음ㅋㅋ😅 표정은 진짜 눈이 커젺다 작아졌다하면서 이마 주름 생겼다 없어졌다하고ㅋㅋ 목소리도 힘 줘서 강세 넣음😂 진짜 서로 제대로 명확히 표현하려고 하는 것 같음 나는 서양인들처럼 평소에도 그렇게 살라고 하면 에너지 엄청 빠져나갈듯😅 무슨 시장통 인싸 아주머니 같음😂 그냥 한국오면 무표정이 디폴트 값라고 생각해요😊 사실 표정 다 있는거겠지만 ㅋㅋ
Not surprising that the public transportation stands out to a lot of newcomers. It's immaculate, especially in Seoul, and I wish more places (ahem, the US 😑) could learn to prioritize this aspect of public planning!
Car culture holding us back we uset to be public transport like china and Europe but once cars came along we got rid of most of the trains and stuff …..any way the usa finally sees that we need more public transport and their finally starting to work on building more trains so that’s good at least
@@tatsuyaaikawa7185 I have a feeling that the US is still going to be quite slow in catching up ☹️ And there are still a good amount of politicians/voters who have little interest in spending taxpayer money on public transportation. But I hope I'm wrong!
@Oh Hi there must be some other nations that don't have good public transportation.. but as far as "major" countries go, you're right - the USA is "special" 🙄
Hi @KExplorer, I’ve been a subscriber and avid watcher of your content which I love for quite some time. I’ve recently taken upon myself to study Hangul and Korean culture overall as I hope to visit within the next couple of years. I am not looking to move there I just want to visit and practice Korean for a few months. I’ve seen a few videos of harassment, stalking and SA towards foreigners and I was wondering whether you could make a video asking people about their experiences and perhaps what to avoid etc, as I haven’t seen topics like these among your content. This is a huge issue for me that will determine whether I go there or not because, for what I’ve seen thus far, foreigners who do report it are not taken serious or bluntly ignored. Or police and bystanders will simply not do anything. Thanks for the amazing content! ❤
Hello, I came across this by chance and answered you. / Racism is very rare in Korea. The security is safe and the people are kind, but there are people who spit on the road, mostly middle-aged, old people, and Chinese. Smoking is allowed only in designated areas, but you can also smoke in the alleys.
"The people that give you their numbers, are they guys or girls"??? That was a very good question, so we can tell if they dont have personal interest. I see koreans are nice for the most part.
I was surprised by that and then thought oh yeah it's because she's a pretty girl. Of course everyone wants her number (guys/girls both want to be friends with pretty girls right?). I'm in my 40's. Then I remembered when I visited Seoul some other middle aged dude wanted to exchange numbers with me. I gave him my Kaotalk ID instead. I was thinking he just wanted to practice English with me maybe? I left Seoul and haven't heard from him since.
The interviewer is great, he does have a Korean accent so for those who are just barely learning Korean, they won't be able to understand what he's asking so easily since the tonal of his accent isn't Korean throwing them off but either way the effort is what matters. I live in America & my mom has never, not reminded me of the cultural shocks she has with Americans even after living here for 30 years lol. One main thing is the separation of trash.Actually due to my mom I separate my trash in Los Angeles down to my food scraps lol i'm laughing, I am proud of my tri-cultural background, being fully immersed with the language as well. I know it's rare since it's polar opposite cultures allowing me to expand in mind-frame. Loving these videos, they just place a smile on my face to see through the lenses of foreigners.
Great to know for myself as Korean. Spitting on a street is one of the worst parts indeed… I’ve been away from my home country for more than 8 years (I’m in Canada now) and it’s kind of sad to hear many smokers still do so…
@@eaglegolden8326 In my case, I landed in Vancouver as dependant of my parents who applied for PR. At that time, my parents in fifties had to be ready for their retirement as South Korea's pension plan from government was going to be deficit in my parents' turn of the retirement age.
That guy who said he's from Houston, TX, I didn't expect to hear that. I'm also from Texas, but I live in a calmer more city life. Wow, that's amazing...
the biggest and so far only ick for me is the lack of individualism, of freedom for personal expression over there, i feel like they expect everyone to dress the same, which is basic styling and neutral colors only, so when you're just slightly off with their standard, you'll get all them stares
After one year living in Korea, it's still uncomfortable to realize the number of people staring at me on the street every time I go out... and sometimes with a not very kind expression... Even eating in a restaurant is really embarrassing... It is as if they have never seen a foreigner before.
As a Black man I get annoyed when I'm in an Asian restaurant eating with chopsticks and people stare as if they've never seen anyone eat with them before. I learned how to use them in 1976 on my first tour in South Korea using the flat metal ones not the wood ones.
그냥 호기심이많구나 생각하면 편함 한국은 농경사회 공동체 문화였음. 온동네사람들이 서로의 젓가락 갯수까지 알던 관계였음. 대를 이어서 평생을 함께 한동네에서 협동으로 농사를 짓고 사니까.. 사람들간에 벽이 없었던것임. 다가족같으니까 걱정이나 참견을 하는것임. 근데 시대가 바뀌고 개인주의가 생기니까 이제그게 무례하고 불편한것으로 인식되었음. 농경사회라 사람의 이동도 적어서 외부인에대한 경계가 있었던것임. 그래서 새로운 사람들이 보이면 굉장히 궁금해하고 사적인 질문들을 할때가있는것임. 시대가 바뀌어도 사회적dna도 유전이되니 쉽게변하지는 않아서 그런거니.. 기분나쁠 필요는없음.
1:03 I don't know why their introduction was cut. I'm just pretty sure they're from France, I wanted to know if I was right. I instantly guessed Simon was French too.
for me it's the buying power. My korean friend don't buy much stuff, but sometimes he'll randomly come and say "ah and I bought this laptop" that costed 6k in my country's money. 6K here is 6 minimun wages. With 6K of our money you could buy either one good laptop or pay 6 rents of a small appartment near a soccer field.
Do you remember Michael from Marmalade Boy? I thought that was a stereotype of an American guy and when I saw the thumbnail I had to clic 1:07😁 He is like flat out casting for a live action of the series. A girl from Spain, nice ^^
From April to May this year, the South Korean police cracked down on illegal activities at 225 restaurants in Busan, resulting in the arrest of 11 restaurants that were involved in illegal activities. Of these, eight stores reused leftover food from the previous customer and served it to the next customer. Every year in South Korea, there are constant news reports about restaurants being caught for reusing leftover side dishes. You may think that 225 stores have been investigated and only 8 stores have been exposed, which is less than you thought, but the reality is that this is simply not known. It seems that there are actually more. In the end, even if the restaurant reuses the leftover side dishes, it is of course hidden so that it will not be found out, and it is quite difficult for the Korean police to expose it. In fact, at the beginning of 2021, the Gyeonggi-do police conducted a simultaneous survey of restaurants in the area, but as a result, there were 0 restaurants that reused side dishes. But when I asked people who run restaurants in the same area, they said openly, "I know a restaurant that reuses leftover side dishes." I have often seen people who used to work at cafeterias reuse leftover side dishes. There are many such stories behind the scenes. In other words, it is common in South Korea to re-offer leftover side dishes, even though they have not been caught. It's a known fact in the industry or something like that. Therefore, the police who investigated it were virtually impossible to catch the re-offering of leftover side dishes on the spot. If you have to rely on whistleblowing from customers and employees, you're raising a white flag that it's impossible to crack down. Korea is a scary society. By the way, you say reuse & re-offer, but in what form is it reused? There are various methods they use, some simply put the leftover side dishes on another plate and serve them again as a new side dish to another customer. On the other hand, there are restaurants that throw away most of the leftovers but only reuse kimchi. Another restaurant uses leftover kimchi as an ingredient in a soup dish called kimchi jjigae. This case will be processed if it is used as an ingredient for soup, so it will be difficult to tell if the leftovers were reused. Not money laundering, but Kimchi laundering… When we think about it, it can be said that the Korean police did their best to seize eight stores in such a situation.
Been living in korea for 5 years and working in a supermarket. We caught a lot of thieves. I was surprised also because this is a developed country. Maybe cellphone and cards will not be stolen cause korea has a good technology that they can track and see if those things will be stolen.cctv everywhere
All their experiences are valid. As a Korean, I think Korea is a super efficient/convenient country but we have some controversial issues like all other countries lol
@@Nazrel98 I think its not that different from other countries like regional , political ,gender, generation conflicts. Back in days in Korea, regional conflict is so seveal especially people in one region called people in other region communist, or North Korean. I think regional conflict is not that harsh these days but gender conflict is now quite big and it is related to political, social issues like birth rate, wage gap, job opportunities and army(why only man should go to army)
@@imadtorch8770 She’s pretty. It’s not about being white. 90% of people interviewed were white. He didn’t say all foreigners were gorgeous, did he? She’s white that’s why she thinks everyone is nice. They wouldn’t be that nice to a local darker skin Korean. They wouldn’t be nicer to the black foreigners.
The reason people see foreigners is no big meaning. One of reasons is maybe a different appearnce. Mostly positive gaze even though no facial expression of them i think.
Many Chinese people living in korea often spits on the street too Korean government should pass a new law -- to make spitting in public places illegal and liable to heavy fines.
As a korean, i have seldom seen such a person spitting around me. In Korea, it is not accepted normally and considered as impolite and disgusting behavior.
I'm not sure if it is a complement or bad thing to say to the interviewer, but he looks so much like of Michael Jackson. I'm a big fan of MJ, and some how he looks sureal. So cool and you are so stylish!
Thank you for your interest in Korea. It's unfortunate that I had an experience with spitting and rudeness. I wish you only good things in Korea from now on. :)
All the comments and reactions were surprisingly just like the same style of interviews I've seen for Japanese RU-vid channels. I guess I shouldn't be surprised though - the countries are right next to each other. My big culture shock visiting Seoul last October was how delicious and cheap food was even in an expensive city like Seoul. I think food was the only cheap thing they had though.
@@Kuerikami This was in October last year so it may have already changed. Also the exchange rate was helpful. But my European friends thought it was surprisingly cheap too.
I guess it's going to change with the influx of foreign people and young people try to change the extreme group mentality. I think Korea had to deal with big nations like China and Japan which are aggressive neighbors and invaded 900 times combined so those group mentality was needed to survive. It's just my thought
