i asked foreigners living in south Korea things they disliked about the country and here's what they said. My Socials Instagram: jerry.ric TikTok: / k.explorer
I am Korean, and I will tell you. Koreans are very judgemental, of course not all, but I feel like the whole society takes that kind of behavior as the norm. There is a reason why we have the highest suicidal rate among OECD countries. We care way too much about how we are viewed by others and do the same things to each other.
That is very true. From living here and there I came across to a thought that Koreans cannot accept diversity of human beings and if you are a little different or think different, they criticize you so it is very uncomfortable to dress different or say anything different unless you have the guts.
I think Korean society lacks diversity compared to Western countries. As a result, there is a strong tendency to try to persuade others rather than accept different opinions, and conflicts often arise in interpersonal relationships. As a Korean, I feel this way, but I wonder how people who have lived in other countries feel about it. Nevertheless, it's improving compared to 10 years ago, so I believe that future Korean society will have a more open-minded approach.
was going to same something similar , very professional way of interviewing ... hes acting very objectively and doesn't asking leading questions and take up too much space and so on.. or are disrespectful or whatever... hes a natural !
I got to understand better how they feel, but complaining about English fluency does not make sense. What if I complain like Vietnamese dont speak Korean, when I visit there???
6:03 in France there are ppl who refuses to speak in English if you're a tourist and some tourist have been treated very poorly bc they speak English. I'm glad she pointed that out about her country..no country is perfect and knowing that should help shave off some arrogance that ppl have/display when visiting other countries.
I didn't encounter that in France. I didn't encounter any anti-English speaking people or antisemites. The French were the most welcoming people out of all the people in Europe when I was there, them and the Hungarians.
@@phatphil7836 Then you were fairly lucky for that experience. There isn't enough "evidence" if we can even call it that to say that most French specifically avoid talking in English with tourists, but it is highly likely imo. Again, it all depends on experience. Though they should obviously never be expected to speak a foreign language in their own country, it is what it is. That goes for anywhere else.
@@highkeyiv44 Could be, but it is a documented fact that French people for a matter of principle and nonetheless for a matter of pride, some of them prefer not to speak English on purpose, which I see it as an evil thing from the foundation of the topic. Obviously it doesn't count for everyone in France :)
@@phatphil7836 lucky you cuz when I was in Greece I had a French family sit next to me and my family and they would constantly stare down my sister and I because we’re American
5:57 that was such a good response. you're in korea, where korean people speak the korean language. they have no obligation to learn another language just to accommodate you. ridiculous.
@@realroll4550 Let me guess, you are either from an English speaking country or from a small European country that speaks an irrelevant language. Everywhere else you speak the national language.
@@pablo8286 I’m Brazilian and when I travel with my family it’s the language bridge for the world it’s not hard to understand you’d have to be stupid not to English is just helpful
3:47 Her being a Whyte female makes alllll the difference. Her nervous laughter says it all. Her experiences of the world, whether in Europe, the US or South Korea, will be 1000x different from the Indonesian woman's experience, anywhere she goes. People will treat them 1000% differently.
@@jeromelove1284 Your perception is quite interesting and different. White culture teaches and encourages speaking up and talking about one's opinion whether or not anyone wants to hear that opinion. So, I don't blame her for saying what she says. In HER culture and how SHE WAS TAUGHT, that is not complaining. Also, the interviewer, a Black male, was ASKING FOR HER OPINION AND EXPERIENCES. THAT was the whole purpose of him stopping them in the middle of the street!!!! But, the way YOU see it, it's complaining. Two different perspectives despite watching the same video and knowing the Purpose of this video. 🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐
@@la381 only white culture teaches people to speak up..lol..one thing I like about her that's different from American white women is she know her white privileges most American white people like to deny they have white privilege.
8:26 As a German, i feel her. There is nothing I missed more when I was in Korea than German bread. I even had the same experience with garlic bread! WHY?!?!? BUT in case this girl is reading this, I hear there is a bakery in Itaewon, the owner is Korean but he learned the craft in Germany so they sell bread more suited to a Europeans taste. Maybe look for that? :)
I'm proud of you bro, a Nigerian making a positive educative and informative impact through your RU-vid channel, spreading positive information Thank you for this, you playing your role in the world bro.
I thought the same also. As a proud Yorubà; I appreciate his interview manner, and cool approach when speaking with people. I subbed after watching his content after two days. It’s good to see our fellow countrymen putting out information and engaging content like you said.
Why are people upset about KOREANS not speaking ENGLISH in their OWN country? lmao... How about YOU learn korean because you are IN KOREA?? She said there are no public bathrooms? Excuse me? They are everywhere around Seoul, don't know about other places. I'm not even korean, not even asian, but like....these people are so weird with some of their opinions...and this is coming from someone who sees many problems within Korea. But this is not it...
Indians feeling sad about ill-treatment is the biggest irony. they take pride in looking down on other Indians. whether its on north-east people, or dark skinned southern people and their languages, or people who belong to lower hierarchical status of society, racism never ends. This video just explains that racism does exists everywhere, not just in underdeveloped or third world country.
Bhai, tumko bachpan se yahi sikhaya gaya hai ki agar tumko koi janwar jaisa treat kare toh woh sahi hai. Indian ko bachapn se hi yehi sikhaya jaata hai ki agar unke saath koi glat treat kar raha hai toh woh sahi hai kyuki india mein kuch problema hai. Woh tumko slave race bolte hai, janwar se nicche dekhte hai. Jab past mein freedom fighter bolte the ki angarezo ne hamara self confidence khatm kar diya aur hamare mann mein gulami ki mansikta daal di ki hum gulami ke liye hi bane hai. Woh soch aaj bhi india mein zinda hai. Tum uske example ho. Tum aise ho ki koi agar tumhe jutte mare toh woh tumhe sahna chahiya kyuki tumhare country mein kuch problems hai. Self dignity naam ki koi cheez nhi hai. Tum jaise bando ko indians ko gaali dene waalo ko support karke bhot accha lagta hai. India ko bura bol do toh tum cool dude ban jate ho.
Love the people who just arrived in Korea in the summer and are talking about how hot and humid it is. Just wait until you experience the -18C winter day in January in Seoul 😅
For clubs there has been years of foreigners beating up and getting into fights within Korea. Legal issues within Korea is hard and especially for foreigners its very difficult. Therefore lots of clubs choose to not have that issue. Its not discrimination, its called avoiding a potential problem that may occur.
If a local Korean behaves like some, he would be beaten to death. Disallowing "all" because of these "few" does not make sense, but it is still better than a murder scene.
@@stefanogallo511 You want to know whats discrimination? When foreigners come to Korea and split their eyes and ask why Koreans cant speak English lmao.
@@bakuman123 if a foreigner in korea says something like this is stupidity no discrimination, no let enter people in a pub because his nationality is discrimination.
Been following your channel for a while. Knowing you're Nigerian increased my interest. Cause I also hope to visit/live in South Korea, in the near future.
Difficulty in terms of bustling city life, I agree with the man on 6:34, I experienced to live both Seoul and Osaka in Japan. Really hard to find out vegan food. Everywhere I encountered was certainly grilled and fried chicken. Taking a shape of big food market geared towards based on young population is undeniably difficult aspects upon adopting into bustling city life.
When it comes to public restrooms at least in Seoul, just find a nearby Starbucks and in most cases, you will find a clean restroom. You don't necessarily have to buy a drink. Just don't ask and go do your business directly. There are over 1500 Starbucks in Korea, and if you use Kakao map or Naver map you can quickly locate them within a 100-meter radius in no time. Of course it may be a bit different outside of Seoul.
In Seoul there are more than enough clean restrooms. McDonalds, Burger King, Lotteria, KFC, subway stations, shopping malls, hotels, office buildings... Or just go into any restaurant or cafe and say 'Sorry but can I use bathroom?'
@@dannyt7075 it's because of the law to reduce paper cups. If you want to drink at the store say so from the start. Also, no one will kick you out, they will just change the cup for you. Stop fabricating stories.
As a korean i can give you a tip about finding public washroom They usually lock up washroom on first and second floor try going for higher levels they usually let them open . Also subway always has a washroom
Just found the channel and will definitely stay. I think it would be welcoming to have an intro/outro in your videos, but keep it up! Interesting content❤️
Very informative 👍🏽 as far as the bathrooms, in the north east of the US most times u have to pay for a damn drink before u can use their restrooms as well!!! With inflation on everything… drinks be like 3-8 bucks. I felt that last ladies comment
i guess it'd be different if u actually worked at a place where the public uses the restroom and you were responsible for helping to keep it clean. You'd probably be frustrated or refuse to clean it if pee was all over the floor or poo on the seat or worse
No offense, but I always go out of my way to avoid using public bathrooms. Especially, if I'm not already in a place sitting around as a customer spending time in the place already. Just wait until you get home. There must be many folks with weak bladders or don't plan ahead, Idk.
You're a really great interviewer! I like how you dig deep into the question and try to properly know their experience, ask them "how do they feel about that" etc
The only thing that I cannot relate to is the public toilet. I found out that there are much less public toilets in European countries while I was traveling and you have to pay money for these toilets which sucks. Paying money for the toilets is nonsense.
Korean and Japanese are the most difficult languages to learn English because they are isolates. It is easy to learn English from Chinese because the grammar of the two is similar. However, in Korean and Japanese, you have to think of every word in a sentence backwards and say it. This is completely different from learning English in French or Spanish. Likewise, it is very difficult for English speakers to learn Korean and Japanese. Nevertheless, don't expect that you will be spoken to in English wherever you go.
My dear Grammer and difficulty isn't a problem. Actual problem is that Korean are non interactive and non welcoming so we don't find opportunities to talk and learn language. They don't let us to get into their society easily
Huh excuse me I'm Chinese i can't even learn English And how is our language similar to yours our language family is related to sino Tibetian language family.
The reason why some restaurants and clubs don't allow foreigners is bcz it is harder to controll them than locals. And many violent iccidents are caused by drunken foreigners. They just follow statistics they experienced.
So what's your opinion about no foreigners policy on a restaurant? That's pretty absurd! I kinda get it if they don't speak English well, but I think there's a deeper reason behind it?And also lots of foreigners that can speak Korean well even though basic korean words will suffice to make your order I mean there are so many countries that don't speak English, my country is included and never have I heard of any foreigners being rejected on the premises. In fact they are more than happy to serve foreigners with their little broken English
@@user-jp4qn5yz6k if you discriminate everyone because of one do sth bad is not a good thing. Get this American what he deserves but don’t take it as a reason to treat foreigners bad. That’s called racism. I’m sure there are Korean people who do bad things as well. If in Germany a restaurant would deny someone because of his nationality he can close his restaurant forever and will get a penalty.
As a Korean, I will make a counterargument. 1.Our staple food is rice. And bread is like a snack to us Do you want a serious taste, snack like meal? Therefore, Koreans eat bread differently purpose from French people. For us, bread is a concept like ice cream or snacks. I think a French woman thinks by her standards. It's easy to understand from the other person's point of view. 2.It's ironic that the British are pointing out the toilet problem. I was shocked by the toilet culture on the London Underground. The first was getting paid, and the second was so messy I wanted to cry. At least in Korea, there are a lot of toilets in the Underground. We offer a very clean toilet for free. Please point out another legitimate problem that Koreans can
I've been living in Korea for 2 years now (in asan) and I've noticed most Koreans don't smile. Like at all. I'll greet them and smile at them and they just give me a blank stare. In the US everyone I greet will smile back and even make small talk. Why is that?
@@MrKirkCaptain 문화가 다른것같아서 그런거예요 미국에서는 small talk가 일상이지만 한국은 그렇지 않으니 문화가 다르다고 생각해주면 좋을 것같아요 막상 말 걸면 잘해줍니다 대신 영어가 힘든 사람들이 많다는 것을 알아줬으면 좋겠어요 한국은 한국어를 사용하니까요 저는 미국에 갔을 때 많은 모르는 사람들이 지나가면서 저에게 옷 칭찬 머리 칭찬 타투 칭찬을 해줬어요 그것은 좋은 문화 같아용 하지만 한국의 문화에 익숙한 저는 약간 모르는 사람이 말을 거는게 살짝 힘들긴 했어용ㅋㅋ 하지만 그들의 문화를 이해하려고 했죠 당신도 한번 이해하려고 노력하는건 어떨까용?
I got lucky with a cab driver there because he was Japanese. He worked as both a cab driver and Math teacher. It was so nice conversing with him, since he showed me photos of his daughter, and then of his son who was with the Japanese defense forces. So at times I would just speak Japanese to him. I don't find ordering a drink to use the facilities inconvenient. I find it to be a courtesy to them for using their facilities. Yes, I would order something if I wanted to use the restroom. I do the same thing here in the USA. That garlic bread experience had me laughing, though. 🤣🤣🤣
Japanese people are shy and don't take the initiative to talk to them, but if there are people in trouble, they will help them, and if foreigners ask them, they will think about solutions together, of course, not everyone, but
Hahahah the bread struggle is real. My friends and I went to an italian restaurant in Hongdae and one my friends also ordered garlic bread and she couldnt eat it 🤣🤣🤣 we then were wondering what to do because we didnt want to leave the bread because it will be food waste and maybe the staff will feel bad so she put it in her bag and we through it away outside lol. The food is def sweet. Most dishes contain sugar and if the dish is suppose to be salty like certain pastas, they were not salty enough and god jesus lets not talk about latino food 😂😂😂 But legit I will live on Gimbap, Bibimbap, tteobbokki, deopbap and kbbq meat a whole lifetime ❤️ I do agree with the german girl regarding segregation of students. Our universities also didnt make an effort to have foreigners students interact with korean students. When doing activities they always separated us from local students which doesnt make any sense and seemed more like an inconvenience🤔. I actually found koreans very easy going and relaxed, I'm a very impatient person so I didnt experience any pali pali culture (except from one of my friends 😂 but he is just annoying lol). It might be because Im from New York so here people is always running around rushing. Actually, we found people walking in the streets very slow lol(our new york crazy mindset). In overall, we met lovely people, partied and made awesome memories.
5:49 seriously 🙄 why would you expect Koreans to speak English 😂😂😂 I mean yes in Korea been number one and the best at everything is very important ( based on Korean RU-vidrs videos about been Korean) they basically live in school since really young; but why would you expect them to speak English😂😂😂 you’re visiting their country, you should learn their language.
I have to differ from what the British girl said about availability of public toilets. When I was in the UK, public toilets have to be paid to access it and there aren't many that you can go to, except for when you are near a MacDonald. So when you have urgent need, it can be quite annoying and stressful. Haven't been to S Korea but I like to think that most Asian countries still have free accessible toilets within reach than say European countries. Another thing is about language. Most homogeneous countries, esp in East Asia like S Korea, Japan or China , people are not conversant in English because that's not their main language taught in schools. It's just one of their subjects but never put into practical usage for lack of a speaking environment. In France, people refuse to speak even if they can because they are proud of being French and also the historical feuds that French and British had through the wars between them. But really, as a visitor of that country, it's unrealistic to expect the average citizen in that country to speak English even though it's an international language. When you visit a country, you are the guest so it's more like the other way round, you've to learn some basics going to that country if you know English is not widely spoken. Otherwise, get a local guide. Having said that, I'd still expect places that cater to international tourists should at least have 1 staff (or booth) that speak English and a few other common languages depending on the profile of tourists that most visited S Korea.
yeah Breads are not the staple. In most cases, they are considered as “deserts” in Korea. that’s why they are sweatttt. still dont understand why so many peopl think it’s mandatory for Koreans to speak English!? How arrogant.
Hmmm… been living in Korea for more than a decade. The last girl’s experience seems to be limited. Korea has public restrooms everywhere in parks, subways and office bldgs. In Seoul, you can walk into any cafe and use their nice restrooms without buying anything.
For biological reasons, women DO need use the restroom more frequently than men. So, for YOU, you would only be searching for one half as many times as she is.
Can I ask for some advice please I want to send my daughter who us studying in Korea a parcel, but I cannot find a list what I'm what im allowed to send , I want to send her vegan chocolates and sweets . I have tried the korean customs website but it wont register my question to get an answer. I would appreciate any information on this
Still...in comparison...Korea is one of the best places to live tbh. You go to Europe expecting the best, but there's SCAMS SCAMS SCAMS and drunk racists here and there. Same goes to SE Asia and South America. And getting medical-care in foreign countries are always a hassle except in Korea.
Happy for you man, you can be big +1K sub in 10 days. It starts to pickup Dont give up, at some points its exponential (around 20k). Been long waiting this! Homie doing good/fun stuff in Korea.
I hate that sweet garlic bread, long time ago like 20years ago we had that normal garlic bread, but somehow all the garlic bread I can find thesedays are all sweet, so I stoped buying them at all. I realy don't know what's up with the garlic bread and the patissiers in Korea. They used to be not that sweet! And for the bathroom, it depends on the shops but because they need to clean the bathrooms they usually ask to buy things, but you can find many clean public bathrooms in the subway stations or depatment stores and can use them for free unlike Europe
8:20 thats funny. thats exacatly what i thought, I thought bread in Europe was the worst. why are they all savory ? bread should be sweet. rather than savory .
They don’t have to change themselves to suit you…😂 if you don’t like it just go somewhere else you cannot please anyone lol. When I studied abroad I have to acclimatise with local culture to get along with the locals. No one is forcing you lol it’s more fun being myself. Surely you don’t expect people to be like you ?
Are you referring to all of the interviewees in the video? If so, this is literally a video about what people dislike about Korea. They were specifically asked that question and simply gave their honest opinion. I’m sure they aren’t all walking around complaining for nothing. They also mentioned that overall, they enjoyed their stay in Korea.
10:36 This girl expects it should be ok to just walk into a private business and use its bathroom like it’s a public bathroom? Why are foreigners from the west so entitled and cheap? I live in the US. If I want to use a bathroom at a private business, I buy something. Btw in Korea you can find public restrooms at subway stations. It’s not that difficult.
There was a random restaurant I stumbled into in Seoul. It had the best bread I've ever had in my life. I hate sweet bread. I actually don't think I had any other bread the rest of my trip. Sounds like I lucked out 😂
What is interesting about the global influence of language is how it would react if it was Chinese, not English. In fact, Chinese is the most spoken language in the world. And when many Chinese came to Korea for sightseeing before the pandemic, they said the same thing. Why can't Koreans speak Chinese?..lol
Chinese is not the most spoken language in the world. Its the most spoken native language, English is by far the most spoken language if you include first and second.
I am with the Swedish girl - sweet bread is odd with savoury but this is not just in Korea its all over Asia - but there are many good bakeries around. The most bizarre experience of sweet things was ordering a dark German beer this has a natural sweetness to it but no, the Korean bar added a dusting of cinnamon and brown sugar - nasty why?
It's all about perspective.. in America, lotta young/old white/black people act superior/look angry toward asian people living there, segregation in Korean classes could be because the teacher feels foreigners might feel more comfortable with their own kind and not doing it out of disrespect like the foreign students negatively believe
10:11 if i owned a business i would not want the public knowing that they could just come to my business to use the toilet, like Starbucks is known as the FREE toilet in America. toilets open to the public at most businesses in America are the most unsanitary because the staff there doesn't want to be responsible to clean it all the time. like, oh that gurl was inconvenienced because she had to buy something in order to use the toilet.. like wow is that white privilege talking??
Honestly after living in Korea besides the language barrier I would say living in Korea is good with nice night life and it’s cheap and convenient (many cool cafes activites and attractions) Korea is starting to be more diverse but still needs more work in terms of speaking out on political or social issues. but the only thing is some cultures shocks Food is very sweet and spicy ( I like that there is no tipping too) Busy country The lack of trash cans and vegan places are so true too my friend has a hard time finding anything and I be holding my trash for 10 min. People don’t have some manners or very conservative lol. Sometimes the driving here really crazy too People are more open despite conservative. But some people have a selfish mindset in terms of being better than someone or when trying to get on the bus people be pushing to get on first etc. Very heiarchy and collectivist society. They also care way too much about looks and are so photogenic like they be recording the whole time at the concert instead of enjoying it lol. Korea is good for short term live and study abroad but I wouldn’t live here long term. The lack of English is understanding (seoul especially younger people can use some english but, when u learn the language and culture it helps to get by a little) ( me and my friend have experience some unusual things too like telling us places are closed when it isn’t or not letting us bring in a outside drink in a restaurant lmao) This is my optimistic point of view. Korea has some ok nature too outside of seoul.
What are you talking about? As far as I know, Korea is not cheap, it's a very expensive country. I wouldn't even be able to pay a plane to get there... or maybe it's my bugged mindset. Here in Spain my biggest salary has been 25,000 euros/year as a Systems/Network administrator, and I barely could afford a subway ticket during the years I've been unemployed.
Mostly after kpop idols like bts became famous that everyone started to know about Korea, they treat people very politely, so everyone thought Koreans were very polite and kind everyone liked them... that's how people start love Korea more but now days Lately I see some people in South Korea looking down on other countries only looking at some quite people's faults and they think their country is good at everything . In every country there are good and bad people good and bad part but I have seen a lot so if people start behaving like this then everyone will start hating their country so don't misuse love.I saw comments like that in some Korean media, that's why I spoke like this. If someone loves you, if you missuse them, that love will be completely lost... Respect everyone. 🤍❤️
I agree with your opinion, the Internet has spread, Korean food, K-pop culture, etc. I have more opportunities to know the country, and I'm interested in traveling, etc., and when I go there, it's actually different. I have the impression that Koreans can't keep their promises because they think that the Korean people are the best and better than other countries, especially because of historical issues and anti-Japanese education, it's terrible for Japan. There are many people who are hostile in politics, economy, entertainment, culture, and sports, from the perspective of Japanese It's a country I don't want to get involved with.
Speaking of Koreans not speaking English, I’ve studied Korean a lot and can get by fine, but the influx of English into the language is annoying AF. I guess it happens in other countries, but in South Korea a borrowed word will take on only one fraction of its original connotation. This also confuses Koreans when they learn English and have to relearn such words.
@@dawnieb.7394 menu (English) means just one item on the menu in Korean. So they’ll say “what’s your favorite menu?” Or “what menu do you want?” (2) Service (English) is said when they give a complimentary piece of fruit, for example, after you buy something, but then a masseuse will ask “service?” at the end of the massage (you know …). (3) “Chicken” only means fried chicken in Korean. They use the Korean word for chicken for boiled or steamed chicken. (4) “Hunting” means looking for a girlfriend. (5) “Fighting!” means “Let’s go!” (6) “Fork” is pronounced “pork.” (7) “Apartment” is just “apart.” (8) “centimeter” is just “centi” .. the list goes on .. now people use “confirm” (the verb) but but it sounds like “conpum” but they clearly have a Korean word for that. Speaking of “pum” … perm (like permed hair, and the verb “sign” is a noun, instead of signature. Anyway. As I taught English in S. Korea, and made many friends, I found they misused these words in English and the obvious culprit was the Konglish. Many Koreans say Konglish establishes itself out of people trying to sound sophisticated and well-traveled, so the process has prestige as its fuel.
Love the interviews. Could you please do a video of Korean women on who would they rather date. Black or white men, even down to skin ton. It would be Interesting and entertaining
@@JBklq lol on what? And what were you syh at, the fact that you know what I mean? Lol. I’m guessing you’re not white? By that insecure question you originally asked.
@@segzeeman7356 they would choose black , u clown lol. And your korean right? Judging by you horrible grammar . And the only insecure one on here is you, your own people are sick of there men, even if your just asian. They want a taste of something better lmaooo.
As a Korean, I am interested in interviewing female students from Southeast Asia. She purified the content that would make her angry enough. It shows her personality. On the other hand, there are some things that are not.
Lmao I wouldn’t say the bread is sweet just ask for no additives it’s because everything is based on looks to facilities to people to pets and even food everything has to look pretty kind of ridiculous...
