Top Ten Kraziest Things About Korea.....so far

10. If there are two doors in a stairwell people going both directions only go through one door. One door! If I open the other door they look at me like I'm crazy.

9. If a Korean and his or her friend go to the store they get one plastic bag to carry the goods. Each of them grabs a handle of the bag and carries the bag between them. It looks like they are carrying their love child. Just if they started skipping and whistling. Honestly, it's a pretty good idea. You lessen the load. But I would never catch an American man doing this. Ever.

8. Koreans don't walk on one side of the sidewalk. Nor do they drive in one lane. You would think they might walk on the right side or the left side only. Unfortunately, they walk wherever they feel like. This only makes number 8 worse.

7. KOREANS STOP WITHOUT PROVOCATION. I will be walking behind someone in the middle of the walkway. THEN without any notice the Korean will just HALT. 'Oh, I want to check my phone.' STOP!

6. AJUMAS got mad swagger. They own the crowded sidewalk. If you are standing on the subway, then you are very likely to catch an elbow dead in the back from an ajuma making her way through the crowd. If you are shopping the ajumas will cut in front of you, race past you, grab your cart to leverage themselves so that they can pass. Ladies first.

5. Conglish. You will be looking for something in a store. But you don't know the name for it. So, you make hand motions and try the little Korean that you know. You need bug spray. 'Umm......bug......(then you make the can shake and spray hand motion with a 'shhhhh' sound effect.'
'Oh, BUG-uh Spray!' .......It can be that easy.
'Carpet? Isoyo carpet?'
'Molayo'
'Carpet....'
I looked to my co-teacher for help.
'Carpet-uh.'
'OHHHHHH!'
You've got to be kidding me.

4. Fan death. I still can't believe how widely believed it is. Shocking. 

4. The constant staring. This is a personal thing for me. I catch a lot of people staring at me. Most likely it's because I'm a whitey and they want to wear my skin like a suit.
 4a. I have to have a tie here. Another thing that is a personal experience for me is that I have trouble breathing at certain times. I get choked up a little out in the city or when I am running up the stairs in the subway. I struggle to take the deep breaths I need. Maybe fan death is real........Or the air quality in Incheon makes my frail, spoiled Seattle lungs weak.

2. There is no heat in your hallways or bathrooms or most gyms. Let's just say they don't like to waste heat. If you freeze to death, your body will make a magnificent sacrifice.....

1. The most amazing thing to me is BLACK OUT KOREA. Business men go out after work and get black out drunk. Within TWO hours they are belligerent. They are falling everywhere. They need the buddy system. If you don't have a buddy, then this might happen to you....

Subway Black out

The Local Kimbap spot Blackout

The Crane Game

Here kids! I couldn't win one of the stuffed animals but you can have this blacked out guy.

Curteousy of http://blackoutkorea.com/

and the facebook group

http://www.facebook.com/#/pages/Black-Out-Korea/128220428095?ref=ts

I have seen more than my fair share. Oddly enough rarely does someone come to wake them up even if they are in a bar.

I have a photo of a couple having a nap in the bar. Unfortunately, I can't seem to find it right now.

Everything but number 1 is debatable. What else can we think of......?