Subways in Korea. The Seoul Metropolitan Subway is a thing of beauty. It's quick, efficient, and cheap. The subway itself also divided into three separate but similar entities: Seoul Metro, Korail, and SMRT (Seoul Metropolitan Rapid Transit corporation). Where have I heard of SMRT before? Our diligent 현우 has posted a nice introduction to to Seoul's subways in this forum post. Note the loudspeaker - each stop is announced in both English and Korean. It is very foreigner friendly in that regard. The air conditioning doesn't hurt, either :) 1000 원 buys you up to 6 miles worth of track and 100 원 for every additional 3 miles. Not bad. Actually that's more than not bad - that's a great deal. Remember the post about the size of Korea?... Show more

안녕하세요. 현우예요. I am back in my hometown for 추석 (Chuseok) and as it's expected each year, the trip back home isn't always very easy, with all the people moving all together. But I made it back home safely. The bus ride took the time it usually takes - about 4 hours, and I arrived home at 4:00 am after taking a taxi from the bus terminal to my parents' house. The bus fare from Seoul to Korea was around 22,000 won, and the taxi fare was around 6,000 won. The bus stopped at a service station for 15 minutes so that people can use the bathroom or get something to eat or drink. And here's a video to show you what a 고속도로(express way) 휴게소(service station) looks like at night. :) 재미있게 보세요 ^^

Vegetarianism. If you are 1 in 5 billion people that are vegan (these are verifiable facts here, people), you must be: 1) Angry at something, or 2) Conscientious of something that doesn't quite sit with you. Either way, you have chosen a meat-free life that has almost exclusively alienated all of your closest friends and family. Great job! You will continue to live this lifestyle until you are a tired, old, cynical shell of a human being that is known more for vulgarity than eco-friendliness. Wow! I can't wait to subject my own children one day to this Hollywood-esque lifestyle! Hey, I'm okay with it. But many vegetarians react to their diet defensively almost like being accused of racism. "But I have lots of meat-eating... Show more

While I was helping teach at an elementary school, I noticed the kids said 멍미 a lot. I asked the English teachers and she said she didn't know what it meant. I thought maybe I was pronouncing it wrong or something, but later one of the students I tutor said it too, he was in 6th grade and when I asked him what it meant, he said it was 'secret language' and that it meant just "what?!" . I don't exactly know what it translates to, because he used it often and sometimes I think saying "what" in some situations wouldn't quite make sense. but while I was in 서울 he high school kids used what they called "secret language" too. I think it's more like slang though. Some other words that I learned were the slang words for elementary student, middle... Show more

What I noticed about the fashion in Korea was that most of the women wore high heeled shoes. The students, however, wore tennis shoes, preferably some ridiculously expensive brand name such as Le Coque, Adidas, Nike, or puma. I never saw a student wearing high heeled shoes. Also the students uniforms are usually altered. The girls that I lived (중삼) with told me that they gave their skirts to the launderer and asked them to shorten them, because only losers wear their skirts long, according to them. As for the boy's fashion, there was one boy who had one pant-leg shortened and rolled up partway, but when I asked about it, I was told it was just his own fashion. Boys in Korea are also more conscious of how they look, one other foreigner... Show more