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Life in Korea: What to do in Korea if you're broke

Author's note: Life in Korea posts are aimed at the newer expats among us. If you have a more experienced perspective to offer, share in the comments!

Source: sodahead.com

Being broke is no fun. Whether you spent too much money on those 4,000 won draft beers or splurged for the Guinness one too many times, it's no fun looking in the wallet and finding dust. Even if your apartment is provided by your school, you've still gotta eat - and do something interesting on the weekend. Rest assured that if you survived your college / university days, you'll do fine in Seoul.

First stop: food. Most neighborhoods in Korea have either a toast place (Isaac Toast reigns as my favorite - toast being more like a grilled cheese sandwich, of course), a 김밥 천국 (Gimbap Cheonguk) or similar gimbap place, or a Pizza School (5,000 won for a pizza!) if you're not quite broke. While tempting, the fast food chains you're more familiar with aren't always where you'd like them to be. Convenience stores have decent snacks, but 'meh' on meals - a hamburger you microwave? Unless you're desperate, pass. Areas with lots of schools or around lots of hagwon will have lots of cheap food for the students that frequent them. If in doubt, walk around - unless you've thoroughly explored the neighborhood you're bound to discover something cheap.

Second stop: things to do. Assuming the weather's nice, parks offer plenty of people-watching and walking around. Areas like the park across from Hongik University have a great creative / musical scene to connect with sans money, while Han River Parks are on both sides of the river. Most Buddhist temples offer free admission for visitors, whether reverent or not. If there's foul weather during one of Korea's 'four distinct seasons', there's the COEX mall or Express Bus Terminal in Seoul, along with Centum City in Busan that can keep you busy indoors all day. More than a few language exchanges are free to join, although it might be uncouth to not order a beverage.

Don't forget about people-watching most anywhere in Korea - not only is it fun, but it's often a chance to get involved with the locals. Learning how to play baduk (Go) at Tapgol Park or downing shots of soju at most any other park require no money whatsoever.

Third stop: traveling. Within major cities, public transportation is about as cheap as it can get. Unless your traffic card or change bin is running close to nil, you can get from one end of the city to the other. Want to go from one end of the country to the other? A Seoul-to-Busan bus ticket costs about 20,000 won. Taking the Mugunghwa-class trains costs about the same if going 'standing-room-only' - it goes without saying that long-distance taxi rides are out, but two or three people taxiing a short distance may be far easier than struggling with buses.

If you're really desperate... (e.g. 'I have 20,000 won to last me a week!'), there's always craigslist - that old iPod you've barely used in the past month might be good for some fast money. What Americans know as pawn shops don't really exist here, so craigslist or similar markets are really the only way to go. Busking draws a surprising crowd in Hongdae and elsewhere - the police aren't going to bust you unless you're being an arse or there's been complaints.

Bottom line: your major needs are paid for, and unless your pantry is completely bare, you'll survive until your next paycheck. That is why you stocked them full of ramyeon to begin with, right?

Readers: what have you done when you've been broke?

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This post was originally published on my blog, Chris in South Korea. If you are reading this on another website and there is no linkback or credit given, you are reading an UNAUTHORIZED FEED.

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Today Is the Anniversary of the Invasion of the Korean Republic

Today is the 60th anniversary of the Korean People’s Army’s invasion of the ROK in 1950. As these 60 years have elapsed and the East Asian region has prospered economically and reformed politically, the Korean War has taken on greater significance. Yet, for many younger South Koreans “6-25 Day” has become a day of empty ritual.

…36.3 percent of adults and 85.7 percent of teenagers did not know when the Korean War broke out. And 20.4 percent of adults and 36.3 percent of teenagers did not know that North Korea started the war by invading the South.

I plan to write more later, perhaps even keep a running chronology for the years 1950-3. But, as someone who served at Camp Humphreys in Pyongtaek from 1997-9, I wanted to honor those who served and died from 1950-3, and all those who continue to serve. May our sacrifices be not in vain!

Filed under: Korea, Military, USA Tagged: dprk, korean war, kpa, north korea, rok, South Korea

Charts and Before-and-After Pics of Seoul (Video)

It’s a South Korean meme to give credit to education and hard work for the South Korean “miracle”, but at least Korea Investment Corporation’s Scott Kalb comes with charts. Those figures ARE impressive. But, I was disappointed when Kalb ran right over the capital investments the US and Japan made.after the Korean War. It’s a hard-nosed talk about investments, after all! And then, there were the before-and-after photographs of Seoul, another horse beaten into the ground: look what we South Koreans did! Again, how was the capital investment used? I’m not that all impressed with photographs of concrete mega-structures and highways. I will keep this in my files for when I read Ian Bremmer’s book about sovereign wealth funds, though.

Filed under: Business/Economy, Korea Tagged: korea investment corporation, rok, scott kalb, South Korea, sovereign wealth funds

Pyongyang Is Not the Hive Mind

Salvation Army John Pfeffer does have one good point within a discussion leading to Forging a Consensus on Human Rights, in response to Roberta Cohen.

…I do say…that a human security approach has a more reasonable chance of success in producing a more humane society in North Korea. Roberta writes, “Proposing development assistance for North Korea, however, assumes that the North Korean government is committed to the economic betterment of its population and that the aid will advance this goal.” Actually, the North Korean government is neither the virtuous cadre of North Korean propaganda nor the unified evil force of Roberta’s imagination. The North Korean government consists of many levels and many actors, and they often work at cross-purposes to one another.

Roberta in fact acknowledges this complexity when she refers to economic reform in the country. Obviously this reform had to originate from somewhere within the system. There are government officials in North Korea who want to revive the manufacturing and agricultural capabilities of the country and recognize that a starving population is unacceptable from both a moral and a national security standpoint. Yes, of course, economic reform has encountered resistance within the country. That is a basic truth about economic reform in every country (Republican resistance to the stimulus package in this country is only one recent example). But to treat the North Korean government as a unitary actor with a single mind is an analytical mistake.

About human rights, though? There, I’m more Roberta’s side.

Filed under: Human Rights, IGOs, Korea Tagged: development, dprk, john pfeffer, north korea, roberta cohen

Life in Korea: getting a haircut

Hat tips to my friends on Facebook for being better at Korean than I am!

Photo / comic credit: ROKetship

As a straight guy, I can't say my hair is that big of a deal. Really, it isn't. So when a haircut is required every 6-8 weeks, I sigh and find the closest place that looks like they know how to use some scissors. Even with the language barrier in place, getting a haircut isn't overly challenging if you want basic stuff done.

The occasional stereotype (and one immortally remembered by ROKetship) is that of the Korean haircutter not listening to your requests, or simply ignoring it in favor of whatever they plan to do. I'm happy to say I've yet to run into that problem - though to be fair, my preferences are again fairly basic.

If male, find a Blue Club. The hair-cutting franchise is usually in residential areas; curiously enough, they're often located quite near a gimbap place. They go together much like peanut butter and jelly - go figure that one out. Look for (or ask for) their laminated guide showing their ten most common styles. While the styles are rather generic, you can easily pick-and-choose your own choices (front, back, sides, etc.).

If female, look for a Pink Hair - perhaps the response to Blue Club, or perhaps the predecessor. If a Pink Hair is nowhere to be found, consider asking your friends for personal recommendations to get the style you're looking for. There's plenty of 미용실 across the country, but you're more likely to find someone that speaks English in the popular expat areas - Gangnam, Hongdae, Itaewon, etc. - or at a hotel salon.

If looking for just a trim, saying 전체적으로 조금씩 잘라 주세요 (literally, 'overall, a little trim' or 그냥 다듬어 주세요 (literally, 'please just smooth') should get the idea across. Every haircutting place I've ever been to will have stylebooks available - all showing plenty of haircuts at several different angles. You might ask for the 'book', or pantomime flipping through the pages of something.

If all else fails, remember you have 1330 (an official government tourist hotline) and the BBB to help translate things (02-1588-5644). The excellent Korea4expats.com recommends a number of places as 'expat-recommended' that might be worth tracking down.

Readers, you (probably) have hair. How have you managed to communicate your hair-cutting needs in Korea? Any recommendations to fellow expats?

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This post was originally published on my blog, Chris in South Korea. If you are reading this on another website and there is no linkback or credit given, you are reading an UNAUTHORIZED FEED.

South Korea Minute: Samsung

I have never really understood why everyone is in such a rush in South Korea. Sometimes it is comical to watch or scary. A few weeks back a guy behind my friend and I kept honking at us because he wanted to make a right hand turn and felt we were blocking his way. Despite repeated attempts to point to the walk sign and the pedestrians crossing the street making the turn impossible he kept honking his horn. His anger grew and in the end he had to wait for the light. I decided to make some videos about different things in Korea in true Korean style. Fast and with lost of things popping up on the screen. I still don't know why there are so much text popping up on the screen when you watch Korean television.

Samsung is Korea's largest company.......
(The story is from fortune magazine)
Enjoy!

Don't be bringing that squid in here!

State Testing in Korea: Protest is Futile

The JoongAng Daily published an article on Tuesday (...yes, I'm behind on blogging, what else is new?) about the recent actions of the teacher's union, "Union wages war on teacher evaluations, tests." Unfortunately, I think that the union is fighting a losing battle when it comes to protesting the nation wide tests. It's difficult to get students and parents to protest the tests with them when the scores will still be a central part of their applications to the next level of schooling (applying to middle school, high school and of course, college). Simply protesting the tests isn't efficacious. As terrible as 'teaching to the test' can be for schools it does allow a standard guideline for education across the nation.

I read an interesting teaching book lately that pointed out that for good teachers, students perform well on the tests, not because they were just teaching to the test but because they were teaching mastery of the subject material.

As for the teacher evaluation system, I don't really know enough to comment though the teachers I have spoken with seem unhappy with it.

Spaz update on life:
I had been getting constant upset stomachs this month. I finally figured out why: my vitamin C tablets are made with milk. Only in Korea people, only in Korea.

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http://aaaalexsadventuresinasia.blogspot.com/

Tiny Monks, Big Temple

If any monks still live at the Haedong Yonggungsa Temple–an ancient and sprawling holy site on Busan’s Northeast coast–they kept a low profile on the hot Saturday afternoon I visited. I don’t blame them–a few hundred camera-toting tourists descending on the grounds doesn’t spring to mind as ideal company for a meditative moment.

But I did spot these guys taking refuge…

They appear to be engaged in a study session of sorts. I guess if you’re going to devote your life to the pursuit of spiritual enlightenment, learning the ropes on a shelf built into a rock wall beneath a massive metal dragon is the way to do it.

First built in 1376, Yonggungsa is teeming with holy relics worth the trip there, including a giant gold Buddha, a three-story pagoda guarded by lion statues, five stone towers that look like ancient lighthouses, and a tall beauty called the Seawater Great Goddess Buddha, who overlooks the shiny blue surface of the East Sea.

Accompanying the 108 steps leading down to the main sanctuary is a melodic stream of sutra chanting that keeps floating through discreet speakers once you’ve descended. Combine that sound with the seafront view, and this may be one of the sweetest Buddhist sites in South Korea.