My Travel Diaries of
South
Korea
Summary
Currency: Won
Capital: Seoul
Drink like a local: soju, makgeolli, insamju, beer
Special facts:
- Kimchi is the most popular dish in Korea. It is said that every woman learns the family recipe. But every family makes their kimchi differently. The fermentation, seasoning, spiciness… everything can be varied. Even in the restaurant, the kimchi always tastes different.
- Koreans don’t particularly like Japanese people. Throughout the country’s history, Korea has been regularly plundered by Japanese people, and in the south of the country you can even see signs every now and then saying that Japanese people are not welcome.
- In Seoul I was able to see other people from the West. But not in the countryside. South Korea is not a popular travel destination for Westerners. That is why the spirit of adventure beats faster there.
- If you book a room in a “motel” you will be in for a surprise. These accommodations are usually used by Koreans for a few hours to meet a mistress. This is common for men, but only shameful for women.
- The conflict and the constant threat of war are present everywhere, even if they are ignored in everyday life. But in Seoul in particular, there are signs everywhere pointing to shelters, protective clothing and rations in boxes.
- On the one hand, Korean cuisine is very delicious, but on the other hand, there are also many dishes that take some getting used to. Live octopus is still common, so it’s not unusual for an octopus at the next table to suddenly take off and flee.
- Other monstrosities can also sometimes be found on the dinner table: raw monkey brains, boiled beetle larvae and other things.
- Korea is the land of ginseng. This root is sold and touted as a cure for almost everything.
Language
Korean is a mystery to me as a European. However, I have not studied the language in depth. Since it is not related to Romance or Indo-Germanic languages, you have to learn everything from scratch. At least the characters are surprisingly easy to read. Unlike Japanese and Chinese, the characters represent an alphabet and are not images that you have to learn individually. You can easily learn to read Korean on the plane on the way to Korea!
- Hello – 안녕하세요 (annyeonghaseyo)
- Goodbye – 안녕히 가세요 (annyeonghi gaseyo)
- Thank you – 감사합니다 (gamsahabnida)
- Where can I find kimchi? – 김치는 어디서 구할 수 있나요? (gimchineun eodiseo guhal su issnayo?)
My lesson:
South Korea is like a planet from Star Wars: a city looks like a state-of-the-art spaceship, the countryside looks like the Middle Ages
Travel Diaries
Korea is an exciting country without many tourists from the West. The cities of Seoul and Busan are ultra-modern and look like space stations. The countryside looks like the Middle Ages.
The conflict between South Korea and North Korea is always present and there is a note of melancholy in the mentality of the people.
