No introduction needed:
Ten Things I Admire About Korea
1. Korean food: healthy, tasty, and energizing. Especially the soups, they have a way to give you a healthy jolt in your system. There is a mixed array of vegetables, meats, and kimchee, kimchee being Korea's food treasure which literally fights diseases and cancer.
2. Korea's work ethic: they work hard. "All work and no play" produces one of the top economies in the world.
3. Great transportation: buses, subways, and taxis are fast, cheap, and efficient. I used to be afraid of buses when I was younger, and even though the bus drivers here in Korea are crazy, they get you to your place on time and on schedule (for less than a $1). Also, walking is a great method of travel and exercise, and its fun to trek from one part of the city to the other with the many historical landmarks and Asian culture that abound. Yet by saying the word "walk," I have slashed Korean tourism's future earnings by 40% because any Americans reading this blog have realized that they have to walk to get somewhere and decided not to come. Ouch.
4. Korean co-workers: they go out on a limb to help you out. For a society that is very hard-working and tense, my work environment is surprisingly quiet and laid-back.
5. Korean discipline and education: there is harsh punishment in store for children who yell back at their parents or disobey the law at school. You're out of line, you pay the time. This is opposed to American youth who sometimes cuss at their own teachers and have no ambition to study hard. Here in Korea, being a public school teacher is an honored profession (unless you teach at a mechanical high school), and its humbling when your students walk by you and bow to you.
6. Korean technology: cell phones, computers, Plasma TV's, Korea is home to one of the biggest electronics markets on the planet. Korean people work hard to produce great technology and innovations daily, for export around the world (LG, Samsung come to mind).
7. Korean healthcare: drugs and health care are surprisingly cheap and even though I have not been to a hospital yet, I heard the technology and care is decent. I have visited a Korean hospital, and it really does not look any different from an American one in many respects. As for the health insurance issue of being cheap here in South Korea, compare that to the States where 40 million people have no health insurance. Heck, even I had no insurance before I came, so literally I have to travel halfway around the world to get some. Plus, Korean traditional drugs and tonics do the trick really well, especially after I caught a nasty cold after a Korean league baseball game two weeks ago.
8. Korean passion: Koreans are nationalistic and very proud of their history, despite its flaws and dark moments. They are proud of their race, their heritage, and their language. They have taken western assistance of the past (Christianity, hospitals, universities, government structure, and city planning) and made it their own. Its cool how they infused modernization and smashed it into their culture of diligence, respect, and authority.
9. Korean culture: the old school elements, dating back from 1300's, still exist today in the forms of music, poetry, literature, and art. Korea has a history that is way longer than America's so the antiquity is a theme that is held so dear here.
10. Korean way of life: going with the idea of Korean discipline, Korean living is a thing of humility and order. Respect your elders, do what your told, and do it with your might. You are given a task, do it well. This produces a society that is hard-working, diligent, and for the most part, honest.
In a few moments, top ten things that I do not like about Korea so far.
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