I'm going to south korea and wanted to know what types of food are there?how are the people?

Question

I am a teacher going to s.korea to teach english and just wanted to get a basic idea of what to expect while im in korea for the next 9-10 months.Food?Entertainment?sports?Shopping?Culture.Anything will help-thanks

Answer 1

Oh my goodness, where to begin

Korea is great with lots of things do do and see. especially during spring and autumn when the scenery is incredible, In Autumn all the leaves turn Red and yellow with a brilliant array of golden mountains and if you go to seorak-san mountain, you can see the waterfalls with an incredible placid atmosphere.

In spring al the trees blosom once again and there are litteraly cherry blossoms and flowers everywhere. it's a really colorful sight with a nice warm breeze that's not too hot and not too cold.

The food is brilliant, spiced, steamed, grilled, you name it, they got it. Koreans also think that natural flavor is better to adulterated foods, so almost all the time, you'll be eating someting that's fresh without chemical manufactured byproducts, due to popular belief, not all korean food is spicy, however there are many spicy dishes,

i would reccomend my favorite, negmyon (ice noodles) and sam-gyeop-sal (grilled meat lettuce wraps). and DON'T forget "Dduk" (korean ricecakes, equivelant to japanese Mochi-only better) there are hundreds of kinds, but i reccomend, Chap-sal DDuk (very soft, very sweet ricecake rolled in various powders, filled with red bean paste or honey)

every nook and cranny is covered with shops with a busy, hustling atmosphere, people putting things on display for you to see, even octupusses in a tub! and if you need anything, Korea has it, western or eastern, just walk out and there's a mcdonald's right infront of you- oh and prices are really cheap if you go to street makets, not department stores.

Korean people are really nice and crime is not much of a problem. if you saw the 2002 fifa world cup, you could notice that after every game, the people volunteered to pick up the garbage and litter in the streets and staduim. What korean love most, is when people try to learn their heritage and country. koreans are great at giving directions since everything is kind of compact, but sufficient.

sine the 2002 fifa world cup, Soccer has been very popular in korea and everyone enjoys playing or watching it. in downtown seoul, the enitire seoul-media building has been covered with a mural or Park ji-sung, the most notable soccer hero in all korea.

for entertainment, you have an enitre world of culture ahead of you, mask dances, Pan-sori music, royal wedding reinactments, nomul-nori (a very interesting korean drum orchestra), Nanta, and Jump (two notable korean stage performances, Nanta is an strange music made all with kictchen supplies, and Jump is a comical martial arts performance). and if you want to watch movies, theatres are all over with western and domestic movies. all of which have subtitles. ancient palaces, temples, museums and modern attractions are all over.

you won't have to worry about language barriers too much because most koreans learn english in elementary school and up, so most of them know enough to guide foreigners along.

Korea has really industrialized itself over the past 50 years to the 11th top economical world power so koreans sometimes feel a strong sense of ethnocentrism especially going through war and invasions.

-oh and contrary to what two others have said, A bus WILL stop for you if you see it coming and you wave your hand, taxi's too. and Dog is not served much in korea, it's becoming less popular and is barely found in cities, but rather countrysides.

i hope this give any kinds of insight and i hope you really enjoy your stay in korea, I know i am. thanks for this question, i really had fun answering it!

Answer 2

A couple of the comments are very wrong about Korea: sorry, I feel like I have to correct all the stereotypes first.

Dog as food is becoming less popular (as someone pointed out). No one will force you to eat it, or hide it in food and secretly laugh while you eat dog. People are polite and educated enough to know that not a lot of people like that, you won't have to worry about that aspect of food.

South Korea also has the 11th largest economy in the world, Daniel_H must've been there a long time ago. Technology is very fast-paced: I think statistics are the 8 in 10 households has high speed internet and about the same number have cell phones. There are places called "PC bang", internet cafes that have super fast internet access, for just a couple bucks an hour.

Transportation is well-organized, especially in the Seoul area (the capital city). The subway is a great mode of transportation, you can get anywhere for 1000won ($1 U.S.) Taxis are relatively a bit more expensive, and of course, busses go all over the place as well. If you speak a little bit of Korean, people are great with directions/help. I got lost riding the subway a couple times, and people were really nice with that.

Food is such a big aspect in Korea! If you really open your mind up to possibilities ( you are going to another country, after all ) you will enjoy your culinary experience in Korea.

With every meal, there is a bowl of rice. Even if multiple people sit at the table, everyone eats from the same side dishes with their chopsticks ( it might take a while to get used to this, most Americans are used to taking their own helpings ). Side dishes are called "ban-chan", there are probably over 100 varieties.

Also accompanying the meal is a main meat dish or soup/stew dish. Sometimes, the bowl of rice is replaced with noodles. It depends on what you are eating. For more information, here are two websites in English about Korean food:

http://www.trifood.com

http://www.xanga.com/koreancooking

They both have recipes, information, etc about Korean cooking.

In terms of entertainment, there are theatres, malls, and such in Korea. Shopping is also great! Malls are 6+ stories tall, since it's a small country, instead of spreading sideways, malls are built up. The "basement" of the mall has a grocery, then tons of other items on the other floors as well.

The Dongdaemoon area has cheap shopping as well as Itaewon for foreigners. There are streets after streets of all kinds of items, not just clothing, but books, fabrics, shoes, etc.

The Korean movie industry is in its Renaissance, there are a lot of movies being made these days. I don't know about subtitles, but great variety of genres.

Anyways, that's what little I know about Korea. Here are some tourism websites, stuff to do culturally that I missed writing about, etc:

http://english.tour2korea.com/

http://www.lifeinkorea.com/

Hope that helps, have a good trip there~!

Answer 3

The people are just fine some have a problem with Americans though They (when I was there) were mostly a farming blue collar people and very poor ( the average income at that time was about $360.00 a YEAR!) Most were pleasant and friendly.
Depending on where you are at you can get chicken,fish,dried fish,eggs, rice,kemchie ( not sure of spelling ) its good if you can get past the smell. They have theaters (some with subtitles) TV,parks, shopping open air malls,football(soccer) and volley ball I saw them playing. The first thing you'll probably notice getting off the plane is the smell quite different form American city smell but you will get used to it fast.The night life can be very interesting
just be home by 12:00 (24:00) Have fun!

Answer 4

Well, most of the people I know both online and in real life from S. Korea are really nice. It seems like a good country. My uncle taugt english there, and he really loved it. He met a great girl, who he really loved, but he tried to kiss and and she broke up with him. She said he dishonerd her, so if you get into a relationship, maybe take it slow at first.

For the food, I belive it is like Japanese food, I know shusi is popular there, since it was at one time taken over by Japan.

I just read an artical about english teachers in Asia being forced to work long, hard hourses with little pay. Look up these kind fd stories and make sure what you are doing is on the up and up. It is more previlaent in China, however.

I wanna teach English in Asia too, I am already learning how to speak chinese. I hope you have a safe and rewarding time while there!

Answer 5

First of all - you are going to LOVE it here!!!!! Korea is an amazing country.
The people of Korea are incredible friendly, though at first you may find them rude. They are not - it is just that some things we do out of politeness are not done here, eg holding the door for someone. But if you need help and ask for it they will do their best to help you. If you ask for directions, they wont just point out the way, they will take you personally.

As for food, it depends on where you are. In places like Seoul you can get most western foods so if you hate the Korean options its OK. In smaller cities, similar to where I live, there really are no other options but to be honest, the food here is so good you won't have any worries. There are some spicy options, but plenty of non spicy food. Samgyupsal (meat, cooked in front of you, wrapped in lettuce) is sooo good. Bibimbap is rice with vegetables, kimbap is rice wrapped in seaweed with various fillings. So many.....and of course there is the tradiational food Kimchi which is pickled cabbage (sounds gross but I'm addicted) and the traditional drink soju which you must try.
And you must try pondegi - silkworm larvae. It is disgusting but when in korea you have to try it...........!!!!!! It is so cheap to eat out in Korea you will not stop eating!

Entertainment wise...again, bigger cities have more options but every city has norae bangs (song rooms) and dvd bangs. Many Koreans are addicted to internet computer games and there are plenty of PC bangs if you want to get in on that action. And Korea is such a beautiful country there are plenty of ,mountains and hiking trails if you like the outdoor life.

I hope this helps a bit - feel free to email if you want to know more! I came here for a year but fell in love with the place and don't know when I'll leave! I hope you have a great time. Good luck!

Answer 6

Korean food is OK, but you might not be up for it every day. As far as ethnic food from around the world, don't expect much. Seoul is one of the biggest cities in the world but is not nearly as cosmopolitan as the other great cities in Asia such as Hong Kong, KL, and Singapore. Therefore, most things in Seoul are very Korean-centered and it is difficult to find good food from other countries.

Enjoying life in Korea requires being excited about living in Korea and Korean things because everything in Korea revolves around Korea and Korean-ness. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, but it can get old. For example, in American cities it is possible to find great food from all over the world in abundance, meet people of all walks of life, and immerse yourself in various cultures. Not possible in Korea. In Korea, everything is all about Korea.

As for the people, as anywhere, there are all kinds. Some people will be genuinely interested to know about you and where you come from. At the opposite extreme, some people who have no respect for foreigners will treat you like garbage. And of course, there will be a lot of people in between. The first word you are likely to learn is "waeguk-saram," which means "foreigner." Be prepared to hear people calling you this everywhere (in restaurants, walking down the street, in elevators, etc.) around ten times a day.

Please don't take this the wrong way. I'm not trying to turn you off to Korea. I'm sure you'll have a great time here. I just want to give another perspective to add to all of the "oh-Korea-is-so-wonderful" responses you are likely to get when asking a question like this here. There are two sides to every coin, and as long as you are prepared to take the good and the bad, you will do fine. All in all, it's not a bad place to live. Just don't expect the paradise that a lot of people here seem to be promising you!

Answer 7

I'm Korean. Most foreigners in here don't eat Korean food.
Korean eat rice, noodles, and a variety of seasoned vegetable
foods. Most foreigners don't like to melt together with Koreans.
Most are hanging around with another foreigners here.

Koreans are very nice. Some of the young will approach you
to test their English command. But normal citizens will be
embarrassed when you try talking to them, because they
don't know English.

If you are real licensed teacher and ardent to teach students well,
they will like you, but I'm sorry to say this; in the past, unlicensed
teachers didn't do well here, some of them were reported nationwide by the press for their unqualification and misbehavior such as molesting female students.

I hope you are conscientious in teaching your students in future.

Answer 8

Please ignore the racist spewing stereotypes in the first post.

Seoul is a very, very modern city. Lots of fresh foods. Lots of fruits, veggies and the most fantastic short ribs around. Bargaining for goods is traditional. If you don't some vendors are disappointed. People are extremely warm and friendly.

There's a link included (watch out, there are some popups so make certain your blocker is on) that identifies some of the more popular (and yummy) dishes. Samgyet'ang (Ginseng Chicken Soup) will blow away any flu you've ever had in your life!

You'll have a wonderful time and it will be a great learning experience.

Answer 9

Try the table top cooking places where you can cook your own food (beef, pork, chicken). When the meat is cooked, wrap it in lettuce or mint leaves and add some sauce according to your taste. The bulgogi is also good. That's grilled beef. Also, try the cheese ramyon. It's a spicy ramen with cheese. Try to learn the basic Korean greetings and learn to respect the locals, it usually helps when you are not arrogant. Most american military men get in trouble with the locals because they disrespect them. Understand that you are in their country, not the other way around. Have fun, because Korea is a very nice country.

Answer 10

Have fun if you can. You'd better get to like spicy pickled products soon, 'cause you'll get a lot of it.
Seoul?
Most foreigners hang out in Itaewon - you can easily get there by subway. There were lots of American army personnel there 7 years ago, but I'm not sure if they've pulled some troops out or not. The best place (pub) when I was there was a place called Gecko's.
Koreans in Itaewon are generally friendly, but outside it can be hard.
Koreans like soccer and baseball. They have a sumo-like sport called Ssirum.
The korean alphabet is easy to master - I did it in an hour with a native. It will help things if you can at least read out things.

Buses - if you don't flag one down, it won't stop just 'cause your there. Be aware.

Korea was cheap cheap cheap, but be careful, cause its stilll easy to spend spend spend.