Korean Lightshow

Dieser Post kam Englisch leichter aus den Tasten. Müsst halt protestieren, wenn es euch nicht passt :)! Rechts gibt es nun eine Auswahl um die automatische Übersetzung von Google zu aktivieren, welche natürlich nie wirklich gut ist, die grundsätzlichen Aussagen sollten aber verständlich bleiben. Wenn German nicht verfügbar ist, wählt zuerst eine andere Sprache.

Speaking of languages, it was hard to put the same effort into Korean as I did with Russian. But the Korean script (Hangul) is absolutely beautiful. It was invented as late as the 15th century and groups 2/3/4 letters into a syllable square. The alphabet consisting of 19 consonants and 21 vowels is intuitive (similar sounds have similar letters) and is easy to learn. As an example, the very important Thank you is 감사합니다. The roman transliteration would be kam-sa ham-ni-da. The first little syllable square consists of a K (ㄱ), then A (ㅏ), and an M (ㅁ), the second packet is S (ㅅ), and A again, and so on. There are a lot of little quirks I'm sure I haven't understood all, but in essence the script feels better designed than any other I've looked at. Unfortunately, understanding someone who speaks Korean is another matter entirely, partly due to the many vowels and nasal sounds I presume.

So it's mostly down to sign language and finding people with a modicum of English at their disposal if you need anything. The latter proved surprisingly difficult across all age groups, considering how many English influences are present in Korean daily life. Many signs and some restaurant menus are in both languages, announcements in buses and trains are usually bilingual, pop culture uses lots of English, movies are mostly subbed and not dubbed. But of course the languages are very different. Regardless of language barriers, the Koreans I encountered were exceedingly friendly, helpful and polite, with the customary exception of bus drivers - I suppose driving through all those traffic jams is just bound to make you grumpy. While judging by appearance one might suspect Koreans are generally happy people, the highest suicide rate of OECD members tells a darker tale. It is evident that they are under a lot of pressure and stress. To conform to lots of norms and rules, to work a lot (they theoretically have 15-25 annual leave days, but effectively often just take a few days off per year). And of course to look good - it is the most surgically enhanced/changed country in the world, an estimated 1 out of 5 persons have had plastic surgery. One thing which does not add to the stress is the situation with North Korea. Every single person I asked about it just shrugged and said they were not worried. After decades of the same situation without tangible rather than rhetorical escalation, no one seems to think that will ever change.They are also hands down the shiest people I've ever encountered. Most will only curiously peer at you from the corner of their eyes, and when caught immediately look the other way. Once engaged, the shyness falls away to some extent.

To me, the people are South Korea's biggest asset, and the best reason to travel here. I was repeatedly surprised by an encounter, just when I thought I'd mostly figured them out. The landscape is, quite honestly, nothing special. Of course this is always a matter of taste, and someone liking lush greenery might disagree, as the forests are preserved to an astounding degree. Wooded hilltops are alternating with small green valleys mostly used for planting crops. When one hill is slightly bigger, there will be a broad path leading up it, with lots of Koreants in perfect mountain gear scrambling up it to the top, where a landmark is available for celebratory pictures. Maybe I am just spoiled by the incredible vistas and wide open spaces in Central Asia.
Once the night falls however, cities in South Korea light up in forest of bright and colourful lamps and neon signs, which can be very charming and quite enjoyable if you don't think about saving energy. The natural forests are said to turn bright and colourful in autumn as well, I missed that by a hair.

Since South Korea is a hotspot for surgery, and people travel there to have surgery from places like the US, Europe and Australia, I was rather confident they have all the necessary know-how for maybe lasering my eyes. I decided to get free consultation appointments at two of the most renowned (according to internet resources) eye clinics in Seoul. The examinations felt professional and took about 1.5 hours. They came up with same numerical results, yet vastly different interpretations. One clinic advised me to get lens implants (because there might be complications with lasering, since my cornea is not very thick), while the other clinic advised me to get the standard laser procedure (not even the one that preserves more of the cornea), and suggested that getting lens implants would cause me lots of complications and I should forget about that idea. Both refused to provide numerical answers for complication rates, and both refused to talk about the pro and contra of having surgery in the first place. To sum it up, this was clearly a sales pitch, not an attempt to treat a patient. Both that and reading up on the remarkably high complication rates convinced me that for now I will not risk my (with contacts/glasses perfect) eye sight just to get rid of glasses.

The population of South Korea is just over 50 million (on an area over twice as big as Switzerland), with roughly a staggering half of them living in the Seoul Capital Area. Seoul can feel crowded indeed, especially looking at the traffic and room sizes, so I was glad to get out of the city after a week. Just in time for the beginning of a 10-day public holiday period, which virtually never happens in South Korea. Naturally and to my big displeasure every South Korean decided now was the time for travelling (without leaving the country) and visiting family. Here we go, crowded again.  Hostels booked out, trains and buses booked out, whole cities booked out, restaurants and shops closed, horrendous traffic, every touristy destination buried under a mass of selfie-taking Koreans. I learned to get around the worst, at times (reluctantly) booking ahead, taking slow trains and buses, sometimes choosing a less touristy destination. Of the places I visited I liked best (somehow more real) Gwangju, then (touristy) Andong, and (more touristy) Jeonju where half of the people dressed up in traditional garments to walk through the city and take selfies. I was no fan at all of (most touristy) Udo Island, which came with lavish praise, but featured loud touts and a landscape strewn by plastic waste like many places in South East Asia. While usually historic buildings were somewhat disappointing from a western experience perspective, I really appreciated the custom of sitting shoeless on the old wooden floorboards of temples, letting calmness wash over me and beholding the intricately crafted and painted ceilings.

Korean cuisine was largely unknown to me, and I made a point of trying many things, even pork and seafood which I normally avoid. While I very much appreciate Kimbap (their version of Sushi, slightly different rice and seasoning, without raw fish) and like Kimchi (cabbage or radish with chili and other seasonings), I think they generally ruin a lot of perfectly fine dishes by needlessly drowning them in soup. Some dishes in restaurant have to be shared (two persons minimum), this is particularly true for Korean Barbecue restaurants. The South Koreans are also world champions at drinking if you measure it by liquor shots (instead of pure alcohol consumption), something which I'd had no idea of, but is evident in daily life. I think the reason for the big alcohol intake are manifold: Their undisputed favourite, Soju (fermented rice spirit), tastes sweet and to me is much easier to drink than e.g. Vodka, while it still may contain up to 50% alcohol. Koreans like to socialise when going out, they know too many drinking games, have little resistance to peer pressure or social norms, probably feel the need to overcome the aforementioned shyness, and last but not least alcohol is an accepted part even in business (where in a job interview you might have to answer the question of how much alcohol you can handle - there is a standard answer of course).

Trying to rent a car shipwrecked at the enforced requirement of an international driver permit. In other countries I normally didn't even have to show my driver licence, or the international permit requirement was waived in favour of being able to do business. Not so in South Korea. Here you stick to rules. Some of which make sense. While some are plain silly, like all those fences on mountains where you could fall down, having to show a passport for going on 15min domestic ferry ride, being able to buy a SIM at the airport but not the city. Or the imaginary borders on how far you can swim out into the ocean, painstakingly guarded by people in boats with whistles. I propose to retrain those guards to be swim teachers, much more effective in the long run for saving lives than trying to keep everyone in shallow waters.

A Korean who had lived 13 years in China theorised that there are several categories which are steadily increasing from China to Korea to Japan: Longitude, prices, train speed and strictness. Flying to Japan tomorrow, I'm slightly worried about the last. I will try to rent a car again, for which I'll need a Japanese translation of my driver's license (requiring between 1 day and 2 weeks), and see how that goes :).