What do you tell people who have just arrived in Korea?

Courtesy of Elle Morre

Another university semester begins amidst the pouring rain and scorching heat of a Korean summer that refuses to give way to autumn. Thousands of international students have made their way here: some coming with long-held dreams of studying in the land they grew up watching in K-dramas and music videos; others simply taking the opportunity to come to the other side of the world and try something new. They come from Vietnam, Mexico, France, the United States, China, Taiwan, Germany, and, recently, more and more from Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. This last group of students often have Kim as their surname and striking Korean features yet bring a distinctly different energy shaped by their post-Soviet upbringing.

I teach Korean Studies and have 9 (nine!) different lectures across two universities again this semester, so I encounter hundreds of these students every day. I try to listen to their stories, learn their interests, and get a feel for where the culture is. I’m also curious as to how people see Korea after only being here for a week. Of course the answers vary dramatically. Students from Mongolia will comment on the height of the buildings. My students from Indonesia remark wistfully on the peaceful democracy they encounter. The Parisians remark on the silence and cleanliness of the subways. The Taiwanese tell me food is really expensive. The Swedes sing passionately about samgyeopsal and soju.

And then, in between lectures on history and culture, I’m left trying to give them a few early pointers about life here in South Korea. That’s not easy because I’ve been here so long, seen so many changes, and – to a certain extent – have a completely different lifestyle to my students. Nevertheless, that’s the question: What do you tell people who have just arrived in Korea?

Saying Hello

I really believe speaking Korean opens so many doors here. And, the quicker you can converse with people, the richer and more rewarding your experiences will be. One thing that will really make a newly-arrived foreigner stand-out is their Korean voice. The wonderfully enunciated “annyeonghaseyo” and “gamsahamnida” are kind of like Korean people saying, “It’s raining cats and dogs and that’s not my cup of tea.” It’s correct. Perfectly cromulent. But rarely heard in day-to-day life. I sometimes advise students that instead of the full “annyeonghaseyo” a simple “nya-sae-yo” works just as well, if not better. But the key is not necessarily in what you say, but how you say it. When you bow to your teacher, your boss, or the security guard scrolling through his phone, it’s generally just a flick of the head…but the eyes must go down. Having been raised in the west, I stand-up straight up and look people in the eyes when I greet them. Here, I’ve adjusted to sending my eyes darting towards the floor as my head snaps downwards. I tell my students this and after a few weeks they no longer bow their heads while looking me straight in the eye but slowly perfect that little snap with the eyes no longer visible.

But life is more than a classroom. So they will often tell me stories about drinking in Itaewon or the bars around the university. Totally cool, and what many Koreans do. But then I try to point them in other directions. I send them towards Euljiro so they can get all of those cyberpunk vibes that look so good in photos. With the weather as it is, most of the chicken places and bars still have everyone sat on rooftops and in the streets. And what’s more Korean that being outside surrounded by tables and tables of Koreans, drinking beer and eating fried chicken as the evening breeze wipes the last few beads of sweat from the back of your neck?

For a change of pace, and acknowledging that not everyone is into highballs and neon pink, I also give a shoutout to Seocheon. This is the area west of Gyeongbok Palace, stretching all the way to Inwang Mountain. You’ll find loads of old hanok, museums, restaurants, cool cafes and traditional markets. Unlike places south of the river with the sports cars and plastic surgery clinics, Seocheon has a more “old money” kind of vibe and is perfect for late afternoons and early evenings. There’s bookstores made famous by IU and all other little pieces of Korean history scattered about that means their Instagram stories will be full in no time.

And then there’s the hiking. It’s no secret that many come here and struggle to make Korean friends. They encounter millions of people every week, in the streets, the cafes, and the subways, and yet everyone seems to be moving at a million miles per hour. No one says hello. Small talk generally doesn’t happen. And so it becomes an introvert’s dream. A world of people without conversation. But for those with a bit of adventure, and for those who want to interact with Koreans, I send them to the mountains. I tell them to go hiking. Unlike in Canada or other places where you need to drive quite a way to get out into the mountains, here, you come out of a subway station, turn a corner, buy some kimbap, and up you go. But the best part of it is that basically everyone will start talking to you. Especially if you’re wearing the wrong clothes or have any kind of factor about you. People will smile. They’ll acknowledge you. And, kind of like nowhere else in Korea, you’ll feel seen and spoken to.

The New

There’s now so much in Korea that is familiar to people from other countries. Coffee is sold everywhere. Convenience stores sell chicken tenders and reasonably decent sandwiches. We no longer have to take our shoes off and sit on the floor in restaurants. And those toilets that were just holes in the floor have all but disappeared. Basically, it’s a very comfortable place to be. It’s clean, safe, the subways run on time, and you’re not really going to get any grief from the locals. Quite the opposite, in fact. You might occasionally get comments on your hair, your eyes, your headdress, or how well you eat spicy food. Koreans love watching foreigners eat!

But I do gently remind students that Koreans have not really been interacting with foreign people for all that long. It was only on January 1st, 1989 that citizens were first allowed to travel abroad without government permission. A few decades ago, school kids would run after me shouting “migugin onda!” (I’m British). So while Korea feels like it’s been doing this whole Hallyu thing for ages, it hasn’t really. We are quick to compare the country to the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Australia and the States when it comes to mental health, gender equality, and racial tolerance. But rather than being behind those countries as many like to suggest, I offer the perspective that it’s more like a teenager with a Ph.D. It’s only been a democracy for 38 years. It's just that "KPop Demon Hunters" and BLACKPINK mean the world is now looking at its technology and its culture and wondering why it’s not on the same moral timeline that have had centuries of democracy.

Things here are obviously a bit different. Not better. Not worse. Just different. And when you can learn to see the familiar in the strange and the strange in the familiar, you’ll have a better time. It’s obviously impossible to curate a welcome pack to the country. There’s the whole recycling process which feels like rocket science trying to sort everything into the right boxes with people peering out their windows making sure you do it correctly. There’s the nunchi thing of just having to fall in line and do what other people do without being explicitly told. And the beauty standards are no joke.

But most students enjoy their time here. Some fall in love. Some stay. Some just find it low-key boring. The outrageous stories we hear in the news and reddit threads about terrible situations that befall the unfortunate can sometimes dominate the narrative, while the thousands of visiting students that enjoy themselves do so without the discourse acknowledging them. So this is for the people that have just arrived. Welcome to Korea. I’m sure many will think I’ve got all my suggestions wrong or have missed glaring things. But that’s the beauty of the country. Everyone’s got a different story to tell and the freedom to do so.