imagine this you're in a cafe it's
really busy there are people bustling
around
and someone leaves their laptop a phone
and a backpack on a chair
and then leaves and doesn't return for
an hour
they didn't ask anyone to look after
their bag they don't make an effort to
cover the valuable items
they just say i trust in the korean
people and not one person will steal
their stuff
hi my name is jade i'm from the uk and
i'm currently studying in seoul in south
korea
i have lived here for the last three
months as part of my university degree
which is pretty crazy now that i'm
saying it
i am a hectic academic mess this
semester like there is
there's a lot so i have not been making
as many videos as i'd like to
but today we are talking culture shocks
because korea is very different from
where i'm from culturally with the
language with how
people function and view the world with
the way that the systems work here
with the food options available like
everything is so different and that's so
exciting
it took me a lot longer to find a sense
of home here or to feel comfortable than
it did when i was studying in berlin or
the us which is very similar to the uk
but i feel like i'm now a place where i
understand the systems i understand a
little bit more of how people think
okay so maybe an interesting start is
technology everything is so bloody
efficient here
oh my god for example if i want to take
a bus i just
head on to my cacao map or my naver map
which are two of the
the best navigation apps here in korea i
put in my location i put them where i
want to go
and these apps will predict to the
second
when the bus is gonna arrive like it is
truly incredible i have never had it
where a bus is late
the roads are just clockwork they often
have bus stops in the middle of the road
and buses will just file in like bam bam
bam exactly on time as you expect and it
just makes navigation so easy
metro system here is so clean so
efficient sometimes when you walk into
metro stations
you have gorgeous chill classical music
playing
sometimes you have beautiful plants or
just they turn it into like
an experience i never feel unsafe going
to a metro station
guys the availability of wi-fi here
is insane you can be on a bus you will
have flawless wi-fi
you can just pop into the corner shop
you will have flawless wi-fi oh my god i
have a meeting that i completely forgot
about i need really strong wi-fi
wow well maybe this area of soul just
spontaneously has amazing wi-fi
like it's just in the air wi-fi you just
bam you just connect to it
i have been to the top of mountains and
there has been excellent
fast service it's just amazing one of my
main experiences of culture shock
is the quiet and respectful culture i
don't consider myself
a hugely loud person or on buses or
trains i never thought oh wow yeah i'm
loud
but here i am loud people do not talk
on buses or trains i'm very familiar
with london the tube
people you know they keep their head
down they do not make eye contact
they're on their phones
life is quiet on the tube generally
unless you've got like a rowdy bunch of
people
but here you get looks if you're talking
like people are just generally quiet
which i found quite hard because
sometimes you're with your friends and
you just want to chat
you just want to discuss life and you
very much have to whisper that's because
there's such a huge culture of
respecting people's privacy like
personal space is a huge thing to
koreans in terms of
touching in terms of sound and noise in
terms of doing things which could annoy
other people
i think because there is generally a
more collectivist culture people
respect other people's opinions more
like people don't want to be a nuisance
they just respect other people's time
and energy
this culture of respect is reflected in
the way that people bow their head to
you
in thanks people will always accept
things with two hands so say you give
them your credit card to pay for
something they'll either take it with
two or take it with one hand with
another hand on their forearm so i'm
still accepting it with the two hands
and that's just meant to be more
respectful which is interesting
this is so fascinating to me because i
just came from berlin
people do what they want in berlin it's
hugely individualistic
people will grumble at other people
getting in their way but people will
play loud music
and not care what other people think
they'll make a ruckus they will
turn a public area into theirs to enjoy
with friends
and while i was there i felt quite
empowered to be equally individualistic
like
cool what do i want to do in this day
what mindset do i want to have towards
the world and how am i going to enact
that even if
people around me don't agree with it
whereas here i often find i tailor
myself
to think more about other people and be
more respectful of them
so i don't think that's necessarily like
a better or worse with this
individualism or collectivism like
should you more be prioritizing the
people around you and what they might be
thinking or feeling
should you be more resolute in what
you're doing and then if everyone is
doing that
then everyone's going to be happier in
considering what everyone wants and what
might be a nuisance to them
are you limiting spontaneity like for
example if someone wants to be just
playing music out loud
maybe the surrounding people would
actually like it but you would never do
it because
you're worried that they might not it's
just interesting to compare i feel like
they're two polar opposite places in
that respect
kindness oh my god kindness people are
amazing here
for example if a bus which as i said you
know very on time
if they see you running towards that bus
and they've arrived they've opened the
doors they should have left
but they see you running they will wait
i have gotten on to at least five buses
where i have been a sweaty running mess
trying to get there on time i'm late for
something as
usual and they're so sweet they always
wait i always say thank you and tap
watch tap with my little card get on the
bus
and just appreciate the korean system
even when there's a language barrier
people are so eager to give you
directions or help
or advice with types of street food it's
also worth pointing out that i am a
foreigner i am also
white so there are different power
dynamics at play which might mean i
receive more kindness in other people i
also once took myself on a little dinner
date
because i just love spending time alone
especially when i have roommates i find
i really have to carve
intentional time for just being with
myself and my brain
this semester i really feel like an
introvert because i just want that all
the time anyway tangent so i went for
dinner
and the woman was like one like
just you and i'm like yeah yeah it's
just me and she's like
are you sure like just you like yes so i
sit down
but she actually ended up coming and
sitting with me when i was eating my
food
and she hardly spoke english and i know
very limited korean
but with a mix of google translate and
the tiny bit of korean i do know
we had this little conversation and at
the end she came and brought me a little
strawberry on a plate
and i was just like that's so cute fresh
food is really expensive here too
so i also appreciated that even more
more specifically i've made some korean
friends
who are at different universities here
the way i met my closest friend shout
out yongseop we
met on a bus near my roommates got off a
bus yongstop
an angel came over to us and he was like
do you speak english by any chance
we were like yes we do speak english
hello he has been self-teaching himself
english for two years and has never had
the chance to practice
and he was wondering if we ever wanted
to hang out and just practice english
which is the cutest thing
ever and so brave to just come to random
people and try and ever since we met up
multiple times he looks quite near us
he's just wonderful
in the uk we have so much sarcasm and
banter and almost teasing friends as
like
a display of affection but here maybe it
is partly the language barrier it's like
a very respectful friendship like a
really wholesome friendship
like all the korean friends i have here
are so willing to just help all the time
really little things like for example my
charger broke and
he went out of his way to help me get a
new one whether that was researching
online ways we could get one
taking me to daiso doing translations to
find the one i needed
just so so so kind oh my god one of the
biggest things in seoul
is fashion and appearance and looks
people in this city are like all models
my god
their fashion sense is very specific
like people have
have an aesthetic and it's been
interesting watching it go from winter
to spring
and people having these like really long
beautiful coats having this like
gorgeous spring aesthetic with specific
types of skirts and
specific color schemes and pastels the
way people look here matters a lot to
them
it's fascinating to me how in cafes
people will spend sometimes like an hour
getting the right selfie
like people will be there with friends
at every single angle like they will
bring their lighting and tripods
to get the best photos couples will
offer match outfits which is
so cool to see because they're so
stylish my god and yeah i don't think
i've ever been in a place with such an
emphasis
on appearance so plastic surgery is very
common here i've heard that people even
get it as
a graduation gift it's like fix your
nose you know
as being to my korean friends all of
them know people who have had minor
plastic surgeries it's just kind of
normal
and when i first came here i had a huge
bias of
this is horrible like how much people
care about appearance there's so much
more to a person than how they look and
looks on everything and like women
shouldn't have to wear makeup and women
shouldn't be judging how pretty they are
and while i still think that's true i
think i have more nuance
towards the appearance-based culture now
for example if you look at the context
of korea
60 years ago after the korean war south
korea
was being wrecked by war people couldn't
afford to eat people
did not have lavish lives there was none
of this huge technological influence it
was not one of the major powerhouses of
asia
and it's crazy how far this country has
come in 60 years and so if the country's
coming from relative poverty
then i think i can see why appearance
and having nice things and looking good
would matter more because it's like wow
like we can afford this now you know
like our country's done so freaking well
and like we can afford to like
look good so we should it's also
interesting to see how i've been in
this appearance-based culture i think
i've always done the opposite and just
truly rejected
caring that much about what i look like
here i haven't felt the urge to buy new
clothes or buy
makeup on most days i don't wear makeup
i'm not saying it's better but i just
think i've realized that's my
value system i prefer to live by yeah
and being here
has just been interesting to reflect on
that also there's a korean concept of
chamion
it means like dignity or saving face and
it's this idea of caring what other
people think
and trying to give people a certain
appearance oh another culture shock
is always being asked how old i am
because of this culture of respect
and these confucian values based off of
like hierarchy of age and respect your
elders
if people know that you're older than
them they'll show you a different level
of respect and there are also different
nicknames that people use for you based
off of
that age hierarchy so like older sister
or
mom like in restaurants people will call
an older woman
serving them like who owns the
restaurant or knee which i think means
older sister and i think it's really
cute it's a way of not only showing
respect but also
like treating people you don't know like
strangers like they're a family you know
a family member like
older sister thank you so much for the
food really cool i was
not happy when i found out how expensive
fresh food is here
i live a plant-based vegan lifestyle
where
i just love fruit and veg and fruit and
veg is a nightmare to get here i always
buy it from local stores near us
but it's so pricey it's like five pounds
for a few apples
five pounds for a few satsumas three
pound for some bananas
you know expensive even cakes here
really expensive
it can cause like seven thousand one
which is like five or six pounds
for a a muffin or a slice of cake like
it's not a cheap city
rapid fires some interesting things i
love corner shops here
they're everywhere gs25 cu
mini stop e-mart they're everywhere and
they're like their own little world
you have to get to know the snacks that
you like you also fill up your bus card
there by the han river i don't know if
you've seen this in kdramas but you can
go to an emart
you can get ramen and you like cook the
ramen at the corner shop
and then you can just go and sit by the
river and eat your ramen and live your
best life
oh my god also interesting is the
monopolies here i don't know if you're
familiar with the economic development
of
south korea after the war but the
government basically boosted
five companies i think it's five um
called the che bowls
something like that and because the
government helped so much they all
became huge and really did help the
country grow but now
they own everything it's your hyundai
it's your
samsung it's your latte they own
everything like you get on a bus
and you're like oh my god this is
hyundai and then and then you're using
hand dryer and you're like oh
wow cool this is hyundai and then you go
to an email and you're like oh cool
samsung does e-mart too fascinating and
one of the biggest supermarkets is lotto
mart they also have a theme park lotte
world
they have everything and it was such a
big culture shock to me but there are
people who sell you stuff
in the aisles shopping in a massive
grocery store anyway
is interesting it's kind of stressful
especially when you speak the language
but to then be on the shelves and like
making your choice
and then there's someone there
aggressively trying to sell you a
specific item because they get
commissioned on it
it's like oh my god it's such a weird
experience the first time it happened to
me i was like
trying to use every korean word i know
like i do not eat ramen
with meat in it this one has meat in it
like no thank you
yeah i've never been to a supermarket
where i've been actively sold stuff
at every single shelf oh pretty much no
cafes have non-dairy milk
i think i found six now uh that aren't
specifically vegan cafes
it's just not worth asking do you eso no
okay
i get around this by sometimes bringing
a small pack of soy milk to put in my
drink
oh my god cafes here are insane the cafe
culture is just
it's an experience like there are themed
cafes people go to cafes for a day out
the toilets are also generally
immaculate like they're just
i love cafes here and finally the cherry
blossoms
i'm not sure you can cause a culture
shock but it was a shock nonetheless
like this has been on my bucket list
dream list to see spring in the cherry
blossoms in asia
it blows my mind every day you can be
doing the smallest task
like going to get something from a
corner shop and then you see the blossom
and it it just instantly makes me so
grateful to be here again i'm like wow
like i'm in seoul i'm in seoul and
spring
how lucky let me know your thoughts if
you live in seoul if you live in south
korea if you've visited if you want to
visit
what other culture shocks have you
experienced i'm very intrigued the
thought of leaving makes me so
sad there's so much i still want to see
and do and soak up
yeah i'm just really grateful to be here
please give this video a like and
comment down below if you'd like more
videos
about my experience in seoul tell me
what you'd like to know tell me what you
want to see
and have a gorgeous day bye