Driving in South Korea - Introduction.

 “The world (or at least Korea) is my oyster!” I thought with my new Korean driver's license and my car keys in my hand. I could picture myself driving in the great outdoors with my hair flapping in the wind, listening to “Born To Be Wild”.  The problem is, Busan is a very congested city. So, after driving 1,200 miles, our car is showing an average speed of 16miles/hour. So much for the wind in my hair...

 

To me, driving in South Korea isn't that different from other countries. The rules of the road are close to what I've seen in the USA, with some specificities and difficulties due to the fact that the signs often come with messages in Korean that you don't always have time to decipher.

Driving in Busan, however, does not make things easier. From what I have heard, the local drivers are considered the worst in the country. There is a Korean saying that if you are able to drive in Busan, you can be a cab driver anywhere in the world. And if you are a cab driver in Busan, then you can be a racecar driver.

The drivers here are indeed (very) impatient, the rules are not always respected, the speed is often excessive, drivers will rarely slow down to let you change lanes, and it seems like the honking never stops. Blinkers are not used to indicate that you're going to change lanes, but to celebrate when you've made it, my brother-in-law once explained to me jokingly. Not so different from any big city of the world, one might say. But it is true that driving in Busan remains a rather trying exercise, especially for beginners, and you need to be extra vigilant at all times.

Many drivers stick a "초보운전" ("novice driver") sticker on the back of their car to warn of their lack of experience. However, this may backfire and lead other motorists to honk the horn even more, putting more pressure on the poor beginners who definitely don't need it.

"초보운전" = "novice driver"

  

When it comes to road safety, I am sometimes surprised to see situations in Korea that would be unthinkable in Europe or North America. It is not uncommon, for example, to see very young children sitting in the passenger seat, or sometimes on the lap of the front passenger. When they are in the back seat, they do not always wear seatbelts (buckling up in the rear seats has only been mandatory for a few years). A large number of 2-wheelers (mostly delivery drivers) do not wear helmets and simply ignore the rules of the road (running red lights, driving on the wrong side of the road or on the sidewalks. “Just like in Paris”, you might say. Not untrue,  only it's much worse here). Another scourge, in my opinion,which isn’t surprising in a hyper-connected country, is the number of drivers using their phones while driving, either to make calls and send texts or even to watch videos while driving. I imagine that it is difficult for the police to fight against this, knowing that the vast majority of cars here have tinted windows (I will write more about that later). So it's hard to know who's doing what behind the wheel.

Just one more (very important) thing: in Korea, as in some parts of the USA that I have visited, cars have priority over pedestrians. True, the law says the opposite. On this site, which gives information in English about driving in Korea, we’re told that: "the road belongs to pedestrians, not vehicles. The principle of pedestrian priority is also stipulated in the law. Drivers should drive as though all pedestrians were their family and friends." But in practice, pedestrians always have to yield to cars.  It is also common to see cars parked on crosswalks or sidewalks: pedestrians just have to go around them.

It took me some time to get used to this as a pedestrian (and I still find it quite unpleasant) but also as a driver. When I’m driving, I sometimes have to force myself not to stop for a pedestrian, which could be dangerous since none of the motorists around me expects me to do something so incongruous. That said, drivers also have to be careful of pedestrians, especially the many "smombies" or "smartphone zombies" who cross without looking. There are more and more pedestrian traffic lights embedded in the sidewalks, allowing those walking with their eyes glued to their phones to know when to cross or not, but it is not always enough to stop the smombies.

  

So much for my preliminary remarks on driving in Korea and Busan. The question now is how to deal with traffic lights, intersections, lane changes, and roundabouts, to name but a few of the problems I have encountered. This will be the subject of my next post.

Another tune, based on the longest English words

Recently, my Korean nephew asked me what is the longest word in the English language, and I couldn't answer. So we did some research, and I ended up writing this new tune.

 

 

Busanvincent · Incomprehensibilities

 

 

And  the definitions of these words are available here : 

 

 

Another tune, inspired by President Moon Jae-In

This one tune is based on what the Korean president (who was not yet president) famously retorted to one of his opponents during a televised debate. "이보세요" means something like "Hey, look!".

Busanvincent · Iboseyo

Another tune, inspired by the 8 o'clock news

For some reason, I sometimes hear things that I think I are good material for a song. This one, for instance was inspired by Sohn Suk-hee's "anchor briefing" speech (he has now retired, by the way), and by the Jaecheop-guk street vendor that stopped near our apartment every day when we lived in Yangsan.

Busanvincent · Jaecheop-guk for Mr Son

Another tune inspired by my life in Korea

A few weeks ago, I found inspiration in my Korean classes and wrote the tune I posted here.

Now, for some reason, our talking rice cooker has inspired me to write this tune. Enjoy!

TV commercials in Korea

As I explained on this blog a few weeks ago, there are two things I enjoy watching on Korean TV: the 8 o'clock news and commercials. I have already written a lot about TV news here, so now let's focus on Korean commercials.
 

It seems to me that there are mainly commercials for cosmetics and medicines, food, cars, household appliances, as well as banking products and "loan sharks". Nothing too surprising so far. What I like about Korean commercials is that they're so different from what I'm used to. There are a lot of colors, things flashing on the screen, and catchy music (with people dancing sometimes). For instance, I already mentioned this one about "English paralysis". It is funny and it has a catchy song. Well, a lot of Korean commercials are like that.

Some even become popular culture phenomena, like this one for Urusa liver medicines which dates back to a few years ago, that is before I was in Korea. But it looks like everyone here remembers that song. 

Catchy, isn't it? 간때문이야 ("Gan Daemuniya") means "It's because of your liver" so 피곤한 간 때문이야 ("Pigonhan Gan Daemuniya") is close to something like "If you're tired it's because of your liver".
 

Even when the commercial isn't that memorable, i noticed that some are played several times within a few minutes. So it's kind of hammered into the viewers'heads. Like this one, which I've seen so many times that it's now a kind of Pavlovian reflex for me to say "connected" when I hear the words "i-navi".

But I must admit that these commercials are pretty useful to learn Korean. For instance I started learning numbers and especially phone numbers with commercials such as these two.

"일오팔팔삼만구천" means 1588 39000. And "삼만구천원 부터" means "starting at ₩39,000). By the way, I hope you like the hooky  "French Cancan" melody 😉

"일 팔 공 공 팔 이 팔 이" means 1800-8282, with 8282 sounding like "bballi bballi", which I wrote about here.

You can also learn Korean expressions or "chunks", like in this one:

"걱정마세요" ("geogjeong maseyo") means something like "don't worry" or "no problem".

So now I'm gonna try and pay more attention to what's happening between commercial breaks, because it looks like I could also learn a lot from Korean drama, which is highly popular here, so expect a post about that soon!

A guide to Korean supermarkets

I'm not a shopping enthusiast, to say the least. But I must admit shopping is more fun abroad because you get to see a lot of different products. So I may be a little less reluctant to go grocery shopping in Korea than in France, although to be honest I'd still rather be going somewhere else like here or here.

There are a few big supermarket chains in Korea, like Lotte Mart, Homeplus and E-mart, and smaller ones like Top Mart or Sunny Mart to name but two. Among the big ones, E-mart is the one I know best because we used to go there in Yangsan, and there's also one down the street in Haeundae.

Emart in Haeundae

Our E-mart is open  Monday through Saturday from 10 am to 11 pm, and every other Sunday. This is pretty convenient, and a little new to me, as in France, most supermarkets open earlier in the morning and close earlier in the evening. Very few are open on Sundays (grocery shopping at  2am like in the US would be unthinkable in my country).

In this post, I'll mostly focus on the food section , because that is where I can see the biggest differences with France. Let's start with fruit. My impression is that there is a large choice of fruit in Korean stores. I mean there are many different kinds of fruit, but they often come in only one or two varieties. For instance, I'm an apple eater, and in France I would expect four or five different varieties of apples at the grocery store. In the Korean stores I have visited, I've always found only one variety of apple ("Fuji apples" if wikipedia is to be believed). On the plus side you can find strawberries almost all year round, and they're very tasty. 

Speaking of taste, it's interesting that Korea has pears and grapes that taste quite different from I'm used to. They look familiar but they taste like it's an entirely different kind of fruit.

When you buy vegetables or fruit,  you may have to weigh them before checking out, but sometimes that is not necessary. So I'm never really sure what to do, but usually one  shop employee manages to make me understand what I should do, even if they don't speak English.

One big problem in my opinion is that fruit is quite expensive here. It was a real shock to me the first time I saw I could buy 5 apples for 7,000 won (€5,5, or $6). It's also striking to see that most fruit is wrapped in plastic. There actually seems to be plastic everywhere!

Plastic

A lot of plastic...

Korea seems to have become aware of the problem, though. New laws have been passed to ban or restrict the use of plastic items and bags, but it will take a little time to change customers' habits I guess.

This sign asks customers to use plastic bags responsibly

In almost any aisle at the supermarket, you'll run into people offering something to taste or some kind of discount on a product. In a way it's good because you can have a whole meal for free by simply trying everything you're offered. By the way there's often a Food Court or food booth inside the supermarket if you really are hungry (again, this wouldn't suprise Americans, but we don't have that in my country).

Food booth

But all these people also make the place quite noisy, especially when some of them have microphones, and to crown it all there may also be background music or TVs playing commercials. So it can get pretty loud and cacophonous.

쫄깃한버섯!

But at least, listening to them can help you learn words like 버섯 ("mushroom") and 쫄깃 ("chewy"), which I learned from that one guy who kept repeating "쫄깃한버섯!" Or you can learn the name of fruits from one of the commercials I've just mentioned:

Catchy, isn't it?
 
And of course, this is Korea, so you'll find so many varieties of Kimchi, but also so many kinds of tofu. That's why last time Her asked me to "buy some tofu" I had to send a text message asking her to be a little more specific. 

Needless to say that the noodle section is quite impressive. I'll write a post about Korean ramen noodles soon.

The seafood section is well stocked too, with live animals in fishtanks, which always makes me feel a little uncomfortable. And yet this one looks happy, but appearances can be deceptive.

As I already wrote on this blog, everything goes pretty fast in Korea. So at the supermarket, you can check out at breakneck speed. Or you may want to use self checkout, which seems to be pretty new in Korea, as far as I understood. The cool thing is the machine speaks English in case you don't want to interact with a human clerk. In that case, you should know it's possible to order groceries on line too. It's delivered in no time, of course. And if you really want to avoid talking to someone, we recently discovered this in Yangsan : "ㅇㅇㅅㅋㄹ" is a small shop with no employees, only a self checkout machine and a lot of CCTV cameras.  You can only get ice cream and snacks so far (I believe their name comes from 아이스크림, which means "Ice cream", they just took the first letter of each block of letters), but I wouldn't be surprised if it diversified in the future.

ㅇㅇㅅㅋㄹ

But it's more fun to explore the bustling aisles of a Korean supermarket if you ask me.

How to use libraries in Korea

A library is a library, or so I rthought before coming to Korea. I have visited libraries in several countries in the world, and they were all very similar. So, apart from the usual linguistic hurdles, I didn't expect a big change of scene when I visited our local library in Haeundae. But still, Korea has managed to surprise me in several ways.

Registering is very simple, and free. All you need is an ID, or in my case an Alien Registration Card, proving that I am a resident of the "gu" (or district). At the Haeundae library, and at the one I visited in Yangsan, the facilities are pretty modern, with a lot of interesting tools, some of which I had never seen before. For instance, I like the "book shower" very much. It's a book sanitizer which you can use before returning a book or after borrowing it.

According to the manufacturer's website, it should be used if:

1. You coughed and sneezed while reading (influenza)

2. Fine dust covered the book, which can cause allergical reactions

3. There are traces of saliva on the pages

4. The book has an unpleasant smell

Another interesting thing is that you actually have to book a seat when you want to stay at the library for reading or studying. And of course, there's a machine, and an app, for that.

When it comes to checking in or out, as often -not to say always-  in Korea, the process is automated. The first time I saw Her borrow and return books, I was actually quite amazed at how fast and simple it is.

All you need to do is go to the kiosk, scan your card, enter your pin, and place all the books on the scan pad at once. The machine will scan them in no time and print a receipt with the return date on it. And Bob's your uncle!

You may borrow up to five books at once for two weeks (they don't give extensions). That's more than I need!

Returning the books is equally simple. There are even machines in the entrance hall so you don't actually need to get inside the library (and they speak English! What more could anybody want?).

I know self check-in / checkout doesn't exist only in Korea. But it's not that common in France, and certainly not that fast! So, to me, this is yet another example of the efficiency and expeditiousness of Korean society.

What about the collections of books? After all, that's what you go to the library for. Well, in the two libraries I visited, the choice of books seems pretty extensive, but most books being in Korean, it's a little difficult for me to find something to read. All I can say is that there are a lot of books about learning Korean, English, or French. Some are even a little unexpected, like this one using the Bible to teach English.

 In Yangsan,there were also quite a few novels in English (mainly the classics of British and American literature), and I didn't see that in Haeundae, but maybe I just didn't look in the right place (all the signs being in Korean, it was a little difficult for me to find my way around). Another good thing is that you can go to the library's website and request that they  buy a book you like or want to read (provided it was published less than five years ago, which is why we couldn't get them to buy Her's great book, unfortunately).

All in all, these are great places for 책벌레 , or bookworms (for once, the image is the same in Korean and in English)!

Soundtrack to my Korean classes

For some reason, listening to the CD that comes with my Korean book made me think there was material for some kind of electro-dub-whatchamacallit music. So, here goes!
 

One more thing about the 8 o'clock news in Korea

Just a follow-up to what I wrote recently about the editorial choices of Korean TV channels. I explained that journalists and anchors of the evening news programs tended to dwell for too long on  information that isn't - at least in my opinion - of paramount importance. Well, just yesterday, JTBC spent several minutes explaining how a bicycle thief was arrested! Even if he stole a few hundred bikes, in my country this would probably not even be on the local TV news (maybe it would get a few lines in the local newspaper, though). 

This also illustrates what I wrote some time ago about Korea being an extremely safe country. So one can imagine that JTBC talked about it because it's pretty unusual. It made me smile anyways...

About the evening news on Korean television

I don't watch TV a lot, but there are two things I like on Korean TV. The first one is commercials, because they're so different from what you would see in France, and on top of that you can learn Korean.I'll post about that soon.

The second thing I often watch is the evening news (mainly on JTBC, sometimes on KBS). Watching these newscasts is very formative and informative. True, I understand less than 10%, but I still find it interesting, A) because I can practice my Korean and (try to) improve my listening comprehension skills, and B) because I can see what's happening in this country, and how it's reported in the media.

About the form, there are a few things that surprised me when I started watching the 8 o'clock news on JTBC. First everything looks very formal, and I would even say the anchors are a little stilted. Imagine Her's reaction when she saw "France Info" journalists sitting on a desk. They often don't even wear a tie or a jacket.

Sohn Suk-hee, the main anchor at JTBC

The weekend guy trying to appeal to viewership

On JTBC only the "Fact Check" guy shows up every night with his shirtsleeves rolled up, probably to show that he's beavering away at fact-checking. 

I even remember that one time when Sohn Suk-hee interviewed someone who was somewhat slumped in their chair and at one point he asked them to sit up straight...which they did immediately of course.

Also, I find that Korean TV newscasts are a little slow and consequently a little long. On weekdays, the 8 o'clock news on JTBC lasts about 1 hour and 20 minutes (the 9 o'clock news on KBS in "only" 40 minutes long, which is closer to what I'm used to in France). In a way, that's pretty good. The issues tackled are thoroughly delved into, with a lot of explanations, interviews, live reporting, and infographics. In France, I always find it sad that important issues are merely touched upon (the 8 o'clock news lasts about 40 minutes and the last ten minutes or so are about "minor" topics like sports and entertainment). On the other hand, I sometimes wish Korean anchors would speed up a bit, because we're getting a lot of information about things that are not so utterly important. In an earlier post I mentioned  the fact that street muggings or car accidents can be reported on the news, but sometimes reporters are even sent to the scene to go through the event with a fine-toothed comb. The other day, they spent several minutes dealing with why a dog had managed to run away from a shelter and was eventually hit and killed by a car. This is very sad news, but I'm not sure we need to know all the ins and outs of that story.

Footage of a car accident from a dashcam shown on the evening news

As for the content of the newscasts, there's a lot of politics, which seems to be very complicated here, and I must confess I don't understand much, although Her is trying to fill me in. Then national issues and international issues linked to Korea (about North Korea and the US, for instance) are covered.

Apart from that, international news is usually skimmed over in a few minutes, unless something very big has happened,  before national issues are discussed and analyzed in further detail. Just as a sidenote, sometimes Korean journalists do make mistakes when reporting about foreign countries. Last month, for instance, they showed images of the Climate March in Paris, mixing it up with the so-called "Gilets Jaunes" protests that were taking place on the same day (true, some "Gilets Jaunes" did join the Climate March, but these are still two very different things).

What you'll see at 0'34 is the Climate March, not a "Gilets Jaunes" protest

Several things often make me smile when I watch the news in Korea. One is the fact that, in order to protect privacy I suppose, the faces of some people filmed or interviewed in the streets are blurred, and so are the names of certain people or places, not to mention potentially disturbing images. But at the end of the day, you sometimes end up looking at a screen 75% of which are blurred images. 

Blurred things

Blurred faces

Blurred names

 Another way to not show people's faces is to show their legs or chests. So finally at times you don't really need to look at the screen because there's nothing to see, you might as well listen to the news on the radio. 

Paradoxically, the privacy of convicts or suspects in criminal cases seems to be less respected. Almost every day you can see suspects or inmates escorted to a police station or some court of justice, walking along a blue wall. And when they get out, often barefaced, they can even field journalists' questions, which in France would be unthinkable (a suspect in a criminal case is never shown or interviewed on TV).

 

In short I enjoy watching this even though I don't understand much. I often think France could learn a lot from Korea in terms of TV news, only we should avoid making it as long as they do. And since this post too is getting a little long, it's time for me to bow respectfully and say goodbye.

A few typically French things I found in Korea

I have already written about so-called French food which I'm unfamiliar with, or KTX trains which, on the other hand, look very familiar (about that, just a follow-up to what I said about KTX being on time and TGV being late, it looks like it's not getting any better).  But French things are virtually everywhere in Korea, I mean things that are actually French this time, and it's sometimes a little unexpected. First off, Koreans seem to know a lot about France. I have already mentioned the people who talk to me about Napoleon or Charles de Gaulle, when I'm pretty sure hardly anybody in France would be able to name Korean presidents or historical figures. I was even more surprised the other day when Her mentioned the Edict of Nantes, a law about religious tolerance promulgated in 1598 which is a  landmark in French history. I bet that if I asked my middle-school nephew and niece they wouldn't know the first thing about it. And it's not only about high culture. One day in the street I heard a song which was familiar to me and which turned out to be the soundtrack of a French movie called "La Boum". When I mentioned that to Her, I learned that this movie is actually quite popular in Korea (I would tend to think in France it's now considered a little kitschy but I may be wrong). And then I realised Her also knew about Jordy, the 5-year-old French "singer" who sold hundreds of thousands of records in the 1990s! The icing on the cake was when I heard Her humming the melody of a song by Soeur Sourire (aka The Singing Nun), "Dominique", which is also considered very kitschy in France and which I hadn't heard in forever. Apparently it was quite a big hit in Korea too.

Less surprisingly, you can come across French brands and products when shopping for luxury goods and cosmetics. However, I didn't expect to find Louis Vuitton underwear and plastic bags at the Nampodong street market in Busan, but I suspect these are counterfeit or fake products. About cars, although most of the cars here are Korean (Hyundai, Kia, Samsung), you occasionally come across French cars. What I find surprising is that they (especially Peugeot and Citroën) seem to be considered "premium brands". There's a car repair shop in our neighborhood whih is specialized in premium cars, and a sign on the storefront says "BMW, Audi, Mercedes, Maseratti, Range Rover, Jaguar, and Peugeot". Spot the odd one out! As for Renault, well you can see a lot of their cars in Korea, except they're called Samsung. However, sometimes you'll find some with the Renault badge, which once again makes them look a little more "premium." Go figure...

The Samsung QM3, which to me is a Renault Captur

Finally, let me talk about food once again. I didn't expect to find Kiri cheese in Korea. 

 

It was also a surprise that it's presented as "new", when for me it's actually something that brings back memories of my childhood (and I'm no spring chicken). Here is a Kiri commercial that was quite popular in France in the late 1980s, with a melody that really sticks in your head.

If you want more French things in Korea, you may want to visit the French district in Seoul, called Seorae Maeul. It doesn't actually feel like France, but it's true that it's a place with a special atmosphere to it, with a lot of bakeries, restaurants and cafés. You'll also find the French School of Seoul there. They even have a park named Parc Montmartre there.

To top it off, I have come to learn that  Koreans too eat frogs. I don't really know how they're cooked, all I know is I have seen shops selling frogs at Bujeon covered market in Busan. To think that we French people are known as frog eaters all around the world !

To be honest, even though I'm French, I find this a little disguting. Speaking of which, I can't help smiling when I see restaurants selling 대구탕 (dae-gu-tang). It's cod fish stew and it's probably very tasty, the problem is it sounds like the French word "dégoûtant", meaning "disgusting". 

The name is funny but I'd rather have this than frogs!