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My EXPERIENCE as a MEDIA INTERN in SEOUL South Korea with KGY (KoreaGapYear 한국갭이어)
# INTRODUCING KOREAGAPYEAR INTER
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I am Reina, 19 years old, my MBTI is INTP and I am a pisces! I come from a small town in North-Holland. When it comes to languages, I can say that I speak Dutch and English fluently and currently working on my Korean! I like to be creative, not only with my study but also in my make-up or fashion. I’m obsessed with traveling, my dog, music, and taking pictures of the sky. I chose KoreaGapYear KGY for my internship in Korea, because I wanted to travel and learn a new culture during my stay and my classmate introduced to me KoreaGapYear and they helped me make that goal come true
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To be honest, I never thought being in Korea would be a realistic scenario for me. And living here, before I even turned twenty, was definitely not something I had ever thought about until last year. When I became influenced by Korean culture through K-pop and K-dramas in 2016 I didn’t even dare to dream about it because I hadn’t even left Europe before. So me actually living and working in Seoul right now still kind of feels surreal to me. |
It has been roughly three weeks since I arrived here and about a week since I moved into my apartment. So I feel pretty confident when I say that I know what you can and can’t expect in Korea or, at least, Seoul.
1) CONVENIENCE IN KOREA
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I am a college student living on a minimum income in a foreign country. How do I survive? Convenience stores, local restaurants, and everything Lotte! Compared to Europe, eating outside is amazingly cheap and you get big portions too. Not only that but most restaurants and take-outs are open until at least 11 PM and the convenience stores until even later in the night or even 24 hours!
2) CULTURE SHOCKS IN EXPERIENCED IN KOREA
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Being from West-Europe coming here came with a lot of culture shocks, a few I already read or heard about and a few I had to actually experience.
Let’s start with the fact that you can barely find any trash cans in public. As part of a law that had been set up in 1995 to prevent household trash in public trash cans, almost 4000 trash cans were removed from the streets of Seoul until 2007. After a lot of complaints from visitors and inhabitants they did put around 2500 trash cans back in the city but it is still far behind the other major cities in the world when it comes to handling trash.
Also, don’t blow your nose in public. Rather go to a nearby bathroom or find a less crowded corner to do it, because blowing your nose in front of others is considered rude. A bit like burping in a lot of western cultures. They won’t say bless you either when you sneeze so don’t think you’re ignored!
3) SUPERSTITIONS IN KOREA
Superstitions around death are also very ingrained in the everyday life of Korea. Take the number four (4) for example; you know the western unlucky number 13? This is the Korean version. Since it sounds similar to the word “death”. Because of this a lot of buildings have an F instead of 4 for the fourth floor. Another one; is never write a name in the color red, they only do that with the names of the deceased. It’s like wishing someone to die. Don’t stick your chopsticks or spoon straight up in rice either. People typically do this for the deceased too so you might get some weird stares.
4) BEING A FOREIGNER IN KOREA
Even though they might stare at you if you’re doing something weird, they won’t do anything more than that. Korea is a very safe country. You can even walk the streets at night without worrying too much about your safety! Leaving your bag on your seat in a restaurant to forgetting your bank card in a cafe and getting it right back from their lost goods basket.
If you do suspect a theft has taken place then CCTV is your best friend, because they are quite literally everywhere with good quality. From hotels, and convenience stores to even on streets and highways!
5) SAFTEY IN KOREA
For me, this was one of the best cultural “shocks” I experienced because if I would walk around late at night in my country I would come back home running out of fear of the men on the street. Since I have been in Korea I didn’t get catcalled once!
Some might say I am living the dream. Which.. they’re not wrong, it still feels like one and I am pretty sure it will until I get back. And I think I may want to live here for longer than the five months I already will. No country is perfect, this one included, but I do recommend you to visit this one. You’re going to love it.
My EXPERIENCE as a MEDIA INTERN in SEOUL South Korea with KGY (KoreaGapYear 한국갭이어)
# INTRODUCING KOREAGAPYEAR INTER
I am Reina, 19 years old, my MBTI is INTP and I am a pisces! I come from a small town in North-Holland. When it comes to languages, I can say that I speak Dutch and English fluently and currently working on my Korean! I like to be creative, not only with my study but also in my make-up or fashion. I’m obsessed with traveling, my dog, music, and taking pictures of the sky. I chose KoreaGapYear KGY for my internship in Korea, because I wanted to travel and learn a new culture during my stay and my classmate introduced to me KoreaGapYear and they helped me make that goal come true
|
To be honest, I never thought being in Korea would be a realistic scenario for me. And living here, before I even turned twenty, was definitely not something I had ever thought about until last year. When I became influenced by Korean culture through K-pop and K-dramas in 2016 I didn’t even dare to dream about it because I hadn’t even left Europe before. So me actually living and working in Seoul right now still kind of feels surreal to me. |
It has been roughly three weeks since I arrived here and about a week since I moved into my apartment. So I feel pretty confident when I say that I know what you can and can’t expect in Korea or, at least, Seoul.
1) CONVENIENCE IN KOREA
I am a college student living on a minimum income in a foreign country. How do I survive? Convenience stores, local restaurants, and everything Lotte! Compared to Europe, eating outside is amazingly cheap and you get big portions too. Not only that but most restaurants and take-outs are open until at least 11 PM and the convenience stores until even later in the night or even 24 hours!
2) CULTURE SHOCKS IN EXPERIENCED IN KOREA
Being from West-Europe coming here came with a lot of culture shocks, a few I already read or heard about and a few I had to actually experience.
Let’s start with the fact that you can barely find any trash cans in public. As part of a law that had been set up in 1995 to prevent household trash in public trash cans, almost 4000 trash cans were removed from the streets of Seoul until 2007. After a lot of complaints from visitors and inhabitants they did put around 2500 trash cans back in the city but it is still far behind the other major cities in the world when it comes to handling trash.
Also, don’t blow your nose in public. Rather go to a nearby bathroom or find a less crowded corner to do it, because blowing your nose in front of others is considered rude. A bit like burping in a lot of western cultures. They won’t say bless you either when you sneeze so don’t think you’re ignored!
3) SUPERSTITIONS IN KOREA
Superstitions around death are also very ingrained in the everyday life of Korea. Take the number four (4) for example; you know the western unlucky number 13? This is the Korean version. Since it sounds similar to the word “death”. Because of this a lot of buildings have an F instead of 4 for the fourth floor. Another one; is never write a name in the color red, they only do that with the names of the deceased. It’s like wishing someone to die. Don’t stick your chopsticks or spoon straight up in rice either. People typically do this for the deceased too so you might get some weird stares.
4) BEING A FOREIGNER IN KOREA
Even though they might stare at you if you’re doing something weird, they won’t do anything more than that. Korea is a very safe country. You can even walk the streets at night without worrying too much about your safety! Leaving your bag on your seat in a restaurant to forgetting your bank card in a cafe and getting it right back from their lost goods basket.
If you do suspect a theft has taken place then CCTV is your best friend, because they are quite literally everywhere with good quality. From hotels, and convenience stores to even on streets and highways!
5) SAFTEY IN KOREA
For me, this was one of the best cultural “shocks” I experienced because if I would walk around late at night in my country I would come back home running out of fear of the men on the street. Since I have been in Korea I didn’t get catcalled once!
Some might say I am living the dream. Which.. they’re not wrong, it still feels like one and I am pretty sure it will until I get back. And I think I may want to live here for longer than the five months I already will. No country is perfect, this one included, but I do recommend you to visit this one. You’re going to love it.
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