So I've been living in Korea for about two months now - loving every minute of it - and I've learned a lot of things about this country. My mom actually sent me a list about how to blend in as a foreigner living in South Korea, so I figured I would share and dissect this list. 

1. The only way to communicate is through KakaoTalk. This is actually really, really true. If someone asks for your number, it's not so they can text you or call you. It's so they can message you through Kakao. Everyone uses this messenger. All of my foreign co-workers use it. All of my Korean co-workers use it. My boss uses it. My students' parents use it. People I meet on the street use it. If you get on the subway, every second there's a chorus of the specific KakaoTalk message alerts. Legit. If you ever come to Korea, you definitely need to get Kakao. But it's also useful elsewhere as well. I was using KakaoTalk long before I left America. It enables you to text for free anywhere around the world, and you can also make phone calls. Pretty useful. 

2. When using public transportation, always stay to the right. In Korea, as in America, they drive on the right side of the road as opposed to the left. So whenever you're out, people stick to this method. If you're on the escalator and you want to just stand there instead of walk, stay to the right and people will move around you. On the sidewalks, stay to the right and the people walking the opposite way will stay on the left. This is pretty true, for the most part. 

3. Korean girls wear really short skirts so they walk up steps holding their bags behind them to prevent anyone from seeing up their skirt. While it's true that Korean girls do wear the shortest skirts, dresses, and skirts known to humanity, I have never once seen anyone use a bag to cover their . At the same time, I have never seen up anyone's dress or skirt either. 

4. Korean food is communal. This one is definitely true. In America, we tend to be germaphobes. Even my own mother doesn't like it when I take a sip from her drink or eat off her plate, and she gave birth to me! In Korea, everything is fair game. You dip your chopsticks - the same chopsticks that have been in your mouth over and over again - in the communal hot pot or side dishes or whatever. Everyone shares everything. Even when you're eating western style and you each have your own individual dish, you still share. 

5. The oldest person always pays for the meal and it's considered rude to ask for split checks. This is one that I don't agree with. Perhaps this article was written a while ago, but we ask for split checks all the time and no one bats an eyelash. Also, even when one person does pay for the whole meal, it's not always the oldest. 

6. You have to drink until you can't walk home. I'd like to say that this one isn't true, but it totally is. Everyone drinks. Everyone. And soju hits you hard when you're least expecting it. The first time I went out and drank after I arrived in Korea, I wasn't all that familiar with the way soju sneaks up on you and two of my friends had to help me back to my apartment. I've been careful after that, but alcohol is so cheap here and so readily available and everyone is always just giving it to you and it's sort of rude to refuse to drink. It's always, "one more shot! one more shot!" Although this past weekend was the very first time that I actually saw someone that phsyically couldn't get home. It was early, too! It was only about 12:45 in the morning and I was waiting to meet my friend and these two guys across the way from me were literally dragging their drunk friend between them. 

7. How you address people is important. While this is true, I actually hear a lot less "hyungs," "oppas," "noonas," and "eonnies" as I expected. A few people use these phrases, but not at all the way I assumed when writing fanfiction before coming to Korea. Also, calling someone an "ahjumma" or "ahjussi" is actually kind of insulting to them. Nobody wants to be called that. It's much better to just say, "excuse me" when you want to get someone's attention and not call them any name even if you thought it was polite. Mostly they just look at you weird when you speak to them in Korean anyway. 

8. Koreans want to look like vampires. Legit, this was on the list. First of all, I don't think I have to tell you that Koreans don't really want to look like vampires. The article talks about how being pale is fashionable in Korea, and that's true. They have a lot of skin care products and even the boys wear makeup on a regular basis. But they don't take it to the point of wanting to look like vampires. The article also mentions how circle lenses are really popular here. If they are, I've yet to see a single advertisement for them. And I certainly haven't seen any Koreans wearing them. So I'm going to say this one isn't exactly true. 

9. Everyone eats spicy food. Yep. This one is totally true. Spicy food is everywhere. But it's also easy to find dishes everywhere that aren't spicy. I'm still working up to eating some of the spicy foods, but I can always find less spicy dishes that are delicious. So even if you don't eat spicy food, it's okay. You won't starve. 

10. No pain, no gain. This one is partially true. While an alarming number of women and men have plastic surgery done in Korea, I honestly can't say that I blame them. I mean, I'm not talking about the nose jobs and eye jobs and whatever else. But other things are amazing. Like laser hair removal. For just 10,000 won - which is a little less than 10 American dollars - you can get your armpits lasered. Do it five times - roughly $50 - and it never grows back. In America, this procedure would be a couple hundred dollars easily. And laser eye surgery! My friend just had her eyes fixed last week, easy peasy lemon squeezy. It cost her a whopping 1,000,000 won, which is roughly $1000 in the US. When I was going to have the same surgery in America, it cost $6000! It's crazy. But the article doesn't just talk about the plastic surgery aspect. It mentions that Korean women wear high heels all the time. While it's true that Korean women wear high heels, it's not any different than the women who wear heels in America. In fact, I see more flats and sneakers - oh the sneakers! - than high heels. So I wouldn't really agree with that one at all. 

11. So there's one more thing I'd like to add that has nothing to do with the list. It's about how to write Korean names in English. While browsing different fanfictions and whatnot, I ran across several ways that people were writing Korean names. Let's take the name 김유나 for example. One way I've seen it written is Kim Yu-Na. Another way is Kim Yu Na. When writing their names in English, Korean people don't write their names either of these ways. The most common way is Kim YuNa, but I've also seen Kim Yuna as well. Another thing that I didn't know before coming to Korea is that women keep their surname regardless of who or if they marry. So if Kim YuNa marries Lee JiHa (I'm using my students' names OTL) then she will still be Kim YuNa, not Lee YuNa. She will always be Kim YuNa. Which is interesting because in America it's sort of a big deal for a woman to take her husband's family name. 

Anyway, I hope someone actually learned something from this OTL I'm having so much fun in Korea and I want to share what I'm learning ^^