It is that time of year again, people all over are gearing up to PCS, this is another post of general information for moving here to Yongsan, South Korea - I hope it is helpful.
1. This is hard for some American's to get past....personal space is no longer personal. The sooner you accept this, the better off you will be. People bump into you and do not say sorry...people will put their hands on you to move you if you are in their way, this is not rude. I even do it to people now. During rush hour on the subway, you feel like a sardine.
2. Having a copy of the subway map in English & Korean is helpful. I use it all the time when traveling by cab...I just tell/show the cab driver which subway stop I want to be taken to.
3. Use the internet when going someplace new...most locations you want to go to in Seoul have a website and the website has directions in Korean, even if you cannot read them, print them off anyway and give it to your cab driver. Having the phone number helps too....cab drivers will call the location if they have problems finding it. Know where you want to come back to! There are many Koreans that work on post & they are more than happy to help in this area. I have a friend that wrote in Korean where to drop us off; I keep it in my purse and show the cab driver on all return trips.
4.If a cab driver tells you no, or gives you the 'X' with his fingers or arms, and points across the street, he is trying to help you save fare, by telling you to cross the street and catch a cab going the other direction.
5. I never thought I would drive in Seoul. This is one scary place when it comes to driving for some. In the beginning I was terrified, but now, 1 year later, I drive all over the place & I have had several people tell me I should be a cab driver here! :) Some helpful hints for driving...don't be polite, just stick your nose out and shove your way in. Buses always have the right of way. Left turns are not allowed in here. Some red lights are optional!!! I am serious; once you start driving here you will figure this out! I could write a whole blog on driving...maybe I will - later.
On Korean culture -
You do not shake hands first, you bow to each other first, then the older person can offer their hand during the bow for a hand shake.
Elderly are given special attention, respect and care. The older the person, the deeper the bow.
When eating the oldest person eats first.
You always pass thing with 2 hands.
When visiting a Korean home: *always remove your shoes *make sure you wear hole free & clean socks,if you are wearing sandals you will normally be offered slippers to wear *always bring a gift of aprox $10 in value * Koreans usually do not open the gift in front of you *when offered a drink, take it.
Do not use your finger to point with, you use your whole hand.
Korean's don't keep eye contact when talking with you
In stores and on the street Koreans shove and bump into people, personal space is non-existent here.
Little is usually said during meal time.
Females & males hold hands with friends of the same sex to express their friendship. It is not unusual to see same sex walking down the street holding hands.
Koreans avoid confrontation and raising their voices when dealing with others....they are very calm all the time.
Koreans do not hug or kiss when meeting with family or friends, they bow.
Koreans do not write names in red.
Koreans do not drink in front of someone older or of higher status without permission.
You do not sit with your legs crossed...foot sitting on knee. This is a sign of disrespect, it is telling everyone around you they are lower than the dirt on your foot.
Korean women typically dress much nicer than American women. They rarely wear sneakers out.
I hope I have not overwhelmed you....if you have any questions, please feel free to ask!
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Swim lessons and summer camps. These are a *BIG* deal here on Yongsan Garrison! Parents wake up in the *WEE* hours of the morning to secure a place in line just so their kids can the *primo* spot. You see, for swim lessons you don't want to be in the early classes for a couple of reason....my main reason is frankly, I don't want to wake my kids up too early during their summer vacation to drag them to the pool! By doing that, it makes swim lessons a chore and not fun. Second, the air is too cool in the morning and the water is TOO COLD! The kids in the early morning class are freezing & it is just miserable for everyone involved. This is why I opted to get up at 6AM on my Saturday morning, (OK, for those of you that know me, 6AM is not early for me, but is sounds good for the purpose of this blog) to go sit in the drizzle.... Oh, and for summer camps, if you aren't there early you will be put on the dreaded waiting list. I remember back in the day when my friends would get up in the wee hours of the morning to camp out in front of Ticket Master to get *primo* tickets for concerts - I thought they were nuts! Wow, if they could see me now! Finally after an hour of sitting in the drizzle, which was not bad at all, they people working decided to be kind and let us move inside the building, as long as we were all on our best behavior. This guy was first in line...he told me he arrived before 6AM. He should win dad of the year! More folks waiting.....I almost felt like I was at Wal-Mart on Black Friday, but it was a little too organized. The MP's were even here to make sure things didn't "get out of hand"! As it turns out, I couldn't be happier I went so early. The kids are in all the camps and swim lessons I wanted them in, and the fellowship with my friends was great. I loved the excitement and fun of it all! Whee...now we just have to wait for summer to begin! 11 June won't be here fast enough for me! PS...Sign ups started at 9AM.
Can you believe it has been over a year since we have been in Seoul? This happened while we were on vacation in Thailand...I wanted to do this blog on our anniversary date, but if you know me, you know I can't do things out of order. There was no way I could do a 1 year anniversary blog in between Thailand stories. It would have totally wigged me out & most likely I would have had to edit & my life would have been out of whack for days. So to save my sanity, I am writing it now, 1 year, 18 days later. Just a random post for those of you moving to Yongsan this summer, or anytime really... I started this blog because when I found out I was moving to Korea I scoured the internet looking for information on Yongsan Garrison from the family point of view. I never found what I was looking for, so Six In Seoul was born in my mind. I want to give my readers a broad idea of what it is like living here, I hope I am doing Korea justice. I recently realized I need to put more information in about moving here. I am adding a new category, 'moving to Yongsan' on the right hand side of this page. Feel free to pass this on to anyone you know that might be moving here. The pillows do not come with the furniture; you will need to buy your own. Yes, the couch and chairs (you get 2 chairs) are as firm as they look. Notice the carpet? BRING YOUR OWN! You can buy carpets here, but the selection is not great and you might have to wait a while especially if you arrive during peak season. With that being said, if you arrive during peak season, just as many people are moving out as moving in. People moving out are anxious to get rid of things so, many people give away and or sell TONS of stuff. Any given day in April - August you can find tons of great stuff sitting out by the dumpsters. AND they put it there, beside the dump and not in it so people will take it. (And remember most tours here are only 2 years.) OK, back to the floors, they are hard linoleum big tiles, if you have ever lived in military housing before, you know what I am talking about. Here, I will show you..... That looks like a school cafeteria floor doesn't it? Well, that is my dining room, so basically the same thing! :) Next up is the desk. They give you one desk, chair and bookshelf that is supposed to go on top of the desk. We didn't think it worked to well together, so we separated the desk from the shelf (bookshelves are the short ones on the left side of this photo). Also, we wanted more desks - a desk for each child's room. We put in a special request explaining why we wanted more than the allotted amount. Our request was approved and we received 3 desk. Let's move to the dining room. (again...colors can vary) OK, let's head upstairs. For the master bedroom you will get 1 queen size bed, 2 night tables, 2 lamps, 1 chest of drawers and 1 dresser. Here is a sample of the bed & night table. For the kid’s rooms, you can get a dresser and a chest of drawers, although I would not suggest it because there is not enough room. You also get a twin size bed for each child. I think that about does it for this edition of 'Moving to Yongsan'. Stay tuned for more to come. Several months ago my friend Jana (don't worry, this will not be another Spam blog) ask if I would do a blog on Yongsan. She has never been to a military instillation, which brings me to different topic…..how long have we been friends? TWENTY-SEVEN years Missie, and you have never once visited me. OK, I’m over it. Anyway, it got me thinking about military life. So many things are just “normal” to me. Like seeing this for instance…… Now mind you the first time I ever saw this, I was somewhat shocked. Then after a few times of seeing this it just becomes normal. I see soldiers walking down the street carrying their guns frequently. This day there must have been some sort of exercise going on because they were everywhere. I was going into the PX (Post version of a Wal-Mart) the day I ran into these two guys. I stopped them and ask if I could take their pictures. I'm sure they thought I was a little nutty, or a visitor here. The thing I found amusing about this is, when we enter the PX (Post Exchange) we have to show our ID & Ration cards to enter, the man checking ID's made these 2 soldiers dig into their pockets and pull out their ID cards. I guess being dressed in full uniform with guns isn't enough; they still need to see your ID card! The picture above is taken from my back yard. The red brick building is on post housing, the one you are looking at looks just like the one I live in. The buildings in the background are apartment buildings in Seoul. In the next picture I am riding down one of our main streets (we have 2). The wall you see on the left side is a wall that encloses Embassy housing. I think at one point the Embassy housing was closed off & you could only go in if you lived there, but now the gate to Embassy housing stays open. The bus in the picture below (you can see the back side of it) is one of the many busses that runs on post. You can catch the bus 2 times an hour and take it anywhere on post. When you first arrive here, you become very familiar with the bus system, as you don't normally get your vehicle for several weeks. Boy 1 rides this bus all the time. The next photo was taken outside our fire house. Normally the dog has water coming out his hose, but I guess it was too early for him when I took this picture. The picture below is of Seoul Tower, taken from a bridge here on post. Hazy days are pretty common here this time of year. I have yet to go to the tower, but Hubby rode his bike up this past weekend. He said it was amazingly hard. I won’t be trying that anytime soon, but I will hike it where Hubby’s mom is here in a couple of weeks. In the picture below, the lower buildings are post, the taller buildings in the background are Seoul. The building below is our white house, it is where all the really "important" people work. (Notice Seoul tower in the background) This next building is where the most important person on post works....my Hubby. There are signs all over post guiding you to different buildings and clinics, this is common at all Army post. I am very thankful for these signs, but don't you think they could be a little prettier? I guess they are for function, not beauty. And last, a picture of one of the soccer fields my boy plays soccer on. Isn't the background beautiful? I hope you all feel a little closer to us now. I will do a second posting on this subject at a later date, as there are more things I would like to show you around post. |
AuthorProud Army wife and mother to 4 wonderful children. I love to cook, travel, work out and scrapbook life’s adventures when I find the time. We just got orders & are heading back to the states in March 2010. I'm bummed that our time has been cut short, but proud of Hubby for the reason why. Archives
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