Methodological and Cultural Relativism Be Damned!

It's time for a nice ethnocentric break down of Korea. Clearly, I'm no anthropologist, or a good one for that matter.

Innovative or Enjoyable Things

• Cellular coverage is so prolific that while one rides underground in a subway they can still talk loud and clearly to people in the U.S., astounding.
• High speed internet is also prolific and is probably the fastest internet I've ever experienced.
• Your bathroom is entirely in your shower. The floor is one big tiled area with a drain, the sink connects to the shower head and the whole shebang is easy to clean--you just spray it all down the drain.
• No guns at all. This means a lot more safety. Kids are out on playgrounds late at night with zero supervision and everyone seems a lot calmer in general. I don't know, maybe if they were all packin' pistols they'd still be like this but I think it helps. There's no worrying about it anyways. Plus, in the Korean Times, I've yet to see a front page murder or shooting.
• Hiking trails and parks abound with work-out centers. These things practically litter these areas. At any clearing or level area you will usually find pull-up bars, chin-up bars, parallel bars, crunch stations, back stretching stations, and fixed free weights for legs and chest. It's awesome, you're already outside and hiking and then the nation says to you, "Now exercise more!".
• Public transportation is necessary, easy, and thriving.
• I've already covered the neon.
• Sharing food is key here. You eat out of communal bowls and give people your food often.

Not So Innovative or Enjoyable Things

• Things falling under social Confucianism: Chiefly, the fact that women are treated very poorly, the fact that elders are given respect and leeway just for being old, the fact that your status is paramount, and the fact that what the group does is paramount--how individualistic and capitalistic of me, I know. Examples I have witnessed: a divorced woman was told if she were to fail to remain married (her last and only husband cheated on her) then her father would refuse to speak to her ever again(a man who has been divorced six times without ever considering the fate of those six divorced women); an elderly woman, angry at the attention her son's employee is receiving, consistently and blatantly steals the employee's gifts and possessions without fear of reprisal; status means South Korea has one of the highest suicide rates in the world; and many Koreans see one Westerner or one member of a specific race do something and then they ask, "All like this?", or they just assume this--beware bad examples.
• The place stinks. Poor sewers or constant trash give this place an intense reek. You'll smell something good, be surprised, and take a big whiff just to want to die.
• This brings me to the next point: people litter like crazy. You find trash often and it's a real shame.
• Focus on age can often translate to plenty of inaptitude: the fridge repair man came today, walked in, poked the fridge twice and stared at it as if were about to talk to him and explain everything (as my brother put it). He then mumbled something and left, never to return. Matt's girlfriend called this in, so the repair man knew what the score was.
• Driving here is like watching a game of GTA without the sporadic bullet fire or police chases. Motorbikes are often on the sidewalk and sometimes cars are too. Either way, the traffic lights and lanes mean little, a beep of the horn tends to signal, "I'm committing a moving violation so you better watch out."

Okay, that seems to be enough for now. Just some tidbits and opinions.