Autumn Korea is peak Korea
There were all sorts of things that surprised me when I first arrived in Korea: the garlic, the toilets that were nothing more than holes in the floor, the widespread availability of counterfeit CDs and movies, the spitting and the cults and religious performers on the subways. And when talking to Koreans, it felt like all the memes were actually true: “Do you know kimchi?” was actually something…
When I first arrived in Korea, I was struck by many peculiarities. The pungent aroma of garlic filled the air, the toilets resembled simple holes in the ground, and counterfeit CDs and movies were ubiquitous. People spit frequently, and there were cults and religious performers on subway trains. Conversations with Koreans often felt like a parade of familiar memes: "Do you know kimchi?" was a question I heard repeatedly.
At the time, I had no understanding of what kimchi was or why it held such significance for Koreans. Now, I do.
However, one question that consistently caught me off guard was: "Do you know that Korea has four seasons?" It was presented in a way that seemed to convey an impressive fact about the nation. The grammatical structure of the phrase "Do you know..." was a source of confusion for many English teachers, who seemed to use it frequently in their lessons. These queries could sometimes feel like interrogations if one wasn't careful in their response.
Written by urgent.news from The Korea Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
Also reported by 1 other outlet
- Autumn Korea is peak Korea koreatimes.co.kr
