Hilary Meets the Land of the Morning Calm

My kindergarten co-teacher, Hena got married in January, and as one does in Korea, invited all the entire workplace with nice card invitations that she placed at each of our desks a month prior to the ceremony. It was to take place a wedding hall about an hour's commute to the East of the city. Many of the foreign teachers were going, as it was our first opportunity to see a Korean wedding first hand. Our boss and most of the other Korean kindergarten teachers also came.

I haven't talked too much about culture differences in Korea. Here are a few things that pop into mind:

• Out and about: Prepare to be pushed. Seoul is crowded. The sidewalks, stores, subways, u-name-it are always full of people going in all different directions. Add to this fact that Koreans' idea of the personal bubble space is much smaller than in the US/Canada, and you have the result: guaranteed physical contact. To a foreigner, this can seem rude, because it feels like you are getting bumped, pushed, shoved, and jostled from all sides by people who don't seem to notice you or apologize for the seemingly avoidable bumps. This can be quite aggravating on a bad day, but it is something you simply must get over if you don't want to be in a bad mood all the time.