Korean social phenomena, cultural quirks, generational gaps, and trends explained from a local’s perspective.
The first time a foreigner asked me how old I was, I froze for a solid two seconds. Not because the question was rude — it wasn’t, at least not to me — but because I genuinely didn’t know which answer to give. My Korean age? My international age? In Korea I’d just say a … Read more
The first time a foreign colleague joined our team chat on KakaoTalk, he sent me a private message within ten minutes. “Why does our manager have three different names in here?” he asked. “And one of them is just… Tony?” I had to laugh, because I’d forgotten how strange it looks from the outside. In … Read more
It’s 7:30pm on a Thursday, sometime around 2012. I’ve just walked out of the office after another long day — not because the work required it, but because leaving before your boss was still one of those unwritten rules nobody questioned. My team leader is already on the phone with the restaurant. “Samgyeopsal place, the … Read more