New Norm Part II

Sometimes living in a different country you forget that some of the very odd and different things around you are in fact...odd and different. So since the first installment was such a hit, I decided to collect some more things from around Korea that I first thought were odd and different but now just blend into the background. 

.I swear to you, I did not marry a man named Jesemy Djamond. 

.being directed not to flush tissue down the toilet.

.the Korean writing everywhere even seems normal now. When we visited back home it was weird not to see it.

.a declined English vocabulary- when your job is to simplify the English language as much as possible it only makes sense that your extensive English vocabulary tends to go out the window. For instance, it once took me and some friends a good ten minutes to come up with the word 'insult'.

.not only is there popcorn to eat at the movie theaters, there is also dried squid...appetizing.

.there is a whole aisle dedicated to ramen noodles. My students always ask if I have tried ramen before. I was once a poor college student, of course I have.

.street food snacks. I'm definitely not complaining about this one. Because as gross and weird as fried chicken covered in spicy sauce on top of a soda sounds...it's delicious.

.if no one is around at a red light...go. Ok, even if someone is around at a red light...still go. I remember visiting home and being so incredibly impatient at red lights. Good thing I wasn't driving.

.the Konglish (Korean+English). Oh the Konglish. I'm pretty sure they meant 'That's the bomb'

.the age difference. Many times when I first arrived and people asked my age I would freeze. Do they want to know my Korean or Western age? Let me explain. When a child is born in Korea, they are already considered one year old. Then everyone turns a year older at the same time in the new year.  Why? No idea. So essentially, if a child was born at the end of December, they would be two years old in Korea before they're a month old in America. See why I was so confused?

.this is probably one of the things that no matter how long I live here, it will always get under my skin. It is very common to see children in cars that are not buckled up and not in a carseat. I can't tell you how many time I have seen kids riding on the drivers lap, hanging out of the window or even strapped in baby carries on the drivers chest. I think this is the one exception to this post because I will never think this is normal.

Have you ever stepped back and realized some of the very 'bizarre' things about the culture you live in? I always wonder what I will now think is strange about the American culture when we move back one day.

P.S. I'm guest posting over on two amazing blogs today. Go check out Meg's blog where I talk about my favorite romantic getaways and Jade's blog where she interviews me about being an expat in Korea. Enjoy!

Linking up with Rolled Up Pretty, Shanna