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Electronics in Korea...what's popular?  (added 12-02-07)

My brother Tim sent me an email asking:  How many Apple I-Phones and I-Pods do you see over there?  Also, do you see many blackberrys?  Any other consumer electronics devices popular over there?

Well...
 
Electronics are HUGE here!  The Nintendo DS is huge.  Actually, anything portable is big because so many people ride subways and buses here so they can use them during the transport.
 
I don't really recall seeing any Blackberries here...but I don't pay attention to that.
 
Actually, the cell phones here are amazing!  A top level phone here would cost around $600 I think.  They serve as televisions, Mp3 players, and more!  It's incredible too that they work in the depths of the subways or anywhere really.  In the US you lose reception in buildings sometimes.
 
The largest service providers for cell phones here are LG and SK I think.  I'm not sure if it's a service provider or a cell phone maker, but "Show" is also very popular here.
 
The largest and most respected electronics maker here is (I believe) Samseung.  We have them in the US too of course.  Hyundai is the biggest car making company.  KIA is also Korean, but I never cared for those when I test drove them.
 
I've seen Apple IPods in the stores but I don't look much at them.  They also have a TON of knock offs of the IPods.  I'm not sure about the IPhones.  I don't think they are here or at least popular yet.
 
Another thing that is popular here are the handheld video players.  You see those a lot here...and I'd love to buy one myself if I thought I'd ever make my full use of them.
 
I tend to just read books on the subways and buses.  I've read more books than I have in a long time!
 
Actually, I "DO" know that I-Phones are VERY popular in Vietnam.  And THAT is crazy because average salaries in Vietnam are not so high.  But at least I can tell you that the I-Phone is popular somewhere over here.
 
I see them selling the I-Pods in Korea but they are expensive and I don't really see people using them often, though they ALL use headphones on the buses and subways.  Usually those are connected to their cell phones or another Mp3 player.
 
Addidas is also a very popular brand here.  The students get VERY excited when they see me wearing it.  And Northface is huge.  People here love to hike on the mountains and they dress accordingly.  They almost all wear identical red/black outfits while hiking, usually made by Northface.  (but Northface is certainly not a growing supplier here, I think they already have the market here)
 
On another note...Outback Steakhouses have OVER 100 locations in the city of Seoul alone!  That's just in ONE city!!
 
One of the bigger companies here is Lotte.  They make Chocolate and other foods, have large apartment buildings everywhere, and the have their own amusement park that is half indoors, built overlooking an indoor ice skating rink in the Lotte Shopping center.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotte_World




American restaurants taking Asia by storm...(added 12-02-07)

My brother Tim asked: How is pizza in the Asian countries that you have been to?  Is pizza popular over there?  Are there any countries where it is definitely more popular?  Are there any American chains over there that dominate or are there a lot of mom and pops that run the show?

Well...

Pizza is becoming more popular...the younger generations in the Asian countries are opening up to the Western World ways and habits.  I'm not sure if there are certain countries where it is more popular, but there is definitely pizza here.  Seoul has Pizza Hut, Dominoes, and Papa John's, in addition to other smaller chains local to Korea.  But a good pizza from a good American chain (like Pizza Hut) will cost a TON here.  A large pizza from Pizza Hut can cost about $23-$25.
 
Vietnam also has Pizza Hut, and I ate there with my friends on my last night.  The large pizza cost about $10-$11, which is around normal for the US, but by Vietnam standards that's quite expensive.

In Korea there are alot of small 5,000 Won (about $5) pizza shops.  They have about a half dozen varieties and sell them for 5,000 Won.  The pizza's are also smaller...but work well for two meals.
 
Another interesting thing are the toppings they have here.  They have shrimp pizza with HUGE shrimp and Sweet Potato pizza, among others.  Pizza Hut here has a pizza crust stuffed with sweet potato and a cheese fondu dip.  That's delicious!
 
Japan rebuilt after WWII and Korea rebuilt after their war, and both are now HUGE economic powers on the world market.  Vietnam suffered their own war and is now beginning a boom.  Many people feel Vietnam will be the next Asian country to boom.  I didn't really see any pizza restaurants in Beijing or Hong Kong...but I'm not sure if that's just because of the areas where I went.  I saw Mc. Donald's and KFC, but no pizza places.

Another interesting observation about Korea is that most of the kids seem to enjoy fast food meals and snacks in the afternoons and evenings before and after they attend their academies.  They can easily take a bus or subway to the nearest Mc. Donalds, Dunkin Donuts, or other chain and meet with their friends.  If they can't grab a hamburger, they go to the nearest quick mart and buy any number of pre-packaged foods.

Because of the increase in children eating such foods there is a noticable change in the shape of the population.  I have two friends here who also each spent a year teaching in Korea ten years ago.  They both said that ten years ago the people were MUCH smaller.  They were shocked to see the transformation until now.

What will the people here look like in another ten years?

The Koreans can laugh at westerners all they want and call us large or fat, but it seems they are sprinting to catch up to the U.S. in this undesirable sluggish category.


Spooks in Seoul: Halloween...(added on 10/31/06)
My mother asked how the Koreans celebrate Halloween.  Sadly, they actually do not celebrate Halloween.  There are however, plenty of westerners here who make a night of it...so many of the bars and clubs in areas frequented by westerners host Halloween Parties.

The major section of town for foreignors is called Itaewon.  I'm not the biggest fan of this area because there are so many "off duty" American military guys who in my opinion are obnoxious and pathetic in their attempts to spend some time with Korean ladies...BUT...Itaewon does offer a wonderful variety of restaurants that cater to tastes from around the world.

Many of the biggest Halloween parties were held in Itaewon, where one could see many westerners parading the sidewalks in their costumes and sad-attempts-for-costumes.

Halloween has long been one of my favorite holidays, but this year it came and passed not unlike any other day of the year.


To squat, or not to squat, that is the question:  Korean Toilets... (added on 9/19/06)
Dr. Patton Sides is curious as to the toilet situation here in Korea.  What do they use?
There are western-style (sitting style) toilets in Korea, but not all locations offer them.  My school for instance, has squat toilets.  In this case, you usually squat over a porcellain hole in the floor.  You can also usually grip a bar in front of you that allows you to lean back a bit further.  Don't want to make a mess on your pants now, eh!?  At my school there seems to be no toilet paper in the squat toilet stalls, but yet there are small trashcans next to the squatters where I am guessing you would deposit the used toilet paper.

This concept of not flushing toilet paper seems absurd to most westerners, but it is in fact more common than we believe!  Patton and I encountered the same such toilet experiences while on a trip to Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize.

I have not yet used the squat toilets...but I anticipate that the day shall arrive soon enough.  I was told there are western toilets at the school...but I am thinking that is in the section of bathrooms currently being re-modeling.  So hopefully I can hold out until the remodeling is finished.

My apartment has a western-style toilet, and yes...I can flush the toilet paper.


Do you get to eat at the school?(updated on 9/19/06)
I am able to eat lunch at the school with the teachers. There is a kitchen where all of the food is prepared and then the food is wheeled to each classroom on a cart, from which students serve themselves. The students eat in the homeroom (or main teacher’s) classroom.

I eat in a teachers' dining room.  I eat with my three English co-teachers, the P.E. teacher, the school nurse, another teacher, and two younger special education teachers.  The P.E. teacher and I are the only males.  I use a metal lunch tray that has five built in dishes: large one for rice, large one for soup, smaller one for meat, smaller one for kimchi, and a smaller one for the fifth side dish.

Exactly how large is my apartment?
I have not even bothered to measure exactly. It would be TOO depressing. It is definitely smaller than my college dorm room and smaller than my room at my parents’ house. I would guess it is probably about 10x12. It’s not bad though…I have a full sized bed in my room. Some of the ESL teachers only had a twin in their rooms.  I should add the size I gave would include all appliances, furnishings, walk space, and bathroom.  Hey...it's not the Ritz...but it's home.

Can you find American foods here?
You can buy American foods here but it is more expensive. A large pizza costs about $22!!! But it is only about $16 if you take it home to eat it. Also, their large is about equal to the medium in the United States. I purchased corn flakes at the corner store a block down from my apartment. They were about the normal price, but the Frosted Flakes (with Tony the Tiger) were almost double the price of the plain corn flakes.

Many of the major American restaurants are found here...McDonalds, Starbucks, Outback Steakhouse, Baskin Robbins, Pizza Hut...but you can expect to pay more at these places.  Korean BBQ is delicious...so I hope to use that as my food staple.

We also have Costco and some other American stores.  Apparently Walmart recently left Korea...which I was happy to hear!

I don’t have a table…instead I have a desk and chair. My desk has a roll-out section that gives it the capability of doubling in size as well…should I need more desk or table space.


Do I have a TV in my apartment?
Yes, my room came furnished with a small flat screen television. There are American shows broadcast here as well. I can wake up and watch Good Morning America (yesterday’s show) and I can watch Jay Leno and David Letterman before I go to sleep. There are other shows as well, such as “the Simpsons” and “My name is Earl”. And of course, there are several channels that play movies and usually at least one or two of them play an American movie. All of the above are in English. The other day I even watched a Colorado Rockies baseball game!

That said…there are plenty of Korean shows and movies as well. My favorite is a funny show in which five smaller Korean men challenge a larger and stronger Korean man (who is also a kick boxer here) in various physical competitions. The five men always lose and it’s quite funny. Koreans seem to be in love with “instant replay” so when one of the five loses they replay the action a minimum of five times with added slow motion sound effects.