Korea vs Taiwan

Yes, we're back in Korea where our Englishy teaching careers began. It's so hard to believe that it's been 2 1/2 years since we were last here and in some ways it's like we never left but a lot of things have, of course, changed. It's the little things that you forget about a place when you're away for a while and we catch ourselves constantly comparing things to Taiwan, so I thought I'd type up a list of differences I've noticed based on first impressions before I forget all those little things about Taiwan too.


Seoul= Big
Taipei= Little
I forgot what a huge, sprawling city Seoul is, with so many unique districts. Taipei has lots of unique districts as well but on a smaller scale. For example, the Taipei Subway line has 3 lines where the Seoul Metro has 9 lines and I feel like such a noob trying to bumble my way through all the transfers and stations. The buildings are a lot larger here too- there must be 10x more skyscrapers in Seoul. A lot of the buildings in Taipei seemed to be 6 floors or less.

Seoul= expensive!!
Taipei= cheap
We could not even believe how expensive a trip to the grocery store was this weekend. After 6 months in Taiwan I guess anywhere would seem expensive, though. The food prices in Seoul are at least double and the same goes for almost any other product you can think of. For the price of the hamburger I got at Hooters yesterday I could have ordered 2 or 3 dishes at our favorite Thai place in Taipei and that hamburger was the lunch special! Luckily we've been able to buy a lot of the things we need to start off with in Korea from people on Craig's List for really good prices.

Seoul= soft landing
Taipei= hard landing
It has been much easier to get set up in Seoul. Mind you, it was a lot of work getting our documents together from overseas but it's so nice to have everything taken care of for us. The flight? Paid for. My trip to Taipei was out of my own pocket. The apartment? free. Is it a little small? Yep, but it's free. In Taipei we got so frustrated looking for an apartment and our school didn't offer us a lick of help either. And even before our first day of work our schools in Korea have already given us over $1200/CAN in landing bonuses and housing subsidies. It took me a month to even find a job in Taipei. Easy. Landing.

Seoul= stairs!
Taipei= escalators!
Of course there are escalators in Seoul but there are more places without them than with. My legs burn after walking so many flights of stairs this week- I don't know how the ajummas do it!

Seoul= olds!
Taipei= youngs
Speaking of ajummas (old ladies)- there are so many of them! I don't remember Seoul being full of so many old ladies with perms. Taipei is definitely filled with a younger crowd.

Taipei= run your garbage down when the musical truck drives by once a day
Seoul= leave your garbage downstairs whenever you like

Seoul= BBQ
Taipei= Hot Pot

Seoul= Pushy
Taipei= A slow mosey
Koreans PUSH! Everyone seems to be in a hurry and I have been elbowed all over the place walking around Seoul the last few days. It's okay, I can elbow with the best of 'em. In Taipei the foot traffic seems more laid back and orderly, but for us it was too slow and we were always trying to get around groups of slow-mo walkers. In Korea, when the subway train stops at the station people push their way onto the train through the people who are trying to get off the train and then shamelessly run to any available seat. In Taipei, everyone on the train is let off first before the people boarding the train try to enter and seats are gladly given up for the elderly or passed up all together.

Taipei= all-day fireworks and funeral parades
Seoul= TV truck with a loud speaker

Seoul= dry!
Taipei= humid!
In Taiwan, our clothes and bedding smelled like fart and our apartment was covered in mold. It was just so damp all of the time. In Korea, my hands are dry, my fingers are covered in hangnails, and I wake up so thirsty. Mel bought a Hello Kitty humidifier from Craig's List yesterday :P Temperature-wise though, it's about 10 degrees cooler in Seoul but I'm not noticing much of a difference... probably due to the lack of humidity.

Taipei= Hello Kitty, Ampanman and Domo
Seoul= Miffy and Dalki
There is a marked lack of cuteness in Seoul... maybe I just haven't found the Domo store yet but there seems to be a lot fewer cute characters and mascots at the stores here. Mister Donut still has Pon De Lion and his sweet friends, but there's no Open John at 7-Eleven or Domo noodle shops. Korea likes Dalki and Miffy, which are NOT global celebrities and are- let's face it- LAME.

Seoul= affordable stores and malls (and by affordable I mean a little overpriced, but when the paychecks start coming in, y'know...)
Taipei= cheap night markets or extraordinarily overpriced luxury malls

Seoul= spicy food and fried things
Taipei= organs
I don't think the Koreans have much interest in eating organs, and if they do it's certainly not as widespread as in Taipei. There was a guy with a cartfull of organs on just about every street in Taipei, but things here are a little more recognizable.

Seoul= beer and chicken
Taipei= tea and cake
I can't get over how many bars there are in Seoul- Koreans love to drink. The only bars we saw in Taipei were swanky clubs, so maybe Taiwanese prefer their drinks in more classy settings.

Seoul= men smoking
Taipei= everybody smoking
Also, there's indoor smoking in Seoul! It was so shocking to be asked "smoking or non?" at a restaurant yesterday.

Seoul= so many foreigners
Taipei= hey, look- there's a foreigner!
We went to a bar with Hannah and Shanda last night and everyone was foreign! It was so strange. In Taipei there are foreigners of course, but you'd only see 1 or 2 on a trip out. ESL is a booming business in Seoul!

Seoul Tower= meh
Taipei 101= awesome

Seoul= clean and new!
Taipei= could use a visit from the Clean Sweep crew
There is a lot of clutter and hoarding going on in Taipei and, outside of the Xinyi district, the buildings were often kind of dingy and grey and the clutter of stores spilled out onto the street and sidewalk. There are areas like that here too, but since Seoul was conveniently bombed a few decades ago things are a bit more modern and shiny.

Taipei= Cone hats
Seoul= Huge visors on permed heads

Seoul= less-frequent trains but you can eat on them
Taipei= frequent trains but you're hungry
I had a granola bar on the subway today. It was awesome. I also waited 7 minutes for a train. Does not like.

Taipei= so many temples!
Seoul= so many Coffee Bean & Tea Leafs!
I think there are more sights to see in Taipei. The emphasis in Seoul definitely seems to be on eating and shopping.

Seoul= orderly traffic and pleasant, spacious sidewalks
Taipei= watch out for that scooter! Better walk on the road because there's clutter and scooters parked all over the sidewalk.

Seoul= English music
Taipei= Korean music

Basically, both cities are great but they each have their own quirks. Right now, we are really enjoying being right in the middle of Seoul with so much yummy food and great shopping around us. I never realized how limited we were when we lived in Suwon. Seoul is the place to be, I tell ya. But we're already starting to miss our special trips for guava (Mel) at the night market in Sinjhuang and only spending $5 on a big meal in Taipei.

Also, I keep wanting to speak Chinese to the Koreans here. That would probably be pretty rude, right? I've got to learn some more Korean.