10. Savory Snacks & Baked Goods
"Why?" You might ask. Well, while Korea might have a wide array of snacks and treats, and literally a million Paris Baguettes dotted all over the country, it would seem Koreans aren't so fond of salt and savory products. Be it your salt-flavoured crisps or your fresh hot dog, you can guarantee that when you bite into it, you'll be hit with the not so faint taste of sugar.
The irony of the situation is, when Koreans go on trips to the UK, they often come back and complain that our food is too salty and greasy. Just goes to show how valid the sayings 'To each their own' and 'Different strokes for different folks' really are.
Don't get us wrong, there's nothing wrong with a sweet snack every now and then, but there's days when we'd kill for a packet of Ready Salted Walkers or a Greggs' sausage roll.
9. Our Lack of Patriotism
Now this is a funny one that is probably overlooked by a lot of people no matter where they're from, until they've lived in a foreign country. When we lived back in the UK, of course we did have a bit of British pride - after all we do love our country - but after coming to Korea, it seems that pride has increased 10-fold!
Maybe it's because Korea is still a very homogeneous country, but you can only be mistaken for an American oh-so-many-times - including by actual Americans - before you want to carry a British flag around everywhere you go.
While you might not have cared much at home, suddenly your eyes light up at the mention of Her Majesty, Your highness, Dear Queen Elizabeth, and you become the biggest football fan every time someone knows Liverpool or Manchester City.
Honestly speaking, back home lots of Brits are really passive about all that stuff, or as we would say in London, "We couldn't give less of a toss!" However nowadays, we're sat in class trembling with excitement for our turn as the teacher asks questions about each of our countries.
8. Common Courtesy
On the topic of patriotism, one stereotype Koreans really have about the UK is that we are 'The Nation of Gentlemen', as they call us. Now, while we are The Queen's Men we most certainly aren't the most gentlemanly (sorry to let the secret out...) but we do still have basic manners!
Within our first 3 days in Korea, we had literally had it with the number of Koreans who would bump into us on the street and walk off without saying sorry, or slam doors in our faces when we were walking into or out of a building right behind them. It was seriously infuriating how everyone, young or old, seemed to lack the most basic of consideration for others. Even in shops or on trains, people would push pass you without even so much as an 'Excuse me.'
Personally... we're not really convinced. It doesn't take even up to a second to say 'Sorry' or 'Excuse me' and considering how slowly Koreans (especially couples) walk in the middle of the pavement, it's hard to believe that anyone is really in a rush to go anywhere. Maybe it only seems that way because we're from London, which is always hustling and bustling and you could easily get sworn at for stopping in the middle of a pavement and getting in the way of someone running late for work... who knows? *shrugs*
7. The National Health Service (NHS)
Many of you know that while we've been in Korea we haven't exactly be in the best of health, and unfortunately, it's when you don't have something that you appreciate it most.
If you ask most Brits their thoughts on the NHS, it's usually always one answer: "It's crap." And it is crap. Lots of hospitals are dirty or under budget, doctors are reluctant to give out medicines, especially to young adults, and it can take up to 3 weeks for you to be able to book an appointment with a doctor whose just going to tell you to go home and rest and then come back if you don't feel better anyway.
To be brutally honest, we could list a million things we all dislike about NHS, any Brit can, but there's one thing about it's medical care that we can never complain about... it's free! (Well, for most of us.)
In the last month alone we've paid about $900 in medical care, whereas for the same amount of treatment we would have paid about a fiver back in the UK. In fact, the first time we went to the hospital we actually had no idea how much a blood test would cost so we had to come back with the money two days later instead. As much as the doctors here have been amazing, when you're sick there really is no place like home.
6. Fish & Chips
Speaking of home, one of the most common questions we always get asked about the UK is what native/traditional food do we have? It's seems like very few people outside the UK know that, we in fact, have virtually none.
Really the only thing we can 'claim' as our own are Yorkshire Pies and good ol' fish and chips.
Even if you didn't eat much of it back home, you'd have talked about it so much here that you've worked up the appetite. Personally, since our place doesn't have a fryer or an oven, we're dying from some good old chunky chips!
5. The Crappy Weather
Now, this, is one thing we never thought we'd say.
When people think of the UK, or particularly England & London, the first thing that usually comes to mind is our crappy, miserable, grey, wet and cold weather... and in all honestly, we can't really fault you there!
Whereas in Korea they have amazing weather, it's hot in summer, cool in autumn, freezing in winter and mild in spring... which is why we can't stand it! We're so used to our reliable and consistent range of 25 to 0*C in the UK - which honestly hovers mostly around 15 degrees for most of the year - that we can't really stand the constant massive changes in temperature and weather that we get here.
When we arrived at the end of summer, we experienced an unusual high of 32*C, but just 4 months later, we were hit with a bone chilling -16*C!!!! That's double the range that we're used to! And we were constantly getting caught with colds due to the change in seasons. Honestly, there were days when we prayed it would just rain instead.
4. University Class Hours
We're sure many of you know, but we're actually out here as students on an exchange program, so we've actually had the 'luxury' of experiencing Korea's notorious school system. Since we're on an exchange and we only have to study Korean, it's not nearly as bad as what other Koreans experience, but even to us, it's a pain in the a**.
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| Not in Korea, my friend... |
Unfortunately, we have no such luxury in Korea. Classes start at 9am EVERY day until 1pm and then you have about an hour or two worth of homework due in the next day. If you miss a day then you have to self study all the material you've missed and if you don't make 60% attendance you automatically fail regardless of your grades.
Long story short, we miss having two hour-long classes a day with an hour gap in between (and no homework) compared to 4 straight hours 9am sharp, it's like being back in sixth form (high school) again and we're not to good with mornings...
3. Primark
In previous posts Harmony has told you about the wonders of places like Gangnam underground station shopping center where you can find loads of amazing clothing for jaw dropping cheap prices, but the downside to these places is that you have to go hunting for them.
On the other hand, Primark can be found on every high street and in every town center in the UK. While the quality may not match up to lots of places in Korea, the prices where still low enough that you were basically getting what you paid for!
Primark also generally offers a much wider array of products whereas a lot of Korean stores tend to be carbon copies of one another. Rather than hopping on the train for an hour just to get that ₩5,000 top, it'd be so much nicer to just walk 2 minutes down the street to spend a fiver.
2. Family & Friends
Coming in a number 2, probably one of the most obvious entries on this list, are our family and friends. No matter how much we're loving life in Korea, there'll always be the part of us that really missed arguing with our siblings, having some of mum's rare home-cooked meals and hanging out with our friends.
We've made tonnes of new friends that we'll be heartbroken to leave behind when we go back, but we can't wait to see the friends we left back home too. Talking over Skype and Facebook just isn't the same as inviting your best friend over and chatting away over some homemade pancakes.
1. Tea
And at the top of our list, like any true Brit, the thing we miss most about the UK is without a doubt: TEA! When we came here we came prepared with a couple boxes of tea, but you never really realize how much tea you get through when it's always available to you. Within the month all our tea was gone and while we did try out a couple of different teas in Korea, now could beat the familiar taste of Twinnings!
We did manage to find a few boxes of Twinnings in Olive Young recently, but unfortunately they didn't sell any of the flavours we like and they're grossly overpriced too. When we get back to the UK, we're definitely going to have ourselves a good ol' cuppa!
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| Tea is the life energy source of British people, even Her Royal Majesty needs her fix. |
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