It's hard to imagine we've been in Korea for a year already. We still have very distinct memories of our arrival. Of course being an expat in a foreign country means you'll have some very different experiences. We've come up with a list of the likes and dislikes about our situation. (No pictures so this may be boring...more of a document of memories for us to look back on).
Likes of Expat Life in Korea
-Financial benefits and not paying for much of anything.
-Having a weekly cleaning crew (especially that they clean the bathrooms, change the sheets and iron).
-My huge drying rack on the ceiling of the laundry room that raises up and down.
-The toilets (especially the heated seats).
-Living wedged between the beach and the mountains.
-The ability to walk most everywhere (grocery store, doctors, restaurants, parks, etc.).
-Ben working across the street and is able to come home for lunch.
-Having a Costco fairly close for our American food products.
-The grocery store tapes free items to products like milk and cereal.
-The open air markets selling fresh foods (usually better priced than the grocery store).
-The number of foreigners in our town.
-Inexpensive cultural entertainment (free concerts and events and cheap museums).
-Cheap cell phone plans with unlimited data.
-Super fast Internet speed.
-Public displays of friendship without the assumption of being gay (men walking with arms around each other, girls holding hands and linking arms...just innocent and sweet).
Dislikes of Expat Life in Korea
-Language barrier. The hardest part. This makes everything we do hard, including church.
-Trash! Korea has a strict garbage system of separating trash, recyclables, and food waist. Garbage must be in designated bags that you must buy. There are no public garbage cans so people often drop their trash on the ground leaving it very dirty looking.
-Lack of upkeep for public grounds and parks. They often go un-mowed for several weeks.
-Lack of public restrooms (makes taking a potty training toddler out very difficult).
-Limited parking in town and hardly any parking lots.
-The smells (garlic, fish, smoke...all combined). We get a lot of nasty smells from the apartment below us coming up the vents in the bathroom. Disgusting!
-Speed cameras. The roads all have speed cameras that take a picture of you and mail you a ticket if you are speeding. The worst part about it is the speed limits are so low! Fortunately we haven't seen any tickets come our way yet.
-Korean's lack of awareness on the road (to put it nicely). They just aren't the most cautious or respectful or thoughtful drivers.
-Most Korean food...just not our favorite.
-Lack of drive-thru restaurants (sometimes you just want to pick something up to eat!).
-The grocery store process. You have to bag your own groceries (which includes bring your own bags or buying some). You can also use old boxes to pack your goods but you have to tape them together yourself. Then trying to bring in all your groceries from your 2nd floor parking garage, up the elevator and into your 15th floor apartment with a toddler. Not to mention you have to enter codes to get into the elevator and apartment with your hands full. Miserable.
-To get a shopping cart you must 'rent' it by inserting a coin (so you always have to have a coin on you). You get your coin back when you return the cart.
-Limited supply of goods at the stores...not the shopping we are used to.
-Expensive. Things are just expensive here! Korea must have some serious duty fees on imported goods.
-Hard and low furniture.
-Hardly any kitchen storage.
-No garbage disposal in the sink.
-The laundry process. We have one unit that both washes and drys so doing a load of laundry takes about 4 hours. The dryer isn't much better than just pumping hot air into the machine, spinning the clothes around and hoping they dry in about 2.5 hours. I feel like I am constantly doing laundry because it takes so long!
-Weird and cheap construction. Our sink drains directly into our shower. Yes, so we can see our toothpaste in the shower the next morning.
Both Good and Bad
-The love they have for E, a blond hair, blue eyed cutie. People often give us things or let us go first or play with E. This is all great until you are trying to get somewhere and a mob of tween girls attacks you and wants to take pictures with her. A 2 year old just isn't the best at posing for 15 pictures.
-Renting. We love having no responsibilities but hate it at the same time. We need a yard and home projects...I think that is what make us both happy.
-The Korean people. They can be the most friendly and accepting people but pushy and unfriendly.
-The medical care. Most care is inexpensive but the same quality we would find in the U.S. However, they have some different ideas of bedside care than we would. For instance, when staying in the hospital you need to bring your own toilet paper, soap, linens, etc. We also had to buy our surgery supplies at the pharmacy for an operation I had.
Overall it is a great place to live. We have really enjoyed our experience here but always miss 'home'.
