PREFACE 10

CHAPTER 1 ARRIVING
The First Very Temporary Arrival in 2002 / 13
Of Aggression and Friendliness / 14
Cats Are Trouble / 20
How Not to End Up in an Expat Bubble / 21
Flamenco in the Wee Hours / 23

CHAPTER 2 BBALLI BBALLI (QUICK QUICK)
Weddings / 29
At the Hospital-Common Sense Is Not So Common / 31
Technology Supports Speed / 34
Reverse Culture Shock / 37
Counterculture / 38

CHAPTER 3 AMERICA’S INFLUENCE AND DEMOCRACY IN KOREA
Not in Kansas Anymore-Or Rather Not in Europe Anymore / 44
‘Be Careful Out There’ / 48
East Meets West-Sometimes with Bewilderment / 49
Baseball-Crazy, But No Craze Displayed When Cheering / 50
The Fight for Democracy / 51
Fairness Versus Negotiation / 56

CHAPTER 4 THE WAY TO A MAN’S HEART IS THROUGH HIS STOMACH
Humble Culinary Beginnings / 59
Na Zdarovye-Korean Drinking Etiquette / 62
How Not to Die / 64
The Creative Side of Drinking / 66
Hoesik-What Koreans Do When They Don’t Work Long Hours / 68
Letting One’s Hair Down / 70
A Wealth of Culinary Surprises / 73
Where’s the Tea? / 78
Prove Your Chopstick Skills! / 81

CHAPTER 5 HOW TO SURVIVE AT WORK
Looooong Working Hours and Few Holidays / 87
It Starts at a Very Early Age / 95
Morning Gymnastics at Work and Other Health Programmes / 98
Fun and Games / 102
The Importance of Hierarchy / 103
How to Tell? / 105
‘You’ve Got the Wrong Rank! Or the Wrong Age!’ / 109
Authority Works Better Than Sympathy / 110
When Respect Is Expected, But Not Deserved / 112
The General! / 116
A Befitting Set of Wheels / 117
Envy Culture / 121
Today’s Youth… / 122

CHAPTER 6 OF FRIENDS AND DAILY LIFE
Making Local Friends / 127
The Third Gender and the Conservative Side of Society / 130
Hot Quickly, Cold Quickly / 135
National Pride / 136
Cleanliness and Recycling / 138
Winter and Heating / 140
Fans, the Silent Killers? / 147
Making International Friends / 149

CHAPTER 7 THE LANGUAGE CHALLENGE
Objectively Difficult to Learn / 153
There Is Hope-the Ingenious Writing System / 157
Educated Guessing Gone Wrong / 161
English-English Translation / 163

CHAPTER 8 THE NORTH
From the DMZ / 167
The North in the Media and in the Public Perception -Western Media vs Korea / 169
Experiencing the Real North / 170

POST KOREA / 187
NOTES / 190