10 Things the World Can Learn from South Korea

Honestly, I didn’t know much about South Korea before I moved here from the states. Suddenly, I found myself in a new country, with a new language, and a completely new culture. As I reflect on the last year, I feel an overwhelming amount of gratitude towards my new home. This hasn’t always been the case, as you can read about here. Either way, I feel like South Korea can teach the world a thing or two. It definitely taught me my fair share.

 Keep reading to find out 10 things I think the world can learn from South Korea. 

1. How to recycle properly

When it comes to recycling, Korea has the rest of the world beat. Korea has a very dense population, and unlike the United States, a lack of landfills to dump their trash into. This means the country is extremely economical when it comes to ridding of their waste. The rules on recycling are very strict, and failure to follow them will lead to fines and angry elderly ladies yelling at you. To find out more about how to properly recycle and dispose of waste in Korea, read this article by Korea4Expats.

2. How to use public transportation

Like Europe, Korea has a great public transportation system. The Metro, buses, and trains provide residents with overall seamless transportation throughout the entire country. You can easily access schedules and ticketing information, in multiple languages, online and at train stations. To get from Busan to Seoul {the distance from the south to the north of the country} takes less than 3 hours on the KTX. We can learn a lot from Korea when it comes to mobility within a country!

3. How to form a boy band

It is no secret that Korea is the QUEEN in the music industry when it comes to boy {and girl} bands. Even before moving to Korea, I had heard of K-POP. Admittedly though, I didn’t really understand how one specific countries’ version of a music genre, could exceed “regular” pop standards.

Oh, how much I had yet to learn. At this point, I can confidently say I am obsessed with BTS. They are a group of seven Korean guys {3 rappers, 4 vocalists} who have broken K-POP records worldwide. Of course, after only a few weeks in the country, I had heard of the K-POP sensations. But I still just didn’t get it. It took months for me to climb on board, but once I did there was no turning back #ARMY.

Being a Backstreet Boy fanatic growing up, I thought I had high standards when it came to boy bands. Compared to BTS, the Backstreet Boys were amateurs. I’ve never seen a group more in sync {including Nsync themselves}, more charismatic, or more humbled. Only one of their members speaks fluent English, and yet they’ve captured the hearts of hopeless romantics like myself, around the world. They were the first K-POP group to win, and preform, at the American Billboard Awards just this year.

I could go on and on {literally}, but I’ll wrap it up by confirming what many before me already knew: the rest of the world has nothing on K-POP.

4. How to work as a community

I’ll never forget one of the first things I learned about South Korea at orientation. We were told of the 1997 Korean Financial Crisis, and how the people of Korea came together as a community, to save their country. The country was on the verge of bankruptcy and there was only one solution.

 Korea’s only recourse was to seek help from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and in December 1997, the lender approved a gargantuan $58 billion bailout package, the largest in history. The deal required Korea to liberalize trade and its capital accounts, reform its labor market, restructure corporate governance and more.

A new crisis emerged, then, which native Koreans still refer to as the “IMF Crisis.” The government wasted no time in raising the funds to pay back the loan, and on January 5, 1998, a national campaign was launched that today stands as one of the most moving shows of patriotism and self-sacrifice the world has ever known. – Forbes

Nearly 3.5 million Koreans participated in the campaign to raise funds for their country. People lined up for hours in order to donate their gold to the government. Wedding rings, family heirlooms, trophies, coins, and anything else you could imagine was donated. $2.2 billion dollars was raised. If the world needs a symbol of patriotism, look to Korea.

5. How to stay connected

South Korea’s fast, reliable internet, is a luxury I don’t take for granted. It’s something the government here makes a priority, and for good reason. Even people in rural areas of the country receive a government set, minimum speed requirement.  And on top of that, it’s extremely affordable. You’ll find public WiFi in many of the larger cities, and in nearly every cafe or restaurant. Without the painful buffering in videos, or on web pages, it’s easy to get spoiled here in Korea. You can read more about how South Korea achieves this feat, here.

Related: 5 Apps to Help You Navigate Life in Korea

6. How to treat our teachers

Unfortunately, in America, we tend to treat teachers as inferior to those in other distinguished careers {doctors, lawyers, etc.}. However, in Korea, the country, as a whole, has the utmost respect for teachers. In a hierarchical system, I’m doing pretty well over here. I get paid a decent wage, receive 18 public holidays off, plus a two-week vacation in summer, and a two-week vacation in winter.  And the best part, people appreciate me.

While I don’t work nearly as hard as my co-workers in home room classes, I can still admit that teaching requires a lot of energy. Once you tell someone you are a teacher here in Korea, you receive special treatment. The man at the post office suddenly doesn’t roll his eyes every time you {a foreigner} walks in. The local cafes offer you special treats ‘on the house’ for teaching their children English. You say ‘선생’ and get a ‘woahhh’ of appreciation in response. Overall, it’s a great place to be an educator.

Related: 10 Things to Know Before Teaching English in South Korea 

7. How to show affection

Something that used to confuse me at first about South Korea, was the level of affection people show each other. For being a country that looks down on kissing in public, they sure know how to express themselves in other ways. Young couples are always touching each other. At all times, one body part must be touching another – but not in a sexual way. More so as a comfort.

And affection is not limited to couples, which I think is the most important point I want to make. Men are just as affection with other men, as they are with the opposite sex. It’s extremely normal for men to hold hands in Korea, and not have it limited to gay couples. The boys in my school sit on each others laps, hold hands, play with each others’ hair, and cuddle one another just as they would a girlfriend.

Affection in this country has nothing to do with gender or sexual preference. It’s one human being providing comfort to another human being. Whereas my initial response to it stemmed from a social stigma back home in my own country, I’ve grown to find it extremely attractive. I love that affection isn’t reserved for specific people. Instead, if you’re human, you deserve it.

Related: 15 Things That Surprised Me About Life in South Korea 

8. Portion control

I still don’t really understand how Koreans can eat as much white rice as they do, and not gain a pound. But my best guess thus far, is that they are diligent with portion control. Anytime I am out to dinner with Koreans, I find myself unable to finish the final course. There is always more than one, you see. Usually you’ll get 3-4 courses in a meal.

This has conditioned Koreans to control how much they put into their bodies. The amount of food in each course is also portioned out to avoid overindulgence.  Unlike my local companions, I stuff my face within the first course {because I’m so hungry}, and end up paying the consequences later on.

Ultimately, we can survive off of much less than we consume on a daily basis. Koreans understand this, and also hate wasting food. Portion control takes a front seat when it comes to what the Koreans do right.

9. How to stay young forever

When I initially started drafting this portion of the post, I immediately thought of hiking, sunscreen, and K Beauty. I mean, the elderly folks in this country hike every damn weekend. They all pass Gena and I on our hikes. While we are straight dying, they couldn’t be bothered. I mean, they are seriously the most fit individuals I’ve ever seen at their age. And I stand by that.

Koreans never leave the house without sunscreen on, and on really sunny days you can see everyone walking around with umbrellas. Though my friend once demanded me to call it a parasol because it was technically “not an umbrella”. Though the definition of parasol is literally a light umbrella.

You can bet that a majority of the Koreans you meet are much older than you would guess. Even without Korean skincare products, the country as a whole takes really good care of their skin. It used to be {and still pretty much is} viewed as superior to have very pale skin. It meant you weren’t a worker out in the fields {getting tan from the sun}, and held a more prestigious role in the community.

But when it comes to K Beauty, I can’t be sure anymore. After learning the plastic surgery rate in Korea is one of the highest in the world, I struggle to tell whether someone looks young because of an amazing skincare routine, or because they have been injected with needles.

Regardless, Korean skincare products have been well-loved worldwide. While many of the products are much too harsh for my sensitive skin, I have close friends that complete the 5-7 step Korean skincare routine daily. And it shows. Even if someone has had Botox, it’s hard to fake glowing, supple skin that many Koreans posses.

10. How to dress

And finally, the world can all learn a thing or two about style from Koreans. While I don’t agree with every trend that arrives in Korea, I can’t deny that the majority of people look damn good. Especially the men. I am going to be reeeeal disappointed when I return home to California, and see guys in jeans that don’t fit and sleeveless basketball jerseys.

Then men here are just straight up classy. Most of them dress better than I do. And then there are the women. They are always dressed up. And if they aren’t, they still look like they belong in a magazine. While I could go on and on about how much I despise Koreans’ obsession with appearance, I can’t deny that they do always look fantastic.

The one thing lacking in the fashion industry in Korea is individuality. While everyone looks amazing, they all look like clones of each other in terms of the clothing they wear. At any one time there will only be a few different trends being worn. And nothing else. Therefore, if you don’t follow the trend, you’ll be looked down upon.

Overall, the world can learn a lot from South Korea. If anything, my personal education here in South Korea is what I cherish most about this experience.  Alternatively, I believe South Korea can learn a lot from the world. But that’s what it’s all about: exposing yourself to the world, and gaining a global education.