Recently, a YouTube video caught my eye. In the amusing video titled “Eleven Side Effects I had as a Teacher in South Korea,” an American teacher talks about her experience in Korea with a hint of sarcasm.

Some Koreans may view all that she says as compliments. However, some of her points are clearly criticism of the country, while others highlight the cultural differences between the US and Korea.

She said that Wi-Fi is available everywhere in Korea, allowing you to connect to the internet anywhere. She also mentions that in Korea you do not need to guard your belongings constantly, saying, “I leave my computer out in the open at the coffee shop when I go to the restroom.” Surely, that may seem amazing to foreigners.

The American teacher also said she has learned to be comfortable with being naked in public when frequenting a jimjilbang, or Korean-style sauna, where there are usually communal shower facilities with no private cubicles.

Another thing she mentioned is that at a Korean restaurant, you can raise your hand and yell to get the attention of a waiter, who will then rush to serve you. However, she did not mention that another convenience featured in Korean restaurants is a “bell button,” which you can press to call a waiter any time.

She also humorously pointed out the custom in Korea of adding one or two years to your original age based on the international system, a practice which also happens in China.

When she arrived in Seoul, she found she had suddenly grown older by 1 1/2 years.

“Over the course of a 14-hour flight,” she quipped, “I lost nearly two years of my twenties.” The teacher also noted how Korean couples sometimes wear matching outfits from head to toe, in contrast to the US, where couples usually only do that when riding a bike together or some other activity like that.

Another cultural difference is Korean youngsters’ obsession with smartphones. She said, “I often wonder what it was like in Korea before the invention of the smartphone. They constantly talk about trivial things such as what they ate for lunch.”

You can frequently hear people chatter over trivial matters on the phone in the street or on the subway, saying things such as, “What’re you doing now?” “I’m walking down the street,” or “I’m riding the subway. How about you?”

Later in the video, the American teacher talks about how the elderly in Korea sometimes think they can do whatever they want. The ajumma (Korean married women or aunt) brigade frequently shoves and pushes to get on a bus, train, or elevator ahead of you. So do old men. At subway stations, for example, they cut to the front of the lines, elbowing people out of the way before anyone has gotten off.

Living in Korea, the English teacher said she has acquired “defensive skills” to protect herself.

“I no longer let these aggressive ajumma push me around,” she said. “If I’m standing in a line and I see someone coming my way, I’ll do everything. I will do what I learned in middle school baseball. I stick my arms out at my sides to make it more difficult to get around.”

For the American teacher, another downside of living here is the poor English proficiency of Korean students. She complained that her English standard has gone downhill because of the broken English spoken by her students.

“I forgot how to correctly speak it,” she said. “I add and drop articles when I shouldn’t, and mispronounce common words.”

Another thing she learned in Korea is that traffic rules often mean nothing. She listed examples such as parking on sidewalks; driving the wrong way down a one-way street; running red lights; riding motorcycles on the sidewalk and double parking in a parking garage.

Another thing she learned in Korea is “as long as I have my phone number on my dashboard, I can pretty much park wherever I want.”

Finally, the American teacher found it strange that in Korea it seem like you must go to school or work no matter how sick you are.

She said, “In the States, I would call in sick at the first sign of sniffle. I don’t want to get those kids sick!” In Korea, however, “a pounding headache, (an) aching body count for nothing when it comes to calling out of work.”

I guess when the American teacher returns home, she will need some time to adjust. Having grown use to life in Korea, she may now find it a bit inconvenient in the US due to the side effects of her stay here.

By Kim Seong-kon

Kim Seong-kon is a professor emeritus of English at Seoul National University and president of the Literature Translation Institute of Korea. He can be reached at sukim@snu.ac.kr. -- Ed.