A Message from LSE in South Korea

안녕하세요 (Hello) from LSE in Daegu, South Korea

My name is Kirk, I’m English and I’ve been teaching at LSE Daegu for about 8 months. I’m proud to work for such an established and recognised school. I’ve been living and working in Korea for almost 2 years in total. I’d like to tell you a little bit about life in Korea.

When I first came here I was in a small city called Geoje and I was totally blown away with the seemingly huge differences between England and Korea. Firstly, I felt very foreign – everywhere I went I stood out and children would run up to me and say “Hi, hello, how are you, I’m fine, my name is…”. Korea is a very homogenous country, so a tall, blond haired, blue eyed Westerner like me stands out a mile! Now, I live in a bigger city so I don’t get as many stares, and I actually like the attention sometimes – it makes me feel like a Z-list celebrity!

Another difference was the food. Korea isn’t famous for its food, but it should be! It hosts a wide range of different food for meat lovers and vegetarians alike. My first meal in Korea was 비빔밥which is a mix of rice, vegetables and hot pepper sauce. It was absolutely delicious! Another favourite is 삼겹살which is thin slices of pork cooked at your table… mmmmmm. Korea’s national food is 김치(fermented cabbage), which sounds disgusting but actually tastes great!

Another striking difference is the language – at times it seems a millions miles away from English. Firstly, the Korean language uses Hangul to write its characters, so I had to learn a whole host of new symbols. Secondly, the grammar is very different to English, so instead of saying ‘I ate the pizza’ Korean’s would say ‘I pizza ate’. One saving grace is the fact that a lot English words have entered the Korean language, which makes it a little bit easier. Unfortunately, there also exists the dreaded ‘Konglish’ which is English words but ‘Koreanised’. One of the words for mobile phone for example is ‘handphone’.

Many other differences became apparent as the weeks and months went by, but that’s the interesting thing about this place. Korea has some brilliant innovations which I would love to see in the UK. One of them is the very popular singing rooms. Instead of singing in front of a large pub filled with strangers, these rooms are designed just for you and your friends.

When I eventually leave Korea I will be really sad since it has opened my mind and heart to a whole new world.

안녕for now.

Kirk