To be honest, I wasn't at all excited about going to Korea. I had a lot of business to take care of back home and thought 12 days over there would be just too long. Plus, I didn't think any of my relatives would remember me. But, I went... knowing that the first cousin in our generation was getting married. I had no idea what to expect.
But it turned out that 12 days was maybe a week too short. It was my first time back in over 13 years. I think I was there last when I was 13 or 14 years old.
There was a lot of nostalgia, reflection, and priority reorganizing while seeing my family again for the first time in over a decade. It was, without a doubt, a life-changing experience. It also made me feel I had a lot more responsibility all of a sudden, when before, I thought my only family was my mom, dad, and sister.
I was amazed at how much Korea has developed. It was like reading every economic book from college and seeing it come to life before my eyes. Areas that were farms and dirt roads before were paved and industrial now.
While I was there, I was forwarded a news article from a friend that showed Seoul, Korea as the 3rd most expensive place to live in the world. I was shocked.
Mainly because all I saw at first were the cheap bus fares, cheap food (As long as you weren't buying beef. Beef is extremely expensive there.), and cheap clothing at places like Namdaemun and Dongdaemun. And I could run down to a little grocery store and pickup junk food for around 50 cents (or 500 won) a piece.
Of course, I don't drive there (both gas prices and automobile prices are pretty high) and don't own any real estate there... and those are major expenses. Combined with the fact that most of my cousins admit to making the equivalent of $2,000 to $3,000 a month at "slightly above-average" paying jobs. And that's just among those who were able to actually find a job. The rest will have to continue to look.
There are so many people looking for work, that they're using "english speaking ability" as a way to weed people out. Even if the job they're applying for won't require them to know english at all.
Once I started comparing items straight up (items like electronics, clothing, and European cars)... I realized Korea just isn't that cheap. Ferragamo, 7 Jeans, Burberry and other "brand name" items are at least double what they are here in the states. 7 Jeans for about $500 US (500,000 won) is just a crazy price to pay for pants. I almost wanted to take mine off to sell on the streets. Okay, not really.
Another thing that struck me about Korea is that, as well off as my extended family is, they live very comfortable, conservative lives structured around the family. One uncle who is a doctor rides the bus to work, even though he lives in a neighborhood called Dogok, which I guess is either #1 or #2 when it comes to the highest real estate prices in Seoul. Another owns a huge house but doesn't fill it with random stuff. Most of the rooms at the places I visited were simple and wide open.
And I say "conservative" because I've heard a lot of stereotypes about Koreans being a certain way (hot tempered, smokers, drinkers, cheaters and so on)... but I didn't see it at all while I was there. At least not among my cousins. None smoke and none of them drink. None of them swore, and they all treated their parents with respect. Maybe this is just our family, and I know that I can't speak for the few cousins who didn't show up for the wedding, but it was a little surprising.
However, the thing that struck me the most is the gap between rich and poor there. There is absolutely no middle class. And it looked like it would stay that way too. Poorer people stuck with the run down, affordable restaurants while the people with money went to the fancy overpriced places. The food (to me anyway) all tasted the same... like authentic Korean food. It's hard to explain exactly what I mean by "no middle class" in a blog that summarizes my trip, but I hope this makes some sense.
And it seemed like every industry there was monopolized by 1 or 2 companies. How Hyundai owns most of the auto industry (they own Kia, while GM now owns Daewoo). But since Hyundai has a lot of money, they go into other industries like construction, real estate, gas stations, and so on. It makes it pretty much impossible for entreprenuers to thrive when large companies are allowed to enter any industry they want like that.
Lotte is a beverage company there (like Coca-Cola is here), but you see them on a lot of other business entities as well. Not to mention LG and Samsung. Not only do they make cell phones and LCD TVs (which is what we see in the U.S.)... in Korea, they make most of the computers that people use, clothing, suits, shoes, furniture, construction companies, windows, millwork and door manufacturing, kitchen and bath fixtures, and all the appliances that are used by most families. As a business student, it was mindblowing to me.
I imagined what it would be like, if Microsoft decided to buy up vacant land, bribe the government for some high-rise permits, and started building massive apartment complexes. Not only that... but what if Microsoft owned the construction company that built those highrises, and all the materials that went into those buildings? The United States Government and the general public would never allow it.
I'll try keep this short for now and will end with this... but I also noticed how small this world has become. Thanks to the internet, and shipping companies like DHL, it's so easy to communicate with my cousins now. Before, I would have to write letters and wait over a week or pay for expensive long distance phone calls. Now, those are my 4th or 5th options.
But I only bring this up because things that were popular in Korea (junk food for example) were things that I could already buy at places like Paldo World in Bellevue, Washington. And vice versa... my aunts would be like, "Try this, you'll like it"... and my dad would say, "He's had that before, I bought it for him a couple months ago." The relatives were pretty surprised by it.
You could really see supply and demand working there. Cars like Mercedes-Benz, Audi, and BMW are more common than I expected. And if there's a fashion trend or new gadget on the market, it seemed like most people were fairly aware of them (although my cousin who is into fashion was unaware of brands like True Religion Jeans and Rock & Republic Jeans... so I told her to keep an eye out for them).
But anyway, I'll try to add more updates and thoughts to my blog... still trying to get back into the swing of things and adjust to the time difference. Although I do miss my cousins already. I'll have to make more time to go see them frequently.
I mentioned "priority reorganizing" early in this post, only because all of a sudden, I'm not saving up for anything, except for plane tickets to Korea.
I'll leave you with my favorite picture from the trip... it's reminiscent of an old one where we're all standing together in a similar fashion.
