Celebrity Watch: How to be a Seoul local: 10 tips on faking it

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

How to be a Seoul local: 10 tips on faking it

With an insatiable desire to be the best at everything in the most wired city in the world, Seoulites don't have time to mess around. Neither do you. You could invest a significant chunk of your life slowly assimilating into the culture, but we'd rather push you off the deep end. ?10. How to communicate ?

The stuff that real relationships are made of.
First thing to do when you get to Korea: get a smartphone. Then download the Internet chat application KakaoTalk -- it's pretty much the only line of communication here nowadays. So much so that the name most frequently used as a verb. ?Katalk me,? means ?I like you! Let?s be friends and talk with emoticons for hours." If you actually call someone right away, they?ll freak out and not answer because your number isn't entered into their phone. ?Don't be a dork and suggest something like "iMessage? or ?WhatsApp.? Also on CNNGo: 12 reasons to visit Korea in 2012 ?The most important part? The KakaoTalk profile picture: it?s the Korean equivalent of a Facebook profile -- and updated much more frequently. Also, when you compose your messages, even if you can't quite bring yourself to smile (^^), use the tilde liberally. Otherwise you just sound cold~ ?? 9. How to avoid running into people

It may not be rush hour, but these two have been conditioned the right way.

When using public transportation, walk like you drive -- always, always on the right. On escalators, stick to the right if you want to stand, and if you're in a hurry, switch to the left lane, where people glide up and down like Dementors on a mission. ??While subway stations often post signs begging pedestrians to stand still on the escalators, obey them at your own peril. The locals will be hemming and hawing behind you, with death stares burning into your back. 8. How to walk up subway stairs

Korean fanny pack.

??Sure, Korean girls have nice legs. But that's not all that's required to wear those micro-minis you see everywhere, winter or summer, work or play. ?? To really pull off a skimpy skirt without looking like a floozy, you need to do as Korean girls do when going up stairs and escalators: put a bag on it. Or behind it. ?? Take a handbag or a tote bag and hold it with both hands behind your butt, covering the edge of the skirt. A bit awkward? Perhaps. As for men, don?t look up when you?re walking up the stairs. It's all too easy to be mistaken for a pervert. 7. How to eat

When eating from a public bowl, make sure you're handy with the chopsticks. Communal eating can be a cold war when everyone is hungry.

??Most Korean food is communal. Some might say even communist. Everyone orders together and shares equally. Don't be surprised if your meal buddy's chopsticks find their way onto your plate at some point -- and yes, you?ll be dipping your spoon into the same stew pot as your companions. Squeamish about double-dipping? Go ahead and say so, but just know you?ll be judged as being a stuck-up prude ... and worse. Good thing you don't speak Korean. Also on CNNGo: 10 best Korean restaurants Table manners are dictated by hierarchy according to age or position. If the silverware hasn't been laid out before your arrival, the youngest of your party needs to get out the napkins, spoons and chopsticks from boxes on the table. The youngest also brings in the water. With meat, the youngest grills. Finally, never take the last piece of food on the plate. All your arguments -- you're hungry, children in other countries are starving or the meat is sizzling to a black crisp on the grill -- will fly out the window once you've popped it into your mouth and feel the chill of disapproval descending from the others around the table. 6. How to pay??

seoul local The Check Dance.

If the above entry made it sound as though Korea?s a tough deal for youngsters -- it?s not. Because when the check dance comes around, guess who leads? The oldest. Nonchalantly saying, ?So, how much was my dish?? is the equivalent of social suicide -- especially if you?re one of the older people in your party. If you?re among the youngest, you?ll sound cute, so feel free to offer up the hollow offer to pay. This also explains why your age is one of the first things Koreans will ask about, often quite abruptly. 5. How to drink ??

seoul local From left to right: A typical evening of drinking in Seoul. You start out happy and end up passed out.