Matthias Soh.com

Tip to survive in Korea #3 – Korea Alcohol Culture

May 11th, 2012 by matthias

Here are some tips for those who coming to Korea, and also to those who which to know more about Korea.
I’m sharing these base on my own experience, these might be incorrect or different from other states of Korea.
I’m also sharing some culture that not written in any book, these may look normal to Korea because is part of their everyday life, but it seem something unique to some of us.
Hopefully these tips will help you survive your stay in Korea.
Click here for more Tips to survive in Korea

Going out for a drink is very common for Korean, especially University students.
It is so common and now it became a culture.

To get to know someone more, the Korean will choose to go for a drink, play some games, have some snack.
Indeed it really help to build relationship fast.
Every time there is a gathering or event, 99% there are alcohol involve. Even my dormitory’s weekly English class nearly became Soju Class(Soju = Korean Alcohol).

If you like Alcohol, then this won’t be a problem. You might just enjoy Korea even more!
In another case, if you dislike Alcohol(like me) then you might face some problem.

I got alcohol allergy, I could drink 2-3cups then I have to stop, if I keep going on, my body will be itchy and uncomfortable for the whole of next week.

Here are some tips to help you survive this Korea Drinking Culture.

1. When someone offer you some alcohol(fill your cup with alcohol), it is a must to accept it(especially someone older than you). Is a sign of respect. While accepting, tell them you can’t drink that much, a little alcohol for you is enough.

2. After accepting, it is not a must to finish it. REMEMBER! You’re accepting the alcohol because you respect him, so don’t force yourself to finish it, small sip of it will do.

3. If you really can’t take it anymore, request for a bottle of soda. Is better to switch to soda if your Korean friends start to play Beer game.

4. If you can’t drink at all, join them for the first time. After that kindly reject and tell them you don’t like to drink, the Korean will understand. Once awhile do join them and have some fun with your soda. =]

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Tip to survive in Korea #2 – Will Samsung Phone be cheaper?

May 2nd, 2012 by matthias

Click here if you’re coming to Korea for a few weeks and you’re thinking how to get a mobile phone number.

Since Samsung is a Korea brand, getting a Samsung phone will it be cheaper in Korea?

When I first came to Korea, I got this statement in mind.
“Buying local product is always cheaper”
But whenever I ask my Korean friend how much they brought their phone, all of them can’t reply me right away.
They are not trying to convert the price to MYR, but calculating how much they pay every month multiply by how long is their contract.
They tried to explain to me that most Korean do not just buy the phone alone, normally the signup for a package when they buy their phone.

In Malaysia, when we signup for a package then we got the phone for a cheaper price. Therefore I assume is the same in Korea.
After few weeks, me and my classmate got the foreigner ID (Alien card).
We allow to signup for 1phone number with one ID card, me and classmates went to the phone shop to get a phone number.
Then I found out that I just need to pay for the bill every month and I get the phone for free.
Now I know why is it so hard for a Korean to explain how much they brought their phone, its free but somehow they still need to pay for the phone bill.

Because of almost 15 of us getting the phone number + phone at the same time, the phone shop offer us a special package.
Samsung Galaxy S2 HD LTE + 500minutes air time + 450 text messages + 10GB internet data per month for just 35 000won(exclude tax) and our contract is 8months, because we will be leave Korea somewhere January - February 2013.

35 000won (rm105+-) x 8 =280 000won(rm840)
After include tax will be somewhere like rm9xx?
In conclusion. YES! Getting a Samsung mobile phone is cheap in Korea, because is almost FREE! You just need to pay the bill every month. However, as a tourist, you’re not allow to sign up for the mobile phone package, because you don’t have the foreigner ID card.

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Tip to survive in Korea #1 – Don’t speak Korean?

May 1st, 2012 by matthias

Here are some tips for those who coming to Korea,
I’m sharing these base on my own experience, these might be incorrect or different from other states of Korea.
Hopefully these tips will help you survive your stay in Korea.
Click here for more Tips to survive in Korea

If you’re coming to Korea for work / travel / study especially if this your first time and you do not know Korean Language. It will be difficult to communicate or ask for direction due to the language barrel.

When I first arrived Korea, I do not know how to speak much Korean Language. I took 3months Korean Language class, 1year ago. After 1year of not speaking or listening, I’m no different from you(if you never learn Korean before).

I found this app “Offline dictionaries”, it translate English <-> Korean
This app helped me a lot, even right now I’m still using this app in class whenever I don’t understand what my lecturer is talking or don’t understand what the shop assistant is talking, I pass my phone to him/her to type in the word, then translate to English.

However, try communicate with simple English with lots of body language first. If they still don’t understand, then only use this app. Straight away point your phone at them is kinda rude.

Had tested on iPhone 4s, iPad, Samsung Galaxy HD LTE. Both ISO and Android working fine.
Please do download the English <-> Korean & Korean <-> English dictionary before leaving your country!

You may think “Why not just use google translate?”
What if you could not detect any public wifi? And your internet data only available in your country and not in Korea.

If you’re dealing with some old people, I would say good luck…
Hopefully they got that patience…
They might just say “No!” and just leave you..

Offline Dictionaries Apple Store | Android Play

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Running in Korea

April 13th, 2012 by matthias

The weather is finally getting warm, I started to run outdoor.
Don’t need to run on the track mill anymore!

Running in Korea is very different from Running in Malaysia.
Mostly is because of the weather.

Screenshot from Yahoo! Weather. Korea, Gimhae at 11.58pm.

Screenshot from Yahoo! Weather. Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, 10.59pm.

First, the temperature.
In Korea, during the day is about 20′c +-
Running in this kinda weather is wonderful, but I been living in Malaysia for 20years. I not use to breathing in such cold air into my lungs. It feels kinda weird when my body is hot and sweating, but the air I breath in is cold.

Second, the humidity.
According to the image above, Malaysia humidity is 84% and Korea humidity is 32%. Ya, Korea weather kinda dry..
Breath in the dry air makes my throat feel dry and feel like drinking water to wet my throat. After running for sometime, I start to cough due to dry and itchy throat, and this will make me slow down or even stop running.

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For my first Outdoor run,
I had arrange them in order, which include up hill, up stairs, lots of down stairs, flat road, and most important running under the sakura!