The security deposit on apartment rentals is unbelievable. One of the trainers I worked with who has lived in Seoul for more than thirteen years paid $80,000 for his deposit. Yes, that's US dollars, not South Korean Won (I think that would translate into 80,000,000,000 Won). And the landlord gets to keep all the interest! His rent on a three bedroom condo is $500 a month because he paid such a high deposit, so the more deposit you pay the less rent you pay. Still the average required deposit, I read, is around $20,000.
There is no tipping here. And I love that. Not in restaurants, taxis, hotels, anywhere. It makes things so much easier, but I wonder if the wages service workers earn is sufficient...okay, that's probably just wishful thinking. Except for the cost of housing, the lifestyle here isn't too expensive. I did run into a interesting group of protesters in the downtown subway station in Daegu, who had this maxim in English as the logo of their pink t-shirts - Capitalism Isn't Working.
Roughly three quarters of energy production here is nuclear. Korea has a huge number of nuclear power plants, more than any other country in the world. Somewhere under 200, I believe.
Korean high school students typically attend two schools each day. Their regular day school and then an evening school. Most students go to school until around 10:00 PM. No kidding. That works out to be two eight-hour school days.... a day. The teachers I worked with said they don't ever give homework because their students have no time to do it since they continue school until the late evening. The second schools, I think, focus on preparing students for the national exams they need to pass to get into university. And everyone, except kids from really poor families, attend second schools. As I walked around Daegu with my fellow trainers, they often pointed to lights on in school buildings late at night where students were attending classes. And this is summer vacation for them.
Religion: There is one mosque in Daegu, but a number of them in Seoul, mostly to serve the South East and South Asian populations. There are a lot of churches though and the crosses they display on their steeples glow neon red at night. It's eery to see them all poking up on the night landscape.
The amount of retail stores, outlets and small businesses here is astounding. And many of them are underground. In fact, Seoul boasts the largest underground mall in the world. The biggest market in Seoul sports more than 10,000 retail businesses.
The streets here are so grand, 8 lanes typically, that to cross them one has to go into the underground malls. It's tricky if you don't recognize the businesses listed on the "Way Out" arrow signage. I have gone up and down into the malls many times trying to figure out how to get to up to the corner I need. This was also true in downtown Deagu as well.
I've seen disabled people asking for money at some of the Metro entrances, one very drunk man and another who seemed to be hearing voices in my two and a half days in Seoul.
Korea invented LCD screens, and they are ubiquitous here. Giant LCD screens are mounted all over town featuring.... advertisements. The one outside of my hotel room is really irritating. It's about five stories high. Also, there are TV monitors everywhere -- In the Metro stations, in the gym, in the shower area at the bath house, on the buses and trains and stations, in restaurants...everywhere.
Oh my, time to start packing. I take off this evening for home. See you all soon!
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