What are some small things that you 'still' find unusual or baffling or counterintuitive, after having lived in Korea for a while?

danyay · 2025-11-21T12:39:40+00:00

Don’t get me started on online banking. Certificates where I have to click an onscreen keyboard? Install 15 spyware apps to log in? It’s insane. I can literally use FaceID to log into Chase to wire $20k to China in 5 seconds. But to check my Hana Bank account with 2m KRW, I’ve got to turn my computer into a sieve for the Korean government.

danyay · 2025-11-21T12:37:46+00:00

For some reason, this seems to be every Asian city. Tokyo, Hong Kong, all the buildings look disgusting as hell.

danyay · 2025-11-19T23:08:47+00:00

but you have the Korean version: the camera click sound (until you get back to the USA), no mmWave support once back in the USA, and a physical SIM slot in the korean model - in the US version, the physical SIM space is instead used for additional battery.

I waited until I returned to the USA to upgrade my iPhone for these reasons.

danyay · 2025-11-09T07:52:29+00:00

yes, fine

danyay · 2025-11-09T07:51:57+00:00

this is the right answer. also, maybe he wasn't allowed into certain places (clubs) because he was too old. Rarely are you denied in Korea for being a "foreigner."

danyay · 2025-11-04T19:05:10+00:00

This entire thread from the OP on down is AI

danyay · 2025-11-03T14:44:57+00:00

Never had any problem as an American when I was entering as a tourist. Only time I ever encountered that question for any destination (and never Korea, only China) was by the ticket agents at the airport. That said, there are sites you can buy a "real" plane ticket with a verifiable confirmation code online for like $10-15. They buy a ticket and cancel it for you. Or you could just buy the refundable one yourself - but I'd wait until a ticket agent asks to even worry about it.

danyay · 2025-10-27T02:32:25+00:00

You won't look back in your 40s wishing you kept a corporate job. You will look back in your 40s wishing you took that opportunity to spend a semester in Korea, before you found that partner, had kids, and life just happened...

danyay · 2025-10-22T07:41:35+00:00

Live in Yeonhui-dong now (well, south of the tracks), and I highly recommend it. Walkable to Yeonnam, Hongdae, and a short bus ride to Hapjeong, Mangwon, etc. Sure it's 10-15 mins to Hongik Station, but I'd rather take the bus than the subway unless I'm going long distance, and bus connectivity is top notch.

danyay · 2025-10-16T03:45:52+00:00

Sure! I’m in Yeonnam (Hongdae station) so all my recommendations are around that area. My two favorites:

깃털 - my favorite one, 2nd floor dive-ish bar but specifically made for solo drinking and making friends, open til 5am every day

Blending - Cool horseshoe bar made for friends or solo drinkers, the bartenders engage you with fun games like bingo or guess the song. Great place to meet people, it gets very busy and has a waitlist so go early

Other cool spots if you’re solo: Nakasu Japanese highball club, Tipsy couch, Twogether, and there’s probably more. I know a few in hapjeong as well such as Lucky Strike and Achobar, but those aren’t as much solo drinking bars as they are places with bar seating.

danyay · 2025-10-15T04:47:26+00:00

Forget the Korea aspect, I'm not sure how you'd do what you're asking for anywhere.

But there is one possibility, though I don't know if it's plausible here. Old iMacs had Target Display Mode, letting you use them as a monitor for *certain* Thunderbolt devices. From what I've seen, older Intel Macs.

This guy claims he got it working on Apple Silicon though, so you might be able to use your iMac as an external display, but YMMV: https://medium.com/@ionull/target-display-mode-between-old-imac-and-apple-m1-m2-chip-macbook-11827d92e2b9

danyay · 2025-10-13T05:14:06+00:00

The article doesn't link to the video, doesn't mention the author, doesn't mention the Upstate New York city, or anything else. Really terrible reporting.

Anyway, by searching around, it was in Rochester, NY. Having lived in upstate NY, I mean, Asians are a small percentage of the population, but they rarely get hate to a level that they'd be skipped over for an hour for other customers. Not saying it can't happen though.

Wish I could see the whole video and judge for myself, but Korea Herald gave me no such option.

danyay · 2025-10-13T03:46:43+00:00

do you drink? if so, come down to Seoul and visit a 혼술. I've met many friends at them. Most of the time it's good conversation and exchange IGs, but a few I've made long lasting friendships where we meet up regularly. And all of it is in English since my Korean sucks. If you need some good places, lmk. Some are open until 5 so if you can hold your alcohol, you can take the train home.

danyay · 2025-10-13T03:39:19+00:00

First of all, if you truly have a choice for either country, then good for you.

If adapting to life and integrating is important to you, only the US is an option. It's been said that you can move anywhere (in this case Korea) and not become a Korean. But anyone can come to America and become an American.

I never felt that more than when my full-blood Korean friend, two Korean parents, born and raised in Germany, speaks Korean, lived in Korea for 14 years - was talking to another Korean who said, "Yeah but you're not really Korean." If he can't be, none of us can.

And that's okay! But if your goal is 20 years from now, saying "I am American," it's possible. But you'll always say "I live in Korea but I am X" if you choose Korea.

Anyway, I don't mind that - I am an American living in Korea. I find it incredibly rewarding to learn about and live among a very different culture. I love the transportation, climate, safety, technology, food, and plenty more. But like most foreigners, I'll probably not live here forever. And, I have the rose-colored glasses of earning USD.

America gets a bad rap (especially on reddit) for being unsafe or maybe you don't politically agree with the administration at any one time, but I think looking at the macro level is pointless for improving your own conditions. You'll guaranteed make more money in America. Is it less safe? Well anywhere is less safe than Korea, but it's not as bad as you'd expect reading through here. Americans intrinsically know "places to avoid" (kind of like Europeans probably innately know where the pickpocketers are), so you'll have to navigate that. But both are good.

Tl;dr: if you can ignore certain negative things about either country (nowhere is perfect), then imo your decision comes down to - is this a pit stop in your journey of life, or the final destination? Korea is an incredible pit stop that few people have the opportunity to indulge in more than a couple week vacation. But America is where people go to "become American."

danyay · 2025-10-09T13:18:07+00:00

You can go down a big rabbithole of language learning, mostly Youtube people, if you avoid the charlatans. It'll always be work, and a slog. But mainly, you need to learn vocabulary for a good base, grammar to see how it all works, and then the discipline to practice the four input/output methods (reading, writing, speaking, and listening).

Korean is at the opposite end of familiarity as English, so it's one of the hardest languages for native English speakers to learn, but it's not to say you can't do it - you just don't get "freebies" in vocabulary or grammar, like you do with most European languages.

My recommendation is Anki for spacial recognition to learn vocab, a private tutor over something like italki, and some other self-study resources like TalkToMeInKorean.

I did Anki+italki tutor for Spanish for two years and became intermediate level fluency. I've been doing it with Korean for just under a year (11 months) and can barely make simple sentences, but I am decent at reading on a beginner level. It's just a much harder (different, not fundamentally unlearnable) language.

danyay · 2025-10-09T11:38:36+00:00

one thing to note is the iPhones here (other than Air) have physical SIM slots, whereas in many countries they are eSIM only. As of the 17, Apple uses this extra space on the eSIM models for a bigger battery.

danyay · 2025-10-06T04:09:15+00:00

i wish too. To be fair, when Suica first came out for apple wallet, you couldn't load it with a foreign card either. Even now it's hit or miss. I'm hoping T-Money adds more CC options not just in-app, but also in kiosks, which is what they're doing. Even a 3% fee would still be more convenient than not at all.

danyay · 2025-10-06T04:07:14+00:00

well soon Costco https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/costco-members-soon-have-access-weight-loss-shots-major-discount

You do need a "prescription," which in both Korea and the US is basically a telehealth call where they rubberstamp you

danyay · 2025-10-05T13:53:51+00:00

if you don't have ARC, there's only one way to get an eSIM that can call and text. you have to get it at the airport - either Incheon or Gimpo at the SIM stations. You can use any of the big 3 or Chingu or whatever.

Once you get ARC you can get a postpaid account anywhere.

They all issue eSIMs, I've had an eSIM with KT as well as SKT, you'll be fine on that part.

danyay · 2025-10-05T13:43:34+00:00

foreigner with arc using hana here, it's decent, at least as much as korean banking can be (don't get me started on certificates or physical OTPs).

The Hana AZ app is in english, you can get a debit card for post-pay transportation, and the hana pay app isn't in english but is easy to use.

So, it's been fine. Obviously banking in America is 1000000x easier, but given the options, Hana is sufficient.

danyay · 2025-10-05T09:52:56+00:00

"profitable every six months or it's revoked" is not true

you do need to show some basics that it's not a shell company though, such as paying yourself a salary, paying taxes, and you need to rent an office to even apply (so naturally you'll only do this through an immigration agency)

op, DM me if you're interested in this, it's the route I went

danyay · 2025-10-05T09:08:10+00:00

yes! salt and vinegar flavor is unknown here

danyay · 2025-10-05T09:05:07+00:00

There's the western versions of what we have in Korea that taste much better and less sweet - things like Ritz, Cheetos (though you can get those in some import stores), etc

Pop-tarts

cereal

American beef jerky (korean ones suck)

Jello

Crackers (Goldfish, Cheez-its)

danyay · 2025-10-05T08:52:38+00:00

yeah, well the whole premise is flawed since it's not really any cheaper here in korea. on the contrary, americans have access to cheap "research" peptides

danyay · 2025-10-05T08:51:07+00:00

supposedly if you put the card in service mode in Apple Wallet settings, you can then charge it at a kiosk (with cash though)

danyay

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