Korean Life Explained

As you look for a place to sing, you may see signs for both noraebang and coin noraebang. Both offer a small private room where you can sing, but the first steps are different. At a regular noraebang, you usually begin at the front desk. At a coin noraebang, you may start at a payment machine. Inside the room, you will find either a remote control covered in buttons or a touchscreen. You may already know which song you want to sing but still pause in front of the controls because you do not know how to search for the title or how "Start" differs from "Reserve." The first obstacle is not the microphone. It is figuring out how to enter the room and use the controls once you are inside. This guide follows the process from choosing which type of noraebang to enter to finding an English-language song and getting the music started. Regular Noraebangs and Coin Noraebangs Differ from the Moment You Enter Both regular noraebangs and coin noraebangs have private rooms for you...

In the evening, rows of pojangmacha tents line the alleys around Jongno 3-ga Station. But once you’re standing in front of them, it can be hard to know where to sit. At first glance, the menus, prices, and atmosphere all seem much the same. The tents, however, are not as alike as they first appear. The scene inside may look similar from one tent to another, but the seating layout and the way menus and prices are displayed vary. This guide will not tell you which tent serves the best food. Instead, it explains what to look for when you are standing in front of the tents and deciding where to sit. The Tents May Look Similar, but They Are Not All the Same Some tents are open on the sides, while others are fully enclosed with clear plastic sheeting. Both types appear along the same street. Your choice depends on whether you want to experience the street atmosphere up close or stay more sheltered from the wind and cold. What to Look for Before You Sit Down Because pojangmacha tents do not h...

When you step out of Hongik University Station, you may not see the Hongdae you were expecting right away. In videos, Hongdae is full of music, street performances, bright signs, and crowds of young people. But outside the station, the first things you notice are usually a wide road, bus stops, chain stores, and people walking quickly past you. That is when the questions start. Is this really Hongdae? Where do I go to find the Hongdae everyone talks about? On your first visit, you might pause here for a moment. What you expected to see still isn't there, and the map is full of names you don't recognize. Walk a Little Farther In to Find the Hongdae You Expected The area right outside Hongik University Station is more like a gateway to the busier streets farther in. About five minutes from the station, Sangsangmadang becomes a useful landmark for getting your bearings. Around there, you start to see performance spots, alleys lined with cafes, small shops, and photo booths close t...

Step out of Myeongdong Station, and beauty store signs come into view before you have even figured out which way to go. In front of larger stores, stacks of sheet mask sets sit near the entrance. Down the side streets, smaller beauty shops continue one after another. Walk a little farther and SALE signs show up again, with lip tints, sunscreens, cushions, cleansers, and skincare products packed tightly on the shelves. For a first-time visitor, this is usually the first moment of hesitation. Is this price actually good? Can you look at the products near the entrance and just walk away? If a staff member talks to you, is it okay to smile and keep moving? The confusing part of K-beauty shopping in Myeongdong is not that cosmetics are hard to understand. It is that too many choices arrive at the same time. The goal is not to visit every store. It is to know where to start, what to compare, and which signs are worth ignoring. Start in Myeongdong, But Don't Buy Too Fast Myeongdong works ...

When you first step into a Korean traditional market, it can be hard to keep your eyes in one place. Food stalls continue from the entrance, and people move through the narrow aisles from every direction. At one stall, a long line may be forming. Nearby, someone may be taking their food and moving away to make room. After only a few steps, the alley may split again. For a first-time visitor, the menu is not always the first thing you notice. You notice the market itself. When I once brought a Japanese friend to a traditional market for the first time, he stopped near the entrance and looked around for a while. Then he asked, “What should I look at first?” A Korean traditional market does not feel unfamiliar because there is too little to eat. It feels unfamiliar because there is so much happening at once. There are stalls, lines, signs, side alleys, and people moving in different directions. The simplest way in is to follow one main alley instead of trying to understand the entire mark...

At first, it looks like any other cafe. You smell coffee. Cakes and pastries sit by the counter, and toward the back, people talk quietly at their tables. But before you even order, one small thing catches your eye. A book sits on an empty table. At the next table over, a laptop and a bag are still there, but no one is sitting there. By the window, someone is working on a laptop with a single drink in front of them, and a charger is plugged into the wall nearby. The first time I brought an Italian friend to a Korean cafe, this was what he kept looking at. He spent more time looking at the laptop and bag at the next table than at his own coffee. Back home, people rarely leave a phone or bag on a cafe table when they step away, so the scene did not quite make sense to him. For him, a cafe was more of a place to drink coffee and leave. Here, it's a little different. Is this seat actually free? Where did the person with that laptop go? At first, small moments like these c...

At first, sitting down at a Korean fried chicken restaurant feels familiar. Chicken. Fried chicken. A meal with cola or beer. So far, nothing feels strange. Then, after a few minutes, small things you do not recognize start to appear on the table. A small bowl of white cubes may arrive before the chicken, sometimes together with the drinks. A friend from Sweden once told me that the first time he saw it, he thought it was a bowl of ice. It was not ice. It was chicken mu, the pickled radish often served with Korean fried chicken. Then you notice other things. The menu has the word “half-and-half.” There is a call button on the table. If you order saucy chicken, disposable plastic gloves may be placed next to the plate. If you order bone-in chicken, a small empty container may come with the food too. A first-time visitor pauses here. Are these white cubes food? Does half-and-half mean one chicken or two? Should I wear the plastic gloves? Where do the bones go? Is it okay to press the cal...