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Some of the best cultural tips on how to adjust to living in Korea as a westerner come from GEPIK’s own website. For those that don’t know, GEPIK employees thousands of English Teachers and is sort of like the Los Angeles Unified School District, a New England prep school, and pre-school rolled into one. From what I’ve read, it’s basically a massive cluster-fuck. Some schools are good, some aren’t.

None-the-less, their Culture Tips are amazing. Here are some of my favorite:

• People are usually kind, but not to African-Americans and South-East Asians.
• You may be disgusted by some types of food, such as dog meat or dog soup if you keep dog as a pet but they do not eat every kind of dog.
• Individualism is not preferable. Community spirit comes first.
• Schedules and plans are often subject to change. (Understatement of the century)
• You may be insisted to drink alcohol beyond your capacity.
• Koreans are against America politically, not socially.
• You can walk at night more safely than western countries because guns are not allowed to possess according to law.
• Girls and ladies walk sometimes hand in hand but they are not lesbians.

(source: GEPIK)