Abundance Thinks: Rules for Expat Life in Korea

As we all know the internet is a place to start fires and get caught up in them. The world of the K-blogosphere is no different and perhaps, at times, thrives on drama. Recently, word got out about a CNNgo article that claimed 12 rules for expat life in Korea. Summing up our survival in terms that were generic and often a bit unsavory.

In my opinion, how one survives in Korea is based upon their own personal experience and you don't necessarily have to survive like the other expats next door. Plus, I feel we all come here for different reasons and therefore end up surviving in different ways. But if you were going to boil it down to just 12 general rules that people can live by, were the ones recommended by CNNgo valid? 

Let's take a look at several key bloggers out here in Korea-land who made their own conclusions and "rules" to this little fire on the net.

1. Kiss My Kimchi: First he put some reasoning into Kyle Burton's rules and then came up with his own. I'll just give you a few of them and then you can go and check out the site for more.

• "Be as gay as you want to be."
• "Shut Up, Smile and Say Thank you"

2. Roboseyo: Often poignant and on the spot, Rob gives us his own 12 and some good pointers on why generalizing this kind of subject is a bad idea. Here for you are just a few of his rules, so check out his post for more.

• "Pick an aspect of the culture, and dig in."
• "Get out of the city, and off the beaten track." (A popular one)

3. DavidSWills:A blogger I have not heard of before but definitely will start checking in on. He wasn't too sure on whether the article had truth to it or not, and his objective was to examine the 12 points made in the original article. He gives some good feedback and it is worth reading.

4. Paul Ajosshi: By far the shortest and the sweetest response to this whole thing...

• "Don't be a wanker.

5. International Cat Lady: I am happy to say I found a woman blogger who commented on this topic. She mostly just remarked on the existing rules but had this to say:

My tip for expats? Use common sense. Don't do anything in Korea (or any other country for that matter) that you wouldn't do in your home country. Being overseas doesn't license you to behave like a jackass.

This makes sense no matter where you are, home or abroad to think about how your social interactions affect the world around you. Definitely, the thought that we are micro-diplomats from our countries and are representing the "foreign world" when we are in public is something to ponder. You can drink all you want here and take in the great facial creams, but do it all with some sort of grace and consciousness...ok?!

;)