Episode 4: The Hurry

As I have mentioned before, food tends to come quickly. This leaves little room for the long conversations many Americans are used to having while waiting for their food to come out. I know many Americans are displeased with long waits for food, so those who visit will be happy to find out that the food here comes incredibly quick.

This isn’t exclusive to restaurants either, delivery services of food, punctuality of public transit, and other necessities – such as glasses – also come quickly. I myself am used to glasses taking up to a week before being ready for pick up, however, I have heard that it can be as quick as 2 hours in Seoul! Even the Wifi here is notably fast.

The reason for such speed is rooted in the 빨리빨리 (hurry hurry) culture of South Korea. It can be said that this culture rose post war when the country underwent many miracles and crisises. Subsequent country wide events have transformed South Korea to be a leading country in technology and speed.

This culture isn’t unique to South Korea, but is a bit different from the States’ more laid back approaches. Many reasons could cause this, but what comes to mind for me quickest is the differing work culture.

In America, very rarely are employees wanting to work as quickly and efficiently without proper compensation, much less overtime. In South Korea, overtime is quite the norm and it is rare for employees not to have any.

One really has to weigh the pros and cons of such a society – speed cannot come without costs be it people or money.

This was a notable difference in our societies that I believed to be worth sharing!