Hello Seoul!

Yes, Koreans really love their coffee. We've honestly never seen so many coffee shops in a single country before. In any city that has a bit of self-respect, there are heaps of coffee places. Often, they even have multiple floors. It's clear that coffee consumption is huge here. We also kicked off our day with a visit to a coffee shop. We paid 6,000 won for a large cup of delicious frappuccino... yum! Taking the train from Busan to Seoul is almost as quick as flying—plus, it's a bit cheaper. The KTX train zips along at 305 km/h between the cities and can make the trip in just 2.5 hours. First class costs 58,800 won per person, while second class is 51,400 won. We opted for first class since the price difference wasn't that significant. They don’t serve food on board, but you can buy snacks. They show American movies, which thankfully aren’t dubbed :o) The train rushes through the landscape, and you hardly feel the speed. In a couple of years, they’ll finish testing, and by around 2014, they expect the train to reach speeds of 350 km/h. We struck up a conversation with a young Korean guy on the street when we asked for directions. Once he found out we were from Denmark—just like his good friend Michael from Copenhagen—we were instantly "friends." He spoke surprisingly good English, so we invited him for a beer, seizing the chance to get a deeper insight into South Korea and its culture. It turned out to be a fantastic, fun, and interesting evening with this friendly young man. He was actually on his way to school for his last lecture, which started at 8 PM. He had finished his studies and landed a job with one of the country's major telecom companies called SK Telecom. It’s highly sought after to work for big-name Korean international companies like Hyundai, Samsung, LG, and Kia Motors. In the future, he expects to work weekends to keep up with the pressure at work. The standard workday is 9 hours, but everyone is expected to put in extra hours each day and come in on weekends as well. He was very curious about our ages since there’s a big difference in how people are treated based on that. When drinking, you take turns pouring for each other, always pouring for the oldest person first—remember to use both hands when pouring! You turn your head to the side and look back when you drink to show respect. If everyone knows each other well and are friends, you don’t turn your head away. The oldest person is also expected to pay the bill. It can be tricky to keep track of these customs if the group is large, which is why Koreans prefer to stick to smaller groups. They also don’t talk to strangers in bars since you never know how old they are compared to you :o) Being the oldest has its perks too. You can hit those younger than you, and they’re not allowed to gossip. If you live at home with your parents until you’re 30, it just shows you have great respect for them. Generally, they do everything their parents want, as parents hold a significant status in society. Our new friend laughed when we told him that if someone lives at home until they’re 30 in Denmark, people would think something is wrong with them. Getting married is expensive, and when women have children, they often stop working, which is why the average marriage age is around 30 in South Korea. Starting a family requires having a job first. It’s equally desirable to have girls and boys in South Korea—not like in China, where parents prefer to have sons. Tonight, we had a perfect opportunity to get better acquainted with Korean food culture since we finally got the menu translated. Often, we have to order food based on a photo :o) We had dried beef, which tasted amazing. We also tried steamed pork with vegetables. In the middle of the platter was the bone from which the meat was cut. It’s considered a delicacy to gnaw more meat off the bone, but we left that to our new friend. So far, we’ve stayed in hotels/motels a couple of times that clearly cater to hourly rentals. They’re nice and clean—nothing to complain about there. Big TV, video, fridge, and a fully equipped bathroom with a hairdryer, toothpaste, toothbrush, creams, hairspray, etc. But the reception is just a little hole in the wall, and there are shelves with adult films. Now we’re staying at a hotel with a little "cozy" lamp in the ceiling that changes between red, yellow, blue, and green. We had to find out what that meant. Our new friend smiled and calmly said it’s a "Love hotel." It’s quite common to rent a room for a couple of hours when you’re in town. He had tried it too. These "Love Hotels" aren’t too keen on having our "types" stay since we tend to stay longer than a couple of hours, so they make less money off us. It costs the same whether you stay for 2 hours or 24 hours :o) If you want a more serious relationship in South Korea, you stay overnight at a spa center. Yes, that might sound mysterious, but several spa centers are open 24 hours. Many couples stay there since it sends a