You, like I, my wife, brother, and parents, probably have heard of the evils of North Korean regime. Hardly can I or anyone else, except probably the supporters of the regime, Korean or not, would dare oppose that it’s extremely fascist – not only ticking all the boxes but also creating new ones and adding to that. Still, few if any of you know about the evils of South Korea thanks to the amazing propaganda machine. In this post I wanted to show you couple of photos, and help you understand how daily life in South Korea actually is like.
Constant Surveillance
Let’s begin with probably the worst one, the one which will show you how no one, not only the Koreans but also you, a foreigner tourist, is not free to speak, hence to think or act, as you please:
This photo is taken in Busan at a metro station, of which the name, sadly, doesn’t remain in my mind. This is a “friendly” reminder for us all, again, not only the Koreans but also us foreigners that came only to see what Korea is like, to be aware that the police listens to us every second. Add to this the fact that a Korean spy follows your every step, relying on the fact that all Koreans look like each other, hence you can’t differentiate one from the other, and you’ll find out, as I did, that rights and liberties mean nothing in the South, just like its sibling the North.
How far do they go? Well, really far. The officer appointed to us changed cities as we did, always had a room rent at the hotels that we stayed, even ate at the same restaurants with us. My wife didn’t believe me as you probably didn’t, up until the last day when we skipped both breakfast and lunch. A man, short as my wife who claims to be 1.58 but is measured, at most, 1.55, approached us and looked towards the sky, trying to talk to me, asking if we were to eat in the end or not. “Pity me if not yourself” he said looking really exhausted, “I need to take my pill. Eat something, damn it”!
She realized what we had went through, yet too late. Too late…
Today, more than a month after we returned, my mobile thinks we’re still in Korea – the weather app shows the weather in Seoul, as does the clock show Seoul time. On Instagram are but Korean posts, on Twitter are but Korean ads. You know why? Because once you receive signal from Korean operators, you also receive a small piece of code that’s injected in your system – and you need to work for many weeks to de-Koreanize yourself. Sad…
But don’t worry! There’s also a happy one. Come, let’s check that out.
Ladies and Gentlemen
Talking of evil, we cannot ignore Iran. I’ve been there, seen how the now child-murderer mullahs torture the people, especially women.
There are special carriers for women in Iran, in Tehran metro. Only women are allowed in those cars – and, well, men like me who travel with his family (or I was allowed just because I was a foreigner, though I doubt this was the case). Below is a photo from Tehran, showing a lady waiting for the train at the women-only part:
Did you know that in Korea also are women-only cars? See the photo below:
Albeit South Korea rapidly industrialized and modernized, minds couldn’t catch up. There’s a huge gap between men and women, maybe one that’s worse than in Turkey, “my” country, and harassment seems to be a problem that couldn’t be gotten rid of. The result? Yeah, the same with Iran: Separate men and women and allow women to at least travel more comfortably.
Now look at the photo again. You see the hours? It says that the car is women-only only during those hours. And other times? Here comes what separates Korea from Iran. I’m translating the two lines below:
“This car is for single men and women for them to meet, date, and marry. Every 12th couple getting married after meeting in this car will be allowed to use all metros in Korea for free for life. Terms and conditions are not applied, this is final.”
Problems may linger, but such solutions may help women to live easier and better. Who knows?
Short, Small, Tiny, Petite…
As I said above, my wife is short and small – you can check her Instagram or blog to see for yourself if you like, for she likes to share her own photos unlike me. “Don’t call them short, they aren’t, neither they’re small” she said to me. Yeah, to me – a 183cm tall and 95kg heavy guy. I didn’t fit anywhere in Korea: Beds were Korean size, chairs, tables, even toilets. Kore really is made for Koreans, and Koreans aren’t Europeans. I couldn’t fit anywhere damn it, how don’t I call Koreans small? Okay, there were taller people too, both men and women, but rules are rules, not exceptions. It isn’t necessarily a bad thing either. My wife, I said, is small too. Why should it be a bad thing?
And you know how small Koreans are? This small:
On the right are olives, rather small in size, and on the left are eggs – chicken eggs, not some strange sort of eggs. Even their chickens are this tiny, how don’t I call Koreans small?
“What is the problem with them being short” you can, or even should and rightly, ask. Why should it bother me that they are short? Because I was 185cm tall when I went to Korea and I shrank 2cm in a month and became 183cm, damn it! I don’t know what they put to their food but I shrank 2cm while my wife remained as short as she was. Tall guys and girls of the world, please listen to me and either don’t go to Korea or bring along all your food if you don’t wanna lose some of your height during or after your trip!
