So i have been away from sunny South Africa for the past 11 months, and the Continent of Asia has been my home. South Korea being my home base and where i work, i have been fortunate enough to be able to travel around parts of Asia namely China, Hong Kong, Macau, South Korea and recently Thailand.
It is intriguing to think that although these countries are sooo close to to each other, each is so different from the other though certain things are the same in each country. Or as a t-shirt i saw in Thailand said "Same Same, but Different".
Let me begin with South Korea as i've spent most of my time here (logically so as i work here). South Korea was a major culture shock for me compared to South Africa, one of the major and most visible differences is that South Korea has a public transport system that not only is inexpensive but also very efficient, i wish SA had a public transport system that was even half as good as SK, but alas SA unfortunately does not. Another huge difference is that internet speed in SK is unbelievably fast and there is no such thing as a "cap" its amazing, then again SK is apparently the most connected country in the world, but even more impressive is that it is sooo damn cheap here and so fast that even the americans say its unbelievable. Finally the best and most amazing thing about korea is that there is pretty much zero crime, and coming from a country with one of if not the highest crime rate in the world (SA) it was a huge stress reliever!!
There has not been a single time where iv had to check my back to make sure that there isn't someone around the corner about to stab me to death. But with all the positives there are also negatives, and one of the biggest ones is that Koreans are of the most racist in the world (im lucky coz i blend in), some of the stories iv heard from other foreigner friends have been quite a shock. Also the sense of logic one would think the korean should have is pretty illogical though i supposed to the koreans their logic makes sense. Another thing that im kind of in two minds about is the amount of studying the kids do here its ridiculous but again korean logic is that the more time in hours that you study the better, however iv seen some kids on the verge of burn out coz they study so damn much. Further a thing that kinda gets to me is that the work ethic they have here is pretty inefficient hey, yeah they have alot of admin to do and all but half the time i see my fellow colleagues at my school sleeping at their desks and then when the deadlines for the admin are near then they complain endlessly about the amount of work they have to do...
Another major irritation is that everything in korea is very last minute, and so there is no reason to plan because that plan might just get completely thrown out within an hour because they change their minds so often. Ah well that's Korea for you.
Onto China, HK and Macau, all of these are very similar in the sense that its all about making the money and getting as much cash as possible from tourists, though if you have a bit of a mind on you, you'll also find that you can bargain with the vendors quite easily and if they are not budging the easiest is walk away and sure as hell they will call you back and give in to your offers, but this is mostly at the market places, when it comes to dept stores the price that is stated is the price you'll have to pay. Moral of the story go to the markets, you can get things that are almost as good as those at the dept stores for half the price. I must say though it is a slight pity that China has become so materialistic in their mindsets, especially since it is a country that is soo enriched with culture that its hard to believe how things have changed so rapidly and people being people have become so greedy for money and power.
Finally thailand, I love this place, its soooo chilled out and so relaxed and the ppl are so nice here (also they have of the best massages iv ever had). When in thailand its like you are on a constant holiday, altho this feeling is more so in cities like phuket compared to Bangkok for example. But again its nice coz like at almost every single place that there is to buy things you can bargain the vendors down soooo much. But i love the beach and island lifestyle that Thailand is renowned for, its definitely one of the top 10 holiday destinations in the world. Tho i heard Cambodia is becoming the nxt Thailand, so that is definitely another country i must go visit.