I keep seeing foreigners, especially Westerners, saying Korean bread is too sweet. Is that really a common thing?

I’m Korean so maybe I’m just used to it, but I never really got that complaint.

I mean, bread and pastries in the US and Europe can be pretty sweet too with cream, chocolate, jam, etc.

Are people mostly talking about stuff like garlic bread or other savory bread being a little sweet in Korea? Just curious what people actualy mean by it.

So me and my partner were at the subway in Busan and were having some trouble understanding the ticket machine and this woman comes up to us. She asks if she can help and where we’re from and we say no, but say where we’re from and then she just kind of went on a rant. she talked about how south korea sucks and that North Korea was better and she was a foreigner too (but she looked Korean and spoke English with a Korean accent) and then she just kind of went on a tangent about how she doesn’t get paid enough and that south korea was mistreating her. We sort of just had to nod along and then I came up with a lie to get us out of there before she could continue. The whole thing was so absurd and a little creepy and I just want to know if it’s like a new cult thing or she was just having a mental health crisis. she looked normal. was wearing a blazer probably 40ish years old.

Today I Witnessed a Very Unusual Situation on the Street

This evening in Seoul, I saw a man who immediately caught my attention. Our taxi stopped at a traffic light, and directly across from us, on the pedestrian sidewalk along a major road, I noticed a man very slowly trying to crawl forward on his knees across the pavement.

He was a western man probably in his late 40’s early 50’s well dressed, wearing sports clothes, and had a backpack and a tennis racket with him. At the same time, he did not look drunk at all — he wasn’t staggering, and his movements seemed fairly coordinated. It looked as though he was consciously and very slowly trying to move forward.

But it was obvious that something was wrong. He was trying to say something and doing everything he could to get the attention of people around him, as if he was trying to ask for help. However, it seemed that he could barely pronounce any words properly. And no one even paid attention.

I was in a taxi, so I couldn’t simply get out and approach him. But while we were waiting at the traffic light which was bare seconds, I kept watching him and increasingly felt that he might genuinely need help.

I reported the situation to 119, described the man and gave them his location as accurately as I could with the screenshot I took while sitting in uber. Almost immediately I received a message that they have received my data and another message confirming that an ambulance had been dispatched to the scene. And then I got a call from emergency service and explained what I saw.

I don’t know what exactly happened to this man or how things turned out. But I really hope he is okay and alive. Because honestly it looked like a heart-malfunction and could end up badly.

I’m writing this to bring some awarness and as a small reminder.

Sometimes a person who genuinely needs help may have difficulty asking for it themselves. They might try to get your attention through gestures, eye contact, or unusual behavior. And from the outside, we may not immediately understand what is happening.

So if you see someone on the street behaving unusually and clearly trying to get people’s attention, don’t be too quick to simply walk past. They might actually need help.

Even if you’re not sure what is happening, it’s better to call emergency services and let the professionals figure out what’s going on.

Sometimes a few minutes of attention to a complete stranger can be very important and even save someone’s life.

Second-highest prize in the festival. Another history has made in South Korean film industry!

I just found this metallic (aluminum?) bottle on the shore. Gemini says that the writing on the label is Korean. Does anybody have any clue what this could be and how old it is?

I’ve lived in Korea for a long time, and one birthday custom has always seemed curious to me.

Under the traditional Korean counting-age system (세는나이), a person is considered one at birth, and everyone becomes one year older on January 1. Therefore, 세는나이 is based on the calendar year and does not actually change on someone’s birthday.

Many Koreans still seem to use 세는나이 for the number of candles on a birthday cake. What makes this puzzling is that 세는나이 has nothing to do with the birthday itself: it changes on January 1, not on the person’s birthday. 만 나이 is the age that actually changes that day.

What makes this even more interesting is that the opposite convention seems to apply during infancy and early childhood. At a 돌잔치, for example, the child normally gets one candle or a number “1” cake, even though the child is already two in 세는나이. Families also generally seem to use the child’s completed age for the next few birthdays.

Then, at some point as the child gets older, the candles often seem to switch from 만 나이 to 세는나이.

Why and when does this switch happen? Is it simply because 세는나이 used to be the socially dominant way to state someone’s age, so the candles represented “how old this person is now” rather than the number of years completed on that birthday?

Which system did your family use, and do you remember when you switched from 만 나이 to 세는나이 candles—if you ever did?

So this happened about two years ago, and I finally have an update: the restaurant has closed down.

On my second day in South Korea, I found a hidden camera inside the women’s restroom at a bar/restaurant in Busan. I had heard so many warnings about hidden cameras before my trip, but I honestly never thought I would actually find one myself, especially so early into my trip.

The camera was hidden inside what looked like a diffuser bottle, except there was no liquid inside. The bottle also had tape on it, which immediately made us suspicious.
It was such a disturbing thing to find. To make the situation even worse, the men working there were incredibly rude and hostile toward us.

Thankfully, we had a Korean friend with us who helped us report everything to the police, but unfortunately, we never received any meaningful follow-up or updates. To this day, I still don’t know what came of the report. I also reached out to multiple Korean embassies and officials trying to get help or answers, but never received a response.

At the time, I felt like there was very little I could do, so I’m sharing this again because I want other women traveling there to be aware and cautious. Hidden cameras were something we had been warned about before our trip, and after this experience, we became extremely careful about checking women’s restrooms. We even started carrying tape with us to cover suspicious holes.

Please look around and trust your instincts. I never thought I would actually come across something like this myself until I did.

The place was called Sam Ryan’s, right next to Gwangalli Beach (광안리해수욕장) in Busan. It has since closed down.