Yeah, for you it definitely does. I would think that clubs and bars are less active since most people are spending time with their families.

For me, it's pretty nice. 4-day weekend ftw.

what is chuseok?

i use strongvpn. It's pretty easy and worth the cost if you're a professional

What other countries in Asia are you looking at and more importantly, what are you looking for in your day to day lifestyle?

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/79...g-asia-513823/

I traveled around southeast Asia so if you have any questions about there, I can answer

So then what is South Korea? If Seoul doesn't define Korea what does? A village? Have you come to Korea because you were hoping to find a 3rd world country to have some lifetime experience in?

That statement is akin to saying America is defined by this small, rural town in a mountainous region where you grew up at, not a metropolis like NYC or a huge suburb like San Diego. Sometimes the stuff you post is a little disturbing...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuseok

wiki's your friend I didn't do anything on Chuseok. I distinctly remember walking around shinchon thinking "****, there's nothing open" lol. This applies to restaurants as well so for someone who doesn't cook, it was a hassle. I probably lived off of ramen for a day or two :P

i know this is for superuberbob but...why would you call it "disturbing" lol...

can't speak for SK but it is not that uncommon in some countries, esp. for asian countries that have been rapidly westernized pretty recently, to lose a little (or a lot) of their culture/identity in the bigger cities.

how is this the case? The culture's evolved. Seoul is completely different than NYC. What exactly would you like them to retain from their past? There are temples and historical sites within the city. Yeah they're modernizing but it's much better than keeping dirt roads all over the place.

I've been traveling to Seoul for the first 15 years of my life and trust me, it's much better now than it was back then (at least 강남 anyway)

Would it be awesome if countries retained more of their culture as they progressed? yes. I think Japanese women look hot in kimonos but gl getting them to wear that more than once a year.

India's the only country I've been to so far where women still wear their traditional clothing, and they're gorgeous for it. The colors and style are so interesting and beautiful, it makes for great photography. However New Delhi is a dirty city that could use a lot of improvement. I loved traveling there, I think it's beautiful but I would not blame them for modernizing and cleaning it up.

well, it's kind of hard to answer what i'd like them to retain since i was just making a general comment and i don't know that much about Seoul. even in thailand where i spent 5 months, i would have a hard time explaining why i thought Bangkok was less "thai" than other parts of the country, but that's how i felt. i know SK is much more homogenous than thailand so maybe it doesn't apply as much.

"Would it be awesome if countries retained more of their culture as they progressed? yes."

so this implies that as countries progress they lose some of their culture right? and most of the progression occurs in the big cities right? so i didn't see why it was "disturbing" for him to suggest that Seoul seems less Korean or w/e than the rest of the country. that's all i'm saying

as far as india goes of course i would never fault a country for sacrificing a little culture to improve their everyday quality of life. if i say "country A has preserved its culture and country B's culture has been eroded" it doesn't mean i think country B made a mistake by putting reducing poverty (or w/e) as a priority over their culture it just means that from a strictly voyeuristic standoint i find country A more appealing.

bleh this could easily turn into a long pointless discussion so im done derailing the thread now

i've been looking at some big cities in japan, seoul, taipei, shanghai, other such big asian cities. hard to define exactly what i'm looking for since i haven't been to very many of these places. basically would like to immerse myself in a whole new culture, and pick up some of the language while i'm at it.

i'd like to be able to get a nice furnished place for the couple months close to the main parts of the city. ease of access to all major poker sites is a necessity. obviously a good nightlife would be great, but it doesn't sound like i have to worry about that in any of those cities mentioned above. a place where people are easier to befriend would be great also, since i will probably only be going with 1 other friend and neither of us know too many people in asia.

i really have no other criteria, it's just to experience a different part of the world. ive never lived in asia nor have i lived in a big city before (well, the suburbs of LA, but LA doesn't really count), killing 2 birds with one stone.

watcha talkin about i wear my 한복 daily i define the word style.

Disturbing? Somebody is a bit sensitive.

It is not unexpected for a large city to be extremely different from the rest of the country. Actually, it would be weird if it wasn't like that. New York City is more culturally diverse than Helena, Montana to the point where they are extremely different places. In the same way, Seoul is more westernized than a city like Masan.

It is tough to explain, but that's how I feel.

isnt seoul suppose to be just like tokyo?

Do you get to watch any korean TV shows (not talking about dramas)? I used to watch XMAN in the past, which was really fun IMO. Star Golden Bell is funny too. I don't know why, but I find korean tv pretty entertaining and enjoyable even though I'm not korean.

I do not. I have little interest in TV regardless of its language.

Development-wise, I don't really see what other options the countries have besides huge skyrisers. Really what I think gives the western vibe is the advancement in technology and fashion. Korea's fashion as well as China's is different enough from America/Europe that it's easy to tell who's the foreigner and who's the local. They're only other option to differ themselves and 'retain their culture' would be to incorporate traditional clothing into something modern. I'd love to see this but gl convincing a bunch of koreans to wear 한복s, or to make it easier to envision, a bunch of japanese people to wear modernized kimonos (I still think it'd be badass)

No idea, haven't been to tokyo in forever. I do know tokyo is a ****load more expensive than korea. fwiw, people who are sick of tokyo love korea and vice-versa is what i've heard.

I don't watch their dramas however I love their variety shows. I can barely understand them, usually can't, but they're pretty damn funny. I wish the u.s. had stuff like that.

mysoju.com for korean dramas

ya i never been to japan either but i heard some korean people saying there kinda similar i think they're talking about the bigger cities...

It's still true that you can access pokerstars without the need of any vpn software in Korea right?

Yup

pokerstars cake and poker4ever work

over a year ago fulltilt worked at this one PC room for like 1 month and randomly just shtu off... UB and absolute worked at this other place a year ago... but all of a sudden it doesnt... if u get lucky i had a place where carbon poker worked for a lil while... and some spots in seoul FTP worked...

either way Vpn is cheap just get that

ballin

LOOOOOOOOL nice

I just spent a day in Shanghai and while I can't upload pictures atm, I think Shanghai's development is how I wish other Asian countries would've developed. Like even some of their shopping Malls has this very Asian feel to it. I think Korea's shopping style is based more on Japanese malls while Shanghai integrates chinese architecture into a lot of their buildings, it's really nice

i think coex is pretty sick

??? The shopping mall or the building? I thought the mall was pretty terrible.

the building and like just the architecture. i just think it looks awesome at night


the mall being underground=notmuch to look at :P

i love it in the summer. airconditioning

my roommate invited me to go to Japan pretty much when i get back to korea...I really want to go but this trip will cost me another few thousand and then like another 10k online in opportunity cost.

Anyone been? We'd be going to tokyo, kyoto, and kanagawa