your assumptions about life in korea 🤡

Hi, friends! Today I'll be responding to some of the assumptions y'all submitted to me via Instagram back at the beginning of June~!
0:00 Intro
1:12 Koreans are scared of foreigners
2:25 Most Koreans think you don't speak Korean
3:35 Most foreigners are instafamous or want to be
5:17 It's hard to find western food in Korea
6:27 There's always something to do
7:41 You're expected to dress up, look good, and be presentable in public
9:59 Both Koreans and non-Koreans are under a lot of pressure by society
11:48 Koreans give foreigners free stuff just because their foreigners
14:06 It's lonely/hard to make friends because people don't go out of their way to talk to strangers
17:05 Korean men have a type when it comes to American girls
18:22 Eating fresh fruit = being broke
19:35 Even though you don't have to wear a mask outside, people still do
22:26 Eating out is cheaper than buying groceries
23:55 Everything is clean and orderly
26:47 Koreans our age speak English
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안녕하세,유~! 안녕하세요~! Hey, you! It's Natalia and I'm here to encourage you to believe in your ability to learn Korean~!
📸 Instagram & Twitter: @Nataliaa_Garza
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☀️ f a q
Where do you live?
↳ Seoul, South Korea
How old are you?
↳ 26 years old
When did you start learning Korean?
↳ January 2016
What level of Korean do you know?
↳ TOPIK 4 (Upper-Intermediate)
When did you study abroad in Korea?
↳ Spring and fall semesters of 2016 (exchange student)
↳ Fall 2021 (korean language student)
Where did you study in Korea?
↳ Soonchunhyang University ( 2016 exchange/internship program)
↳ Korea University (2021-2022 korean language school)
What level are you in at KLC?
↳ Fall Semester 2021 - Level 5
↳ Winter Semester 2021/2022 - Level 6
↳ Spring Semester 2022 - Research Class
Can you teach me Korean?
↳ No, I don't teach or tutor Korean.
//
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[@kanadian9418]

Korean is definitely scared of English, not people. maybe because of their culture. English is kind of a stressful test for Korean. I know for Americans it is just a language, but here in Korea, English is all about 'we-have-to-be-perfect' test. when they see a foreigner, they wanna help or talk but they are scared of English. once you just say hello and talk, they will be happy to interact. and about looking, they tend to look nice and formal but the new generation more express who they are, not like older people who try to look good to others all the time. Younger generations are likely to be free to do what they wanna do or what they wanna wear. About a decade ago, it was really hard to see someone has a tattoo but lately lots of young people have tattoos which are quite happy for me to see. the reason is, that this hierarchical society is too strict but the young generation is trying to change this too strict culture to a more easygoing culture with some slack.

[@annabelle_620]

I’ve had Koreans on language exchange apps say “와 한국말 잘하시네요” after I say hello and what my name is in Korean. 😂😂

[@thewildaly]

What apps do you use for that? I’m interested in joining

[@annabelle_620]

@@thewildaly I mainly use hellotalk, teuida, and hilokal!!

[@kimguti7735]

ㅋㅋㅋ maybe many Koreans still find it cool when non-Asian foreigners speak Korean fluently

[@sm00re2]

i used to be so confused by this til i learned jts just something they do lol i was always like "i literally just said hi.... do people misspell this all the time or something?" haha still feels good though

[@vibeajayloni3229]

the Korean equivalent to 日本語上手ですね 😭😭 I've heard Japanese people saying similar things lmao, Dogen (youtuber) touches upon this sometimes

[@SomedayKorean]

Regarding "There's always things to do" -- I have a bit of a different take. I would say there are quite a few things to do, even in cities outside of Seoul/Busan. Maybe not a ton of unique historical places of interest or artsy things outside of the major cities, but things like PC방s (what is that in English? PC rooms? internet cafes on steroids?), board game cafes, arcades, cat/dog/racoon/sheep/whatever cafes, tons of escape rooms, baseball games, cheap karaoke, concerts, and many other things are available even in some of the more moderate sized cities. Compared to the average-sized American town/city, that's a lot. Also, the fact that you can cheaply/quickly travel across the country in a couple of hours means that the rest of Korea is also at your fingertips pretty easily. Of course, the smaller the city, the fewer of those things there will be. But I think there's a difference in "there aren't many unique reasons to travel to that city" and "there isn't anything to do". I lived in Daegu for a year, and I never found myself thinking "there's nothing to do here" lol.

[@rockinchik06]

I've gotten so much "service" or free food, over the years just for being a foreigner at restaurants. Koreans really love when foreigners enjoy their food, and expressing how much I like the food makes them happy. But I also think being outgoing and expressive, as I am, might be another reason why.

[@SavingDom]

Seriously, the lighting is such a vibe, it was so calming + aesthetically pleasing to watch on top of the fact that the topic was juicy! So good💜

[@NataliaGarza]

I'm glad you like the lighting~! I can actually set it to any color, but purple is my favorite haha

[@nikitasantamaria]

I love these videos, they're super informative about Korea, so thank you for explaining a lot of topics/ issues there.

[@NataliaGarza]

Glad you liked it! 🤍

[@naritoto]

you have a gift for explaining all your experiences in the most gracious way. Much success with your channel and hopefully many more "free" passes to concerts and interesting places 😊 🤗

[@acatinthesnow2294]

Basically, there are too many people in city. In principle, waste discharge in Korea should be placed in front of the house or in front of the shopping mall after 6 p.m. But many people put it next to a street tree. Main roads and major areas of the city are generally clean. Also, apartment complexes are clean because there is a separate space for waste disposal. However, this principle is not observed as you enter small alleys, villa areas, and private residential alleys. This is because there are basically too many people living there, and used to putting garbage bags on the street trees. In fact, there were many trash cans in Seoul 20 years ago. But the trash can was always messed up. So they got rid of the trash can altogether. Amazing! Seoul has so many buildings and still more Build a buildings , but I hope it will build a garbage bags space first

[@victoriah.3857]

I'm vibing with the purple lights haha

[@NataliaGarza]

💃🏻💃🏻💃🏻💃🏻💃🏻💃🏻 haha

[@evacoutinho3022]

Such a cool video. Plus it was super informative!

[@NataliaGarza]

Glad you liked it! 🌸

[@alexhika]

I am coming to SK for a month in September so this was the perfect video to start getting into the mood! Thanks for this vid 💕 by the way, as a non-native English speaker I can say that 1) there is this assumption pretty much everywhere in the world that people are meant to speak English in case they have to interact with tourists (I am guilty of saying this myself sometimes, so I get it, as a tourist it makes my life easier) and I can see this might cause some distress when you are approached by a foreigner! 2) in my experience, the hardest/less common the language, the more helpful and less judging the people! When I was in Japan (I don’t speak Japanese, I have just watched a lot of anime lol) the moment I tried and said a simple word in Japanese, not only people were going the extra mile to try and understand what was probably a terrible pronunciation, but they did anything to make the conversation successful. I understand the language barrier might be intimidating, but it’s not something you cannot overcome as a tourist, and most people will be happy to help you :)

[@ramenqueen6245]

I love watching your KZbin videos and I hope I can move to Korea one day as well! That would literally be my dream 🫰🫰🫰🥰

[@Primrosae]

just came across your channel and I love it, so easy to listen to :)

[@NataliaGarza]

Glad you enjoy it! 🤍

[@kimguti7735]

맞아요. 사실 한국에 있으면 그냥 당당하게 한국어로 이야기하면 되지만, 우리는 늘 영어를 쓰려고 하는 것 같아요. 문제는 그 외국인이 영어를 할 수 있다는 보장이 없는데도 말입니다..ㅎㅎ

[@nathanhipple1555]

Accurate. Fun video.

[@Afsw]

Hi I'm one of your french follower and I love your video 💖💖 I want to know if korea uni is focus on speaking or grammar like yonsei or if they do 50/50 because I want to apply next year 😁

[@NataliaGarza]

Everything is studied an equal amount!

[@ayakoo2029]

These videos make us LEARN A LOT OF THINGS BEHIND SCENES 😬💛n i YESS THAT WHAT WE WANT *realistic info* , I'm obsessed with these cozy vids chatting vids are THE BEST make more of them luv u Natalia 💞🫂

[@NataliaGarza]

Haha I'm glad you enjoyed it!! And AAHAHAH I'm trying to make more because I kind of stopped making these types of videos once I moved here 😅🥲

[@japanesereadingandwriting]

💙

[@daanchristoph9697]

Hi, does anyone have recommendations for must-see things in and around I Seoul? 😄 Also, let me know if you're down to hang out, would be nice! I will be there from 16-20 August.

[@MissMaris2016]

For the food and finding non-Korean food it also matters where in Korea you are at. Big cities like Seoul I think it's easier, but that's because my small town only has Korean, Korean-chinese , or Korean - Japaness.

[@NataliaGarza]

Very true~~

[@lext.8813]

Suggestions for someone older 35+ moving to Korea and wanting to make friends. Most content I’ve found is for younger people.

[@Hritam007]

I am pretty sure it's fan because of the poster and the pillow

[@TheReviewHuman]

Hey Natalia! Since you go to a Korean church, I was wondering about your experience in understanding the vocabulary used in a church environment. I'm an intermediate speaker, and considering visiting my local Korean church, but I'm not sure how much I'd be able to understand. Hopefully my question makes sense lol, thanks!

[@cliphotify]

한글 이해가 어려우시다면 영어, 한국어, 기타 언어로 예배 드리는 (대형)교회를 찾을 수 있습니다.

[@Omar_Hassan]

20:46 when you talked about the Mask as an introvert >> i was like : thats just like me when i wear my Mask i dont feel shy anymore .. i can say whatever i want its like i gained new Powers 😁😄 😁

[@NataliaGarza]

AHAHAHHAAHAHA It's a nice barrier for us introverts 😂

[@chan-oe5fv]

i'm the saaaaammmee!! i feel uu

[@minnie777]

Oh my gosh I'm literally saving up to go to Korea next year (HOPEFULLY) and I knew that being an influencer/ youtuber there, will help you a lot because they're very open to creators and stuff. There is just endless opportunities to flourish as a creator there. This is EXACTLY why I want to go. Because I know, not only will I enjoy my stay, but I will also enjoy meeting other content creators and having FAAAR more opportunity and doors opened for my future (youtube career) .FYI: My brother lives in Korea so I'll just go visit him PS: I subscribed. And If you are still in Korea then...maybe a collab 👀

[@yannickjohn6930]

My Assumption: All Koreans hate heavy rock music. They think it's just noise and rather listen to soft ballads. Is this true? I wanted to find out about rock bands in Korea, but all the fans and citizens in the country talk about are K-pop idols and Korean ballads.

[@slee2695]

No..there are tons of clubs for local rock bands to play

[@stefaniamessina5145]

Hi Natalia... Nice to watch your nice video. Good info..just on the matter of trash... with the very hot weather and the bags outside... don't they get any unwanted..visitors? I mean tiny, 4 legged, long tailed ones? 🤣🤣🤣

[@japanesereadingandwriting]

시장에서 과일을 사다 주세요.

[@hazelnut3794]

🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡 cute clown

[@NataliaGarza]

Aren't we all? haha

[@mrkhoros]

Don't listen to her. She tries to be politically correct and appease everyone for the sake of subscription and not be demonetized. The actually it most of these assumptions are true.

[@rockinchik06]

I have lived in Korea for 6 years and I agree with her on almost everything.... so what exactly are u referring to? 🤔

[@mrkhoros]

@@rockinchik06 I am Korean. Go back to your country. You are not welcome here.

[@NataliaGarza]

1. I don’t care about subs. There’s a reason none of my videos say “like, comment, and subscribe!” 2. KZbin doesn’t care if people hate your content when it comes to paying you. In other words, I don’t need to censor myself in fear of becoming demonetized. 3. I saw the hate comment you wrote to Sarah here. YT flagged it as against their community guidelines, so no one is going to see it but me. Bullying others when they POLITELY challenge you just shows you can’t back your own argument. Do better.

[@mrkhoros]

@@alskarmode You are also not welcome in my country. Get out.

[@slee2695]

She's watched those "why i hate korea" videos and believes every single person experience is the same...she's also pretending to be korean..dont mind her obviously she's mentally challenged