Natural to Koreans, Odd to Foreigners

As South Korea becomes a famous vacation destination for foreigners who are deeply interested in Korean culture, they become shocked at the cultural differences they face. Due to these differences, there has been a lot of misunderstanding of racism, discomfort, or simply a shocking experience. There have been many incidents where foreigners post on social media that no Koreans wanted to sit near them on public transit just because they were "foreigners". This issue had been viral, and many foreigners expressed anger and discomfort. Yet, by many South Koreans, this misunderstanding was resolved. Many South Koreans say that because Korean culture really cares about social distancing and personal space, people simply do not sit directly next to each other to avoid any physical contact or possible misunderstandings. Like this, there are many cultural differences that only Korea has, which might be considered odd to foreigners.

The biggest shocking aspect of Korean culture was the signs on the bathroom doors saying, "Please do not throw toilet paper in the toilet." While it is natural for foreigners to throw toilet paper into the toilet after usage, Korean bathrooms have signs that request people to throw away the toilet paper into the trash can, instead of the toilet. This culture started a long time ago, when Korean toilets did not have a good flushing and draining system. Due to this problem, putting toilet paper into the toilet caused the toilet to clog or overflow, leading to constant unpleasant smells. As years passed, this issue has been resolved, but many people still believe that putting too much toilet paper would cause a clog or an overflow toilet, so the signs are still put up in the bathroom stalls.