In no particular order…
* Traffic laws are optional. I would not want to drive there. Every taxi ride was an adventure. Every time I saw an ambulance, I figured it was going to or coming from a traffic accident. Surprisingly, we didn’t see a single accident.
* People are friendly, but personal space is non-existent. Especially on the subway. Even if it’s not terribly crowded, it was not unusual to have people really close and for them to have body contact throughout the ride. Also, even more so than in Japan, the old ladies will not hesitate to shove you out of the way if you are in their path.
* Almost everything is cheap. (Maybe I’ve lived in urban Japan for too long.)
Everything from food to taxi rides is incredibly inexpensive. Starbucks was the exception to this rule. (I collect the travel mugs from different cities worldwide.)
* The written language, Hangul, is the most logical written language I have ever experienced. Sejong the Great had it created in the mid 1440’s, but it wasn’t adopted officially until 1946, when Korea regained its independence from Japanese rule. Sejong the Great ordered its creation in order to do away with illiteracy among the common people. The alphabet consists of 14 consonants and 10 vowels. They fit together to make the sounds used in the spoken language. We visited the Hangul Museum in Seoul. It is conveniently located next to the National Museum. They are both worth a visit if you go to Seoul.