Naver News: 휘발유 2007원 "기름 넣기 무섭다"
Some of my friends keep ask me if I'd like to go back to Korea for good. And my answer is always the same: "As a vacation, yes; to live, definitely no."
The reason I don't want to live in the country, which I still spent more of my younger years in than in the States, is that the system as a whole is not really working over there. People are fast to blame everyone else, full of hate, and are busy copying darker traits (piracy, corruption, binge-drinking, smoking to name a few) of neighboring countries, rather than good traits.
Another reason is that my main interest, interactive storytelling, is, as far as I know, practically nonexistant. While online gaming is flourishing--tons of money is circulating in this market, with countless, pethatic copy-cat games that live to die the next day keep coming out--they do it with one and only one purpose: world-domination. ..wait, no, I mean money. As far as I know, no one is out there trying to make a work of art. Aesthetically advanced work? Give it 10 minutes and you'll see it's just a pretty wrap around another copy-cat crap.
Anyways, there's one more reason for this; shitty economy. Check out the article linked here; 2007 South Korean Won per liter for gas. Can't see how expensive that is? Compare this with gas price in the States--it was $3.89 the last time I checked. With conversion (used Google's conversion tool), it comes out to be ... (drum roll please) ... staggering $7.28 per gallon! While gas price here is rising pretty damn fast--I remember seeing $3.50 per gallon only a few weeks ago... *sigh*--but compared it to that of Korea. It still has a looooooong way to go.
The the high gas price alone, of course, doesn't mean anything if Korean people make twice the money Americans make. But, lo and be hold! Korea's 2007 GDP per capita? (another drum roll please) ... $24,600! Compare that to US's own, $46,000. Now you see the grim situation there?
Let's not forget the delicious icing on top: the living cost in Korea. The cost of living there is, besides gas, almost as much as, if not more, living in the States. Let me contrast it using something I'm very familiar with: Xbox360. Cost of the box here is $350 for premium version. Cost in Korea? 369,000 Won or $353.5. Cost of World of Warcraft subscription? It's actually higher than here.
So, all these reasons together, I hope you see why I refuse to go back, unless I'm offerred tons and tons of money there, and a promise of having a great life, which, sadly, I don't see happening.
PS. At least the food there is cheaper from what I hear. ...Is that still true?
