"I'm very cute, I'm very alone..."

(Post title cred goes to Jeannie from Ferris Bueller's Day Off: "I am very cute, very alone, and  very protective of my body. I don't want it violated or killed, all right?" If you haven't seen this movie, well...please watch it.)

Apologies in advance for the lack of pictures in this post! 

I have never felt more safe anywhere than in Korea. The first week or so that I was here, I was very protective of my stuff and was always looking around to make sure no one could reach my pockets or purse when I was on the subway or on a crowded street. But after a while, I realized that Seoul is just a very safe place. I can't claim to have any sociological or cultural explanations for this, but people can just generally be trusted not to take your stuff or attack or bother you in any way here. 

I would never walk alone at night in Snohomish (my hometown), Bellingham (where I went to university), or Seattle (the nearest major city in my home state). But here, I get off work at 9pm or 10pm every night, and I walk home alone without a single concern for my safety. This doesn't mean that I have abandoned all caution or that I am not aware of my surroundings, but I just generally feel very safe on my walk from work to my apartment at the end of the day. The streets and sidewalks that I walk on are very well lit, and even that late at night there are couples out for a walk, older people stretching and exercising at the park that's next to my apartment, and parents walking home with their kids after picking them up from hagwon. 

This is the street I walk on to get home, at about 10pm:

I'll share a few anecdotes to support my point about how safe I feel here.

Several weeks ago, I was walking from home to work, and I walked by a construction crew of about ten men who were on a lunch break. If I had walked by a similar group in America, I definitely would have gotten cat-called by at least a few of them. However, when I walked by this group, about half of them bowed their heads (as most Korean people do when you greet them), and the rest ignored me and kept smoking and eating. THANK YOU, KOREA.

Last weekend, I was on the subway, coming home from buying groceries at the international market. A seat opened up, and I motioned to an older woman to invite her to take the seat. She thanked me and sat down, and then offered (in hand motions) to hold my grocery bags on her lap because I was standing and carrying my groceries. She was a complete stranger, but I know I could have trusted her to hold my bags without there being any problem. (I didn't let her hold them, only because she was just so cute and old and I didn't want my groceries to crush her!) I've seen older ladies do this for each other before. If one of them takes a seat, they will hold bags for the other person who remains standing, even if they don't know each other.

Another little story: I really wish I had gotten a picture of this one! At the subway station, I was standing next to a man who was holding a briefcase-type bag. On the outside of the bag, there were three or four pockets that were all open (they didn't have zippers; they were just pockets that you could slip something into). And in the top two pockets, he had his smartphone and his wallet. Anyone could have easily grabbed his phone or wallet once we were on the crowded subway, but he didn't seem to have a care in the world about how easily accessible those items were. You would never see a bag like that in America!

I am not writing this post to bash on my home country or to scare anyone about living in America, and I'm also not saying that no theft or other crime ever occurs in Korea. I just wanted to share my perceptions with you all to quell any concerns for my safety and to say "good job" to Korea for fostering an environment where a foreigner can feel safe and comfortable.

To my Korean friends: have I painted an accurate picture? Anything I missed? Am I being naive?

To my friends from Korea or other countries who have lived in America: did you feel safe there? Why or why not?

To my friends and family at home: don't worry about me or my safety! ;)

-----------

Happy American Thanksgiving to all of my friends and family at home (and friends all over the world!)! I love you all and I'm thankful every day for the love that you all bring into my life. 

"Rest and be thankful." ~William Wordsworth