Why living in Korea seems better than France

Here is my theoretical/biased/undocumented/partial point of view of why Korea is a better place to live for a frenchman.

Warning : I’m French. Married to a Korean woman. We live in France in a small town near Paris. We only spend vacations in Busan, Korea, not real living. Don’t know about Seoul thought.

You might want to look a this Price comparison between Busan and Paris.

This is a way to engage in a discussion with my French and Korean readers.

Here is my theoretical/biased/undocumented/partial point of view of why Korea is a better place to live for a Frenchman.

Security

Better :

  • You have a much much higher chance to be attacked in the French subway than taking a bomb from North Korea
  • Streets feel safer
  • More respect between people

Worst :

  • I you watch too much TV you might get influenced about Pyongyang’s actions

Transports

Better :

  •  Taxi is much cheaper and frequent
  • Oil price is lower
  • More alcohol controls at night
  • Better roads and lights are on !
  • Better subway, cleaner, no strikes
  • More bus, better time estimation

Worst :

  • Same traffic jams
  • Don’t drive : you’ll die.
  • Few people really wear seatbelt

City

Better :

  • More larger streets
  • Clearer indications
  • No dog sh..

Worst :

  • Too much billboards
  • Some small streets smell really bad
  • No historical places or old interesting places in Busan
  • Less parks, but many mountains

Technology

Better :

  • One of the fastest Internet infrastructure on earth
  • 4G-3G everywhere. Phone always able to catch network.
  • Edge-2G ? What’s that ?
  • Phone plan cheaper and less blocking

Worst :

  • Too much technology ?

Services

Better :

  • Your are a king. 
  • Employees smiles. For real. Impressive. Never saw that before.
  • Anything can be delivered anywhere, cheaply, real fast
  • Postman does everything in his power to give you your parcel. Don’t have to go to post office 48h after he came.

Worst :

  • Hard life for people working in services
  • It makes you impatient and demanding sometimes

Shops

Better :

  • Always find some place open
  • Supermarket still open at 11pm !
  • Incredible service
  • Everywhere

Worst :

  • Loud music and advertising in some streets
  • Some article are much more expensive

Restaurants

Better :

Worst :

  • More and more junk food. But, hey, you have the choice not to go !
  • Wine is so expensive !

Accommodation

Better :

  • More shops and commodities around
  • No bedbugs (personal note after a year of suffering)
  • Cheaper
  • Larger

Worst :

  • More appartement than house
  • Less protection when renting
  • 2 years in advance to rent sometimes

Health

Better :

  • Appointment in the day (in France 3 months some times for a dentist)
  • Cleaner, calmer
  • Very efficient and dedicated employees
  • More employees
  • Choice between traditional and modern healthcare, no prejudice between the two

Worst :

  • More expensive

Education

Better :

  • Real culture of personal development
  • Aim for the best
  • First school is not a babysitting place, it’s where learning starts
  • Less or no babysitting required
  • Many baby/child friendly places

Worst :

  •  Very expensive !
  • Big burden for kids, starting early

Administration

Better :

  • So quick, no comparison possible (10 minutes for obtaining national number  for our daughter)
  • Lot of employees that smiles and are nice (yes it could be)

Worst :

  • You should speak Korean, it helps 😀

Ambiance/Population

Better :

  • Apparently less social status division
  • More respect
  • Less touching between people

Worst :

  • More division between generations/age

Work

Better :

  •  Risk friendly / fast environment
  • More innovation, less tax

Worst :

  • Less protection
  • Too much hierarchy
  • Less less vacations

I’ll edit and correct this article from time to time.

Please give me your opinion on the real fact.

Did I forget a category ?

Author: Jean-Baptiste Rieu

Trained software engineer and now product manager. I ❤️ #space #architecture #typography #books #games #verticalfarming. I do #productmanagement #software #abtesting #data. I work on #payment @sundayapp_ Blogging mostly to practice writing, and to engage with others on life in Korea, products, engineering, books and anything worth geeking about.