A student from South Korea does a Spanish course

The students of Korea who come to our Spanish school always usually have the surname Kim (21% of the population). In this case our student came to do a cooking course and at the same time improve his Spanish with one of our courses. Korean cuisine is very different from Spanish cuisine and is a reference today in the gastronomic world. The exchange is mutual and many chefs visit Korea to learn new flavors and recipes.

He chose Bilbao first for its gastronomy, its worldwide fame when it comes to training in cuisine, being a medium-sized city where you combine beach and mountains and have a very good quality of life. He did not want many tourists and since he loves cycling, he moves around the city with the new electric bicycles of the City Council. What has surprised him most about Bilbao is its cleanliness and also the closeness in physical contact since in Korea kissing and hugging in public is not very well seen. It surprises you how cheap everything is compared to Korea especially with alchol. In his country he says that it is bad manners to refuse alcohol and it is more so if an older person offers it to you.

He is very studious since the educational competition in Korea is very big and there is a lot of pressure from the family to enter a good university. Also because of that pressure there are many suicides. Kim learns fast Spanish, studies hard and tries to overcome his shyness by going to dance Latin rhythms in the many trendy places that are in Bilbao.

In Korea It is not common to shake hands when someone is introduced to you, let alone give two kisses on the cheek. A simple bow is enough. You should not split the bill, you invite or you're invited. You should also always take off your shoes when entering another's house or hotel and never fill your own glass.You treat your neighbour as you wish to be treated. Kim explains all these customs to us while he invites us to drink calimocho (a mixture of wine and coca cola) with his friends in Bilbao.