Seoul vs. Cairo

1. Seoul is cleaner than Cairo. Both cities are very congested, but in Seoul the trash is handled much better.

2. The average person in Seoul does not speak English. In Cairo, the average person on the street speaks some English. It is amazing that even little kids who are selling things on the street speak some English and a few other languages. In Korea, if they don;t feel they speak English well, they won't try. In Egypt, they milk every phrase they know. So it is definitely easier to communicate for the newcomer in Egypt Korea. You can earn a lot of money teaching English here, I am told. I really need to learn to read Korean and speak survival Korean fast!

3. No tips in Korea except on post or "rounding up". People who do know English will stop and help you when you look confused and they don't want money for it. In Egypt, people are always scamming for money and asking for bakshesh.

4. No livestock in the streets of Seoul. At least I haven't seen any yet. In Cairo it was very common to see camels, donkeys and goats on busy city streets.

5. In Seoul, there is a lot of technology at all levels of society. The repairmen that have come to fix things at our apartment have PDAs where they take pictures of the work and we sign after it is done. In Cairo, while many people have cell phones, they often work with very primitive or improvised tools.