"The stereotypical Korean is a materialistic Shaman-Confucian-Buddhist-Christian."

"Koreans are not taught political theories, as such. They learn facts."

"The Koreans have a way of upsetting you and getting into your heart at the same time."

"This contradiction is nicely symbolised for me by the way in which I grew to like Korean cuisine. The first time I was confronted by a soup in a korean restaurant, I found it was too salty and spicy, and full of murky items which for all I knew had been dropped in by a mistake. I was glad my host did not reveal the contents. [...] The proud master of these sidedishes was a tight roll of what could have been passed for used bandages. [...] So this was Kimchi."

"South Korea is the fifth most densely populated country in the world. Consider, too, that 70 per cent of ist land is uninhabitable mountain, and add the tendency to crowd into cities, where people seem to live on top of each other. Even modern, organised, hygienic Korea still strikes me as a crowded, jumbled mess. Big jars storing kimchi and other food, which used to be buried in plots by the farmhouse, and other junk litter the balconies of modern apartments, rubbish is placed outside on the street where the garbage man comes along daily with ist handcart to carry it off. Kitchens and storerooms spill out into the dining areas of restaurants. Workshop and garages tumble across the pavement into the streets. Shopkeepers pile box upon box of produce on to the shelves without regard for merchandising and stack their empty crates in front of their windows on the pavements."