How Do Foreigners Make Friends in Korea?
That is the question a KBS World Radio host asked random foreigners recently in Itaewon:
For military personnel, what I recommend is to get to know the KATUSA personnel in your unit. This will often lead to invites to go out or even visits their homes on the weekend.
Anyone have any tips on making Korean friends to share?
I don’t
I always enjoyed living in a place with few foreigners. I try to get to know my neighbors, inviting them over for U.S. holidays like Thanksgiving, or sharing with them something I cooked. They would often reciprocate, and it really expanded my exposure to Korean culture.
I made friends with merchants in Itaewon (Hamilton Stores, some of the clothing, shoe stores on the main street), also got set up for “meetings” with their unmarried friends by coworkers at the chaebol job I had. Many, at the time, just wanted a free place to practice English conversation skills. I got a lot of free pizza in Taehangno out of the deal…