> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.philsimon.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# 10 Things I Learned in Seoul
- URL: https://www.philsimon.com/10-things-i-learned-in-seoul/
- Published: 2013-10-03T11:49:31.000Z
- Updated: 2025-07-23T00:04:53.000Z
- Description: Some tech observations related to my first trip to Asia.
- Author: Phil Simon
- Tags: Trends, Apple, Breaking Bad, Yahoo!

I recently keynoted the Cannes Lions Creativity Forum in Seoul, South Korea. Picture below.

While I didn't spend too much time in the city, I did learn a few things. Here they are:

1. The Internet is crazy fast here. The hi-def final episode of *Breaking Bad* I downloaded took under seven minutes. Yes, they were seven *long* minutes.
2. The Internet is at least partially restricted here. YouTube videos often wouldn't play and Amazon Instant Video isn't available. Normally, I wouldn't care, but see #1.
3. Samsung is huge. Bigger than Apple, even.
4. Yahoo! is not. I asked all 200 conference attendees to raise their hands if they used Yahoo! Zero hands went up.
5. I also asked all 200 attendees to raise their hands if they didn't own a smartphone or tablet. Again, nary a hand went up.
6. It's common practice to give your business cards to someone as you're meeting them. This is a bit different than in the US. I normally hand out a card *after* a brief conversation.
7. The people are incredibly friendly. Just saying "[Hello](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9-xtdwUGS8&ref=philsimon.com)" earned me major points with everyone.
8. I can't recall getting better hotel service, ever. Keeping tourists happy seems to be critical.
9. Golf is really important here. The hotel sported a driving range, and probably ten percent of the channels featured the sport. There is a public course five minutes from [ICN](https://www.airport.kr/eng/?ref=philsimon.com).
10. Action movies are very popular, especially American ones. No wonder Hollywood is content to churn out boilerplate flicks rife with car chases.

That's about it. Did I miss anything?