NOTE FROM JONAH: The following pictures in the next five posts were all taken over the course of two hours and twenty minutes on November 1, 2011 between 3:21 pm and 5:41 in Seoul, South Korea. If you are just joining the series here’s what you’ve missed:

• The Soul of Seoul
• Hello Kitty de la Seoul
• Autumn: Good for the Seoul
• Heart in Seoul

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I don’t pretend to understand South Korea, or for that matter — China.

However, after spending 22 hours in Seoul this week I was truly shocked by how different it is to China. Sure, its another country and perhaps those ephemeral borders aren’t so ephemeral. But in my extremely short time in the country, I was just shocked by how “with it” the capital city seems to be. Also having just made a video on North Korea, it was shocking to see just how far South Korea has come. I certainly wonder if the skinny guards on the northern size of the DMZ glance to the South thinking “I grew up on the wrong side of the tracks.”

On the South side of the DMZ — you see color. They dress to impress. You see this in Shanghai, but there’s more of a mix there. In Shanghai you can still see people in more traditional Mao era clothing. Beyond being well dressed, the Korean population seemed calm and collected. People were not shoving to get on the subway and were queuing for taxis. In 22 hours in Seoul, I saw one person spit — and he was a Chinese tourist.

Chinese spitting is one thing thats still hard to understand. Especially when I see this behavior close to a border. Why do people on one side of the line frequently spit, while those on the other have learned how to exist without constantly hacking up flem and leaving it on the streets for all to enjoy?

While Seoul’s population of 10 million doesn’t stand up to some of China’s biggest cities — its nothing to sneeze at and while examining how a city functions, its always interesting to see how so many people get around in small confined areas.

I think you can tell a lot about an Asian country by what happens when you first leave the airport.

For example, in most cities in China when you get outside of the airport, you will be approached by black taxis (illegal, or freelance drivers) and there will be a place to pick up real taxis. Real taxis will use their meter, however, they might not go the quickest way. In India, upon leaving an airport (or train station) you are bombarded by begging children, yelling tuk-tuk drivers, black taxis and a hogwash of third world rif-raft. In Southeast Asia, tourist related organizations prey on those getting off planes. Hostels, organized tours and resorts are waiting like fisherman, every time a plane lands.

In South Korea, I was approached by … no one.

I went to a cab line that moved swiftly. I showed the driver an address (written in Korean) and we proceeded to go straight their, sans scams, mafan or delays of any kind.

An iPhone based guidebook I had read said Korean drivers “are reckless and the streets are plagued with seemingly perpetual traffic jams” and you should avoid using them. Granted, I think this may have been the worst guide book/ap I have ever seen, but after having lived in Asia for a number of years, I found the driving to be about as safe as it gets. Traffic exists, but nothing compared to Beijing or even LA.

The “togetherness” of Seoul went beyond the clothes and traffic. The details were there.

While riding in elevators, I didn’t fear for my life … a possibly unjustified fear I have in China every time I set foot in an elevator that somewhere on it has a sticker that says “made in China.”

Is it fair for me to trust something more that is made in Korea than China? Are wages higher and therefor reflect in better workmanship? Our perception of a product’s quality based on their origin is interesting. I know I trust Japanese made cameras before say, Chinese. However, I hadn’t really considered too much about Korean products and their quality factor.

It was these little things that seemed to be nicer. Things seemed more legit and certainly less fake.

The tap water at my hotel tested good enough to drink. I ate raw oysters on the street in a busy shopping district. This is something I probably wouldn’t do in most places in China. In general, raw seafood and Asia (with the obvious exception of Japan) don’t always mix well.

The feeling in the streets of Seoul was also much different than in other parts of Asia. I saw young girls drinking beer and smoking cigarettes in the in the streets, acting independently of men and seemingly free from some of the other social pressures which often change the behavior of the female population in North Asia.

The shopping culture I associate with Shanghai and Hong Kong was here in full swing.

In the very famous Myeongdong Market, you can buy almost any main brand western item from North Face to Adidas. DVDs even looked real — and cost similar to the price of a United States DVD (roughly $14), opposed to in China where DVDs are always fake and usually cost about $1.50 (and might be in the wrong language).

This area actually fits the stereotypical notion of what westerns think Asian shopping areas are like. Neon signs lining the streets actually creating enough light to illuminate the ground for shoppers.

And while the maze of streets is lined from top to bottom with outlet stores, hip brands and restaurants — the actual street filled up with small vendors and street food. I thought this was a great balance and made the market very lively. I also noticed some of the strangest street food I have ever seen. A lot of really weird looking things.

My hotel room was said to be a boutique 5-star resort. A couple times a year in Asia I try to visit a place like this. I book a nice hotel room in some country, and see what US $300 will get me. And here in Korea, it actually does get you something that you might pay $1000 for in the US. For 2300 RMB my room had a private relaxation pool, two showers, one bathroom, separate living room, office, bar and coffee center, wardrobe room, and a bedroom with a king size bed. The entire suite was 70 square meters and was surrounded by 180 degree views over looking Seoul, with remote controlled curtains.

While $300 isn’t exactly cheap, this room could have been at least four times as much in the West — and with this view, pending which city it was in — even more. With boutique hotels in Asia you usually get more bang for you buck than in the West, but often some of the details are missing. Here in Seoul, the service and standards actually matched what I would expect from the west.

The icing on the cake for me, in how “with it” Korea seems — is WiFi access. The city has created a network which actually covered everywhere I went (granted I didn’t make it to the outskirts or even close). The internet and communication has become so much a part of our lives (some of us … more than others) its really nice to see a city take the initiative to create access for a moving population that is so expansive.

I don’t pretend to be an expert on culture here. There’s are just mere observations from spending 22 hours in this city. Now that I have a taste for Korea, I would love to go back and travel to more rural areas to have a look at how quick some of these factors fade, as you move away from the capital.