Inside Korea | Korea vs US Life

I imagined preparing for a trip to the United States. After flights, the next thing I typed into the search bar was where to stay in the U.S. At first, I thought choosing accommodation would be easy as long as I checked hotel prices. But when I compared hotels and Airbnb listings one by one for a few days in Los Angeles, the room price was not the only thing to consider. I had to look at the location, check parking, and weigh taxes and extra service conditions as well. According to U.S. Department of Commerce data, about 1.647 million Koreans visited the United States in 2025, making Korea one of the major overseas markets for U.S. travel. So what criteria should travelers from Korea use to choose where to stay? This time, I pretended I was actually preparing a U.S. trip and followed the process step by step, from searching for accommodation to making the final choice. Table of Contents 1. Starting the Search with U.S. Hotels The first thing that comes to mind is, of cour...

In Korea, you can roughly predict the cost of a meal just by looking at the menu price. At a U.S. restaurant, however, it is hard to predict the final amount from the listed price alone. While looking into American tipping culture, I calculated the cost of a $25 menu item myself. After adding sales tax and a tip, the total rose to about $32. It was not simply a matter of paying more; there was a real cultural difference between Korea and the U.S. in how people see tipping. As someone used to paying exactly what the menu says in Korea, the idea of adding tax and a tip at the table felt unfamiliar enough that I wanted to work it out myself. Table of Contents 1. Why Are Koreans Surprised by U.S. Restaurant Bills? In Korea, many people assume the cost of service is already included in the food price. Taking orders and bringing food to the table are seen as basic services provided by the restaurant. In the U.S., the menu price and sales tax are separate, and there is a culture i...