jgh2:
jessicainkorea:
I had to get another health checkup today because my health checkup last week was just a drug test. So they weighed me, lol.
Right afterwards my director was like, “It’s OK, you can lose the weight quickly in Korea, Americans eat a lot of food.”
I think I’m supposed to be offended, but the cultural difference from America - where a boss could be fired for saying such a thing! - really just made me lol.
The thing about this country is, if you don’t just laugh it off, and instead expect everything to be the way it is back home, you will be disappointed. It’s a completely different culture!
So she got me some “weight loss tea” on the way back. Hopefully it dosen’t contain ephedra. Haha.
“The thing about this country is, if you don’t just laugh it off, and instead expect everything to be the way it is back home, you will be disappointed. It’s a completely different culture!”
This is really important. I’m really glad that you have such an open mind after being there for such a short time. Many people are there for much longer and still don’t get it. You seem to be adjusting very well!
I had no idea Daul Kim had killed herself in November. Omg.
I was reading this article about K-pop fans sending letters written in blood to their idols (then there’s also this gem of a story—I have no words). That led me to this list of countries listed by their suicide rates, which I think is outdated because Korea is now higher than Japan. Then this article that specifically pertains to suicide in the ROK, and informed me she had hung herself in Paris a couple months ago.
Korea clearly has problems, as all countries do, but I wish there would be some sort of movement against it being culturally “okay” to kill yourself. Or “okay” for crazed K-pop anti-fans to create a petition for Jaebum from 2pm to kill himself because of his four-year-old “anti-Korea” comments on MySpace (like they did last year).
I obviously can’t offer any solutions, as suicide is a deeply-rooted problem in east Asia, and there are a lot of contributing factors. I just hope that it will someday get better.
Without fail, the first two questions I get asked here:
1. Where are you from?
2. How old are you?
Age is super important here since Confucianism is a big part of Korean culture. Even being only a few months older than someone gives you a slightly higher status in your social circle. I heard that the Korean teachers at my school got pissed at one girl for talking too much at a language exchange dinner with some of the English teachers. She’s the youngest, so she was expected to be subdued. Age and respect are even built into their language:
unni = what girls call older sisters or girls older than themselves
oppa = what girls call older brothers or boys older than themselves
noona = what boys call older sisters or girls older than themselves
hyung = what boys call older brothers or boys older than themselves
ajumma = what anyone calls an older woman
ajushi = what anyone calls an older man
- The girls here always wear high heels. They are also always sporting super short shorts or skirts in all types of weather, but I guess showing your shoulders is scandalous.
- I haven’t gotten used to taking off my shoes when entering some places. I can’t figure out the protocol for shoe-removal since I’ve had to take them off at only one restaurant, and at work it’s only required at the Kindergarten building. I do know you’re not supposed to wear them inside homes. It’s weird getting used to since it’s second nature to Koreans but is strange to me.
- Korea is the most homogenous place I’ve ever been. Anyone not-Korean looking stands out like crazy and will be met with stares from everyone. I’m pretty sure any self-consciousness I may have will be completely gone by the time I leave.
- Since I don’t know Korean, phone conversations sound really weird. It always sounds like they hang up mid-sentence from just listening to their intonation.
- ATMs are only open at certain times, which is incredibly inconvenient. I also cannot obtain an ATM card until 3 months after opening my account because I’m a foreigner. So I’ll have to remember to get money from the bank before each weekend.
- They count age differently. Everyone is born 1 year old. After that, you add a year on Jan. 1 (of the Lunar calendar). So if you’re born on Dec. 31, you’re 2 years old the next day. This is why kids in the same grade tend to be of many different sizes since they fall within a range of about 2 years of each other instead of 1.
