Korea At First Glance...

Here is a short, abbreviated list of findings/cultural observations i have made during the past week in Suwon. i will probably expound upon some of them later.


1. Don't drink the water- So, i came to Korea not knowing that one shouldn't drink the tap water. i was thinking that South Korea is a fairly modern and developed country. Seoul is a massive, contemporary city, with a staggeringly huge population of 10 million. At any rate, Samsung may symbolize the efficiency and velocity in which technology is exploding inside Korea, however the demand for a clean and systematic water system has been put on the back burner. It seems as though everything i have been striving towards [in regards to drastically reducing the number of plastic products i buy] in the States has been negated within my first week and a half in Suwon. i have taken to buying bottles of water as well as boiling it. Hopefully the energy and knowledge Koreans have put into modernizing their society will trickle down [literally] to more important and pressing issues.

2. Recycle, separate, recycle- i know i just ragged on the fact that they rely heavily on bottled water here. The Koreans DO have a really extensive recycling program called appropriately, Happy Suwon. One has to divide their garbage into different categories. There are special waste bags sold at stores, each color coded for the proper item. The one main difference of recycling here is that they separate all of their food waste from everything else. There are certainly no garbage disposals here. The food waste is collected and some of it is supposedly used for animal feed, which seems logical and a way for food to see another mouth before it is returned to the Earth and not be completely wasted.

3. Whiter is nicer- Like many societies, light skin is still coveted and valued in Korea. It is a symbol of affluence and beauty. One of the Korean teachers in my school has undergone a "cosmetic procedure," in which her skin was bleached. God only knows what this process really entailed and what harsh chemicals have been released into her system. But i'm sure the dudes really go for it! She looks almost ghost-like and her facial features all reflect a slight blue tint under the harsh illumination of the florescent lights in the office. In addition to bleaching, there are skin whitening creams sold here, all promising the same result: whiter skin for a more beautiful you. How sad that within many ethnic societies where the colour of your skin separates you within your own race, and also how the standard of Western beauty has wreaked havoc on girls all over the world. Perhaps, beauty is not only skin deep.

4. Kids will be kids- For some reason I had this Western naiveté about Asian children being better behaved than American children. You know, little black-haired children filing into neat and orderly lines without emitting even a squeak. Yeah, that ideal was shot to shit in the first ten minutes i stepped into a hallway at the school i teach at. These little hellions are just as loud and squirrely as any other kids i've been subjected to. Do i dare admit that in between their raucous behaviour, they still maintain quite a high ahem, adorable factor? [Mom, don't get your hopes up, i have not lifted the ban on even entertaining the thought of pro-creating].

5. Study, study, study- Even though the kids are rather wild at times, i can hardly blame them. These kids come to my school after their regular school. Some of them come straight from one school to ours. These are young (8-12) kids that go to nine hours of school plus extra curriculars [which in Korea, everyone plays the piano...or another instrument]. They have hours of school work to do, even after they leave my school. i would say more than half of them seem exhausted. My own attention span rarely exceeds that of a gnat at times. It's no wonder that the Korean education is among the top in the world. Many young adults go onto study at Harvard or Princeton in the U.S. There was actually an article in the New York Times a while ago about the dedication and the veracity of Korean students, and how many of them are beating out American students in our top universities. i admire their determination but i wonder if these children miss out on simpler and happier times.

6. Notes on style:

a) Korean men can DRESS- You heard it here first. Yes indeed, Korean men have quite an acute fashion sense. It isn't calculated to an off-putting degree either. i don't know where they take their cues from but American men should be taking notes.

b) Who wears short skirts? Yes, so i must first say that the majority of Korean women are also very stylish and well-put-together. i was surprised to see that some of them do not bat an eyelash when wearing almost-second-set-of-cheeks bearing mini skirts. i thought they would be a bit more on the conservative side here. Yet another silly Western perception i had about Asian women. While sky-high skirts might be on the menu, cleavage of any sort is definitely not. i'm not sure how well the Hooters franchise would do here.

7. Vitamin deficiency?- There is seriously something going on with Koreans and their eyesight. Nearly 60-70 percent of my students have glasses. i have never seen so many young kids with glasses. Of course, these aren't just your run-of-the-mill kids with glasses. There are some chic little fashionistas running around. It's crazy. They should find a way to put more beta carotene into kimchi. i wonder if my near-blindness is genetic too?

8. Warm house, warm floor- Oh yes Mom, i know you're jealous. They totally have a control that is separate for the heat in the floor. It's amazing. No more cold feet...ever. I do have to remember not to put anything that could have the potential of melting on it. i've already had one accident with a much prized Dogoba chocolate bar getting quite soggy because my suitcase had fell onto the floor.

9. AA?- Koreans work very hard. Most have at least ten hour days and work six days a week. That being said, they let off steam by getting deeerunk. Falling down drunk. Friends have to carry you home drunk. i've seen public that sort of fall-down public drunkeness by eight o' clock on a Friday night. And this kind of behaviour is not reserved for the young. i've witnessed older men and women stumbling across crosswalks. i had heard that South Koreans had a drinking problem. Now i've seen it first hand. It doesn't help that soju [a Korean vodka-like, clear liquor] is dirt cheap. i just experienced my first "soju bomb" [a shot of soju dropped into really bad Korean beer] last night. That's enough to burn a hole in anyone's liver.

10. Body yogurt does NOT= lotion- When i arrived to my apartment there was a little housewarming gift. It was a body care package with soaps and body yogurt. i was relieved and thankful since i have notably dry skin. Yogurt in my mind equaled moisture and therefore was the Korean version of lotion. It had a bit of a weird texture, kind of like actual yogurt. But, i just ignored it and continued to use it until yesterday. My skin was sooo incredibly dry. i couldn't figure it out, i mean i WAS moisturizing! WTF? Turns out, i was rubbing body wash all over my just-washed body and not rinsing it off. Therefore, resulting in some majorly reptilian skin. I looked like a lizard woman. i finally got some actual lotion today, even though i had to open the bottle multiple times in the store before i was sure it was indeed the right stuff!

11. Picture of health- i had to go to the hospital the other day to get a physical. i was greeted by a guy who was smoking in the entrance that was also hooked up to IV liquids. Awesome. i am also told they sell cigarettes and soju at the hospital. i guess we have different ideals of how to heal your body! They also had these little waste boxes [not covered] where people had disposed of cotton pads after having their blood drawn. They give you no band aid and just send you on your way with you still having to pinch off where you're still bleeding from. Kind of gross. Oh well, it was still better than the hospital i visited in Paris...which was absolutely filthy!

12. Squatty potties- Oh yes, i had thought that these kinds of bathrooms were still reserved for less-developed countries. No no. Last night after drinking gallons of water, soju, and beer my co-worker and friend Susan exposed me to the squotty potty. It's just what it sounds like. There's a little porcelain base in the floor and well, you get the rest. i had quite a lot of trouble with this and couldn't figure out how to maneuver my body and get the job done without any of it getting on me. EEEEk. Luckily, this is not common-practice for bathrooms in South Korea anymore. Otherwise, i'd be opting for skirts or dresses a lot more!