Gadgets
Good grief, everyone, men and women, old and young, has these incredible, high-tech, all-in-one, mp3 playing, tv watching, movie downloading, internet surfing, instant messaging, picture taking phones that seem to twist every which way and do just about anything. Most have tiny antennas that go up too and you can use them in the subway. They are also, of course, impossibly tiny. In any subway car, virtually everyone is watching something, texting or listening to music on their phone. I thought this was the case in the US but home is nothing compared to this. The other hugely popular thing here is the Nintendo DS. This little hand-held video game system is so popular - and its not just teenage guys who have them, its children and adults, both men and women.
Subway Stations
You can buy virtually anything in a subway station here - shoes, jeans, socks, belts, knock-off designer handbags, pajamas and yes...underwear. You can even buy pirated DVD's for 4/$10. You can actually get really good deals, it seems. I bought a nice sweater coat thing today from a subway station vendor for about $10.
You can buy virtually anything in a subway station here - shoes, jeans, socks, belts, knock-off designer handbags, pajamas and yes...underwear. You can even buy pirated DVD's for 4/$10. You can actually get really good deals, it seems. I bought a nice sweater coat thing today from a subway station vendor for about $10.
Sizes
So...Korean women seem to all be about the same size...SMALL. Other than pants, most tops I've seen here don't have sizes on them at all, its just a one-size-fits-all deal and the funny thing is that actually works here because most of the women are just...small! Lucky for me, I'm currently small too.
Motorcycles
Motorcycles (the cool, small ones not the huge Harley things) are really popular here. They are also allowed free-roam of virtually everywhere they could possible go, including sidewalks which they seem to prefer. It's actually quite dangerous to be a pedestrian in Korea. Cars are always cutting corners, running red lights, etc. You dont want to be the first or last person to cross at a crosswalk.
Staring
Staring
It seems like this goes through the head of every one I walk by, sit near, or am anywhere in sight of.....
"Huh. She's not Korean. I think I'll stare at her for a long time. I wonder what she's doing here. She looks really out of place. Hmm. I think I'll stare some more. Hmmm.....Oh she sees me staring. Oh well, I don't care. Everyone in this [insert location of your choice in Korea] looks the same except for her. So I'll keep staring."
I'm exaggerating a bit, of course, but its true, people stare at me all the time because I stick out like a sore thumb. I try to just smile kindly at people and sometimes they smile back. One old man on the subway mistook my smile as an invitation to strike up a conversation. So he started talking to me in Korean. I told him I did not speak Korean but this did not seem to matter to him. He talked to me the whole way to my stop and I just smiled since I didn't understand a word.
I think I actually fit in from the back. But from the front, no way. So I tried wearing sunglasses but somehow they still knew I wasn't Korean. So I tried staring back. That did not work either. The worst is when people stare and point and whisper to each other in Korean.
The population is so much more homogeneous here than in the states. Well, actually Grove City was ridiculously homogeneous but I fit in there. Now I know how the 5 non-Caucasian students at my school felt!
Same-sex hand-holding
This is by far my favorite Korea-ism so far. Here, it is completely normal for friends to hold hands or be otherwise physically affectionate to one another (walking arm-in-arm, arm around the shoulder, etc). This is true of both girls and guys. I have seen more same-sex hand holding and then opposite sex hand-holding. Here, there is a wonderful, paranoia-free emphasis on friendship love and the expression thereof. You'll see guys with their arms around each other, girls holding hands as they walk together, and even old men and women expressing public displays of affection with friends.
Same-sex hand-holding
This is by far my favorite Korea-ism so far. Here, it is completely normal for friends to hold hands or be otherwise physically affectionate to one another (walking arm-in-arm, arm around the shoulder, etc). This is true of both girls and guys. I have seen more same-sex hand holding and then opposite sex hand-holding. Here, there is a wonderful, paranoia-free emphasis on friendship love and the expression thereof. You'll see guys with their arms around each other, girls holding hands as they walk together, and even old men and women expressing public displays of affection with friends.
This is actually quite refreshing! It makes the US look incredibly homophobic. Honestly if you saw two women happily holding hands in the mall, what would you think? But that's not the case here. It's completely acceptable and it is not construed as anything more than a healthy expression of brotherly love!
Random pictures of Cheolsan I took this week:
weekday in Cheolsan
Weekend in Cheolsan :)
Can you believe I live here?
:)
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