A couple of articles from the New York Times online edition, one from today and one that is almost a year old, inspired this post. The article "Ambitious South Korean Parents See Tall as All" was published today and is about a “growing conviction” among South Korean parents that being tall is a key factor in their child’s future success. This conviction is fueling a new industry – ‘growth clinics.’ Some Korean parents spend the equivalent of hundreds of dollars per month for their children to visit growth clinics, which provide “growth hormone shots, Eastern herbal medicine and special exercises to ensure that young clients will be the ones looking down, not the ones looked down upon.” And, as you’ll realize if you read the full article, by ‘young clients’ they mean as young as five years old!
The emphasis on appearance is something I noticed right away when I got to Korea. Almost everyone I see on the streets is very put together; girls and women are in heels and skirts more often than jeans, most of the men are in suits, everyone has matching bags and shoes, the whole nine yards. I very rarely see a Korean in sweatpants, and when the weather was warm enough I never saw flip-flops on the streets. Koreans, men and women, take their image very seriously. There also seem to be a lot more mirrors here than in America (Jeil Middle School, for example, has mirrors in every hallway and even quite a few of the classrooms), and Koreans are never ashamed of checking themselves out. While out with friends at a restaurant last week we saw a girl at the next table over, holding her chopsticks in one hand and a mirror in the other, inspecting herself over her food. I've seen people, as they are walking down the street, stop in front of parked cars to check themselves out and adjust their hair or makeup in the window, or just pull out a mirror while walking around downtown with friends. In Western culture we would probably smirk and call this self-centeredness, but in Korea a little bit (or a lot) of vanity is perfectly acceptable.
On one hand, I think that attention to your appearance is nice and respectful, but sometimes it can be seriously annoying, and even a little scary. Besides the newer growth clinics, South Korea is also famous for plastic surgery. According to the second article I read today, “Economy Blunts Korea’s Appetite for Plastic Surgery,” many Koreans value physical attractiveness for the same reasons they value height – for “providing an edge in this high-pressure society’s intense competition for jobs, education and marriage partners.”
In one of my classes I asked students to plan and write a schedule for a one-week 'dream vacation,’ in which they could go anywhere, meet anyone, and do anything they wanted. Several girls stated quite seriously that they would use one or two days of their vacation to get plastic surgery. And last week when we wrote letters to Santa Claus, several girls asked Santa for plastic surgery. Middle school girls!
But I guess I can't blame them, because like I said, it seems to be ingrained in the culture. One of my coteachers told me that on job applications and resumes, Koreans not only attach a photo of themselves but also list things like their height, weight, and vision. So it’s no wonder that “an estimated 30 percent of Korean women aged 20 to 50, or some 2.4 million women, had surgical or nonsurgical cosmetic procedures last year, with many having more than one procedure.” 30%!!! In one year!!! It definitely makes me wonder – I have four female coteachers, which could mean that at least one or two of them are looking a little bit different now than they would have if I’d gotten here a year earlier.
This article is actually about the effect of the recession on the plastic surgery industry, and cites one woman, “typical of South Korea’s more frugal patients” who has had to choose cheaper, nonsurgical procedures like Botox over her usual surgeries, as well as reduce her visits to the plastic surgeon from twice a year to just once. This just shows again how common these procedures are, and how necessary they seem to women here – even in a recession, it’s not something you give up!
If you read this article, also note the types of surgeries Koreans are getting – “…the wider eyes, whiter skin and higher nose bridges that define beauty for many here” - basically, procedures to make them look more Western and less Korean. Before coming to Korea, I had never in my life gotten compliments on my nose, but according to my students it’s really high and beautiful. Another question I get a lot (right after, “Do you like kimchi?”) is “Are your eyelashes real?” Seriously?
“Ambitious South Korean Parents See Tall as All” by Choe Sang-Hun, published December 22, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/23/world/asia/23seoul.html?_r=1&hp
“Economy Blunts Korea’s Appetite for Plastic Surgery” by Martin Fackler, published January 1, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/02/business/worldbusiness/02plastic.html?_r=1&ref=world
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Monday, December 21, 2009
Holiday Plans
I definitely got a lesson in humility on Saturday, the four-month anniversary of my arrival in Korea. It came from my amazing friend and co-teacher Bosun, and was definitely something that I needed to hear.
She texted me early in the day (Saturday). She had to be at school that morning and wanted to let me know not to go see the new movie Avatar, because the principal had decided that all the teachers and students will see it together next Monday, the 28th. Because of the swine flu, the school canceled this semester’s festival and sports days, so they decided to take a school-wide field trip downtown to see Avatar instead.
My initial reaction was to get angry. I knew it was a long shot, but I had been really hopeful for a long time that I would be able to go home for Christmas. I desperately wanted to, and I really didn’t see why I shouldn’t. The last week of school is a hodge-podge of exams, special end-of-year ceremonies, the one-day Christmas vacation, and even an overnight field trip just for the teachers. We’ve finished teaching from the textbooks and the students don’t want to listen anymore anyway.
I also felt like I should be able to go home because it seems like Christmas is so much more meaningful and ‘important’ to Americans than it is to Koreans. Bosun told me that gifts are only exchanged between couples or given to small children; I know that Christmas in general has less religious significance for Koreans than for Americans; and besides, they only get one day off from school! How important can it be?
So between all of the end-of-year shenanigans going on around this time, and the difference in attitude about Christmas, it seemed obvious (to me) that my school wouldn’t miss me at all, and it would mean a lot more to me to be able to go home than it would for them to have me there. But it was impossible because there is only one day off for Christmas, and my contract doesn’t allow vacation or personal time except during actual school vacation periods. So when I heard that yet another day of what could have been my precious Christmas time at home, had been devoted to hauling 400+ kids downtown to see a freaking movie, I was so, so upset.
So I immediately fired back a text to Bosun, basically something along the lines of ‘Seriously?!?! I can’t go home for Christmas because I have to be at school on ‘school days,’ and then we all decide to go to the movies together! This sucks!’ Not my most mature or thoughtful moment, considering that: 1. We’d already discussed this whole situation, and she knew exactly how I felt and has been very sympathetic; and 2. All the other teachers work two Saturdays a month, so she was working while I was at home, watching TV and subjecting her to my crabby texts.
Anyway, here’s the response she sent me:
This is how things go at school in Korea. 28th’s movie trip is also kinda school schedule, and 29-30th teacher trip, too. Most people who work for company and school can’t use their vacation. Especially, teachers can’t go anywhere during official school days, even though there is no class to teach. I know how much you get angry, but you have to understand it. Sorry for your Christmas.
So that definitely brought me down a peg or two, especially since she was reminding me of stuff that I already knew or should have known. I’m a teacher like all the other teachers at Jeil, and even though as a foreigner I very often get special treatment, it doesn’t and shouldn’t extend to every issue. Also, Koreans, and Korean teachers especially, are very hard workers and their attitude toward Christmas vacation is just a cultural difference. Lastly, I volunteered to work in Korea, and I knew when I made that decision that this might happen, and that signing a one-year contract might very well mean that I don’t go home for one year.
Now that a few days have passed and I’ve cooled down, I’m starting to actually get a little excited for Christmas in Daegu. I’ll be spending Christmas Eve with friends – we’re doing a Secret Santa and a potluck dinner. And Avatar should actually be pretty cool – we’ll meet at 9:20am at the movie theater downtown, so I can sleep in an hour; the movie itself is in 3D; and after the movie we’ll go back to school for lunch and then the students go home! And the teacher’s trip sounds like it’ll be fantastic – I’m still not sure exactly where we’re going, and the itinerary I was given is in Korean, but I think it’s several hours away, near the shore somewhere, and will involve a ferry ride, some really amazing decadent meals (raw fish!), and an actual budget for snacks and beer. Definitely my kind of trip.
She texted me early in the day (Saturday). She had to be at school that morning and wanted to let me know not to go see the new movie Avatar, because the principal had decided that all the teachers and students will see it together next Monday, the 28th. Because of the swine flu, the school canceled this semester’s festival and sports days, so they decided to take a school-wide field trip downtown to see Avatar instead.
My initial reaction was to get angry. I knew it was a long shot, but I had been really hopeful for a long time that I would be able to go home for Christmas. I desperately wanted to, and I really didn’t see why I shouldn’t. The last week of school is a hodge-podge of exams, special end-of-year ceremonies, the one-day Christmas vacation, and even an overnight field trip just for the teachers. We’ve finished teaching from the textbooks and the students don’t want to listen anymore anyway.
I also felt like I should be able to go home because it seems like Christmas is so much more meaningful and ‘important’ to Americans than it is to Koreans. Bosun told me that gifts are only exchanged between couples or given to small children; I know that Christmas in general has less religious significance for Koreans than for Americans; and besides, they only get one day off from school! How important can it be?
So between all of the end-of-year shenanigans going on around this time, and the difference in attitude about Christmas, it seemed obvious (to me) that my school wouldn’t miss me at all, and it would mean a lot more to me to be able to go home than it would for them to have me there. But it was impossible because there is only one day off for Christmas, and my contract doesn’t allow vacation or personal time except during actual school vacation periods. So when I heard that yet another day of what could have been my precious Christmas time at home, had been devoted to hauling 400+ kids downtown to see a freaking movie, I was so, so upset.
So I immediately fired back a text to Bosun, basically something along the lines of ‘Seriously?!?! I can’t go home for Christmas because I have to be at school on ‘school days,’ and then we all decide to go to the movies together! This sucks!’ Not my most mature or thoughtful moment, considering that: 1. We’d already discussed this whole situation, and she knew exactly how I felt and has been very sympathetic; and 2. All the other teachers work two Saturdays a month, so she was working while I was at home, watching TV and subjecting her to my crabby texts.
Anyway, here’s the response she sent me:
This is how things go at school in Korea. 28th’s movie trip is also kinda school schedule, and 29-30th teacher trip, too. Most people who work for company and school can’t use their vacation. Especially, teachers can’t go anywhere during official school days, even though there is no class to teach. I know how much you get angry, but you have to understand it. Sorry for your Christmas.
So that definitely brought me down a peg or two, especially since she was reminding me of stuff that I already knew or should have known. I’m a teacher like all the other teachers at Jeil, and even though as a foreigner I very often get special treatment, it doesn’t and shouldn’t extend to every issue. Also, Koreans, and Korean teachers especially, are very hard workers and their attitude toward Christmas vacation is just a cultural difference. Lastly, I volunteered to work in Korea, and I knew when I made that decision that this might happen, and that signing a one-year contract might very well mean that I don’t go home for one year.
Now that a few days have passed and I’ve cooled down, I’m starting to actually get a little excited for Christmas in Daegu. I’ll be spending Christmas Eve with friends – we’re doing a Secret Santa and a potluck dinner. And Avatar should actually be pretty cool – we’ll meet at 9:20am at the movie theater downtown, so I can sleep in an hour; the movie itself is in 3D; and after the movie we’ll go back to school for lunch and then the students go home! And the teacher’s trip sounds like it’ll be fantastic – I’m still not sure exactly where we’re going, and the itinerary I was given is in Korean, but I think it’s several hours away, near the shore somewhere, and will involve a ferry ride, some really amazing decadent meals (raw fish!), and an actual budget for snacks and beer. Definitely my kind of trip.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Stuff Korean People Like
I've had a pretty quiet week, so instead of writing about it I thought I'd post this link instead: It's an article called "Stuff Korean People Like" from the Walrus Blog (from The Walrus, a Canadian magazine). It's pretty funny and I can personally attest to some of the stuff on this list!
http://www.walrusmagazine.com/blogs/2008/04/10/stuff-korean-people-like/
Make sure you check out the link to the 'public sculptures' in item number one - I won't ruin the surprise, but I've definitely seen stickers, doodles, and even a kid's plastic coin bank of the same thing!
http://www.walrusmagazine.com/blogs/2008/04/10/stuff-korean-people-like/
Make sure you check out the link to the 'public sculptures' in item number one - I won't ruin the surprise, but I've definitely seen stickers, doodles, and even a kid's plastic coin bank of the same thing!
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