A Random update of collected thoughts....

Religion is very important here. Sure, it is considered important in the states as well, but it feels like the Koreans are more religious than we Americans. You see churches everywhere here. They are often times VERY big, and have huge crosses on them. That's right. They are Christian. I actually didn't expect that coming to Korea. Unfortunately for me, Koreans are not at all shy about talking religion with people. I get asked to go to church (or "Churchy as it sounds in Konglish) on a weekly basis. For the first few weeks I was here I would simply deflect the question and try to move on. A few of them started getting persistent, so I finally decided to let them know I was agnostic. I am unsure if they quite understand what I was talking about, but here is a direct quote from one of my students after class, "Religious people are better than not religious people".

In my beginner class, we work from a book called "American Headway 2". The book has all these lessons and topics and things that we go over, and one of the topics was chewing gum. So I started to talk about how much I like gum because I dislike tasting my food after I eat it, so I asked the class if they themselves chewed gum. A few of the students did, (one even chewed a whole pack a day) but then one of my students chimed in with "girls don't chew gum because it makes them less beautiful". So here I am sitting there shocked, and I ask "what does chewing gum have to do with being beautiful?". I was then treated with a nice story about how "being beautiful is the most important thing for a girl" and than "chewing gum causes your face to get bigger". I understand the theory behind this...chewing causes the muscles in your face to be worked, thus they get bigger, but let's be serious here. Your face is not going to get any bigger because of chewing gum. If repeated motion was enough to cause muscles to grow...then why don't teenage boys have one arm bigger than the other? When I informed the girl of my opinion she replied with "it has been proved by scientists".

I was out to dinner with a student tonight and she asked if V-day was a big holiday in America. I told her it was "viewed as a hallmark holiday, like boss's day" to which she replied with a puzzled look on her face "You hate gays?"

I was teaching my students conditional statements (specifically, if I had a billion dollars I'd...) so I asked how to say "billion" in Korean. Apparently my pronunciation of the word closely resembled the Korean word for "fuck you" because they whole class thought it was hilarious.

Random quote heard in class: "The Japanese are very very very very polite....but no one knows what is in their mind!"

Spencer and I went to E-mart...which is like their Walmart...only the place is PACKED constantly. Imagine Walmart or Best Buy on black Friday...and that is what E-Mart looked like. The place has 2 levels on it, and the there is a steep escalator that will take you and your cart from one level to the next. It's actually quite cool because when you put the card on the escalator somehow the wheels get locked in to place and it's doesn't move...which is a good thing because I just imagined this cart of TVs bowling over Koreans. It would be hilarious, but not very practical.

The thing about E-Mart that gets really frustrating though...is the sheer number of people there. I get stared at EVERYWHERE I go in this country, which normally I can handle. I have become quite adept at internalizing, so when I go out I usually can tune everyone out. Sometimes though...the staring gets on my nerves and I end up getting annoyed by it. It's one thing when someone stares at you, but tries to be convert about it (imagine a guy checking out a cute woman on a bus) but when it is blatant staring...and it is a lot of people, you really start to want to do some throat punching. If I am in a bad mood, I will just stare right back at them and give the people the good 'ol dagger eyes. If it particularly annoying though, I will say things to them. I know they have no idea what I am saying, but it is kind of satisfying to at least get it out there.

Finally for this update...I have found a few places now where other foreigners hang out. They aren't always American, but at least I can go there to see some other white people (and the occasional non-white/non-asian). What's weird though is most of the time people don't say anything to you. I king of feel like since there are only about 300 total of us in this whole city, when we see each other there should be some kind of secret handshake or something. Most times, I don't even get a nod. I realize it is just as easy for me to say hello to them as they do to me, but when they are sitting there with a group of friends and I am standing there alone, it can be a bit intimidating! When I am out with friends, if I see a loner, I will usually at least invite them over to the table. My social network at least has been expanding, though. I think I sometimes come off as a bit of a dick sometimes because I usually turn down requests to hang out during the week...always citing a "need to study" which is true...but since I am probably the only person in this city (or country) who is not only working full time but pulling 18 college credits...most people don't quite understand why I would spend a Tuesday night at home doing coursework instead of drinking until 2am with them.

Language Barriers

OK...so since you are going to getting only my side of the story, I will try to be as unbiased as I can.

I went out tonight with my American co-worker and 2 Korean friends. We had a damn good day. Had lunch, went for coffee, then went for dinner, then went for pool. So this Korean girl, Eva, is one of my students and I consider her a friend.

So we are playing pool and the girl decides to cheat. So I said "ohh....kesekhee!" which I had been told meant son of a bitch. I said it half laughing and wasn't looking at her...I just meant it in the way we would say "son of a bitch" when something doesn't go our way. It wasn't a planned thing to say either, it just kinda slipped out.

Well the girl...who I am friends with...gets BEYOND offended by this. I mean...she is realllllllly pissed off. I guess that in Korea that word is pretty offensive...but really... shouldn't she cut me some slack? I am an American and I have no idea what that really means. I understand that different cultures find different things offensive, but I guess I had hoped in a situation like that I would be given the benefit of the doubt. I mean...we are friends, right? Don't you usually let things like that slide at least the first time?

I mean shoot...this is a country where I get told on a daily basis that I am fat and unhealthy and need to lose weight. I hear shit like "religious people are better than non-religious people" and am told I need to start going to church despite the fact that I am pretty committed to being agnostic and don't really see a place where church would fit in to my life. Also...this place has bars that literally are called "Hitler Bar" and shit like that. I don't get offended because I realize they don't know any better when it comes to my culture...so how about the same kind of tolerance?

Isn't part of being a friend realizing that maybe...just maybe...if I say something offensive...I didn't mean it...especially when I AM NOT FUCKING KOREAN.

The whole situation has put me in a pretty foul mood so far has ruined my weekend.

331 days....331 more fucking days.

I Call It Chocolate Love

Korea loves Korean companies. I realize this might sound obvious...but really, this goes beyond national pride. Practically everything is run by huge companies that make Walmart look like the local 5 and Dime. Samsung, LG, and Lotte seem to be the biggest 3 companies, with Lotte being the biggest. Lotte is EVERYWHERE. They make the ice cream, own the stores people shop at, make most of the goods they buy...and with "Lotte World" even run the amusement park they vacation at. Hell, just to make the odd parallel to 'Dogma' even stronger, they have their own restaurant like "Mooby's" called "Lotteria".

This goes even farther with their music industry. Korean pop music, or "K-pop" is entirely controlled and created by huge companies. In America people were shocked when they found out that a few of a the big boy bands of the 90's were created by a marketing genius (like Lou Perlman who created the "Backstreet Boys"). The difference of course is that people didn't know this until well after the fact. In Korea however, not only do people know this is what happens...they are in to it! As an example, the top band in Korea right now is a 9 member all girl group called "Girl's Generation". They released an album 2 weeks ago, and I am not kidding...but EVERY song on the album is in the top 20 of their music charts. If you would like to see the number one song...here is a youtube link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-bYRBqBvco the name of the song is "Oh!". The band was announced over a year before even a single member had joined.

Here is what happens. When a child is discovered (either through scouting or parents submitting their child) the company, SM Entertainment in the case of Girl's Generation, takes the child in and they are trained. Some kids do acting, some do dancing, some do singing, and others do a combination of the three. A child can do this for YEARS without ever being a member or a band or anything. They are simply being trained to be pop stars. Most of them even get plastic surgery during this time because Korea's obsession with being pretty makes Hollywood look like a lifetime movie. This is a sentiment I hear almost DAILY...about how important it is to be pretty. Now, people speculated as to which SM trainees would join the band, and when the band was chosen, they were announced like the starting line up of the Super Bowl.

Once you join the band, then the real work begins. Girls Generation has been around a little longer than 2 years. In that time they have released 2 albums, appeared in several commercials, and have even done 3 reality TV shows (A horror spoof, one where the girls go around cheering up sad people, and a third where the girls take care of a REAL BABY).

The previous #1 hit was a song called "Chocolate Love" which Spencer and I both thought was supposed to be an allusion to loving the chocolate brothers out there (which is quite taboo here). We were wrong. VERY wrong. Actually, the song is a 3 minute and 56 second commercial for the LG Chocolate Cell Phone (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2NkGHkqDZk). The Koreans are fully aware of this too.

I'm not going to lie. I really like Girl's Generation...and I am embarrassed to admit it. The stuff is catchy, and since you hear it played EVERYWHERE here, I guess it is bound to grow on you eventually...and really, that is the point. This music is specifically crafted so that people like it. There is no musical accomplishment here. There is nothing of substance to the songs, and even though it is catchy to listen to, at the end of the day it has no real effect on your life. Somehow I don't expect Korean kids 10 years from now talking about "Chocolate Love" or "Oh!" with the same reverence as someone from my generation talks about "The Freshman" or "Jeremy".

I suppose I see a lot of this coming from the states as well, with the Lady Gagas and Kety Perry's out there, but Korea takes it to a completely new level.