Korea weirdness

Wow, I'm sorry, I haven't updated this thing in a while. Partly because nothing much of note has really happened, and yet paradoxically partly because i've been too busy to think about it.

So, how about some commentary on the daily life of Korea? My friends and I were talking tonight about how we are at the point now when, if people ask us what are some of the weird things about Korea, we won't be able to answer them because everything seems pretty normal. But there are a few idiosyncrasies.

1) It's not uncommon for little kids to ride without carseats. Or seatbelts. Or for that matter, for parents to hold babies in their laps in the front seat of a car.
This actually brings me to the idea of Public Health in general. A lot of people scoff at the governmental mandates on health and safety in America...I do too, in a lot of cases. Of course we shouldn't go overboard with that. But that being said, there is something to say for all of that stuff. My general impression is that Koreans know very little of the seemingly common knowledge Americans do in regards to basic health and safety. Case in point being the baby in the front seat. Or basic first aid...how to properly treat a nose bleed (this is NOT done by sticking toilet paper in the nose and letting the kid run around)...while we're on the subject, the attitudes toward blood in general. In America if there's blood you have to put on rubber gloves. Here, no way. Of course sometimes it's overkill, but sometimes it makes sense. Also...they don't really wash their hands here. I've only seen soap in public bathrooms maybe 5% of the time. And the hot water is pretty much always shut off. Instead they wear paper masks to protect from germs. This is totally counter-intuitive. And basic, basic stuff. I have to believe that this knowledge exists in Korea, but it's obviously not engrained in the public psyche like it is in America.

2) This reminds me of something else. In America generally it is commonly known in a region of the country what sorts of wildlife exist in the area. We know the types of trees, bugs, snakes...especially if there are poisonous ones out there. Here, there was never really a time when scientists cataloged this stuff so the general population couldn't tell you what kind of bird that is or if that bug is poisonous. Maybe I am giving Americans too much credit in this field, due to my personal experience learning about these things. However I feel like most people in America do learn it at some point in school, regardless of if they remember it later. But here, they don't.

3) There is a tiny island in the Sea of Japan (or the East Sea, which is another point of contention) that Korea and Japan are constantly fighting over. The Japanese say it belongs to Japan and the Koreans claim it as theirs. it is called Dokdo. It is literally just a pile of rocks. I think it's no more than 50 acres. No one lives there. Korea currently has a coast guard station there. And all Koreans have strong feelings about this island. If you want to mess with/piss off a Korean, tell them that Dokdo is part of Japan. My friends and I met some high school students last week who asked us our names, where we are from, how old are we, and did we know Dokdo is Korea. In fact a few weeks ago, after the Japanese tsunami, The Japan government approved new textbooks which included mention of Dokdo being part of Japan. This caused a huge uproar in Korea and anger that the Japanese would try to sneak that in during a time of national tragedy, and take advantage of Korean kindness and aid. The Korean president issued a statement urging citizens not to let this issue overshadow the dire situation in Japan and to continue to offer aid.

4) We had radioactive rain last Thursday. Radioactive particles got in the atmosphere and a pressure system moved it all the way to us. There has been some controversy and mis-information about it, however the consensus seems to be that the radiation levels were far too low to cause harm to the human population. Still, i think i'll be drinking bottled water for a while instead of tap. I was also a little bummed that it wasn't radioactive enough to give me superpowers. I was hoping to at least be able to speedread like Superman. Ah well.

5) Public bathroom stalls often do not contain toilet paper. Sometimes there will be a roll on the outside of the stalls that you have to take from before going in. Othertimes there will be nothing. So it is important to always carry a pocket pack of tissue with you. Luckily it is relatively easy to just stick one in my purse and forget about it, since I always take my purse to the bathroom with me anyway. Unfortunately I am running dangerously low on tissue packs (hey mom! there's another idea!)

6) Koreans do not have hair on their arms. So sometimes when I meet a new kid they become fascinated with the 'white fur' on my arms and like to touch it. I never really considered myself to be hairy before. But apparently in comparison I am. It's quite strange. Luckily this doesn't happen very often anymore.

7) It's quite popular for young couples to wear matching clothes. Shirts, hats, handbags (yes, men AND women carry handbags). there is even a market for matching underwear. It's one thing to see a Korean couple do this, but we saw a white guy with a Korean girl last week wearing matching outfits and it was pretty much the most pathetic thing we'd ever seen.

8) A lot of restaurants will give you free stuff randomly. So will stores. It's more exciting in restaurants though. They bring you something and say 'service-y!' I've gotten a fruit soup, extra coffee, candy, cans of beer, breadsticks, oranges, chicken feet...any random thing. And i have a drawer full of cosmetic samples from the cosmetic stores. It's kind of like Christmas.

Ok, that's enough for now. There are of course TONS more examples, but i'm tired. Here are a few pics lately.

mmm...dog stew


mmm...chicken feet.


And here we have a concert downtown Seoul, in which some kind of folk band was singing 'Tie a Yellow Ribbon 'Round the Old Oak Tree'. I think it was a benefit for Japan, but I really couldn't tell. May well have been. There weren't many people there.