Another five!

Here we go! Here’s another five cute and/or interesting things about Korea. Apologies for it being rather late, however I had to ascertain my own original ideas. Obviously (maybe more so for me :/) it’s taken a while. Well, all that aside, let us push onward.

Unique compliments. One of my other friends who has a blog devoted an entire blog to just this one Korean phenomenon, but I’d like to think I might have a bit of a spin on it myself. Now, compliments come often in many forms, sometimes sarcastic, others genuine, but for the most part, they make sense. I guess in a way Korean ones make sense as well, it’s just humorous to hear them. For instance, “You have thick eyebrows!” is a new one in my book. Apparently in the very gifted fact that they can’t grow body hair (I’m envious of this in most cases) they also seemed to have lost the ability to grow full, healthy tufts of eyebrows. Instead they normally have these large, thin caterpillars residing above their eyes. I’m not making fun, I’m just being honest (or maybe I just really am making fun. It’s so easy though!). I’ve also been told I have big eyes, which is nice except for the fact that this compliment is almost always accompanied by the said Korean pulling their own eyelids apart…you know…in the same way Americans do when they said, “Your eyes are sooooo small.” Not offensive in the least! Whilst I’ve been here I’ve also been told I should model and that I have low self esteem when I attempt to tell them that in America I’m quite generic just in the same way that every Korean looks the same. Not offensive in the least…right?

Singing appliances. In my stay in Korea land, I’ve grown accustomed to cute little chimes. It’s really great when my laundry is done and my washing machine literally sings to me for a good minute. As well, my television sings to me as well and so does the rice cooker. I wouldn’t be surprised if one day I were to open the cupboard and discover the dishes were singing to me (of course, then I’d be really happy because then it’d be like Beauty and the Beast or Harry Potter! :D Neither of which show my actual age…:/)

Hat dancing. They have the most interesting dance here! They wear these hats with massive straps tagged onto their noggins and swing their head to make the ribbon’s twirl around in the air while they thumb on massive drums. It’s something akin to marching band on crack. As well, they play this most obnoxious instrument that sounds like a dying trumpeter is attempting to play his last dirge on a broke and very flat trumpet. Don’t tell any Korean you think it’s strange however. They are very proud of this dance. In fact, when I attempted to make a joke about them twirling their heads, my English teacher turned to me and said something along the lines of, “Only a Korean knows how to twirl their head without getting dizzy. If you tried to do that, you’d get dizzy, wouldn’t you?” Oh Korea, such a feat! That’s alright my friends. Dance to your hearts content!

Games. As a child I truly enjoyed games. On the contrary, never have I met a more anxious group of people to enter into the throws of a titillating game. In fact, nothing could tantalize a Korean more, except perhaps soju. Oh, calm down, everyone’s a little bit racist sometimes. Haven’t you listened to the soundtrack of Avenue Q? I’m not just saying children love these things. It’s hard to say that there isn’t a child on the planet who doesn’t like to play games. However, even full grown adults enjoy even the slightest hint of a game. Carlie, my friend who is teaching in Korea with me, is forced to teach adults (though she gets paid extra for it :)) and she told me that the adults actually requested to play games that the children play. When they played, they got really into it and slapped each other’s backs as punishment. Even young adults enjoy it. I have never played so many games while intoxicated in my life. Drinking games are their forte. I’m relatively certain they can turn any children’s game into a game for drinking.

Statues. I don’t mean just statues in general, although there is a wide multitude littering this Korean landscape, but when I say statues I’m speaking in regards to their anatomical configuration. If there just so happens to be a naked statue anywhere, trust me, it’s anatomically correct…right down to the butthole. There are some statues in front of E-Mart (so family friendly) that has naked boys sitting on rocks; their genitals displayed hanging for the world to see. On Kangwon University’s campus there is a statue with three naked men, wangs waving right at you, holding up the world. I can bet that even the clothed statues are anatomically correct under those marble/granite/iron clothes. There’s nothing wrong with it, it’s just, why is it sooo important to include the genitals in all forms of art here? I think Korea is suffering from a bit of penis envy.