sneezes, sweets & sandwiches

My kids like to "fake" sneeze to get me to say, "bless you".  I didn't realize what they were doing until recently, when kids at my summer camp would do it too.  In Korea when you sneeze, they don't say anything.  I have been trained to say, "bless you", and for whatever reason, I almost can't stop myself from saying it to someone.  I guess in western culture it is just nice and polite to say to someone after they sneeze.  Well, Koreans are onto this western phenomenon so one kid in class might sneeze a legit sneeze and when they get my automatic, "bless you" there are always a few chuckles followed by a series of fake sneezes to initiate the same response from me.  Pavlov's dog!    They really think it is funny that we say anything after a sneeze.  At summer camp you'll see the same culprits fake sneeze in the vicinity of a different western teacher to see if they will do it too.  It's just endless entertainment for them!

 

There is a trash issue in this country.  There is not normal, garbage pick up that I have noticed, and sadly it can get pretty junky.  Down by the ocean, there is a lot of trash just getting carried away by the ocean.  Really bothers me.  You also see tons of trash in the streams & rivers and is just such a shame.  Prior to the '88 Olympics in Seoul, they had normal trash removal AND public trash cans throughout cities in the country.  But at the time of the Olympics, some city officials in Seoul decided that trash cans were unsightly so they removed all of them, and since Seoul is the trend setter of Korea, the rest of the country followed suit.  The problem is, they never put the trash cans back, so you truly are hard pressed to find a public trash can in this country.  Littering is pretty common place here.  People will walk down the street and just drop their plastic wrappers, cans, bottles and whatever else and well, there is goes to the rivers, streams and oceans.   It's too bad really, because it is so gorgeous here, but when the natural beauty is turning into a trash-heap, sure does detract, not to mention what it does to the natural habitat.  Some things they do right though, like separate out their organic waste and put into compost heaps.

People here, like most people across the world, have standards of beauty that by mere genes alone is almost impossible to achieve.  For example, they are obsessed with big eyes and small faces.  My kids always tell me I have big eyes and that is good, and then they point out their own eyes and say, "small eyes, bad".  Kind of makes me sad.  They also think they have huge faces and they don't like it.  Many want to have a smaller, western style face.  Was out to dinner last night and one of the women at the table was saying how her kids tell her every day that her face is small and it is good.   Kids starting in junior high (sometimes elementary school) start getting surgery on their eyes to give them a western-style eye-lids.  You will see a kid one week with a patch over one eye, and the following week a patch over the other eye.  It is not uncommon for me to see different kids on a daily basis with this eye patch.    My personal opinion on Koreans, is that they are quite physically attractive.  They have such a natural, delicate and graceful beauty---and gorgeous skin.     But, ideal beauty is what it is, and has always existed and always will from culture to culture.  I am sure they are surprised by American's and other westerner's ideal beauty aspirations as well.  Off hand, tanned skin is seen as sexy, youthful and healthy in America and many other western cultures, and here it is the exact opposite.  They will see a picture of a tanned, white person and they will say, "oohhhh not good".  Skin whitening products, on the other hand are sold at every make up counter and the commercials are full of these products.  They sell skin-whitening products like we sell tanning products (fake tan lotion, sun tanning lotion and tanning bed packages).

Korea on sandwiches:  To Koreans if there are 2 pieces of bread, anything under the sun is fair game to stick in between the slices.  I will have you know, there are rules people! ;)   They will stick apple slices, ham chunks, jam and mayo in between 2 slices of bread and voila: a sandwich.    I have decided that this is their interpretation of western food.  So on the flip side, when I am making "Asian" food at home, I am sure to any Asian person, they would wonder how I could possibly have the audacity to think that this conglomeration is anything close to "Asian".   

Koreans on sweets:  Red Beans=Dessert food.  You will find this on ice cream.  Fruit Salad=Fruit, tomatoes (yes i know technically it is fruit) and red beans.  Cake=Cake +cucumbers & tomatoes.   Coffee=2 tbls sugar 1tsp coffee & serve in dixie cup.

Tid Bits:

Went to a birthday party last night and ate birthday cake with chopsticks, for the first time in my life.  Was kind of fun.

Awakening: At dinner the other night w/ a large group of friends.  The girl next to me asks how old I am.  I don't really like this question.  I tell her, and she says, "Ohhhhhh, wow dude, is it weird for you to be hanging around all of us young people?". (sh** am I that person???? mental note: get new friends immediately)