Money & Appearance

Jeongseon Station at sunset
A peaceful spot on the Jeongseon "Sky Walk"

Pictures stand in contrast to topic.

According to one of my Korean coteachers, a vegan and very alternative-minded woman, this is all that many people care about in modern Korea. Money and appearance. Even some of our high school students, she says, dream about nothing but making a killing one day. A fellow teacher in a nearby town says she notices a lot of mixed-race students at her elementary school. This is because, despite a lot of racism and xenophobia towards even other "darker" Asians, a growing number of Korean men look for wives in Southeast Asia. Though complicated, the trend stems partially from the fact that many Korean women wouldn't be caught dead marrying a poor man, especially poor farmers in our supposedly redneck Gangwon province, so some men have little choice.

Money and appearance. Two values generally associated with Western capitalist culture. When it comes to money, South Korea has literally catapulted from near-poverty to great wealth and rapid innovation within the last 30 years. The social changes have been just as rapid and hard to grasp. Co-teach agreed with my observation that the shift to extreme materialism is fast and frightening. In many ways, this country is surpassing the U.S. and other highly developed places in modern advances. Yet, at the social level, the general rules seem to be stuck in something akin to conservative 1950s America - or rather, traditional Korea. Understandably, even younger-generation Koreans haven't quite figured out how, why, or if to make the transition to a modern society, whatever that even means. It seems that "progress" without the nuanced cultural filter of the West amounts to a pure obsession with looks and possessions.

Regarding appearance, this is one of the few countries where employers seem to care more about how you look in your resume photo - a non-existent requirement in the U.S. - than what your references say about you. If they're near a mirror, Korean females and males alike will have a thorough touch-up. Despite more lax rules for foreigners, it does make you feel self-conscious sometimes. I shouldn't care at all, because the people I get along with most - like the alternative coteacher - care about my character more than anything. Seriously, though, I thought that the U.S. was the height of unhealthy beauty standards. But in South Korea, plastic surgery is common, acceptable and encouraged, even among teens. One of my high school students got the "double eyelid" procedure as a gift over winter break. An interesting discussion of plastic surgery and body image in Korea, from another foreign teacher's perspective, can be found here. I could go on and on about similar reflections, but since I'm not a part of this culture, I only know things from second-hand sources, reading and observing. Reading too many K-blogs during my free time at school, that's for sure.

 In other news...

... it's the 3rd day of April and this is the heaviest snowstorm I've seen since I've come to Korea.  Hoping against hope that this is Mother Nature's last winter scream before ascending into lush green beauty. I did throw a snowball at some kids, though, so it can be good for something.

I'm coming down with something and it's put a strain on my mood as well. To cure the persisting - though not delibitating - winter and "homesick" blues, I've really taken to Taekwondo, online yoga and I just ordered an awesome-looking new bike from online shopping paradise GMarket.

Today in class, I had a particularly funny moment. Since coteacher helped propel me into the Korean 21st century with an inexpensive new smart phone, I decided to plan my lessons around cell phones this week. So I was working on a "scramble" where the students had to listen to eight lines of dialogue, each assigned with a digit from my phone number. The goal was to see who would be the first person to call me, but instead of a student, the first call I got was a telemarketer! I didn't realize this until it became awkwardly apparent that it wasn't one of the students.  (Seriously, Korea, what's up with the mass marketing through texts, calls, Cool Messenger (school IM) pop-ups and everything.)

Solitude, the 11th Commandment

More coal mining history, Sabuk Station

This weekend sort of came and went, without much interaction. I was feeling especially sick and tired, but also restless so despite the annoying wind, I took a solo trek out to Jeongseon. Originally meaning to meet up with a teacher and check out the bike shop, I ended up climbing a part of the Sky Walk, a mini hike up a part of Mt. Gariwang. I was seeking peace and there weren't that many hikers on my trail, but on the train ride back, there was a whole post-hiking party partying it away. Koreans take their outdoor sports seriously, dressing to the nines and soju-ing it up for the occasion. When I get around to doing a real hike in nicer weather, I'll have to document.

Almost the same view from my balcony window, within 2 days.