Things I hate
1. First and foremost, a lack of US POLITICS. I mean, this is all expected but its really wearing me down. Screw the scandal and intrigue, I just want to have an intellectual conversation about parliamentary procedure and Justice Thomas's inability to properly judge.
2. The inability to find any folded or salt and vinegar potato chips. Anyone who knows me knows when the going gets tough, I function in disaster finish in style with the help of potato goodness. This may seem small, but trust me, when your stress only has one cure which can't be found in an ENTIRE country, you go a little crazy. Let's add: kosher pickles to that list. You can find pickles everywhere, but they're all sweet. They're aside to nearly every dish and inevitably I'll get excited for some pickles and I'm let down. every. single. time. Also: Reeses and champagne.
3. Being a woman. Korea is a wildly chauvinistic and misogynistic country. Don't assume that just because I can give birth that I'm dumber than you or that I care to cook you a meal.
4. Korean food. This is a love/hate, but ask me right now if I'd enjoy some red bean or chili paste and I'd nearly spit in your face. Korean food is delicious, don't get me wrong -- but unless you're going to Seoul, Korean food is your only option. There are a lot of different Korean foods, but I'm dying for some Thai or Ethiopian.
5. Complete lack of planning. Korea is super dynamic to the point and everything is done at the very very very last minute. Makes me want to rip my hair out. As an east-coaster I like to plan, and the more in advance the better! Korea does not plan, and if they do, 9 times out of 10 it will be totally wrong/inaccurate. For instance, last week was my last week of school. On the schedule we were supposed to come in for closing ceremonies on Thursday, but some of my coteachers had said we had no school. I kept asking my main coteacher if this was true, but he couldn't give me a straight answer until Wednesday afternoon at 1pm! How do you not know if we have to come into school the next day? In the same vein, no one told me if I would have any English camps this winter until 4 days before school was over (!) Thanks for the heads up.
6. No manly men. Korean men are loving, generous, kind, amazing and all that good stuff, but I haven't seen a big, burly football-playing man over 6'2'' in about 4 month. I'm starting to forget what they look like.
7. Korean drivers. Hey, maybe it's a good idea that you don't watch TV, or talk on your cell phone, OR, better yet, watch TV on your cell phone... while you drive. Thanks Mr. taxi/bus driver man, because me, and my friends, would rather not die today on this winding road while it monsoons.
Things I love
1. Being a woman. While women don't get too much credit/respect here, they also run this country (any Korean man, however, would tell you otherwise). Korea stands alone among East Asian countries when it comes to women -- females here are known to be strong-willed and independent and its not unusual to see a little old lady working the farming fields while her lazy husband sits back. This isn't because he's putting her to work, but because Korean women are, well, badasses. It's nice to watch women living in a country where they have been oppressed for so long, rising up against The Man. Also, contrary to my feminist nature, sometimes it comes in handy even when its putting me down. For instance, I don't have to be peer pressured into downing massive amounts of soju and staying up until 4am ON A WEEKDAY and I can get away with making foolish mistakes. Thank you small brain.
2. Korean friendships. Koreans take friendship pretty seriously (and love, but that's another story). Most Koreans have few close friends, but when they do they will bend over backwards AND take a bullet for you (include other cliches here). Friendships in America are all well and good, but Koreans are on another level. They really take care of their friends here to a degree that is lacking in most westerners.
3. Korean students. They study 18/7 (literally), yet always have a smile on their face and are happy about life. Ask an American student to study, oh, 5 hours in a WEEK and they would shank you right then and there.
4. NUDITY! Now, we all know that I'm one of the few dozen never nudes (see you at the conference?) but I can still appreciate a good nude. On someone else. Korean are really comfortable with themselves. They aren't self-conscious or uncomfortable in their own skin, and that is something that I think most American can't say. Our new favorite activity is going to a jimjilbang (a traditional Korean bathhouse - more on that later) which is, essentially, hundreds of naked Koreans running around enjoying saunas and hot tubs together. Obviously, they're sex-separated but both myself and a fellow Brit are still too uncomfortable in our own skins to strip down to our birthday suit. For a country that is so sexually frustrated and uptight, I'm always impressed when I round a corner to find a naked woman doing yoga stretches in the middle of the sauna floor.
Anyway, that's all for now!
My January is pretty easy so I'll have a lot of time on my hands, and hopefully there will be some great New Years Eve stories to tell soon too!
^^*
