Differences

    I got pink eye from swimming lessons with 2-3 year olds. I am currently quarentined in the flat. With all this time I have to ponder what I'm doing with my life, in Korea, and on my blog.. I have realized my blog has been extremely dry, lately. And I apologize. It's even boring me to read. So I'm going to spice it up a bit with doing some more comparisons and contrasts.
 
    First off, my recent experience with the Korean doctor's office showed me how ridiculously expensive American health care is. I paid $23 USD for a check up, and medication. I also was surprised by how worried Koreans are if you get sick. I'm not a huge fan of going to hospitals, and if you have cold, you are give 10 pills to take a day for 7 days, and if you do not go to the hospital, you are highly pressured TO go to the hospital. They hand out medication like candy. In America, it would cost you the eye you were getting checked out. I was teased for being so shocked by how cheap my check up was. Having also lived with 5 Europeans for the last almost 2 months, I also realize just how much I wish for some changes in America. Don't get me wrong, I bleed red, white, and blue. I love fourth of July, and oh boy howdy, I am proud as can be to be a US citizen.. however I do completely feel that something should change in the health care scene.
 
     Living with people from multiple different cultures is also extremely difficult. Although the UK and the US are very similar, we still have our differences in culture and what's acceptable... like for instant, closing doors. I have been struggling with adapting to living with such different cultures. Things that were drilled into my head as child, such as learning how to lower your voice, closing doors quietly, walking quietly, and not inviting people over after 8pm on a weekday, are things that apparently have not been taught around the world. I also thought that it was common to be quiet if someone in the house was sick. Noise pollution is something that I have never deemed acceptable or polite and a harsh " shut up!" is a very okay way to halt this noise pollution.. apparently other cultures don't find that acceptable. These are things that I have had to slowly adopt towards. And with the recent discovery of learning that I will soon be sent off to live with a host family, I will have to re-adapt to a different way of life, and a different family dynamic.

     I am constantly being reminded how much your own personal space actually DOES affect others. Living with 5 girls has taught me to make sure that anything and everything in other's shared space should be cleaned up and not be in anyone else's way. One of the biggest issues in the house is dishes, garbage, cleaning bathrooms, and putting away laundry. Though the garbage is slowly but surely getting figured out, and more people are willing to take the garbage down when it is sitting at the front door. The biggest issue of late has been cleaning the rice cooker. The rice cooker gathers a bunch of gross slime whenever you cook rice. Often, Loren and I are the ones throwing out old rice, and cleaning up the cooker. I try not to leave dishes in the sink, and wash up my dishes immediately after I use them. Living with five girls is a constant lesson and growing experience, and I'm looking forward to sleeping in a quiet room without being woken half way through sleeping.

      Another thing I've realized in Korea is how focused they are on one singular form of beauty. Plastic surgery in Korea is very common. I work in Gangnam so I see plastic surgery ads every five steps, probably even less. There are mirrors right next to the plastic surgery ads as well, so you see the Korean version of " beautiful" and then yourself. Because it's so common, plastic surgery is also extremely cheap. So, if you're interested in going to get plastic surgery, Korea's your location! The desired look for Korean women is : light skin, small nose, wide eyes with double eye lids, and a v shaped chin. You can buy skin whitening face cream, and stickers that will give you double eyelids. Diet pills are also extremely cheap, and prevalent in Korean society.

This is a snap shot of a commercial that I haven't really every understood, but it's obviously about fat removal on women.

     Women especially are hyper vigilant about age and weight. I asked one of my coworkers one day what she will be doing this weekend, her response was " I'm going to go to the gym. I'm too fat". This surprises me, because as far as I can tell, she's a petite girl. Koreans put a lot of emphasis into having a fit body, which is awesome, but even good things in access is a bad thing. Most of the work places have had all the girls do a fitness test, and there's even a BMI test at the Gangnam information center. My coworker had also commented to me about how old she was.. She's 23 in Korea, 21 in America. I have befriended a 27 year old Korean girl ( 25 years old in America), and she also was commenting about how old she was. Now, as far as I'm aware, when you're in you're 20s in America, you're not considered old, you are still living a youthful life with a lot of life still to live. Oddly enough, in Korea you're almost expected to be married off at 25 Korean age. I'm 20, here, and I'm starting to get weird looks for not having a boyfriend. That was until I told my coworkers that having a boyfriend at my age is not something that is necessary to lead a successful social life.

     Korea continues to surprise, amaze, and makes me reevaluate my own life. I cannot wait to see and experience other parts of the culture that continues to catch me off guard.