thinking about boys… who does that!?

So recently I’ve been posting about my personal behaviours and preferences that have changed over the past year, but there are a lot of cultural differences that I haven’t talked about… specifically to do with the male species.

Thus, I have taken upon the arduous task of stalking hot Korean men analyzing the Korean male psyche in order to better understand our cultural differences. “,)

I don’t want to sound like I’m stereotyping Canadian men and Korean men into two categories. Everyone is a unique individual after all, and there are so many Korean-Canadians that it’s impossible to segregate them by origin. However, the following observations are based on behaviours that I have rarely witnessed in Canada and witness ALL THE TIME here in Korea.

1. Man-love. One thing I didn’t realize when I came to Korea is how much Korean men are into each other. I don’t mean they’re gay, and I made the mistake of assuming that several times, they’re just very comfortable holding each others’ hands or having their arms around each other. It occurs more often after several drinks, but it just seems to be a part of the culture. Even my students love to hold hands, sit on each others’ laps and kiss on occasion.

…no joke.

2. Fashion. Korean men seem to be extremely fashion-conscious. And the fashion choices they make are very different from Canadians. For example, bowties and thick-framed glasses are not just for hipsters. Also, over the course of this year I have seen more men wearing white pants than I have seen ever. Basically they all look like models and it’s intimidating because they’re all so much better dressed than I am.

Just your average guy…

3. Murses and Purses. One thing that I noticed when I first got here that was very foreign to me is Korean men’s willingness to carry their girlfriend’s purses. You will see man after man with a beautiful handbag at their sides and it’s not always their girlfriend’s… Korean men tend to carry murses (man purses) that can be similar in style to women’s purses. In Canada most men would only carry my purse if it came with a sign that says “I’m not gay!” So naturally I was very curious when a guy offered to carry mine. When I asked why he just shrugged and said “it looked heavy”.

4. Couple attire. Couple culture is HUGE in Korea. There are couple cafes, couple key rings, couple everything and the most apparent and wide-spread is couple clothing. Basically many couples will wear a matching piece of clothing to tell the world that they’re dating. If they’re really into couple clothes, they will dress head-to-toe in matching outfits. I have seen matching shoes, winter jackets, bunny-ear-headbands, bathing suits, mittens, glasses, you name it! This is definitely a behaviour that I have never ever witnessed in Canada.

Couple shirts done right!

5. Dancing. Oh my… where to begin. Koreans. Know. How. To. Dance. Seriously, my friends and I go to clubs every weekend just to watch them dance. They love to shuffle and I’d say 90% of guys are amazing at it. We have gone to a few music festivals as well and we always remark on how guys (and girls) just LOVE to party. They don’t need tons of booze or other drugs, they are just so into the music and love spending time with their buddies (see #1) that they just have a blast.

<3<3<3 big bang big bang big bang…. oh yeah… cool dancing!

6. Slender is sexy. Body-types in general are slightly more slender in Korea and the ideal is much more slender than what we are used to in North America. Being curvy doesn’t appear to be the ideal for women and for men being big and buff isn’t as revered as it is back home. Many famous men that Korean women go CRAZY for are actually very very slender and quite feminine (in my eyes). The one place that I have seen really really buff Korean men is at Hamilton Hotel pool! It is a whoooole other side of Korea at that place! Also the gyms are a good place to spot some muscles ;)!

girlie or hot? or both?

7. Family ties. Korea in general is very family-oriented. Usually people live with their parents until they get married and grandparents quite often will live with the family. Korean men seem to take this for granted and won’t hesitate to tell you that they spent the weekend making kimchi with their grandmother. It’s adorable, but a bit intimidating when you want to start a relationship with someone. Especially because many (not all!) Korean families want their sons to marry Korean women only.

8. Considerateness. I have often remarked on how chivalrous Korean men are. The dating culture here is reminiscent of the 50’s in Canada… the men pay for everything, open doors, and are generally very romantic. They seem to want to take care of their girlfriends, and they’ll do this in small gestures like getting their gfs snacks during their ‘time of the month’ or doing some impromptu reflexology. Not being used to this, I find these little considerations really sweet but unnecessary, whereas Korean women demand expect this kind of behaviour from their boyfriends.

Overall, Korean men are more fashion-forward, sweet and – let’s face it – feminine than Canadian men and when one first arrives in Korea there can be a lot of misconceptions about them if you don’t know the culture. Again, I’m not saying that all Korean men are flower boys or that all Canadian guys are burly bush lads or stoner snowboarders, I’m just telling it like I see.

Daesung from BB… just for fun! ^^

Please comment to add more ‘observations’ ;)!

You know you’re turning Korean when… part deux

I got a lot of good feedback from part 1 of “turning Korean” (yaaayy!) so I’ve been keeping track of things that I’ve been doing differently and various habits that I’ve picked up. Can you believe that I’m nearing my 11th month in Korea? It’s amazing how living in a different culture for a relatively short amount of time can change your perspective on so many things.

So here is part 2 of You know you’re turning Korean when…

your laughs and exaggerations now include a raspy throat sound. The Korean of “hahahaha” is spelt “kkkk”. If you listen, you will notice that most Koreans actually laugh with a back-of-the-throat continuous ‘k’. Also if they want to exaggerate or elongate a word it usually includes the “kkk” as well.

you begin punching your leg/butt/stomach as you stretch. I have been doing this a LOT recently. Whenever I have sore muscles or feel like I need to loosen up, I start giving myself what I call a “punchy massage”. You see Koreans doing this all the time and I’ve picked up on it because a) it feels good and b) it feels like it kind of works. I think it’s meant to release lactic acid.

you feel naked when exposing your shoulders. Shorts and skirts can be as short as short can be, but if your shoulders are exposed for some reason it’s tabboooooo! I usually cover up, not because I think tank tops are inappropriate but just because I get a lot more unwanted stares than usual if I don’t.

you start using springy plastic hair elastics rather than elastic ones. They make a better pony tail and they don’t break!!!

trust me, they’re great!

your slogan t-shirts make no sense. whatsoever. I have a shirt that says “No one wants her faes” with a picture of a girl’s face on it. Legen..

for example…

..dary! 

you don’t hesitate to bust out a hand mirror. I got a hand mirror as a free bonus at a cosmetic store once and absent-mindedly put it in my purse thinking that I would never use it. WRONG! I use it on a daily basis, either on the subway or at a cafe, just to check my hair or makeup or whatever. Korean women are ALWAYS looking in their hand mirrors or taking pictures of themselves to make sure they look OK (that’s a whooole other blog that needs to happen tho).

you learn how to shuffle. But you never do, because you would just look silly dancing next to most Koreans.

not my pic, but I was here on Friday! So fun!

I will post more when I think of them :)!!

WDJF

One experience from this year that I will never forget is the World DJ Festival. Their website described it as “oriental electronic paradise” and it definitely lived up to its name.

My friend Jess and I got a bus at 5pm to Yang Pyeong where the festival was. After an hour and a half bus ride and a 20 minute wait to get in, we were ready to party (having pre-drank on the bus of course).

Soju and Vitamin water… yin and yang

After figuring out how to buy beer (no cash, only T-money cards… so convenient!), we were going to get some food but a roar from the crowd pulled us over to to one of the smaller stages.

shortly after arriving… our shoes were still their original colours.

For the next 9 hours we proceeded to be amazed by the Korean’s dancing skills, gawk at the obnoxious foreigners and of course dance our butts off. The music and energy was so uplifting we couldn’t help making “I LOVE LIFE” our mantra for the evening.

loving life!!

The djs playing at the festival weren’t huge names, but there were definitely some very talented fellows (didn’t see any lady djs). Our favourites included: Jin by Jin, Timo Garcia and Aly & Fila. There were also several that we didn’t hear that were a part of the silent disco. I wish I could upload videos onto this blog because it is really funny to watch people rocking out to music they hear on their headphones.

Here are a few more highlights of the night:

The line up for hot water to make ramen noodles… choice snack.

Meeting up with Jess and Elisabeth for a mere 30 mins before being sucked into the crowd

The fashion… of course killer heels are appropriate for an all night dancing festival

The dancing…. oh the dancing… how I wish I knew how to shuffle.

5 to 5… Such a fun all-nighter!!