Having spent some time in Korea and China, I thing rotinegg has posted a very very good summary of not only Koreans, but the way Korea, Japan and China work to an extent. Compared to Australian's, the Asian countries prefer to dress well - none of this leggings only shit that you see in Australia. I'd also like to add a point about the North Face jacket - he wasn't exaggerating - this ugly piece of shit jacket is EVERYWHERE. I was certain it was some cheaper product that was easily accessible to combat the cold (and I may yet be right, maybe many of these are imitations) but the original product retails incredibly high for such a plain, boring looking jacket.
Further, on the subject of hair - many girls like straight down bangs that stop a small amount above the eyes. Personally I hate this hairstyle, but luckily there is also an abundance of longer hair, whether straight or slightly curled. Also HEAPS of people have their hair dyed, whether man or woman. An interesting point is the perming and preparing hair for mornings: basically you will have to wash your hair in the morning and night, or it becomes terrible, and not workable in the morning. If you don't perm, you have to use an iron to make curls if you want, and then doing all this other shit takes a fair amount of hairdryer work. Then you have to add the gatsby, hairspray...it adds up in the mornings Also don't forget the overdoing of sunscreen - this will look SO awkward to you the first time you see it - basically white face, but then brown neck...yeah i wasn't too keen on this.
Also I guess one thing OP didn't mention is the V-line of your face, which is what Korean's love: a sharp jawline with the front of your face being in a V shape, as opposed to a more squarish, manly style in Western countries. I guess if you could find those exercises that you can do to reduce cheeks/neck size then that would be pretty cool, i wouldn't mind doing some of those But yeah, a lean face is good.
I guess in the end, when you walk around the popular shopping areas like dongdaemun or shanghai, you might see a lot of pretty girls, but the main thing is, don't feel bad about yourself because chances are if you put on makeup, dress nicely, do your hair for 45 mins then you'll look similar. Also, never think your eyes are that small - because once you see them without eye shadow or lenses then most likely they'll look the same.
edit: a note about being 1.76 and racism: 1.76 you will be fairly tall tbh, most people ARE pretty short, and its not like everyone is good looking so don't worry at all =]. Most of the high school students don't look good (yes I do have a look around on the subway), and id say there are more kind of dark skinned men than the ones u see on TV (white as hell).
And lol racism, in cantonese (hong kong/guangzhou areas of china), indians are "a -cha" which basically means bad, inferior, crap. Koreans seem quite friendly to foreigners though!
On March 19 2012 13:47 OneOther wrote: lee byung hyun from gi joe right? haha he's got the tough guy look going on what's the main actor's name from City Hunter? he is also sexy
On March 19 2012 05:51 hai2u wrote: makes me glad im not living in Korea.
Same here. I would probably just spend my whole time raging at all the people who insult/laugh/stare at me, spending the rest of my time with a massive amount of paranoia and anxiety. I would probably have trouble even setting foot outside my home.
On March 19 2012 13:47 OneOther wrote: lee byung hyun from gi joe right? haha he's got the tough guy look going on what's the main actor's name from City Hunter? he is also sexy
lee min ho
enjoyed the write-up, seems pretty accurate. I'm not sure why many westerners are so against minor plastic surgery, male makeup and conformity. It's just a different set of values (try telling me appearance doesn't matter to foreigners - it's just they're trying to send different messages - 'i didn't put any effort into this', 'i conform to a subculture, not the mainstream', 'i'm not a gay who wears makeup and dresses well'. Everyone's superficial imo, koreans are just less hung up on it.
Great OP that actually knows what he is talking about. Well done to give an actual account rather than some Korean American coming here and just freaking out and painting everything in judgmental tones.
I'll write more later, too busy cause of work, but it points to something interesting to Korean culture and btw, only younger kids really care about this, by the time you get into your 30's in Korea, you have much more important things to worry about if you are a man. Or if you are a woman and have a couple of children.
rotinegg I would love more articles on korean culture. Actually I would love articles this well written and in depth about any culture but I assume you don't know others as well as the korean one. This is so good, thank you very much.
Great read, I had no idea how complex fashion and looks are over there. Must really be hard growing up in that sort of culture. Thanks again for the insiders look on Korean culture.
On March 19 2012 09:38 Greg_J wrote: What the hell does it mean when Koreans say 'you have a small face’? My co-teachers said that all the time and I understand it’s meant to be a complement but it doesn't make any sense to me.
"I’m not really sure where the small face phenomenon originated. However, it is widely believed among Koreans that small faces photograph/video well, and that a smaller face will make you look skinner in photos as well."
On March 19 2012 06:14 Recognizable wrote: haha, teh fuck. This is so... Extreme. I feel like such an ugly motherfucker right now. Happy I don't live in Korea lol. How many hours each day do you think people in Korea are busy trying to improve their appearance?
Well, I guess this is where every economically advanced, conformist, mostly urban, crowd-minded society (no offense) comes to when it doesn't have other major problems.
I have to ask though, noting this quote
On March 19 2012 08:45 Quesadilla wrote: People are so worried about how many "notches" they can achieve while in Korea, but if you know the truth about girls there, 100 notches isn't even worth 0.5 of one that is truly S-class.
Can korean guys please describe S-class korean girl.
edit: Also, could you (or any other kpop fan) please show same snsd picture but unphotoshoped?
Dude, are you trying to make me think shitty of Korea or something? I hate to admit it, but you did a good job :/. Btw, this is a guy who up to this point loved Korea.
Biggest disappointment though was that everyone in SNSD got plastic surgery. Seriously, they look pretty much indiscernible from how they used to. Surgery makes some real miracles, I'll say that.
And people like bashing we Americans for being messed up? IMHO, the Koreans really, really got us beat in that regard. These things described in the OP are just astonishing, ridiculous beyond measure, if not absurd to the point of hilarity. Damn, now I feel like I've been taking things for granted living here in the US.
Purposely acting like a 'foreigner' is a surefire way to get your ass beat due to the predominant anti-American sentiments
And this is the icing on the cake. They hate the country that is the reason they aren't under Communist rule and the reason why they aren't in the 3rd world. Please tell me you are joking me. Oh, and let's not forget about the part about being hardcore xenophobes...
IDK rotinegg, but you really spilled the beans on a lot of things about Korea I've heard all about but was hoping wasn't true as the norm. Wow. I used to have a huge bias in favor of Koreans. Even dated a couple. I just don't know anymore. Like someone else said, I'm glad I don't live in Korea. Maybe I should be more thankful I live in the USA. The more I learn about other countries, the more I realize this is one fucking great country.
On March 19 2012 14:58 undyinglight wrote: I have always loved Korean style. Does the Dandy haircut have any alternative names it goes by in the United States?
tell the hairdresser you want to look like justin bieber
On March 19 2012 14:21 MightyAtom wrote: Great OP that actually knows what he is talking about. Well done to give an actual account rather than some Korean American coming here and just freaking out and painting everything in judgmental tones.
I'll write more later, too busy cause of work, but it points to something interesting to Korean culture and btw, only younger kids really care about this, by the time you get into your 30's in Korea, you have much more important things to worry about if you are a man. Or if you are a woman and have a couple of children.
Get ready for the truth-train, folks. The next saga of Korean standards is interesting as well, which Atom foreshadows.
EPT
Also don't forget the overdoing of sunscreen - this will look SO awkward to you the first time you see it - basically white face, but then brown neck...yeah i wasn't too keen on this.
But yeah, a lean face is good.
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