The Modern Korean: Looks - Page 21

On March 20 2012 11:47 JunkkaGom wrote:


the ones that are good looking do

On March 20 2012 12:20 ambikalx wrote:
dude what kind of jacket is that guy wearing in the second to last picture?

On March 20 2012 11:57 SDGCFO wrote:


Wasn't there an interview with one progamer where they asked why his English wasn't so good and he said he skipped class to practice Starcraft?

There are good teachers out there but it's not an effective system.

I disagree that there are plenty of Koreans that practically use English within Korea. Most of us forget what we learn from class as soon as we're out the door - same goes for Korea. They have a billion other activities and studies they have after regular school.

English isn't their first language and they're going to use Korean as much as they can especially if they're trying to make fun of the teacher or just mess around with other students.

Most Koreans are able to read and write thanks to memory and practice but speaking is another story. Up until recently, speaking was never a priority for major important tests and even job interviews. You could get away with a bare minimum but they've started to take notice and are making speaking a priority.

On March 19 2012 06:43 Recognizable wrote:


And as a woman?

On March 20 2012 00:58 drbrown wrote:
So basically the ideal for a man in south korea is to not be manly?

On March 20 2012 01:40 rotinegg wrote:

Yea, the white girl (Kelly?) is also pretty good at Korean, seems like she managed to capture a good bit of what goes on in school in Korea. I'm just gonna focus on the bit about academics. There are some pros along with the cons of such an intense academic setting: Korean students are incredibly disciplined and driven and generally carry a higher expectation in terms of achievement in life. The major con, however, is they almost always get burned out after entering college, and that's why you see everybody getting shitfaced 24/7 and getting academic suspensions left and right. When I came to America, the general lack of pressure and academic rigor shocked me: although it ensures kids don't get burned out from an early age, the base level of education for the majority of kids in the US lacks severely. For example, most Koreans who studied through high school have a comprehensive level of knowledge in a wide array of subjects, such as Korean and international history (to the level of being able to recite all the major newpaper headlines that were printed verbatim given any year in the last century), national and global geography (For example I remember having to memorize all the countries and capitals in Africa and reproduce them given a blank picture of the continent in 7th grade), English, another foreign language, ethics, math, all subjects of science, and even art/art history and music theory. The level of math high school students learn in America is elementary school level math for the smarter kids in Korea, so by "comprehensive level of knowledge" I mean enough to carry a full conversation in that subject for more than 5 minutes. They really don't mess around; studying in the US is child's play, and I mean that in the most non-disrespectful way possible.

On March 20 2012 14:35 kurosawa wrote:
I think people need to take this blog with a pinch of salt...
Yes it's true Korean's have what the West would consider a slightly too regimented and/or perhaps twisted idea of what beauty is. But what country doesn't? I've worked out in East Asia for many years and the same bizarre understanding of beauty is prevalent in Hong Kong, in China, in Japan, in Taiwan. All these cultures feed off each other in their pursuit for the notion of beauty.

It's just Koreans have made it a little more scientific, and the advancement of plastic surgery in Korea make it more of a phenomenon.

I hope readers of this now dont go on to think that all Koreans are obsessed with these rules of beauty. For example, I dated a very pretty Korean girl for quite a while but she was always super tanned. She liked that look, much in the way of Ganguro girls of Tokyo (though nowhere near as extreme). She was accepted by her her own and not mocked.

But to be honest, a few weeks back, I spent about a week in Seoul, and for once looked carefully at how people on the street looked. I'm afraid to report that I didnt see anyone resembling those in the OP's post. To me it says these uber beautiful people are in the extreme minority. There were one or two girls that looked stunning from afar...but when you get close you see the plastic surgery has completely altered their face in a way that borders on grotesque or unnatural.

To me, Korean beauty is not about this at all. Koreans look different from the majority of North East Asia and I do quite like the look. I wish they weren't so hell bent on changing it and making themselves look like manga characters. For example, the Korean actress Han Ji Hye I think is stunning, looks Korean and I'm sure has not had a million rounds of surgery.

+ Show Spoiler +

On March 20 2012 16:38 drlame wrote:


Literally two seconds in google says otherwise.

Nice blog, very interesting read and those SNSD pictures almost made me jump out of my chair. Very scary (and pretty awesome from a scientific point of view) what surgery can do to your appearence.