On March 19 2012 06:51 LunarC wrote: After reading through this blog, I finally understand why my mom keeps telling me it's good that I have a small head. I'm 5'5'' with a 1: 7.5 ratio. What the fuck does that make me haha.
Hahaha my head is HUGE. I wonder what my ratio is.
Hmmm. I have a sort of long slender face, so it's definitely nowhere near 1:8 for me. Does that mean a cute korean girl will never love me? ;_;
Clearly, the answer is to get a plain Korean girl and pay for her plastic surgery.
On March 19 2012 06:26 ymir233 wrote: But on the other hand, the good thing is if you act enough of a 'foreigner' (by that I mean living outside of Korea long enough) and show off enough of an aura when you come back, people won't care what the fuck you do as long as you're not an axe murderer. Most likely either you can laugh at peoples' shirts for having unintelligible English phrases or they'll be impressed enough by your foreign-ness to hire you as an Engrish tutor.
Purposely acting like a 'foreigner' is a surefire way to get your ass beat due to the predominant anti-American sentiments
Really? I have this fantasy that Korean girls would flock to my milky white skin and blue eyes. Anti American?? How do I say "No no, I'm Canadian" in korean?
The anti-American bit is only for cultural and political reasons
Could you go into the cultural reasons? And not to derail the topic, but does the average Korean with anti-American political sentiments understand how that incredibly quick rise in standard of living came about? Neither advocating nor condoning American policies, it just seems rather ironic.
On March 19 2012 05:42 rotinegg wrote:The general rule of thumb is having fair (somewhat white), even-toned skin with minimal oil is the best skin. Koreans don't like to tan as they discriminate against darker skinned folks, such as southeast Asians, Indians, Bangladeshis and Pakistanis for looking "poor" (=빈티난다).
This is fucking disgusting, the fact you mention this so easily, is fucking disgusting, and i hope you realise that.
On March 19 2012 07:22 Dwelf wrote: I always have the idea that if I go to korea I would feel weird being so much taller then the rest (1.92m), but I geuss my head to body ratio is pretty awesome .
if you go out at night there will be a lot of guys around your height, but yea your head to body ratio will be amazing and you will see the guys explode with jealousy
On March 19 2012 07:13 JoeSchmoe wrote: Question: how to these teens pay for their plastic surgeries? isn't it really expensive. seems like a huge economic hit if everyone in your family is getting them.
Not a lot of old people get them, only the insanely rich/wannabe-young. Botox is pretty common, but it's not that expensive as far as I know. Eye jobs are only around $1000 USD, not a big investment, so a lot of parents give their daughters eye jobs as a high school graduation present, sort of like how US parents get their kids a car.
What's an eye job? O_O
Any combination of the eye surgeries mentioned in the OP
When I lived and worked in Korea it was really harsh. I'm pretty short, have bad skin, and fairly small eyes and my co-workers and friends always teased me about my looks. I used to not care about my appearance that much until I went to Korea. It scarred me so...
When I read this I was completely shocked how shallow Korean society is. I always had heard of stuff like plastic surgery on TL but this whole clothes and body proportions thing seemed insane to me. After thinking about it for a while though, I've come to the conclusion that it's only weird to me because I didn't grow up in such a society. If everyone around you is like this it's just normal. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I/we shouldn't be so quick to judge and at least consider cultural differences that are rooted in the history of a country. Anyways, great blog. Also thanks for all the translating you're doing.
On March 19 2012 06:26 ymir233 wrote: But on the other hand, the good thing is if you act enough of a 'foreigner' (by that I mean living outside of Korea long enough) and show off enough of an aura when you come back, people won't care what the fuck you do as long as you're not an axe murderer. Most likely either you can laugh at peoples' shirts for having unintelligible English phrases or they'll be impressed enough by your foreign-ness to hire you as an Engrish tutor.
Purposely acting like a 'foreigner' is a surefire way to get your ass beat due to the predominant anti-American sentiments
Really? I have this fantasy that Korean girls would flock to my milky white skin and blue eyes. Anti American?? How do I say "No no, I'm Canadian" in korean?
The anti-American bit is only for cultural and political reasons
Could you go into the cultural reasons? And not to derail the topic, but does the average Korean with anti-American political sentiments understand how that incredibly quick rise in standard of living came about? Neither advocating nor condoning American policies, it just seems rather ironic.
So we have a US military base close to our capital and US soldiers sometimes come out during breaks and rape teenagers, but go unpunished for their deeds under the protection of US laws. They've done some pretty nasty things like commit genocide in the past also, but those are small reasons. There was always this anti-American sentiment lurking since the US intervened in the Korean war and split our country in half. I personally disagree and am glad that the US did that, but a lot of old people believe we would be a unified country without foreign intervention. Honestly, though, as stupid as this may sound, the straw that broke the donkey's back came with Apollo Ohno's speed skating incident, where he may or may not have taken away a gold medal from a Korean speed skater 김동성. That's when I remember all the anti-US sentiments pouring out, and the next president 노무현 rode that anti-American wave well into office, and further enhanced it during his term with his North Korea-friendly policies and being an outspoken nationalist who boasted he never set foot in the US before his presidency. I remember this song that came out after the speed-skating incident called FUCKING USA and half of its lyrics were like YANKEE GO HOME FUCKING USA lol. I'm not an expert on this matter but we have alot of protests against US foreign policies, like the FDA trade agreement.
Actually i found the song on youtube lol enjoy! It even has English lyrics as subtitles haha
On March 19 2012 05:42 rotinegg wrote:The general rule of thumb is having fair (somewhat white), even-toned skin with minimal oil is the best skin. Koreans don't like to tan as they discriminate against darker skinned folks, such as southeast Asians, Indians, Bangladeshis and Pakistanis for looking "poor" (=빈티난다).
This is fucking disgusting, the fact you mention this so easily, is fucking disgusting, and i hope you realise that.
Yea I'm sorry man didn't mean to offend anyone just wanted to be honest about what goes on. Sorry that offended you. A lot of them folks come to Korea looking for better living conditions and work opportunities, yet they are discriminated against and cheated out of their salary because Koreans can be pretty ruthless when they know they have the upper hand, so they are usually living in poverty, and commoners think they are all poor.
On March 19 2012 05:42 rotinegg wrote:The general rule of thumb is having fair (somewhat white), even-toned skin with minimal oil is the best skin. Koreans don't like to tan as they discriminate against darker skinned folks, such as southeast Asians, Indians, Bangladeshis and Pakistanis for looking "poor" (=빈티난다).
This is fucking disgusting, the fact you mention this so easily, is fucking disgusting, and i hope you realise that.
It's just a statement of fact. I don't think he's endorsing this viewpoint. It may be hard to grasp for someone who's accustomed to a mixed society like in the UK or US, but racism is quite common and rampant in Asian countries. It's quite common in largely homogeneous societies in general.
Well now after reading it all I feel kinda terrible to have called Stats plastictoss for a while lol. I know the guy had surgery out of medical problems with his chin but I could understand him now if he had just done it purely out of cosmetic reasons.
On March 19 2012 06:26 ymir233 wrote: But on the other hand, the good thing is if you act enough of a 'foreigner' (by that I mean living outside of Korea long enough) and show off enough of an aura when you come back, people won't care what the fuck you do as long as you're not an axe murderer. Most likely either you can laugh at peoples' shirts for having unintelligible English phrases or they'll be impressed enough by your foreign-ness to hire you as an Engrish tutor.
Purposely acting like a 'foreigner' is a surefire way to get your ass beat due to the predominant anti-American sentiments
Really? I have this fantasy that Korean girls would flock to my milky white skin and blue eyes. Anti American?? How do I say "No no, I'm Canadian" in korean?
The anti-American bit is only for cultural and political reasons
Could you go into the cultural reasons? And not to derail the topic, but does the average Korean with anti-American political sentiments understand how that incredibly quick rise in standard of living came about? Neither advocating nor condoning American policies, it just seems rather ironic.
Well, to be fair the industrialization happened when the South was under authoritarian regimes (I hesitate to say because/in spite of being under authoritarian regimes because I don't think anyone knows, and I don't want to commit the fallacy of post hoc ergo propter hoc). Democracy in the ROK is pretty home-grown, although as a simple matter of security the country probably owes its existence to the UN intervention in the 50s.
On March 19 2012 05:42 rotinegg wrote:The general rule of thumb is having fair (somewhat white), even-toned skin with minimal oil is the best skin. Koreans don't like to tan as they discriminate against darker skinned folks, such as southeast Asians, Indians, Bangladeshis and Pakistanis for looking "poor" (=빈티난다).
This is fucking disgusting, the fact you mention this so easily, is fucking disgusting, and i hope you realise that.
I don't think you need to be offended that rotinegg stated a simple fact that people in the world have prejudices.
On March 19 2012 07:33 ruXxar wrote: I have curly hair. Could you give some examples of how they style curly hair in korea? (picture samples are bonus ^^)
On March 19 2012 05:42 rotinegg wrote:The general rule of thumb is having fair (somewhat white), even-toned skin with minimal oil is the best skin. Koreans don't like to tan as they discriminate against darker skinned folks, such as southeast Asians, Indians, Bangladeshis and Pakistanis for looking "poor" (=빈티난다).
This is fucking disgusting, the fact you mention this so easily, is fucking disgusting, and i hope you realise that.
Yea I'm sorry man didn't mean to offend anyone just wanted to be honest about what goes on. Sorry that offended you. A lot of them folks come to Korea looking for better living conditions and work opportunities, yet they are discriminated against and cheated out of their salary because Koreans can be pretty ruthless when they know they have the upper hand, so they are usually living in poverty, and commoners think they are all poor.
Don't feel bad, you just told how it is and the guy went batshit crazy.
Nice blog btw, really interesting seeing what the koreans see as good looking and how they try to achieve beautiness.
Here in brazil if a guy uses make up he gets mocked to death.
On March 19 2012 07:30 surfinbird1 wrote: When I read this I was completely shocked how shallow Korean society is. I always had heard of stuff like plastic surgery on TL but this whole clothes and body proportions thing seemed insane to me. After thinking about it for a while though, I've come to the conclusion that it's only weird to me because I didn't grow up in such a society. If everyone around you is like this it's just normal. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I/we shouldn't be so quick to judge and at least consider cultural differences that are rooted in the history of a country. Anyways, great blog. Also thanks for all the translating you're doing.
I agree to some extent, but I believe that many people are just born or predisposed to be more individualistic. Personally, I would hate to live in a society that has such strict expectations of its constituents.
Apart from that shoop of my girls, I really liked your blog. It's very informative and gives a nice perspective about some things one wouldn't think about every day.
For a society that pays so much attention to appearance, I have to say most high school students look pretty terrible from what I've seen.
On March 19 2012 07:33 ruXxar wrote: I have curly hair. Could you give some examples of how they style curly hair in korea? (picture samples are bonus ^^)
Is it like curly curly or sorta curly? If it's curly curly and you don't like it, you can't really do anything about it T_T sorry... get a straightening perm or straighten it with a straightener. If it's sorta curly, then you can go with the shorter varieties of the haircuts mentioned in the OP, like the soft mohican or regent cut. One thing that's good about sorta curly hair is you never have to worry about your sideburns and backhair sticking up with short hair, so you have the freedom to rock shorter hair without much hassle. Us straight hairs have to go to great lengths to prevent that from happening.
To be honest, from a western perspective, I felt a tiny bit nauseous reading about all the plastic surgery stuff and had to scroll through the rest so I didn't have to read more about it. I didn't think that these superficial issues like height, looks, shape, fucking ratios of head to body length (seriously, wtf) were that bad in Korea. As other people in the thread have said, I'm like ~176cm or so and the OP makes me happy not to be a Korean in Korea right now.
As a current student of Korean at university, this makes me somewhat disappointed in the culture and language that I'm studying (although this explains why pretty much all the other students in my class are the way they are), although I do realise that this is only a recent manifestation and it would be stupid to disregard all other history and culture for this. I hope that I can find something that will make me not so disappointed.
Also, I read the other guy's blog about kpop, etc and I personally think that this blog proved his point rather showing how wrong he was.