Me vs. The Monkey

That's right- can you think of one thing more interesting than a 3000 year old monkey? Stuck? ME!!! Yesterday I found myself at the National Museum of Korea - an absolutely monstous building that dwarfs anything I've ever seen in Canada... although I suppose they have the history to support it. I saw half of the first floor and that took me two and a half hours. In any case, as I stood in front of the monkey in question- trying to adjust some fancy feature on my camera, I looked up to find that I was entirely surrounded by an elementary class on a field trip. The thirty odd students refused to look at the damn monkey that their guide seemed so passionate about, as they were too engrossed with the blond monkey operating the digital camera. I have never experienced anything stranger in my life. There were literally thirty pairs of eyes staring right me with that look of "What are you?" that I have so learned to love. I finally said hi, and tried to make my way from the center of the circle when I was bombarded with questions of Who are you? What is your name? Where are you from? Needless to say, I was once again throughly annoyed with the parents/teachers that continue to allow me to be treated like... well, a monkey- although I suppose in this came that's a bad example, since the monkey got precious little attention.

I believe in covered, in part, the Korean obsession with image. However, I don' t know that I covered the full extent of this obsession. Here we go. When I learned about Japan in Mr Sabraw's grade 8 Social Studies class, I decided that I never wanted to visit Japan because they went to school until 9pm, six days a week... and they didn't even get their summers off. These are the sorts of details that really matter to 13 year olds when deciding on international trips. Well, I also remember learning that the Japanese culture (and in turn the Chinese and Korean cultures, since they so influence one another) was based very much on hierarchy and social status. The strength of a person determined by their strength of character, physical strength, of spirituality and their intelligence. Ring any bells? Well, let's face it. These qualities, unfortunately have become harder and harder to measure, and have come to mean progressively less, not only in Asia, but all over the world. When the whole world is questioning it's spirituality, how can we measure an individual's worth based on how strong theirs is? But I digress. Image has always been important here- but times have changed. Now we show our worth based on the way we present ourselves. What better way to prove that you have strong character, determination, intelligence and a strong work ethic than proving to the world that you have enough money to waste on a 1000$ purse? Everywhere I look, Louis Vitton purses, Prada backpacks, MCM handbags,Von Dutch baseball caps, Bvulgari gloves and shoes. These are not accessories to most Koreans, but necessities. Some of the girls I work with claim to have a collection of up to 50 designer purses- few of which have ever seen the light of day. How do they afford such extravagances? Koreans live at home until they're married. Proof can be seen in tea rooms, kareoke bars and movie theatres that offer 'private rooms'- where of course, shy Koreans would have you believe that nothing more than hand holding ever occurs. In any case, parents are expected to pay for their children's education. Student loans are almost unheard of as it is seen as a disgrace that the parents did not support their children through school- regardless of the cost. And in return, the Korean university student gets a part time job while in University to pay for their designer handbags. An enviable position to most Canadian university students... Even more shocking is the fact that even once children reach adulthood, Korean mothers continue to baby their children until they leave the home. The girls I work with are only slightly embarrased to say that their mothers still cook all their meals, do their laundry and even clean their rooms-- at the age of 27. And so it will remain until they leave home and marry, where they will be expected to do the same for their children, and eventually for their parents as well. On top of all the designer clothes and accesories, Seoul also happens to be one of the biggest places for plastic surgery in the world. Koreans have come to believe that the Hollywood norm is what they should strive for- and the new thing is having an extra crease added to your eye lid to make your eyes appear more round. Or to have your nose redone so it's not the Asian 'button nose' but the 'smaller' American nose. And even creepier yet- to have your face redone to give you a whiter skin tone. There is even a cosmetics company called "La Neige" that makes white face powder, and this is also widely used.

For a country so advanced in so many ways- the gender differences continue to shock me. As I've said, the women wear skirts and high heels everywhere- regardless of the occasion and with little regard for the weather. Women smoking in public (and I have still only seen two) can be expected to be yelled at or even spit on. It's a bit like a time warp. Women still wear broches and leaving the house without make- up in unthinkable. Short skirts have recently become acceptable- and they are everywhere- but revealing the stomach or any part of the back, even by accident, is still taboo. Many Koreans spend a year abroad during or after university- usually in the US or in Canada, to improve their English. And many come back shocked and depressed when realizing that these differences don't exist everywhere. Even at the gym, I am the only woman who will run on the treadmill- the others don't seem to want to break a sweat in front of the men. As I've said, in the home, it is their responsibility to maintain the house and care for the children, it is not a shared responsibility. A big pizza chain here, Mr Pizza (which is pronounced Pijja) has "made for women" printed right on their pizza boxes- and it must have taken me a good ten minutes to figure out what they meant. If you order pizza, the woman doesn't have to cook. In any case, the men have their own set of problems. They are still seen as the bread winners, and as such, are expected to cater to their girlfriends. The response I get at work if I say I need or want to buy something is always the same "Why don't you ask your boyfriend?". I'm not sure, but I think Fred would tell me where to go if I had these expectations of him.... Finally- Korean thoughts on homosexuality? Not wrong because it's immoral or anything like that- just wrong because who would do the cleaning?