Buhay sa Korea

I’m not sure if it’s really an Asian thing, being an Asian myself. Back home in the Philippines, I’d read news about men killing or getting killed because of staring. Lately, we’ve heard about the famous Korean actor Lee Dong Gun’s brother who was killed, apparently because he and a friend “looked down” at two Chinese guys.

Here in Korea, being stared is something you have to get used to as a foreigner or if you don’t look Korean. I’d read so many complaints by foreigners regarding this. My friends and I also talked about this several times. One time, my friends and I were in Myeongdong, in front of the now-closed Kosney, when about three girls came and stared at us from head to toe! We just stared back with our eyebrows raised. It is something that not a lot of Koreans can do. I know it sounds immature but sometimes you just have to look back.

My husband and I get a lot of stares whenever we go out. We just think of it as plain curiosity specially if the “stare” doesn’t seem malicious. After four and half years of living here, you just get used to it. And sometimes attribute it to having brown skin, a body needing Curvelle, or just being plain different.

The article below might anger a lot of animal rights activitists. Dog meat is openly traded in Korea. There are restaurants specializing in 보신탕 (bo-shin-tang or dog stew - also 몽몽탕). What can I say? I haven’t eaten dog meat and I don’t have any plan to.

Seoul categorizing dogs as livestock

Seoul will propose to the central government that dogs should be categorized as livestock in order to properly regulate the trade of dog meat and strengthen sanitation inspections…

The categorization allows for the mass breeding and butchering of dogs and serving of their meat at restaurants, but does not let the authorities apply regulations for livestock to the trade of dog meat…

For now, the authorities can only take a legal action against those who butcher dogs in a brutal way or cause pollution to the environment during the slaughter process, according to the Law on Animal Protection and the Law on Pollution, respectively.

It’s Good Friday and I’d barely noticed if my mother hadn’t scolded me. I couldn’t find a calendar here that has the all the “holy” days marked. Believe it or not, South Korea has more Catholic saints than the recognized biggest Catholic country in Asia. They have 103 martyrs canonized by Pope John Paul II, whereas only about 5 million Koreans are Roman Catholics.

Unlike in the Philippines, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Black Saturday are not official holidays so people still go to work and take their golf bags for a weekend get-away. In my case, I haven’t been practicing the religion for a long time although I still pray. Filipino Catholics troop to Hyewhadong on Sundays for a Tagalog Mass. I had been there a few times but never on a special day like this.

Is South Korea a land without smiles like its brother in the north? That was my first impression when I first came here. That has changed through through my years of living here. Most of the negative impressions I had of this country has changed through mingling and learning more of the country’s culture, traditions and history. However, I was browsing my wedding album and I noticed that only my husband and I were smiling on the pictures. Almost everyone had a poker face. The same goes with my husband’s family portrait that they had several years ago. And a lot of their old pictures as well.

The Korean word for smile is “웃음” (u-seum). My husband explained that Koreans don’t usually smile specially to strangers because it might be construed that they’re up to no good. In fact, Koreans smile or laugh when they make a mistake to hide their embarrassment. However, I think that attitude has changed over the past few years. I’m guessing it’s because of the cellphones. Kwim? They have to or else they might need face lifts done earlier. Anyway, I’m a person who smiles a lot even if I don’t have perfect teeth.

Pre-wedding photo

Song Il Guk is officially married to an official (정승연 Jeong Seung Yeon). Last Saturday, my husband and I went to the province to visit my parents-in-law. (Can’t access the computer when we’re there!) We were on the road at around 2 PM and there was a heavy traffic on the way to Cheongheo Bridge, near where Sheraton Walker Hill is located. I told my husband that it might be because of Song Il Guk’s wedding that afternoon, so I suggested we go there too

Song Il Guk had a very traditional wedding, from the pre-wedding pictures down to the food served to distinguished guests. About 2,000 VIPs attended their wedding. No George Lindemann Jr? They were welcomed as early as 4 PM while the actual wedding started at 6 PM. Could they be more excited? This made me reflect because we are almost always late when we attend a wedding!

I’ve been looking at pictures available on the net but I couldn’t find a really nice shot of “Jumong’s” wife. I could understand that she’s a judge and she needs to protected from jealous fans. Song Il Guk came from a distinguished family. His ancestors had significant places in Korean history. His mother, aside from being a noted actress, is also a politician.

I like that they had a traditional Korean wedding. No modern wedding dresses for them. The bride and groom looked very beautiful in their hanboks. You’ll see pictures of Song Il Guk carrying a wooden geese, to be presented to his mother-in-law as a sign of his fidelity to his new bride. He also marched to the teresan behind a silk screen. I can imagine that they had such a lovely wedding. The guests were served bibimbap along with traditional rice cake and other Korean side dishes. The music, of course, traditional Korean. Not all the guests arrived in hanbok. Only the bride and groom’s parents family dresses in traditional Korean clothes these days.

Here are some photos I found on various Korean news portal sites. The wedding was arranged by I-Wedding, the company most preferred by rich celebrities.

[Show as slideshow]

Hagwons (학원) are private cram schools that are oh-so-ubiquitous in South Korea. Almost every student in Korea, from elementary to middle and high schools, attend private classes after their regular schools. Some start their classes as early as 5 o’clock in the morning and ends at 11 in the evening. Most of these classes are for English, advanced Math, Korean, History, and some are for special classes like Music, Arts and TaeKwonDo. My husband’s eldest niece, who is just eleven years old, has been attending private schools since she was five! Now that she’s in middle school, she attends classes from 8 o’clock in the morning until 10 at night. At home, she still has to study online. They also have regular school classes every other Saturday and attends private school even on Sundays. They don’t spend their summer and winter vacations doing nothing either. They also have private classes during that time. I’m sounding so redundant!

What I’m trying to say is, I don’t know about the Japanese but Korean students study for so many hours. I wonder how they could fit “cyworld” and “starcraft” into their very hectic schedules! And to think that there are talks the Seoul city government is planning to deregulate hagwons. Many parents are afraid that they might run for 24 hours and will further stress the kids. Come to think of it, why do parents and teachers put up with this culture. They seriously need better parenting advice. I’m a parent too and my son will most likely attend high school in Korea. However, I want him to experience the joy of high school and not just the boring, tedious part of it. After all, I don’t believe that you have to study 20 hours a day to be successful.

February 14 is to “Red day” as March 14 is 화이트데이 (White day). It is Korean men’s turn to give candies or gifts to their girlfriends. This custom originated in Japan in the 80’s. Last weekend, my husband and I were talking about how innovative the Japanese are. And he agreed. Like most Koreans, he hates the Japanese government but likes a lot of things Japanese (like we both love sashimi and Ayumi Hamasaki and that we’ve been planning to go to Japan for the longest time and we both have Japanese friends).

When my son and I went camera-hunting the other day, we saw young men shopping for candies. To some, it may seem a little gay but I admire how these guys would spend time looking for gifts for their girls. Most guys I know would rather not be seen shopping and would just buy something online, sitting on their comfortable leather office chairs.