Korea Life Blog - Cosmetic Obsession (1) - Bigger Eyes


In Korea, appearance is everything. Korean women are famous for their cosmetic obession. They are amongst the largest consumers of makeup in the world. Plastic surgery is also extremely big business here. Even the Ophthamologist is in on it:



Apparently the eye doctor can make you as beautiful as the girl in the ad. One of his specialties (the last one listed in the green circle) is eyelid alteration to make the eyes bigger, a popular cosmetic surgery here that costs about 1,000,000 won. Now look closely at the yellow circle. The doctor has included a special message for you. Hmm, perhaps God will love you more if you have bigger eyes.


Now take a look at this poignant story:

Park Sang Mi's parents were against plastic surgery until her older sister came home one day with bigger eyes. Park followed suit last year, her parents approved, and she took a part-time job at Baskin Robbins to help them foot the bill. "Now I know nobody will laugh at me for being ugly," Park says gratefully. Her boyfriend knows her eyelids are altered, she adds, but he absolutely loves them. Park, now 20, doesn't have plans to return to the clinic immediately, but wants liposuction performed on her thighs some day. Meanwhile, she's considering her friends' advice to trash her old photographs.

(Perhaps one of these girls is Sang Mi?)

I find her friend's advice to trash her old photographs especially humorous. Get rid of the evidence that you were once an ugly nobody with small eyes.

(If anyone has any photos of ajummas wearing obssessive amounts of makeup, please send me them to assakorea10@yahoo.com).

written by shawn matthews    -|link

Korea Life Blog - In the News (2)

Another bit of scandalous news. Take a look at this piece from today's JoongAng Daily:


Police investigate swinging set of doctors, executives, professors


[Lee Chul-jae] Seoul police are investigating a spouse-swapping sex ring, but they have not been able to press charges against the high-income swingers because no law exists against couples exchanging sexual favors.

Seven middle-aged couples gathered Oct. 5 in the evening at a home in Icheon, Gyeonggi province, southeast of Seoul, according to the police. They started the evening with a barbecue and drinks, and afterward they undressed and began dancing while exchanging partners. They retired in pairs to separate bedrooms with someone other than their spouse. The people, who were members of a swingers club, included physicians, executives of medium-size businesses, public servants and college professors.

The couples got to know one another by way of an Internet site. They exchanged personal information and photographs by email. To ensure that the couples were actually married, wedding photos or a copy of the family registry were also presented.

The Web site was operated by a man who told police of another get-together that took place a year ago when four couples met at a karaoke bar in the Gangnam district in Seoul to swap spouses, he said.

The operator of the Web site said he had introduced more than 30 married couples, and most of them had advanced degrees. They seemed to be attracted to swinging out of curiosity, but some appeared to become obsessed with swapping after five or six encounters, he said. ��But I have not heard of one couple who broke up because of the experience,�� he told police.

The chief executive of a trading company, who was a member of a swingers group, said his wife first said the idea was ��sick�� but eventually she had herself talked into encounters with a college professor and a school teacher.

A police officer said there are about 10 Internet sites catering to swingers and about 6,000 people are believed to be members. Most of the sites operate on servers based in other countries, he said.


by Lee Chul-jae jackkim@joongang.co.kr

2003-10-16


Similar coverage appeared in today's Korea Herald that focused more on the couples who did their swapping at the no rae bang (first singing and drinking, then going to different rooms to have sex with their new partners).

I can understand the no rae bang owner being arrested for promoting sexual intercourse at his business, but why are the police arresting the website operators? They weren't showing pornography on their sites, which would be illegal here - they just provided a means for married people with peculiar yet mutual desires to meet others who have the same interest. What's wrong with that?

On the cover of several Korean newspapers, there were pictures taken by hidden cameras showing the swingers getting undressed. If any of my diligent Korean speaking readers could dig up the links to these photos, a lot of readers here would probably appreciate it.

written by shawn matthews    -|link

Korea Life Blog - Obvious Imitations (1)

When I first came to Korea, I was very naive. I had little knowledge about fake brand name items. When I saw a pair of "Timberland" shoes in a shop for 20,000 won, I thought, wow! What a great deal. I bought them and the first time they got wet, they turned yellowish orange. I also had purchased a "Levis" belt for 5,000 won that broke a week later. While not as rampant as in countries like China, Thailand, and the Philippines, imitation brand name goods are still available here by-and-large. Some items are so well crafted that you'd never know the difference. Others are really obvious, even intentionally so. Take a look at this nicely put together collection of "Puma" T-shirts sent in my one of my readers:


I just love these. I'd like to get that Tuna shirt with the ? symbol as the trademark. Most of these are obvious copies done so intentionally, but I'm not so sure about Fuma. I bet someone just made an error when making that one.

written by shawn matthews    -|link

Korea Life Blog - Dog Cruelty


A Horrible Photo of Animal Cruelty

Well, I decided against actually posting the picture here, but if you want to see the other extreme of dog treatment, click on the link. You can figure out where these dogs are headed. Be prepared, the photo will (and should) break your heart. While there is a tremendous amount of affection giving to special small dogs, other kinds of dogs aren't so lucky. I thought it appropriate to show both sides.

While not as cruel as the treatment in the photo, of course, another thing I can't stand is the way some people (and this is true anywhere in the world) tie their dogs to a pole or put them in small cages and leave them there all day and night. You see this often in Seoul and elsewhere in front of or behind restaurants and shops especially. The owners tend to work all day everyday and their poor pets have to wait, bored out of their minds, whimpering, unable to sleep because of the noises and distractions of the hustle and bustle of city life.

Stay tuned for more upbeat posts.

written by shawn matthews    -|link

Korea Life Blog - Puppy Love (1)

Small dogs are extremely popular pets in Korea. This is, I assume, because a: in general Korean people don't like cats much, and b: apartments are usually too small to house bigger dogs. One thing is for sure, Koreans love to pamper their little pets. They take them everywhere, buy them all sorts of toys and dress them in trendy puppy clothes. I think that owning one of the cute little things would be a definite plus in getting the attention of Korean girls. Hmm...

While it was more popular a few years back, but you still may find some poor poodles with shaved bodies and/or dyed ears. Seeing this, you can't help but feel sympathy for the little creatures, running about with pink ears, helpless to articulate in words the overwhelming shame and embarrassment they must feel in front of their ordinary peers.



Always a crowd stopper, puppy dogs for sale on a busy street. There's a girl who's obviously interested. She is completely focused on them. Certainly the quickest way to attract a lovely Korean girl, perhaps 2 or 3 lovely Korean girls, is to pick yourself up one of these cute little things. Arf! arf!

written by shawn matthews    -|link

Korea Life Blog - Zip! Zip! Zoom!


Zip! Zip! Zoom! There's another way to get there faster and easier: motorized skateboards. As if the busy sidewalks aren't chaotic enough. There's nothing like walking down the sidewalk and getting bumped out of the way by some kid on one of these in a hurry to get to the PC bang or deokboki and o-daeng stand. Luckily these motorized hazards aren't too popular yet. Another noisy nuisance you sometimes see are motorized mini-scooters. They actually look a little fun, but if I'm going a short distance, I prefer to walk. I don't need something to make me anymore lazy than I already am.

written by shawn matthews    -|link

Korea Life Blog - Great News!

I just got a surprise e-mail. Blogger managed to upgrade my account to 100MB from the previous 25MB which I had just reached. I'm not sure if I'll be getting charged more or not. Since Blogger was taken over by Google, I haven't been charged the usual $5 a month anyway, but they are still offering the pay plan for new signups to Blogspot. I'm so happy! There is no shortage of space and updates will continue uninterrupted!

written by shawn matthews    -|link

Korea Life Blog - A Decorative Bathroom Entrance



From automatic faucets and flushing to Etiquette Bells, public bathrooms in the subway stations are getting more and more fancy. Look at the entrance to this one, decorative and shiny. You'd think you were entering some kind of museum or an art exhibition. Also, slowly but surely, most restrooms are becoming handicap accessible. I've noticed that the nicer the bathroom the more people follow the "no smoking" rule as well. I'm not sure if this is the case in the women's room though. While they can smoke inside, it's culturally prohibited for females to smoke outside in public.

written by shawn matthews    -|link