The Ups and Downs of Living in Korea 2

This morning, a male English teacher at school--who NEVER talks to me--came up to me and asked me "Stephanie, what do you do after school?"

"You mean after I go home?"

"Yes. After you go home."

"Different things. Rock climbing, dinner with friends..."

Turns out he didn't really care what I do after school because he didn't even listen to my response before he was already making his next statement.

"Why don't you exercise. You can go by the river and run. I will call you as soon as possible to go running by the river."

WHAT?! I guess the word is getting around that I look pregnant--and with twins.

Korea will pick you up and send your ego flying high as a kite with the number of curious stares and compliments from complete strangers, from young and old alike, telling you that you're beautiful. I've been called "beautiful" more times in the past five months than my entire life. As a foreigner here, you look just different enough to render such remarks, apparently.

But then there's the down side. Koreans, in general, are extremely concerned about image and appearance (hence the large numbers of plastic surgery, expensive clothing and accessories, name brands, obsession with make-up, young women staring at themselves int he mirror for hours). And Koreans, in general, can be very forward and will tell you straight out if they think you look fat. Or, in my case, if you look pregnant and that you should start exercising.