Highlights of my Day... Thursday, March 29

1. In the wee hours of the morning I had woken up and sent In Sung a text message. I asked him, “Do you think I’m pretty?” I then went back to bed. Woke up much later and then remembered I had sent this message. I was shocked. Since when did I really care about whether or not some new person thought I was pretty?! And then it hit me… it’s cause of Korea!
2. Before I moved to Korea, I really never thought about my looks, nor did I care about how others viewed me. But Korea is much different. It’s obvious that Korea is a really image-conscious country but I never thought it really affected me until I woke up and realized I had sent this message. So it got me thinking, just how Koreanized have I become?!
3. So, I sat down and made a quick list off the top of my head on how I’ve Koreanized...

I sleep on a traditional floor mat as oppose to a bed.
My kitchen table is less than 1 foot high (totally Korean).
My wardrobe consists of Konglish t-shirts, totally Korean pretty blouses, lacy tops, and yes… I do have some leggings (that’s so Korean).
My accessories consist of chunky dangle earrings, sparkly shoes, and sparkly purses with sequences on them.
My favourite foods now consist of soondu-bo, sushi (Japanese and Korean style), and chumchi kimbab, as oppose to the pasta or steak I once craved.
I have random cravings for kimchi!!!
I no longer find myself really attracted to Western men.
I no longer favor the tough big boys… I’m all about the sweet, sensitive and shy guys.
I feel like the odd one out when I walk around with foreigners (nothing is quite like this feeling… feeling like a foreigner to the foreigners when you ARE a foreigner… so strange!!!)
I catch myself sometimes using Korean gestures and body language without even thinking… as if it were natural for me, a foreigner.
My English is getting worse by the minute.
I celebrate the Korean holidays and often forget Canadian holidays.
I enjoy walking arm-in-arm and holding hands with my Korean girl friends.
I feel more comfortable around Koreans and become somewhat shy around foreigners.
I enjoy listening to such Korean artists like MC Mong, Psy, DJ Doc and Lee Hyori.
I never watched soap operas in Canada but was addicted to last year’s Korean drama, “My lovely Samsoone”.
I talk to my dog in Korean and taught him commands in Korean.
I find myself talking out loud… that’s totally Korean!
I have slippers that are just used for walking in the bathroom.
I automatically bow when saying hi to people, even if they’re not Korean.
I don’t own any forks… ha, ha, ha.
I’m obsessed with green tea.
I’m a Cheonan B-Boy fan (Cheonan break-dancing team)

4. With students having MTs (faculty field trips) all week, various classes have been cancelled due to students being absent. Mind ya, MT’s are optional and so us teachers have no idea about whether or not a class will have students in it. Well, today in one of my classes, only 4 students showed up… correction, only 3 students. The fourth student was a visitor from another class…ha, ha, ha.
5. Must admit, I’m not one for hanging out with foreigners but I work with some really awesome foreigners. There’s a lady who is now a student at my school but was a teacher last year. Her name is Carman. Carmen’s kind of a trouble maker cause she speaks her mind and is quite sarcastic… perfect! She and I got talking today and have decided to have a girls’ night out tomorrow. No boys allowed!!!
6. Came home and couldn’t help but notice the massive cloud of black smoke. Not too sure what had happened but to the right of downtown Cheonan there was this massive fire!!! Traffic downtown stopped as 7 fire trucks went flying through rush-hour traffic. I raced up to my 14th floor balcony and watched it all go down.
7. Headed out to do some dancing and singing with Wild Child. I had promised her that I’d bring her more silly songs. I showed up tonight and Wild Child’s mom surprised me with some various musical instruments… a tambourine, clickers, a triangle, shakers, and a pair of symbols. It was quite the site to see me dancing with Wild Child as we sung at the top of our lungs and made a whole lot of noise… I don’t think we impressed the neighbours though.. ha, ha, ha.
8. Mi Nam was quite the attraction in the courtyard tonight and he was totally loving it! I had gone down to the courtyard with him to play soccer but then 3 Korean girls came in. It’s like he totally forgot about wanting to play soccer with me. He laid on the ground and was totally loving those girls petting his tummy. Spoiled brat… ha, ha, ha.
9. Studied Korean tonight like a mad woman… ha, ha, ha. Ever since that whole subway drama, I haven’t really been up for going out and seeing friends. Honestly, I’ve been down right anti-social, I admit it. Nothings quite like re-enacting the drama every night in my sleep. So, tonight I thought I’d try to write 2 letters to two of my friends who have been curious as to where I’ve been. The one friend I usually met up with and help her out with her English homework, the other friend is the cutie (trainer) from the gym. I had promised him that I’d work out in the mornings with him but I haven’t been up for training lately.
10. After about two hours, I finally finished both letters. Had I been able to simply write in English, it would have only taken me about 20 minutes but my friends’ English is fairly low and so I thought I’d test out my Korean. Thanks to Koosy and Man Seok for helping me with some of the translations!

QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Identity, nature or nurture?

QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Change your thoughts and you change your world.
-- Norman Vincent Peale