Ethnicity and Socialization from the Media

You know I was a sociology major when I title my blog entries like that.

One thing that I'm still wrapping my head around is the fact that Asians are on advertisements. Growing up in the US, the only thing we ever saw was Peyton Manning doing Mastercard commercials and Dwayne Wade doing something with Powerade. The one thing I saw Yao Ming in was that funny commercial where he was trying to ask if he could pay with a check. Suffice to say, these advertisements didn't really make me want to buy or do anything.

I didn't realize how much ethnicity affected the connection between an advertisement and reception of the message the ad is trying to sell until I settled a bit more over here in Korea. I have many Asian American female friends that would often complain about being too heavy and/or how their mothers would berate them for not being thin enough. I look at them and go, "Yo, I haven't been your weight since I was 13. You're already thin!" They'd simply look at me and say "Dude, you don't get it." I guess I really didn't.

A little while ago I was talking to my co teachers at school and for some reason we'd talk about weight and stuff. I think it was because I mentioned how I was trying to lose weight. One of my co teachers responded that back in the day during her high school and early college days her main job was trying to lose weight. Her ideal goal was 45 kg, or roughly 100 lbs. She's 163ish cms, or a bit taller than 5'3. I blinked at her and said, "I haven't been 100 lbs since I was 10!" She continued and said that during those years maintaining the ideal standard of beauty was above all else in her life. Skinny first and then academics and stuff. She talked about how little she'd eat and how she longed for food, but hey, she looked good. The happy part of the story is that she eventually realized it wasn't healthy and started to eat normally again.

We continued our discussion on ads, commercials, and societal pressure on aesthetic values. Another co teacher mentioned how in the media all you see are well dressed thin Korean boys and well dressed Korean girls in heels chasing them. That trickles down to the general appearance of everyone else. I would like to point out that tonight I was out with a few buddies of mine and we were chilling at a Starbucks in Gangnam. We talked about how at work we started off wearing suits and ties and stuff in the beginning but started to slowly dress down. I jokingly said, "Yeah man, sometimes I'd put on my suit just to go to the coffee shop to read a book." A friend said, "Hahaha you're funny man." I then pointed out that everyone around us, except us silly foreigners, were pretty much in suits.

However I digress.

Personally, sometimes I feel like I'm succumbing to all the ads and such. The other day I was walking home from work and I thought to myself, "Hmmm, maybe I should get long hair." This is rather shocking in that I absolutely hate long hair on myself. Ugh.

Quick Hits -

Did you know that the hood of a car is called a "bonnet" in the UK? I guess it's similar in that it's something you'd put over your head.

Coffee shops are absolutely ginourmous in Korea. Restaurants are a little bit on the smaller side because people just go in, eat, and go out and get coffee where they'll chill for hours. When I say ginourmous I mean the small ones are about the size of an average McDonald's, I've encountered one that's bigger than some mall bookstores.

My students think it's absolutely cute when I speak Korean, even when I say something like "gah bul ji mah" which means stop messing around. They just kinda giggle and say "SAY AGAIN!"

The other day I was talking to a Cantonese friend of mine and I asked what "mo-ah" meant. The conversation went something like this.
Her: "Nothing."
Me: "But I know it means something!"
"Oh, it's nothing."
"But it's in all those movies!"
"It's nothing."
"Then how come Jackie Chan always says it!?!?"
"I mean, the meaning of the word, is nothing."

Also speaking with the same friend whom emigrated from HK to Canada so she learned British English. She told us an anecdote about how she asked a male classmate if she could borrow a "rubber". In British English, "rubber" is an eraser. In Canadian and American English, it's ...well you know.

My East Coast friend and myself got into an argument about the difference between sweatSHIRT and sweater. In his definition a sweatshirt was a thick long sleeved top that kept the wearer warm. A sweater is similar but different in that it is knit and you can see/feel the patterns on it. My stance is that sweater and sweatshirt were essentially the same and that it's sufficient to call both items sweaters. Also I told him that I was right because the West Coast is better the Lakers beat the Magic. We agreed to disagree.

I find that my writing skills are lacking recently when chatting with my friends the other day. I'm trying to write more to consistently use the skills I acquired while earning the degree that my dad paid so much for. Thanks Dad.

The Cultural Difference Cow

Know how there's the awkward turtle? There's also the cultural difference cow. The former comes into play during socially awkward situations and the latter is there in culturally different situations.

In my brief time in Korea, I've come to realize a differences between American/Western and Korean/Eastern cultures. Some are funny, some are more sensitive.

The other day I was chilling in my office chair all spread out and taking up all sorts of room and my co teacher had to kinda squish between me and the wall a little bit to get to her side (whoops). It was when a gender related cultural difference occurred to me - growing up in America as males, we're taught to take up as much space as possible with our body language. When we cross our legs we have to put ankle to knee to use room, whereas girls are taught to take up as little space as possible. When I just sit and relax I'll automatically sprawl out. Perhaps this is a reflection of America having TONS of space and land and Korea barely having any.

Like any other male raised in the good ole US of A will tell you, when we get surprised (or scared from a crazy zombie flick) we'll curse up a mutha. In fact, if we haven't seen a good friend in awhile we'll probably also curse up a mutha calling our friends all sorts of mean things that are perfectly acceptable because both are good friends. In Korea and at least with girls, in surprise they'll say "Oh-ma!" which literally translates to mother. I have no idea why they say mother when they're surprised.

Expression of feelings it something else that I've noticed that is different. In America, whenever we ask "How are you?" The correct answer is always "Good" or something similar to that. Over here though, despite the stereotype that Koreans are more stoic than most, they seem to be much more expressive when asked personal questions like that. When I ask my students "Hey, how are you?" They'll always say how they feel - sad about a test, mad at classmates, happy about other things. In fact, I think one day I was asked, "Mr. Thai, how come you're always 'good'?"

The male students are really touchy feely with each other. For instance, one student will sit on another student's lap. The one on top will then tell me, "Teacher, he's gay."

My students don't seem to understand Asians not from Korea. I know I've said it before but I just want to say it again.I think their logic is, "Hey, he looks like us. Eats like us. Black hair, brown eyes like us. Has glasses like us. Duh, he's Korean!" When I tell them I'm not Korean, they remark, "Wait, are you adopted?"

One thing that I didn't really prepare myself for were my students' misconceptions of America as a whole. Everything I knew about Korea was from what my friends told me and what I saw in movies and dramas. Some of it was true, some of it was not. What I do realize is that America, if you've never really opened up a book, is full of violence and sex if you just watch tv and the movies. The other day one female student asked me if I had a gun. I asked my co teacher about this and she told me how they watch too much tv and stuff. Then I realize, in some movies, for no apparent reason, everyone just seems to have guns and are trained in utilizing them to their full potential.

Other random things -

If you speak English on the subway, people will STARE at you.

When called, instead of saying "What" or "huh?" here they say "why?"

When I first got here, I did a lot more bowing. Now I just do a lot more long head nods because I'm lazy.

My students call me evil because how I laugh at their pain.

Goal Setting

I read a FB status of a colleague of mine about goals that got me thinking. A long time ago in military school we had something we did every two weeks called "goal setting". In this period we'd set our goals, as cadets, to achieve certain objectives within the next week perhaps earning certain awards and doing well in tests.

In different stages of our lives we seem to have different goals in place in order to progress, or grow up, in life. In high school we strive for high marks in classes, participate in extracurricular activities, and do community service in an effort to gain admission to a good university. Why do we do these things? Well, as my parents and perhaps society has taught me, in order to live a full and meaningful life, I must go to a good college in order to get a good job that pays well so I can be a baller.

Leading up to university that was my thought process, as it also was those before me and many students before them. Yet when I entered my college years and progress through my first few classes, I started to wonder what was it that I really wanted. From a personal stand point, I had everything I could ever want. A nice home, a car, lots of good food, but something was missing. I couldn't quite...put a finger on it.

The goal until that point in my life has simply been to make that paper and own material displays of achievement to show that hey, I made it. But what exactly was that? I changed my major a few times, floated awhile perhaps lost. Grades weren't too good. I was very apathetic toward school. I didn't really know what I wanted. There was no goal that I was working toward.

Toward the latter part of my college career I was fortunate enough to meet some amazing people, including an awesome best friend, that has helped me find a way a little bit and helped me realize a few things about life and myself.

The reason why I'm in Korea was because an opportunity to teach abroad came up around my senior year and I sought advice from my best friend about it. Without hesitation he told me to do it. He told me to explore and experience and not to come back until I had learned enough to write an epic book about it.

I've also realized that although I can find motivation and inspiration from others, it is ultimately up to me to set my own goals.

So here it goes.

1. Save money, not just to save money, but for post baccalaureate education and personal effects.
2. Lose weight
3. Learn Korean and experience as much as possible