"kendra, what happened? you have four pimples."
thanks, yahoo. (yes, his name is yahoo.) perhaps i have gotten used to people NOT describing your flaws in full detail TO YOUR FACE, but in korea, no holds barred. i've heard of other students telling teachers that they looked like they had gained weight. i had a weird scab on my chin for a few days; my students deemed it necessary to ask what had happened (i avoided the real truth). i have never been told that i look like shit, but i have been asked why i am dressed up on particular days. do i have a date? no, but are you saying that i normally look like rubbish? perhaps i will be told that i need to get plastic surgery, and if so, the name of a good surgeon.
i haven't decided if this bluntness is a cultural thing or something that is lost in translation and comes out wrong, harsher than was meant.
needless to say, one's day will not start off on a happy note after being asked what is wrong with one's face.
i went to the poste during my break, wishing i had some sort of oral relief. something strong. i settled for a can of starbucks.
my day was long. 9 hours of teaching leaves me dead tired and not wanting to do shit. pay day will be sick next month.
my students told me to never cut my fingernails at night. if you cut them at night, mice will come and eat them and they will steal your happiness.
i was also told of an urban legend similar to the kidney thief story that is so popular in the states. a young man sees an old woman struggling to do something, maybe lift furniture or plant a big tree. he helps her, and to show her appreciation, she offers him a beverage, that has been conveniently spiked to knock him out. he wakes up a few hours later in an unknown place, with his arm cut off. gangs have seized him and cut off his arm. they will control him and he will work as a paralyzed bum on the street, with the gangs mooching off of his earnings.
watch out for little old ladies. they are dangerous.
there is another urban legend here, one much more well-known than the arm thief. it is called 'fan death.' wait, this is not an urban legend...just ask my students who ALL believe in this. if you leave a fan on in your room while you sleep without having a window open, YOU WILL DIE. i've been told that the fan will suck out all of the oxygen in the room. i've also been told that a fan will make the body too cold and you will die because of cold. i'm not sure what kind of fans koreans use, but i think you would have a better chance of death by keeping the refrigerator open at night and making that your new bed.
my students were adamant that this was real. i then stressed that everyone who spoke about this tale used the words, 'ive heard...' yes, we've all heard that my friend's cousin's mother's brother's best friend's child's school-teacher's dogwalker has had her kidneys stolen after an overly indulgent night out. heard: the operative word in the previous statement.
koreans. they're just as out there as americans.
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