Its been three months now and luckily, not signs of homesickness although there were a couple of times that i wish i were home just to snuggle up on a familiar couch :) but life here is easy. Sometimes too easy.. I have started going to the local library in the mornings to teach myself korean. So far, I've been called 'cute' for my efforts in speaking the language.
Probably one of the most intesting thins i find about korea is the obsession on being perfect looking, they are neve satisfied with themselves, and will not hold back on telling others whther they are pretty or not.
They call their natural eyes " traditional eyes". And have a number of. Mrthods of trying to achieve "sag ah pul" which is the eyelid, which makes he eyes appear larger. Nicholas and i were approached in the park oneday by two korean girls. They basically demanded that wqe tell them which one was prettier. Clearly the one on he left was a lot prettier than the one on the right. The one on the right had dyed her her ginger, probably in attempt to be blonde, like me ;) which honestly did noting for her complexion. She also had no style. The girl on the left was by all cultural standards, beautiful. She had long healthy black hair, a beautiful face and generally well presented. So ... We were in a pretty awkward position. Nicholas prides himself on the tatic of giving them both compliments and luckily we made it out without making one of them cry. Which most likely would have been the ginger one.
My friend eva has had extensive plastic surgery on her face and body. Her father even told her that he prefers her face now more than before. It is a strange thought that your own father would prefer a face that isnt really yours or his infact. Yet, it is just aswell as it is the face she has chosen now. There is a song about being ugly by 2ne1. Its kinda like the opposite to christina aguileras you are beautiful. One lyric bothers me the most which is, dont tell me that im pretty, i know im ugly. But apparently, this is what korean girls feel like most of the time so they have decided to release a song about it." I think im ugly and no body want to love me, just like er i wana be pretty, dont lie to my face cos i know im ugly..." How damn depressing. These girls are suffering from a fear of being ugly becuase they are scared tehy wont get a rich boyfriend which will in turn determine their worth in society. A korean guy i know also told a girl he was starting to see that if she wanted to go out with him then she needed to go on a diet and lose some weight. Totally acceptable.
But as i am writing all of this, i distance myself from it as i dont want to get emotionally caught up trying to change something i cant. I saw an anorexic girl being flung out of a bar the other day onto the street, completely passed out. I did get angry then, it made me really sad knowing that it was a result of the extreme pressures to be thin here but this problem is everywhere in western society so it is not anger i felt against korean society, just the general lack of help girls recieve for these insecurities in many places in the world. Beauty is everything to a man, money is everything to a woman. Is this much different from our culture in ways? From a young age, adults always compliment a girl on the way she looks to make her happy, and ask boys what they have done today, giving them praise for what they have done to make them feel good. Girls be pretty, boys be successful.. Maybe just in a more extreme version to what i am used to? But i love it. I love how it is so different here and there is so much to learn about this culture. It strikes me all the time how lovely they are to me and generous and sharing and thoughtful. I like how koreans dont complain, they just get on with it. It is like they know life is difficult, so we arent going to stand around thinking about how the world is against us, we'll just grab some soju and be on our way.

I went to jeju island in the weekend just gone with my korean friend eva, which was amazingly beautiful! So cheap too considering.. Taxis are a godsend in korea. We traveleed from one end of the island to the other for only 30$ and stayed in a beautiful place overlooking the sea for $50. There is scuba diving available on the island for $80 a session, the cater for first timers and more experinced divers also. The water was the most beautiful emperature. I would highly reccommend visiting in september. The rainy season is over, the holidays are over, no one is on the beaches, and the temperature is just perfect! Best trip away so far. We mainly looked around the jungmun beach resort area on the south side.
Jeju is known for being the honeymooners spot. There arent really many clubbing places and few bars, but in jeju si you can find a few more on the main road. There are many more attractions i haent done on the island so i hope i can make it in october! Jeju is famous for its beauty in the autumn months.
The weekend before thatk i went to an island over the chuseok period with my foreigner friends from nz and sa mainly.. Very chilled out beach, had a good break away with good wine and was the first time in a while i had caught up with pauline too! :)
Daelim gave me 200 000 won to go shopping with for chuseok becuase the are so happy with my teaching! The have offered to get me a job in their company once i learn korean. The ceo seems to really like me, saying im like his daughter he doesnt have. Very sweet.
Oay? Im sick of writing now! Lots of love til next time x x x