Just a few randoms from me tonight.. I'm about to get up and head to Hyun Gi's aunt's house for dinner! I'm excited! I just sent some of my few remaining post cards and got back from another stint at the gym. Today I watched a really cool documentary about a climbing team climbing Everest, a world-record holding 71 year old Japanese man a part of the team. Since I read the book, Into Thin Air, (which I would highly recommend!) I have been really interested in learning more about climbing and seeing first hand experiences. Really cool!
After my class Hyun Gi and I met one of her old middle school teachers. They talked for a while and while they did, I noticed the teacher saying the word "mi-guk" (America), spreading her arms wide, and then saying in Korean, "but she's pretty." In Korea, I have finally realized that at almost every place I go, whenever I meet new people, my physical appearance is critiqued. Fortunately for me it's been positive so far- my height, my weight, my looks, my hair texture! However, I just kind of realized that in America, even if someone is really pretty, we usually don't outright say it to their face the first time we meet them. Not bad, not good, just how it is. So, back to my story. I asked Hyun Gi later why she spread her arms (although I already had a pretty good idea!) when she talked about Americans. Hyun Gi laughed and told me that her teacher (and I think many other Koreans) thought that Americans were all overweight, and that her teacher was surprised that I wasn't and that I was "pretty." This honestly offended me a little, but I am realizing that every country, every culture has their own stereotypes of others. We don't mean them to be harmful or even anything to really take seriously. But they are there and I will definitely try to be more aware of it as I return to the States.
Ahh, I need to change and get going.
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