Answers to a Few Questions

I've received many questions about Korean culture, food, and style. I hope this entry answers a number of your questions: 

The entire country is like a small town with a 1950's mentality and an eighty's fashion sense. Strict moral/ cultural guidelines rein supreme here, and are adhered to as strictly as the standard youth wardrobe of converse and oversized T-shirts (complete with bad or obscene English phrases). 

Women here wear ridiculously short skirts and shorts, but do not show any cleavage. Besides the oversized eighty's tops, they wear T-shirts under tank tops and sundresses. The women care more about fashion and propriety than almost anything else. They would rather wear high heals to climb a mountain (and do wear high heals to climb mountains) than to look bad.

Women do not smoke in public here. There are ash trays in every bathroom, because while men are allowed to light up in almost every restaurant and outdoor space, if a woman were to do the same she would be considered a whore or harlot. 

While a woman with a cigarette is considered loose, she is not nearly as loose as the prostitutes who come by van load onto the street to peddle their wares. These women also smoke, and they do not carry parasols (another standard in Korean fashion). They have no need to keep the sun off their skin, because they only come out at night. The girls are beautiful, and expensive.

If you don't have the million won for a girl of your very own, some of the DVD rooms and Norabongs have women willing to lend you a hand.

Prostitution is probably Korea's largest area of criminal activity. Prostitutes and strip clubs are illegal here, but none of the laws are very strongly enforced. It is so safe, even in the city, that many people do not lock their doors.

As for the food, Koreans like spicy and that suits me well. The country is trying to incorporate more Western foods into their culture, but often get them horribly wrong. Everything is sweet here, except the pastries and cakes which are remarkably bland. So far my favorite thing is the sugar covered multi-grain crackers.  What at first appears to be normal, usually ends up being the most strange.

I'm still learning about the people and culture here, and I definitely don't have it all figured out yet; however, no matter how long I stay here, I don't think I'll ever get used to people bringing a pool with them to the beach (see picture at top).