American Dream.

A lot of Koreans encourage me to immigrate to the US because...

...according to many Koreans...

...the US is a very safe and friendly place ...

...where people hug and high-five each other on the streets...

I lived in the US for six months in 2004 when I was starting my second year of law school in Australia...

...I took American politics, Intro to Philosophy, American political theory, and some yawn-worthy subject related to Herodotus...

I lived with an American family.  We ate Southern food.

Stuff like grits, ochra...biscuits... fried chicken...fried everything...

...and there was a George Foreman grill...

...I drank a lot of Mr.Pibb and Dr. Pepper... 

...it was really really different to Australian food/cuisine...

I lived in Tampa Bay (now know as just Tampa?) in Florida...

...and I experienced significant culture shock...

...because while American food and American slang were a great novelty at the time...

...I felt that the "American dream" was not really happening for a large number of American people...

...most of my classmates, like me, were of mixed-origin...

... (Mexican, Black, Columbian, Philippino, Native American, Haitian, Dominican...)...

...and felt in some way restricted by class or social barriers in the USA...

Koreans often state that the US is a good democratic model for a strong economy boosted by multiculturalism...

...I don't necessarily think the US is the most shining example of successful multiculturalism...

...there is also something to be said for their complex and non-compulsory-voting democratic system...

Even though the economic climate in the US these days has seen many Americans default on their mortgages and lose their savings...

...I still hear many Koreans talk about their own "American Dream"... 

(???!!)

The global financial crisis has not hit Australia quite so badly...

...so while many Australians are thinking carefully about the government and their futures...

...there has probably been significantly less social activism and panic than in the US...

...where people are still posting their 'We're the 99 percent' messages online...

As an Australian who has experience living in the US...

...when I hear Koreans talk about their plans to achieve "big things" in the US...

...I have to wonder if this glistening "American Dream ship" sailed away a long long time ago...

There are more than 300 million people living in the US...

...how many of these people feel positive about the American economy today?

... surely Koreans have a much more positive picture of the US than actual American citizens...

One of my Florida friends mentioned on facebook today an entity known as the "Beltway Sniper"...

... who caused significant grief in 2002 by shooting random victims across Virginia, Maryland, and Washington along an interstate highway...

Again...

... I am conflicted as to why Koreans frequently recommend that I immigrate to the US...

...and why Koreans have such an optimistic idea about raising families in the US...

... when such a high level of violence is tolerated or even expected in many parts of the US...

Perhaps I am missing something...

... I come from one of the roughest rural areas of Australia...

... my hometown is ranked almost number 1 in the state for domestic violence every year...

...but guns are not something we would ever see on the streets...

...it isn't legal and it isn't a part of the culture...

One country that is much safer than Australia and the USA...

... in terms of property crime and street violence is probably South Korea...

...a point that many Koreans often fail to recognize...

Foreign Men in Korea.

From time to time I stumble upon a foreigner-produced publication in Seoul...

...and out of curiosity...

...I browse through them to see what kind of off-the-mark content they may contain...

... it's not that these publications are necessarily politically-focused or directly voicing some kind of political agenda...

...but I do feel like most foreigner-founded publications and blogs in Korea are overly-dominated by chunky white men...

...and the manner in which women are represented (and often the way in which Korean women are represented) in these publications/blogs is not always tasteful, polite, or accurate...

(that said... from time to time I do write for such foreigner publications about hanbok collecting... but that is a fairly non-offensive topic...)

An example of this chunky-disgruntled-white-dude-in-Korea-perspective was clear yesterday...

...when I opened a foreigner-compiled magazine called 'Groove Korea'...

... and I saw a cartoon about a white Canadian dude who lives in Korea...

...who refers to himself as 'Charisma Man'... (seriously???)

Check it out:

So...

...I am well-aware that comics do not need to be taken too seriously...

...however...

...comics do reflect culture...

...as well as 'popular culture'... 

...in addition to indirectly conveying social values or social issues...

... as such...

... this dominant 'Charisma man' character...

...with his 'improved physique' in Korea...

...seems to reinforce the idea that North-American men do not move to Korea to fulfil any career or academic goals...

...but rather move to Korea to enjoy partying and interacting with women...

... which is NOT necessarily true of all North-American men in Korea...

...but the bold and arrogant concept of 'Charisma Man' is the common image of foreign men that is projected in foreigner-publications/blogs in Korea...

... and it perpetuates the idea that all (North-American...?) foreign men in Korea are predatorial and consuming women with great ease...

Kpop politics.

Yesterday one of my friends and I briefly discussed an article I posted on facebook here.

It was basically discussing the way Caucasian women are represented in Kpop music videos/advertising...

...I don't particularly feel like Kpop or YG are trying to oversexualize white women...

I think the writer is a bit too sensitive...

...I think foreign girls in Big Bang videos could be part of marketing strategy to make YG look more attractive to international fans... (perhaps...?)

The issue my friend brought up...

...was that we don't see many foreign MALES in Kpop music videos...

...or in Korean advertising...(compared to foreign white females)

For example...

...one of the biggest foreigner PLUS Korean advertising campaigns in Korea right now... 

...features British ex-Skins actress Kaya Schodelerio and Korean drama star/occasional singer Kim Soo-hyun...

...for J.Estina;

These two look pretty... mmm... friendly...

While there are a number of advertising campaigns featuring a foreign woman with a Korean dude...

(think every confronting commercial in Korea featuring Australian model Jessica Gomes)...

... it is not so easy to find female Kpop idols/drama actors/film stars with a foreign male actor or foreign male model ...

(Daniel Henney does not count...as he is half-Korean)...

...I can't say decisively whether there is some reason why foreign (often Caucasian) females feature more in Korean entertainment than foreign males...

...but everyone seems to have an opinion on why this trend is becoming more apparent...

too cool for school.

I have been meaning to write a post about the  Korean cosmetics brand too cool for school for a while now...

...because it is a little different to other Korean cosmetic brands and everything inside looks like stationary...

There are a lot of too cool for school stores around Seoul...

...so far I have seen stores in Hongdae, Sinchon, Gangnam Station, and Itaewon...

I got a bit distracted on the way to Taekwondo training today and wandered into too cool for school to try and find something weird...

There is a school-related theme for most of the products and packaging...

...so I don't know if I necessarily fit the target demographic of the store...

...see here... lip gloss stick color crayons;

... but even though I graduated from high school ten years ago...

... I don't mind collecting frivolous stationary from time to time...

(or make-up disguised as stationary...)

I did find a "Butterfly Facemask"... it looked like this;

Apparently it is supposed to  help my "apple zone"...

...what is an apple zone? 

Like most Korean cosmetics stores...

...too cool for school are very liberal when it comes to giving samples...

...they even gave me a sample called a "McGirly Makkoli Booster" 맥걸리 부스터...

...that looked like tiny makkoli bottles...(but the cover says McGirly ?!...why...);

The interior of the store looks very interactive and the feeling is similar to entering a toy store...

...unfortunately I couldn't take any pictures inside because these days some Korean stores are touchy about people taking photos...

... I am wearing that butterfly facemask right now...

...magical things surely await me on the other side...

여러분 주무세용...^^*

No Foreign Friends.

I have studied and briefly worked in Korea for about three years now...

...and I still haven't made any foreign friends...

At Yonsei I did meet foreigners and spend time with some South Americans and some Chinese  and Mongolian students...

...but a lot of foreign language students only stay in Seoul for 3-6 months and then go back to their home country...

So...

...I haven't really sustained any substantial friendships with foreigners in Korea...

... I seem to only have skills with making Korean friends and I spend a lot of time in saunas with Korean ajummas...

...and I seem to end up on a lot of holidays with ajummas...

...so I never really got around to making foreign (non-Korean) friends...

I think there are some benefits and some negative points surrounding this situation...

...firstly...

...to speak in my native Broken Hill/Australian dialect...

I have to fly to Australia or call my younger brother...

...as I don't have any Australian friends in Korea...

(Photo courtesy of ElleGirl Korea)

One of the other negative points is that I can only express myself in Korean language...

... because I live in a house with only Koreans and sometimes I want to say something mildly sarcastic but it will NOT make any sense in Korean...

In my company all conversations and meetings and minutes and reports are filed in Korean...

...sometimes my limited Korean vocabulary is seriously and painfully stretched...

One of the positive things about having no foreign friends in Korea...

... is that I get to fly to other countries such as Japan, China, US and Australia and visit them every couple of months...

...while still maintaining some privacy and distance by living in a separate country...

I definitely like having some space and time to do things covertly without having to answer so many in-depth questions so frequently...

... and I have to focus specifically on my Korean grammar and pronunciation because no one here can understand my broad Australian slang...

Statistically,

...most foreigners in Korea fall under two nationalities: 

1) Chinese

2) American

... the Chinese are friendly but they find me utterly suspicious...

...the American community has not really warmed to me due to my political views and also they might not understand my accent...

I am open to talking with other foreigners in Korea... but we just don't seem to cross paths very frequently...

...my interactions with Koreans involve a lot of gift-giving, spending time together, and meeting people's families...

...and attending 10000000000 Korean weddings every weekend...

...so I find that I don't have much energy left...

...to leave my apartment (full of Koreans eating and celebrating every weekend...)...

... to try and meet another foreigner (who may or may not acknowledge me...)

 Also...

...sadly I have had some negative experiences where foreigners I have been familiar with have called me for money hand-outs...

...as some foreigners in Korea are unfortunately not spending their money in the cleanest of ways...

 I can't really say whether I am being anti-social or too judgmental...

...but I really haven't had any chances to form long-term friendships with other foreigners in Korea...

...either because Australian culture does not have its place in Korea... and I don't fit in with these Americans...

...or because I generally repel others with my political opinions...

...possibly the latter...