Korean Fashion

I've been trying to make a post about Korean fashion for a while and I only got around to it today.

Let me just say that Korean women really dress nicely, in all situations. Even my co-teacher who does the P.E. classes (Christina) wears spike heels every day (have you ever seen someone jump rope in three inch heels? 'Cause I have). The one time I saw her in a T-shirt I think she must have had the flu or something.

They also have this cutesy fashion going on. Bows, ribbons, ruffles and pink are everywhere. They sell matching outfits for mothers and grown daughters and boyfriends and girlfriends.

Guys wear skinny jeans (a little more mystery in life would be nice) and leather jackets. Women wear baggy shirts and leggings, giant hair bows, really short skirts and at least three inch heels.

Now that I'm trying to explain it, I can't think how to accurately describe the Korean sense of fashion. They wear the most cutesy outfits without irony and it seems to work. They also completely disregard comfort and safety when selecting their outfits. They could be going to a soccer game and they would still wear stilettos, booty shorts and a giant pink bows on their heads.

That was a terrible explanation, but its the best I could do at the moment.

It should also be noted that things like the color pink and cute animals are not the sole domain of the female populations. Its perfectly acceptable for a little boy to like pink, none of his classmates will think its strange.

This weekend is shaping up to be another great one. My friends and I had a sports day yesterday that was a great time despite the fact that I bashed in my toenail when I kicked a soccer ball wrong. Fresh air and sunshine is sometimes hard to come by in our busy schedules so it was a nice change of pace. We ended the day by seeing Robin Hood which I'm not sure I liked. The actors did grow on me, though.

Today, we are going to the Lantern Festival in Seoul which is in honor of Buddha's Birthday, though its actually next Friday. Looks like it's going to be fun!

Teacher's Day

Along with Children's day (May 5th) and Parent's Day (May 7th), Korea also celebrates Teacher's Day (May 15th) which I am all for. I got all sorts of gifts today ranging from various cakes and pastries to lipstick and a pen with a giant fuzzy heart on the back of it.

I find it amusing that three months after I become a teacher, there is Teacher's Day. My co-workers, who have been working at our school for a lot longer than I have, all were showered with presents - socks, cologne, face wash, and foot scrub, to name a few.

I was a little surprised because the fuzzy heart pen was given to me by a kid who I saw maybe three times a week for 30 minutes. But he is the only student I've seen outside school so I guess that was what prompted it; I've actually met his parents.

I also discovered today that Korean children, like all children all over the world, have their own unique games. The one that most caught my attention is a game in which two combatants grabs one of their feet with both hands and, when the referee says, proceeds to try and to make the other one fall. Its kind of like jousting except minus horses and plus body slams.

In India, their game of choice was a form of 'Eeney Meanie Miney Mo' where everyone put down their hands and when your hand goes out you have to grab the ear of the person across from you with that hand. It ended in a tangle of bodies where everyone had a hold of someone's ear. Lots of fun.

The plan for the weekend is to have a picnic/sports day in the park, which should be fun. We plan to descend on a group of unsuspecting Koreans and try and teach them, with gestures and our pathetic collective Korean vocabulary, to play Ultimate Frisbee, which is one of my favorite sports. I think there will probably be some soccer in there also if Ryan has his way (he is Argentinian an not immune to South American Soccer Frenzy).

There was talk of ending the day with the new Robin Hood movie which, to be honest, I am not too excited about. I was until I heard that Russel Crowe and Cate Blanchet were starring. For a role as legendary as Robin Hood, you need a new face, not the Gladiator and the Elf Queen. There was a great BBC show recently about Robin Hood and I thought the guy who played the lead role was amazing. If you're going to re-make movies endlessly at least get some new actors. I may be judging the movie too harshly but that's what blogs are for, right? To be judgy and narcissistic. Check and check.

on a non-judgy-and-narcissistic note, Rosa Rio, Tampa legend and Silent film organist died at the age of 107. I saw her perform while I was working at the Palladium Theatre in St. Pete and I thought she was amazing. She told all these crazy stories about New York in the 1930s and 40s and about working with people like Orson Wells on soap operas. I'm so sad that I only got to see her once and never got to talk to her in person. You should read about her life in the article, its really interesting.