Here are the ones I am answering today from my uncle John W. And if I answered them before but forgot, well, now you get to hear the answer twice.
1. How do you get rid of kimchi breath (for those not familiar kimchi is a traditional Korean dish of fermented vegetables and is quite pungent).
2. Are there running jokes about Kim Jung Un in S. Korea (like where the onion.com named him the worlds sexiest man), or does the fact that he's 100 miles north with nuclear weapons deter the "joke factor"?
3. What percentage of your students have cell phones and/or internet access? I hear S. Korea is the world's most "wired" country.
And here are the answers!
1. You brush your teeth. Korean people have very good dental hygiene and I think part of it is because they're slightly paranoid about the kimchi smell. A group of teachers once asked me if I thought Korean people had a distinct kimchi-like smell (no, they do not). My students and coworkers all brush their teeth after lunch and everyone keeps a toothbrush and cup at school. There is even a special outdoor sink for teeth brushing! In my belief you can also eat chocolate to get rid of the smell but that has not been verified by science or other humans. It's just an excuse I use to eat chocolate.
2. Oh Kim Jung Un. I don't hear a ton of jokes about him but he is ridiculed at times. Mostly because of his appearance. I think the government kind of clamps down on too much North Korea talk so he isn't openly mocked on TV or anything from what I've seen. But among people in their daily lives, jokes are made.
On another note, are South Koreans scared of North Korea or it's threats? Basically, no. North Korea makes threats constantly and they just can't be believed anymore. In fact, most of the time when something happens like a missile testing or a verbal threat, I don't hear about it until much later when I read it in the American news. No one in South Korea mentions it. They basically act the same way about North Korean as Iowans do about tornadoes. We know they're dangerous but we've just accepted that the risk in there and carry about as usual.
3. The percentage of my students with cell phones is probably 99.9%. About 90% of students have smart phones but there are a small few who have "dumb" phones. The reasoning being that if they don't have a smart phone they can't be distracted by a smart phone so they will study more. I've actually only met one Korean person without a phone and it's incredibly strange. I still don't know why she doesn't have one.
Of the students with "dumb" phones, most have a tablet or a PNP (I think that's what it's called?) which is a device where they can upload videos and then watch them later. It's theoretically for watching tutor videos (a HUGE business in Korea) but I know one of my students used her PNP to watch How I Met Your Mother during her tutoring time. So you can determine how effective it is for studying.
As for internet access, it's everywhere! Cafes almost always have free wi-fi if you buy a drink or something. The data works incredibly well on the subway system, deep underground. You have cell service in the mountains and in tunnels. You are connected all the time. Koreans can watch TV in their moving cars and buses. It's incredible.
I've had kimchi. I liked it. But I don't know how authentic it was. Or if I had kimchi breath afterwards. Maybe I should have had chocolate, too!
ReplyDeleteDavid