More Funny Things That Happen Daily

While most of North and South American's can be known as sun worshipers (guilty..), here in my new home, being tan is a less than desirable trait. Fair skin in Korea (and most other Asian countries I believe) is a sign of wealth. It doesn't mean you're particularly rolling in the dough, but you have a good enough job to not be a laborer who works outside all day, every day. This thought goes way back , but conflicts with the newer idea that if you have money then you can afford to go on beach vacations, ultimately leading to a tan. That's where things get tricky. Koreans combat this in a funny way. Long sleeves on the beach is a norm. Possibly one of the craziest things to me, because I do love a good tan. I just can't imagine traveling all the way to a beach (80% of the reason I love the beach is the sweet tan I get!!) just to sit in a long sleeve shirt, sometimes pants, inside a tent or under a huge umbrella. Oh! and the visors these people wear! It's almost always older women, but man! Those visors are big enough to shade a quarter of the beach you're on! And they aren't even just worn on the beach. These larger than life visors can be seen anywhere the sun is shining. These people don't play around when it comes to the sun.

Benchwarmers, anyone? 

Some of these visors can be accompanied by something I can only compare to a beekeepers uniform. Here I am, breaking the law by wearing a tank top, and the lady next to me on the bus is showing nothing but her eyes. I'm talking visor, shade thing attached to the visor, long sleeve, pants, tennies, and gloves! and it's like 80+ degrees plus more humidity then I ever knew was possible! I don't understand! It's so humid and muggy and all those other words that mean the same thing!

Similar to an older Korean woman's outfit on a midsummer's day.  All you need is hot pink, bright purple and  a sparkle/lace umbrella. 

A lot of Koreans really do wear shorts and short sleeves, I'm being a little dramatic, but there really is far too many still dressing like it's winter in order to protect their skin! Another example which is mind blowing to me for some reason, is the Korean who decides to wear a short sleeve, but puts on separate sleeves that go from wrist to bicep, making your short sleeve and automatic long sleeve, except the sleeves are made out of Under Armor type material, so they're skin tight and look SO uncomfortable. What's the point of throwing on the short sleeve if you're just going to cover up the skin that's showing with more sleeves?! 

While Oklahoma is finally coming to an end to the awful tornado season (I'm hoping!), crappy weather season is just beginning here in Korea. Monsoon season has begun, and is in full force until the beginning or middle of July. In girl language, that means constant ugly hair and no point in wearing make-up because it runs off as soon as you step outside. It's more muggy and humid here then anything I've ever experienced. Yuck! It's out of control!
With that being said, I'm going to name this Umbrella Season. I personally find umbrellas really annoying and have never owned one until I came to Korea. (and I only have to here because I don't have the luxury of a car, so walking in the rain is a bit obnoxious. My umbrella is not making the 6000 mile journey back home, that's for sure!) But lets take it back to the protecting the skin thing for a minute. Korean women (usually older women), remember the ones in the full, head to toe sun shielding outfits? Well, they also bring out umbrellas in the sun! Korea is a very crowded country, making walking space limited in some areas, and giant umbrellas don't help the situation at all. But now, these ladies are using umbrellas when it's sunny out too?! Gotta hide as much as possible! I can always tell how the weather is by looking out my window and observing the little ladies outside. If it's a normal, waterproof umbrella, it's a rainy day. But if it's a flowery, lacey, sequiny umbrella, it's a beautiful sunny day that I would be taking advantage of if I had a pool.

Another thing that I don't understand is that hospital patients just wander the streets near hospitals, saline drips in tow. I've walked by the coffe shop next to the hospital by my house more times than once and have seen hospital patients wheeling in their drips, ordering a cup of coffee only to sit in the coffee shop and enjoy it for a little bit before heading back to the hospital. Why are these people running around the streets?! It's also very common for a ton of them to be down in front of the hospital taking a smoke break or walking across to the convenient store and getting a snack in their hospital uniforms. It really grosses me out for some reason. haha I can't even go in that coffee shop because I feel like only sick people go there, when in reality, these people look completely fine. haha it's the strangest.

Well, I'm down to 42 more days left in little 'ole Gunsan. Even though I'm going to miss a lot of things about Korea, I'm pumped to get back and start up my old life again. I also have a ton of activities planned the first couple of weeks I get back, so that's not helping the countdown go any faster! My mom gets here in 10 days though, so that's exciting. I can't wait for her to see all these funny things. For those of you who aren't visiting, I'll attempt to get pictures of some of these crazy things so you can have a better understanding of it all.

-Kyla