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lemonkimchi · 5 years

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No, Kimbap Isn’t a Health Food

One thing I always assumed and heard about Korean food is that it’s healthy. Some people even expected to lose weight simply by coming to Korea and switching to a “traditional Korean diet”. A traditional Korean diet is something only followed by elderly country folk; it’s not something people typically eat. The standard Korean diet today is different from what it was. It’s so high in sodium, for example, that when I asked my doctor what he meant by “low sodium”, he told me to try to aim for 5,000mg to 10,000mg a day. When I said, “Wait, isn’t the MAX per day about 2,000mg?”, he replied, “Yeah, but no one gets that low.” Let that sink in: 10,000mg of sodium a day is what my doctor considered a “realistic low-sodium diet” for the average Korean. It’s not a healthy diet.

Foreigners and Koreans alike will mistake this classic Korean to-go food for a health food:

Look at all those colors! How can we go wrong? Plus, it’s not fried. And...isn’t sushi healthy?

Well, yes, sushi is healthy, but as any Korean will immediately correct you about, kimbap is not sushi. The Korean word for sushi is “chobap”, and has the same meaning as sushi in Japanese: vinegared rice. As kimbap has no vinegar, it is not considered a sushi. Kimbap requires two things: kim/gim (seaweed) and bap (cooked rice). Of course, you can plainly see that it’s not merely rice rolled into a bit of seaweed, so what of that colorful filling?

The picture above is bulgogi kimbap, a type of kimbap filled with beef that has been cooked in a sugary-salty marinade. Standard kimbap comes with Spam instead. You can also get it made with tuna mixed with mayonnaise. These are the standard forms of kimbap.

Let’s compare the stats for bulgogi kimbap with the stats for a McDonald’s hamburger:

You’re getting more calories, more cholesterol, more sodium, more carbs (including more simple sugars and less fiber), and more protein (that’s nice). That’s not exactly a health food. Of course, the food should be judged also on its quality. We all know not to expect quality calories from McD’s, how about kimbap?

First, we’re starting off with white rice. This is essentially a junk food version of a perfectly fine grain. It’s basically like using white flour instead of whole wheat, for example. White rice is devoid of so many healthy nutrients that I refer to it as a trash food. It’s complete junk, a total filler like low-quality white bread.

Next, we have the filling. Most people don’t make kimbap, they buy it. This means lots of sodium and sugar added to the product to increase shelf-life. A product loaded with sodium and sugar is not a good quality product for health.

As if the fat from the meat isn’t enough, you also add in a brushing of sesame oil. This is why the total fat for both products is similar but there’s a disparity between the saturated fat content. The additional cholesterol comes from the egg.

#kimbap #korean food #health #healthy eating

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lemonkimchi · 6 years

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Foreigner Tax

What is Foreigner Tax?

One thing I was shocked to find in Korea is the unofficial “Foreigner Tax”, which is bumping up prices for foreigners. I had encountered this when trying to buy items from street vendors, which apparently was pretty common for everyone (haggling is normal), so I didn’t think much of it. After all, they were just independent business owners trying to sell me a counterfeit scarf, it wasn’t that big of a deal.

What is a big deal is when this “Foreigner Tax” gets applied to dental and medical procedures. I don’t know how they can do this with a clear conscience. Please note that “Foreigner Tax” is just a euphemism, it’s not a government mandated tax, but rather arbitrarily charging more money to foreigners simply because they’re foreigners. Here’s how it ends up happening.

As an employee in Korea, I pay into the national insurance and am allowed to use it as a result. I am covered for medical procedures, but not dental procedures (if the dentist prescribes a medication, though, it may be covered by the medical insurance). There is also little price regulation for dentists, so they can literally make up their own pricing. For Koreans, they tend to know the average cost of a procedure, so the dentist won’t charge them too much more...but for foreigners, it’s assumed we don’t know how much things cost, that we’re all rich, so we’ll just pay whatever they ask.

My Experience

I needed a root canal and some other work done on my teeth, so I had planned on starting a dental care fix-up routine: go in for a procedure, wait a week, go in for another procedure, wait a week, continue until everything was finished. Pretty simple. Let’s finally take care of these neglected teeth, I figured.

The first place I went to told me I needed a root canal and attempted to charge me 800,000 Korean won (it’s not exact, but for easy conversion: 1000 Korean won = 1 US dollar). A root canal is only about 300,000 to 350,000 won, so charging me more than double was absolutely ridiculous. I did not get the procedure at that place.

My Korean friend, upset about this unfair treatment, recommended I see a clinic where her uncle works. I went and was looked at. They told me a list of procedures I needed to have done (which was expected), but then told me they would only fill my cavities with gold and that I absolutely had to have every single procedure done that day. They told me it would be 6,000,000 won (so about 6,000 USD) right there, right now. “I know I need a lot of work done, so I want to do this one today (pointing at back tooth needing a root canal), then next week I’ll come in for another, then the following week, and so on.” “No. You must get everything done today, and that will cost you 6,000,000 won.” “Well, I have to talk for work, so I can’t do these procedures all at once, I have to work tomorrow so this is not really a good idea. I’ll just get the one thing done today, then next week, then next week, and so on.” “Do you even live in Korea?” What kind of question was that? Did they think I was trying to “sneak out” with “just” a root canal? At that point, I sighed and left.

My Korean friend checked around and found a place with prices listed on their website, then made the appointment for me (so they’d think I was a Korean) and got the pricing taken care of. The place never tried to pull any bullshit with me, they were very friendly and straight-forward, and now I see them regularly as a regular dentist.

Yesterday, I tried getting help with a tailbone problem. I didn’t have any injury to the area, but it’s been increasing in pain the past 5 months. An xray came up with nothing, so they thought to do an MRI. I agreed, because I am at risk for tumors and already had weird tumors removed from my appendix (along with the entire appendix), so an in-bone tumor was a possibility. MRI scans were not originally covered by medical insurance, but as of 2017 President Moon wanted to expand coverage. I’m not 100% sure if it’s covered just yet, but when I asked why it was so expensive (600,000 won) when I have insurance, the nurse said, “Really?! You have insurance?!” She never checked. She never asked. She just assumed I didn’t have insurance. If I had come in using a passport, I can understand assuming I’m a tourist, but I used my alien registration card, which very easily displays whether I’m covered by insurance when typed into any medical system. MRI scans can be as low as 250,000, so why they’re charging me so much, I have no idea.

Avoiding Foreigner Tax

I have learned there are some ways to avoid Foreigner Tax.

Go to a large hospital that’s run by a university (not a private hospital). These places are there to help medical students and the public, so they are very straight-forward with pricing and care.

Bring a Korean person along with you and let them do all the talking, even if you are fluent in Korean. Have them talk about the reason for seeing a doctor/dentist as if they’re the ones receiving treatment, and have them ask how much it will likely cost. Once the staff gives a number, if it’s acceptable, present your alien registration card and let them know you’re the one receiving the treatment (only do this if you have active insurance, because otherwise they’ll charge you more for not being covered by insurance).

If you need a small clinic or dentist, check several of them online. If their prices are listed online, they will almost certainly stick to those prices and not attempt to overcharge you. Even still, have your Korean friend call and book the appointment after verifying the price.

Never pay because you feel awkward. I don’t know how many of you this will apply to, but some people will go along with mistreatment simply because they feel too awkward to leave or voice against it. Do not let them take advantage of you.

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lemonkimchi · 6 years

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Part of the problem here is an absolute lack of proper funding and training. All Korean men are, in a sexist move, required to serve in the military. While there, they get very little pay and virtually no training. You can leave your military service having been assigned a job that you received no training for, like people who were assigned to artillery that never touched any artillery, let alone test-fired it. As the article said, it’s South Korea that repeatedly refuses to assume control despite the US urging them to assume control, saying they need more time to improve capabilities and the like. The government simply does not care to improve the military training because they know the US will bail them out (why spend money on doing it yourself when your big buddy will do it for you?)

The US needs to get out of Korea and Korea needs to take care of itself. Stop wasting the time of the male population in the country by sequestering them away for two years to get no money and no training. If you really are serious about this, require that both men and women must serve and give them actual training, or change the military to a volunteer service and use these fewer numbers to improve pay and training (quality over quantity).

SEOUL—South Korea is pushing the U.S. to allow it to take control of its own military forces should war break out on the Korean Peninsula, but the Americans are concerned that Seoul isn’t ready, according to U.S. officials.

The issue creates a potential fault line between the two allies amid a growing threat from North Korea. The topic is set to feature prominently in security talks on Friday in Seoul during a visit by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis. As part of the trip he is expected to visit the demilitarized zone on the border with North Korea, according to U.S. and South Korean officials.

South Korea has day-to-day control of its own military, but under an agreement in place since the Korean War in the 1950s, the U.S. would assume operational control of both the U.S. and South Korean militaries in the event of a major conflict on the peninsula. The U.S. maintains approximately 28,500 forces in South Korea.

The U.S. for years urged South Korea to prepare to take command of its own forces in the event of war with North Korea, but South Korea’s military has asked repeatedly that the U.S. delay the transfer, saying it needed more time to invest in its forces and sharpen its capabilities. Successive conservative governments in South Korea mostly accepted the delays. Now, Seoul’s first left-leaning government in a decade, loath to be dragged by the U.S. into what it may see as an unnecessary conflict, is turning the tables and asking to accelerate transfer of what is known in military shorthand as “op-con.”

Washington isn’t inclined to relinquish control…

it’s extremely ridiculous ROK has no control over their own military.

it’s been what now 65 some years? and the US still thinks Korea is not ready to take control of their own military? when do you think Korea will be ready to take control? maybe in another 65 some years?

i think never.

i agree Korea is never going to be ready to take control of their own military, especially if they keep having to ask oh pretty please permission from the US. if Korea really wants it, they just need to take it and go.

#korea #south korea #military #us #duty station

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lemonkimchi · 6 years

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For anyone curious about this, here’s the short version.

Korean family names weren’t really a big deal unless you were part of the royal family. After Japan invaded, they required everyone to have a family name along with a given name for documentation purposes. Since most people didn’t really have a family name, or one they had strong ties to, they chose the most popular family names at the time (which were connected to the royal family), to include Kim, Lee (which is really pronounced “Ee”), and Park (which is really pronounced “bak”).

If this happened today in your country, which family names do you think would be the most popular?

#korea #korean #south korea #why do koreans have the same name

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lemonkimchi · 6 years

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Are Koreans Racist?

I was inspired by a comment I received on one of my previous entries.

If you’re outside of Korea, you’ve likely heard about the apparent love of blackface:

Unless they’re in the generation after mine, a lot of Koreans simply don’t see the problem. I wondered how that was possible, because I was raised in a culture where blackface was always considered to be inappropriate. Of course, there are genuine racists in Korea because genuine racists exist everywhere, but the situation in Korea widely appears to be a simple case of ignorance because of a lack of education on the subject of equality and acceptance. This comes in two parts.

1. A (seemingly) cultural belief that “If it’s not mean, it’s not racist.”

I remember teaching adults in my generation about this. They were educated people who tried to be more culturally educated, and I explained a situation I frequently ran into: when shopping with a Korean friend, I would usually ask the staff for something (in Korean) and the staff would either speak Korean as a reply only to my Korean friend or they’d attempt to flub through very bad English (even though I wasn’t speaking English). When I explained this to my adult students, they said that it’s simply because the staff is scared to speak English. “But I’m not speaking English,” I reminded them. “Yes, but they think you’re speaking English because you’re not Korean.” “No they don’t, they understand my Korean but simply choose to answer the question to my Korean friend instead of replying to me.” “That’s because they’re scared of speaking in English!” “But I’m not speaking English.” “Yes, but because you’re not Korean, they’re afraid of speaking English, so they feel more comfortable speaking to your Korean friend.” “That’s racist.” “No, they’re just uncomfortable.” “Have you ever had this problem in Korea, where you ask a question in Korean and the staff doesn’t reply to you, but talks to your child or to your friend instead?” “No, because I’m Korean.” “Yes, that’s right. So they are treating me differently because I’m not Korean and that’s what makes it racist.” “Oh!”

During another adult class focused on travel, I was teaching about different people in Australia. When I posted a picture of an Aboriginal Australian, one of my well-traveled, intelligent students said, “Hey, he looks like a monkey!” I was taken aback and explained that’s not something you should say, but after I collected myself from the initial shock I explained why. I asked her how she would feel if a non-Asian was shown a picture of a Korean and they laughed and said, “He’s all yellow and squinty!” and she understood.

Koreans recognize racism, they aren’t immune to this concept. They recognize it a lot when they receive it because of previous Japanese invasion/occupation. The Koreans were treated as subhuman. In fact, that’s one reason they had become so isolationist after the Mongolians invaded back in the 13th century: they didn’t want to deal with other people’s bullshit, and thought this was a great way to deal with it.

Koreans were (rightfully) upset by some media issues I want to share:

First is this racist gesture during a football match.

It really pissed off the Koreans on the team and landed the offender, Edwin Cardona, a five game ban.

Second, a British guy commented about a Korean bakery on a TV program. His comment had him saying it was like a UK bakery, and he referred to it as “civilized”. Some Korean viewers wanted to leave positive comments to him on his Instagram page. His friends thought it would be a good idea to mock the broken English used by some of the Korean fans, and this did not sit well, either. This story ended up on the Korea Times.

Third, from another Korea Times article, racism towards and from Koreans was pointed out, including this ridiculous picture from Glamour Brazil:

So if Koreans can recognize racism, why don’t they apply it to their own racist commentary/behavior? This article sums it up pretty well: because Korea has been invaded but never invaded others, it sees itself as a peace-loving perpetual victim; as such, Koreans may have the inability to recognize that they can cause racism and create victims.

Compounding this issue...

2. There currently are no anti-discrimination laws in Korea.

If you read the article, you’ll find that Korea has no anti-discrimination laws in this sense. As recently as February 2017, Koreans were petitioning the government to actually create some anti-discrimination laws to cover sexual orientation, race, and religion.

Korea does have laws against discriminatory hiring practices, but this is only for women, the disabled, and the elderly. How much of this is enforced, I can’t say. I will say that I have worked for a place that had refused to let women teach the adult students attending the learning center because it was “too hard for women to teach adults” (my direct bosses knew this was sexist bullshit and let me teach the adults anyway), and I have only seen one disabled person ever in Korea that had a regular job.

Just in 2017, a Korean soldier was given a jail sentence for being gay, and foreigners are encouraged to never attend Pride events because some Christian extremists will photograph you, figure out where you work, and try to get you fired for supporting the LGBT community. All of this is currently legal.

Teaching English in Korea has some requirements set out, but once you arrive in Korea you may find a problem getting work. If you appear white (even if European ancestry is very small in your genetic make-up), you will likely have an easier time finding a job in Korea. There is even discrimination against foreign-born Koreans who speak fluent English.

While we’re on the subject, if you’re obese, your application (which must include a photo) could be rejected. If you ask why, they’ll plainly tell you it’s because of your weight.

Are you male? Well, some places hire women-only. Wait, isn’t that illegal? Yeah. Not really the most enforced thing.

Okay, so you’re a slim, white female from the UK. You’ll have an easy time finding work, right? Not so fast. The US and Canadian accents are the most trendy, so I’ve met British people who were denied jobs on the grounds of “We want someone with an English accent.” “But I am English and this is an English accent.” “I mean, speaking English like an American.”

It’s actually a really layered problem and this is why things like blackface get a slap on the wrist in the form of issuing an apology...if that. Compounding the issue is “Riding the White Horse”, which is the creepy fetishization of white people. I’ve heard some people, like the person who replied to the blog linked at the top of this entry, assume that it means all white women get raped in Korea (which isn’t true). I don’t understand why Riding the White Horse is considered anything special, since the west has “Yellow Fever” for the creepy fetishisization of Asians and “Jungle Fever” for the creepy fetishization of those who have African ancestry. This is an example of ingroup/outgroup thinking that makes it seem like Koreans are mega racist assholes (and they aren’t).

Overall, for the individual person, racism, sexism, and other forms of discrimination don’t really happen because most Koreans...like most non-Koreans...aren’t fucking assholes. They’re regular people who want to live their lives peacefully and meet new people, they understand sharing culture and experience is a positive thing.

Racists do exist, but they exist everywhere. The ignorance Koreans have about discriminatory actions is due to widespread ignorance on what constitutes discrimination compounded by a lack of laws (or existing weak laws). With some education on the subject, it’s very easy to get Koreans up to speed...in fact, even without it being specifically taught in school, many of today’s teens and children are very keen on discrimination of all kinds and know it’s morally wrong.

#korea #south korea #racist #racism #discrimination #sexism

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lemonkimchi · 6 years

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If you want to see racism, you don’t need to come to Korea...all you need to do is look at your comment.

Coming to Korea with an Eating Disorder

Some people have asked me to do an entry on this subject. I’ve broken it down into different “triggers”.

Comparing Yourself to Others

I did a previous blog post about the idea that Koreans are slimmer than westerners, and in it I mentioned the obesity rate is rising in Korea. This is still the case, but a Korean with an “average” body is still slimmer than many westerners. With the way the average Korean holds body fat, they may have a pudgy belly and muffin top while still having a thigh gap; that means in most clothes during the winter, all you see is skinny legs. In the summer, those skinny legs are shown off in short-shorts and miniskirts (common fashion here), so even if you can see their chubby bellies in a tank top your eyes are still drawn to their tiny, naked legs.

This means the Koreans you see on a daily basis are either thigh-gap-thin or puffy-fatty-obese, and there’s no real in between just due to genetic differences in body fat. I’ve seen a total of two Koreans in the years I’ve lived here that had a pear-shaped body. Two. I remember exactly where I was and what they were wearing because it was that surprising to see.

For those who have an eating disorder, seeing someone skinny (especially with slim legs) can spark them to skip meals or purge; seeing an obese person can trigger them to push food away or purge what was already eaten. Since just about everyone here is thigh-gap-thin or puffy-fatty-obese, you’re pretty much triggered all day.

The culture here worships thinness in both women and men. A muscular man is often seen as unhealthy as if he was made of nothing but excess fatty tissue. Being slim is the ideal for both sexes. As a result, you’ll see this in popular music groups, advertisements, and television. The only exception to this is when very obese persons are used to advertise products (usually food) and there is currently a television program where four quite obese people go around trying different food at different restaurants. Television shows are often played in restaurants, so if you find yourself stopping for dinner with friends you might be confronted with very obese people sloppily eating food on TV and wailing about how good it is. This honestly turns my stomach like nothing else and I can’t eat.

Because of the thin-worship and growing obesity rate, you are confronted with diet advertisements and liposuction ads as well. If you stop by a CGV cinema, you’ll find yourself confronted with a diet advertisement on the inside and outside of the stall doors in the bathroom, and plastered all over the bathroom mirror. Yes, this has prompted me to purge on more than one occasion. Thank you, CGV, for putting diet advertisements on the inside of bathroom stalls at a place where the only food served is literally junk.

Diet Foods

Do you enjoy your diet Dr. Peppers? Say goodbye to them if you come here; as of this writing, it simply doesn’t exist in Korea. In fact, the only diet drinks you can find are Coke Zero, Pepsi Max (impossible to find in a bottle or can, this is only available at some restaurants), and a type of lemon-lime soda (similar to Sprite of 7-Up) that I’ve only found in some vending machines and E-Mart. For a country that is so focused on thin, they sure as hell don’t show that in their food products. There is a food bar…I don’t remember the name but it was called something like “Calorie Sense” and has a picture of the bar with a tape measure around it…that I bought one time. I was in a hurry and didn’t check the calories; I figured it would be a low-cal bar because of the name and imagery. It was over 300 calories in a small bar. It was basically like eating Scottish shortbread for the size and calories, I was so appalled. Dr. You is a brand that makes “healthy” food (junk food with health claims). The only one worth looking at is their 99 calorie bar; everything else is just sugar and calories you don’t want.

Sugar-free coconut milk ice cream sound good? It doesn’t exist here. Unsweetened soy milk? Good luck trying to find that (even the one advertised as less sweet still has added sugar). Korea is not a country of taking chances or appealing to niche markets; items sold here are items that are proven to be top sellers. This leads to a market flooded with products but the products are usually imitations of other items. KitKats are sold here as are the Korean knock-off, Kicker. Enjoy your Pocky? You can try Korean Ppeppero, which is available in far, far fewer varieties. This is slowly changing, and more and more items have been introduced since I’ve lived here. By the time you come, maybe there will be a low-cal ice cream version for you to enjoy…but I wouldn’t hold my breath. Very recently, Starbucks started carrying frappuccino light in addition to the full-sugar version so hope is on the horizon.

Food and Alcohol

Food is seen as incredibly healing in Korea. It’s elevated to a real status here that symbolizes togetherness, happiness, and overall well-being. As a result, you’ll find any place you work inundated with snacks and you will be pressured to eat it, sometimes to the point of someone actually shoving the food into your mouth (this is seen as a very respectful gesture, believe it or not). As I mentioned above, Korean foods are rarely calorie-conscious. This results in small snacks that seem benign loaded with processed fats and sugars with calorie counts you never would have guessed. “떡” (“ddeok”) is the most common offender. It’s made with glutinous rice and usually filled with red bean, sesame, or honey. Sounds fine enough until you realize one standard serving (about half the size of your palm) is almost 200 calories.

Photo Source. The ddeok close to 200 calories is on the right while the smaller ones on the left are around 95 calories each despite being smaller than a ping pong ball.

Working in a Korean company involves going out to company meals called “회식” (hwe-sheek). These are infamous for the amount of alcohol consumed. You start off at a restaurant where beer and soju are replenished as quickly as they’re swallowed with way too much food being served. Your coworkers will pressure you to eat everything in sight while your managers and bosses will refill your soju glass and expect you to shoot it with them. One bottle of soju is 550 calories for anyone curious. After dinner, you go to a bar where you drink more and eat “안주” (“an-joo”), which is the name given to mandatory drinking snacks (Koreans would never think to drink alcohol without eating food to accompany it, and some containers of alcohol are sold with food taped to them while other food snacks are advertised as drinking snacks specifically). When you finish, you will be taken to a singing room (similar to a karaoke bar in concept, but your party has a room all their own) called a “노래방” (“noh-ray-bahng”). More alcohol and an-joo will be ordered and you are expected to eat and drink while you sing and watch your coworkers sing. Because everyone is pretty drunk by this point and alcohol makes you friendlier, your coworkers will be more prone to putting food into your mouth directly. While you might be able to get away with shaking your head or pretending you aren’t paying attention with them, if your manager or boss does this you should take the food because it’s seen as a form of bonding and respect. The night may end here or you may continue on, hoping from bar to noh-ray-bahng, until four in the morning. As you work longer for the company and show yourself to be an amicable, respectful individual, you may be able to get away with leaving after the dinner but when you start a job it is best for your working relationships to go through the cycle as long as you’re able.

If you come here as a university student, I sure hope you like fried chicken, pizza, and beer as well as the aforementioned noh-ray-bahng. You can expect your friends to feed you, but unless they’re older than you it’s not as big of a deal if you decline the food being put to your mouth.

Clothes

The final issue with visiting Korea while having an eating disorder (either in full-swing or during recovery) are the clothes and shoes. If you’re tall, your feet are likely larger than they would be if you are short. The problem is that Korean stores only carry standard, average sizes. If you’re a woman with, say, a US size 11 foot, you will not be able to buy clothes here. I know your foot isn’t your waist size, but this can be triggering for some people to be reminded they are “too big for normal things” (that’s just how the eating disorder brain works sometimes). Tall women also have issues with buying clothes. Taller men, not so much, but for women specifically your best bet is to order online and hope the measurements are true-to-size. Thankfully, Korea is totally fine with short clothes (dresses, skirts, shorts), so if you buy a shirt that goes up past your mid-thigh you won’t look out of place here.

As I mentioned earlier, Korean people (and east/SE Asians in general) tend to carry fat around their midsection more than their legs. As a result, the trousers here are very, very slim. I’m pear-shaped and can fit into a Korean XS tank top, for example, but I could not buy trousers in this country for the longest time (I had to work with A-line and flared skirts paired with leggings). While I can buy trousers now, it’s still quite difficult to find some that will accommodate my thighs and butt, even if they fit around my waist, because most of the trousers here are slim-fit or skinny jeans. This is honestly so upsetting that I won’t even try on trousers most of the time.

Comments

Like Japan and China, Korean people have no problem commenting on your weight. As someone with an eating disorder, any comment on my size is bothersome, whether someone says I’m slim or fat or “chubby”. One woman I know keeps tabs on everyone’s weight and she’ll tell you to eat more or eat less when you see her.

From the Korean perspective, “You’re fat, you should eat less” is like telling someone “You’re still smoking? You know it’s unhealthy so you should probably quit.” There’s no offense intended; being overweight is unhealthy, your loved ones care about your health, so your loved ones will comment on your weight.

The problem, though, comes from the difference in body type. Because Asians tend to put weight on their midsection, their BMI chart is different from non-Asians. Depending on country, an Asian might be in the obese category at 26 or 27 BMI while non-Asians don’t hit obese until they have a BMI of 30. This means if you are non-Asian your weight is less of an issue than the weight of an Asian person when we’re talking the higher end of the healthy BMI scale. This means you may be in a healthy BMI range but because you look heavier than an Asian person’s healthy BMI range, someone will assume you are unhealthy and will comment on it out of concern.

This becomes particularly true when you visit the doctor for a mandatory work check-up (if you come here on a work visa). Even if you are within a healthy non-Asian BMI, you will find your paperwork listing you as overweight or obese. This has been upsetting for my coworkers even though they don’t have an eating disorder. Every time they have to visit the doctor, they get a lecture on their weight and are marked as obese in their paperwork.

The opposite is also true: if you are a slim non-Asian, your body will be commented on because the stereotype is that westerners are all obese. For someone with an eating disorder, this can be equally triggering.

Conclusion

If you’re looking for a challenge with your eating disorder, come to Korea. If you are easily triggered and make drastic changes as a result of being triggered, it’s best to avoid Korea until you can manage it better.

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lemonkimchi · 7 years

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Isn’t Korean Food Spicy?

I remember coming to Korea and getting excited about all the spicy food I was going to be able to enjoy. Korean food is world-famous for being super duper spicy, so I was ready to indulge in all its mouth-tingling glory. When I arrived, however, I was immediately disappointed in everything I ate. I mean, the flavor was fine, but I was promised intense heat by Koreans only to find that it was barely a nibble at my tongue.

As it turns out, there are only two people that find Korean food to be spicy: 1. Koreans. 2. Non-Koreans that cannot handle even a tiny bit of spiciness. Oddly enough, most Koreans I’ve met can’t even handle Korea’s own mild food. Some of them “brave” it (if one could call it that) as a show of strength or to get an endorphin kick, but when they do they show obvious signs of suffering. A perfect example would be Shin Ramyeon, an instant noodle brand that I had in the US prior to coming to Korea. As I never saw it advertised living in the US, I had no idea whatsoever that it was supposed to be spicy. It just tasted good, that was all. When I came to Korea, however, I was surprised to find that it was perceived to be painfully, moan-inducing spicy...and was eaten that way, even in public.

I cannot tell you how often I’ve had this exact line of conversation while eating a food or talking about having eaten a food that is perceived as spicy. Korean Person: “You can eat X?” Me: “Yes..?” KP: “Isn’t it too spicy?!” Me: “It’s not even a little spicy.” KP: “Well, I can’t X. It’s too spicy!”

So what happened? Why is Korean food actually mild but Koreans insist that their food is legendarily spicy?

The scale to measure spiciness is called the Scoville scale. A pepper like the Jalapeno from Mexico averages at 5,000 Scoville units while their Habenero measures at 100,000 to 350,000. The Bird's Eye Chili, used in SE Asian cuisine (such as Thai food) and Ethiopian foods, ranges from 100,000 to 225,000 Scoville units. A green chili in India, the Hari Mirch, is from 15,000 to 30,000 Scoville units (keep in mind India also has one of the hottest peppers in the world, the Ghost Pepper, which is over 1 million Scoville units). For the record, the hottest pepper currently is the Carolina Reaper from the USA at 2.2 million Scoville units. On the other hand, Korea's hottest pepper, the Chongyang Pepper, is a mere 2,500 Scoville units. To Koreans, this little pepper is screaming hot insanity spiciness, so you can now see why they insist that their food is ridiculously spicy. Why other people bought into the myth, I’m not sure...I can only guess it’s because Korea is a relative newcomer to the global community and people have just taken their word on it.

One other thing I noticed, and this is purely anecdotal, is that I have seen other cultures exposing their children to spicy food at a young age. This also happened to me as my culture enjoys spicy food. Koreans, on the other hand, do not expose their children, even as old as five, to anything even possibly construed as mildly spicy. Of those I’ve met, they seem to think that not only can the child not handle it, but that it will somehow be medically harmful to allow them to taste it. Of course, I know this isn’t the case and if you were brought up eating spicy food you also know that this isn’t the case. Entire cultures bring their children into spicy eats early on and have no negative repercussions for it, but Koreans repeatedly insist that spicy food is basically somewhat dangerous for anyone to consume so they keep it away from their kids. This might contribute to why older Koreans can’t easily tolerate spicy food. There is a food that kids like because of the texture called “ddeokbokki”, but parents of younger children will wash off the individual pieces of ddeok before giving it to their child out of fear the child will be unable to handle the mild spiciness in the sauce.

Now you know not to.

#korea #korean #south korea #south korean #spicy #spicy food #food #korean food #spiciness #한국 #한식 #매은

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lemonkimchi · 7 years

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Coming to Korea with an Eating Disorder

Some people have asked me to do an entry on this subject. I’ve broken it down into different “triggers”.

Comparing Yourself to Others

Diet Foods

Do you enjoy your diet Dr. Peppers? Say goodbye to them if you come here; as of this writing, it simply doesn’t exist in Korea. In fact, the only diet drinks you can find are Coke Zero, Pepsi Max (impossible to find in a bottle or can, this is only available at some restaurants), and a type of lemon-lime soda (similar to Sprite of 7-Up) that I’ve only found in some vending machines and E-Mart. For a country that is so focused on thin, they sure as hell don’t show that in their food products. There is a food bar...I don’t remember the name but it was called something like “Calorie Sense” and has a picture of the bar with a tape measure around it...that I bought one time. I was in a hurry and didn’t check the calories; I figured it would be a low-cal bar because of the name and imagery. It was over 300 calories in a small bar. It was basically like eating Scottish shortbread for the size and calories, I was so appalled. Dr. You is a brand that makes “healthy” food (junk food with health claims). The only one worth looking at is their 99 calorie bar; everything else is just sugar and calories you don’t want.

Sugar-free coconut milk ice cream sound good? It doesn’t exist here. Unsweetened soy milk? Good luck trying to find that (even the one advertised as less sweet still has added sugar). Korea is not a country of taking chances or appealing to niche markets; items sold here are items that are proven to be top sellers. This leads to a market flooded with products but the products are usually imitations of other items. KitKats are sold here as are the Korean knock-off, Kicker. Enjoy your Pocky? You can try Korean Ppeppero, which is available in far, far fewer varieties. This is slowly changing, and more and more items have been introduced since I’ve lived here. By the time you come, maybe there will be a low-cal ice cream version for you to enjoy...but I wouldn’t hold my breath. Very recently, Starbucks started carrying frappuccino light in addition to the full-sugar version so hope is on the horizon.

Food and Alcohol

Photo Source. The ddeok close to 200 calories is on the right while the smaller ones on the left are around 95 calories each despite being smaller than a ping pong ball.

Clothes

Comments

Conclusion

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lemonkimchi · 8 years

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What’s On the Menu?

I received this question:

Do you think there's a healthier culture on Korea than in America, as far as food habits and choices? Or have you seen it go in the way of the US since you've been there?

That’s a great question. The obesity rate in Korea has been jumping up since I’ve been here. Where seeing someone obese was a rarity just a few years ago, it’s becoming so incredibly commonplace. There are even people who take up more than one seat on the subway. It’s absolutely insane.

I can’t say that Korea has gone the way of the US simply because the US has variety. Korean stuff tends to be pretty standard and there’s not a lot of wiggle room. Any time I see a new food here, I buy it to “vote with my dollars” as it were.

When I came to Korea, I was absolutely shocked at the portion sizes. I remember being picked up by my mentor teacher and taken out for lunch. I was a vegan at the time (and have since become vegan again) and explained that I couldn’t have any animal products at all. She said she understood and ordered me this:

Since there’s no banana for scale, I’ll have to explain that one of these can comfortably provide three servings...and no, this is a single portion. It is not meant for sharing.

Koreans sometimes enjoy this snack as well (and it’s more often eaten if you’re a student):

What you’re seeing here (clockwise from left) is blood sausage with offal, fried items, broth, and a stir-fried food with chewy rice flour bars in it. This whole thing can run 1200-1500 calories and this is often shared between two people. When was the last time you considered 600-750 calories a snack? Well, in Korea, it is.

Koreans have a penchant for snacking. There are many times when I wonder how they can be hungry at all. For example, my Korean coworkers will eat full meals for lunch and then proceed to down cookies, chips, and chocolates as part of their lunch time...then sometimes they’ll order something like the “snack” above a couple hours later. Office snacks are almost mandatory, it seems, as they’ve been present at every single place I’ve worked.

Snacking is so common in Korea that snacks to accompany alcohol have a special name: an-joo (안주). Maybe you’re thinking, “I get the drunk munchies, too” but this isn’t “drunk munchies”; rather, it is a mandatory snack. Searching “안주” in Google gives you an idea how big these “snacks” can be:

Considering a single bottle of soju is 550 calories, this adds up insanely quickly.

Sure, there is a lot more western food here than there has been, say, 10 years ago, but you can see that the issue with the Korean obesity rate is due to their socially-acceptable overeating.

#korea #korean #south korea #안주 #튀김 #순대 #떡볶이 #음식 #anjoo #anju #twi-gim #soon-dae #tteokbokki #korean food #obese #obesity #overweight #weight gain

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lemonkimchi · 8 years

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So Many Milks

When I came to South Korea, there was a really big thing called “banana milk”. It was just milk with banana flavoring but it was enjoyed by adults and children alike. Coffee milk also came along, which is exactly as it sounds: milk with coffee added. Chocolate milk and strawberry milk existed but banana milk was the most popular by far.

Then...then the milk flavorings just exploded.

Honey cheese, mint, coconut, watermelon, chocolate, banana, coffee, strawberry, melon...it seems like there is no end in sight to the different flavors they’ll do in milk. This is to say nothing of all the different milk coffees and milk teas sold everywhere.

And yes, vegans, there is a banana soy milk and soy milk coffee as well, though that’s the extent of soy I’ve seen.

Which milk do you want to try ?

#korea #korean #south #milk #dairy

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lemonkimchi · 9 years

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Honey-[flavor] Mania

As far as I can tell, the honey butter craze in Korea started due to some product placement. When other companies saw that convenience stores could not keep Honey Butter Chips in stock, they started making their own versions, flooding markets with all kinds of honey-[flavor] options. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSOuLfOqvN4 After making this video, Priya and I were able to try some honey butter almonds and honey butter squid jerky. Both of them were really tasty.

#honey #butter #허니 #꿀 #버터 #한국 #과지 #snack #soju #소주

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lemonkimchi · 9 years

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Like any country, Korea has is pluses and minuses. There are good things and bad things, superstitions and reason, outdated beliefs and awesome technology. That's how it goes anywhere you live. Unfortunately, some people don't understand this. They choose instead to believe that their home country is utterly superior while any other country is inferior (or vice versa). In this case, I was shown a blog from a fellow foreigner in Korea who opted to blame the entire Korean medical system for things like her having a high blood pressure and being unable to express her medication (even misusing phrases in English).

Blog posts like this are upsetting to me. It's unfortunate that a single person has decided that the problem is not with her, but with the entirety of Korea.

"KOREAN HOSPITALS SHOULD NOT BE FOR AMERICANS"

This statement is made simply due to the fact that she's obese and has high blood pressure, and somehow that's the fault of the Korean health system.

JuxtaposedWanderLust, instead of crying about it, accept the fact that you have allowed some "body positive" movement to convince you that you will suffer no health risks. Don't be upset; instead, recognize that there is a problem, you have been made aware of the problem, and now you can take steps to address it in the future. High blood pressure can lead to a stroke, and you don't need that. All the body acceptance platitudes in the world won't make you feel better after suffering through a stroke you gave yourself through a bad diet. Please, please, for your sake and the sake of loved ones around you, take care of yourself instead of taking it as a personal attack.

Korean doctors are not educated in American Medicine

There isn't "American medicine". There's medicine. What almost certainly happened is the doctor was trying to ask you why you were on such a high dose of estrogen/progesterone, which was likely prescribed due to your weight (the heavier you are, the harder hormonal medications are to prescribe). Also, you may have shown the doctor the brand name of the medicine instead of showing the generic (medical) name, which is why the doctor may have been confused. You make it seem like this one doctor all Korean doctors are wholly uneducated in medicine when the reality is likely that you didn't explain yourself well. Yes, I've seen a couple shit doctors here in Korea (and also in the US), but the reason I would default to this as being most likely is because you later referred to your depression medication as anxiety medication, thinking the two terms are interchangeable. They are two separate mental illnesses. This could be why they were confused. If you or your boss don't understand how to express yourselves in the other's language, use a translator. Crying about it doesn't fix the problem. Feeling bad doesn't fix the problem. Assuming the entire country is full of uneducated doctors doesn't fix the problem.

Here's an idea that might help: check the progesterone and estrogen levels in your birth control, then take that to the pharmacy. Birth control is over-the-counter in Korea. Just show the pharmacist the estrogen and progesterone levels and you should be able to get it (as long as they have it in stock; they may need to order it).

On Monday I had to go to the Korean hospital to get a health check before I can get my ARC card which is like gold for me. The ARC card allows me to get a bank account, a phone, to order from iherb, to get a costco card… to even get health insurance.

KOREAN HOSPITALS SHOULD NOT BE FOR...

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lemonkimchi · 10 years

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Are Koreans Slimmer Than Westerners?

I received this question from Reddit user stevenjk:

Are people in Korea skinnier or is that just an unsupported myth?

This is a common question I receive and I would like to address it in two parts.

1. Yes, Koreans are slimmer on average.

Shops Carry Smaller Sizes

When I first arrived to Korea a few years ago, I had come here off a long binge. Afraid I wouldn't be able to eat all my shitty US eats, I gorged myself before making the trip to this country. I put on considerable weight and, at 5'7 (171cm), I was between 198 and 205 pounds (90 to 93kg). I was a portly fuck. The reason I mention this is because fat people come to Korea and try to talk about how tiny Korea is while saying something vague like, "I'm average where I live" or "I'm a US average" or "I'm not huge, but I'm not exactly small, either." I want you folks to know that I was barely fitting into a US size 14. This is the size I came to Korea with. Personal trainers make mistakes, too.

In Korea, there are superstores (think Wal-Mart but not as cheap and higher quality) called E-Mart and Home Plus (Home Plus is a Tesco brand, for any of you UK/Aus readers). Like Wal-Mart and some larger Targets, they sell a variety of items and that includes clothing. I could not fit into any of the women's jeans or trousers at my weight. If I wandered into the men's section, I could find jeans to fit me, and was able to wear the large or extra large leggings.

I highly recommend the leggings since many of them come with a built-in skirt (making life easy), but as you can see from that photo the sizes tend to cater towards smaller women.

Despite wearing comfortable leggings, which come in a warm variety during winter months, I was not a fan of the fact that I couldn't fit into jeans. The largest those stories carry is "82", which is 32 inches and about a US junior's size 13, and due to the increasing trend of "vanity sizing" in the US, that's all I'll post about that. Keep in mind the average women's size in the US is a women's size 14, so comparing that to the fattest size available at a Target equivalent being a junior's 13, that can give you an idea of what to expect.

Men also face smaller sizes. If you are the "average male", you may find yourself having a difficult time as well. A male US friend of mine came to Korea and had this to say:

I was wearing a 33 US at the time, I think, when I got to Korea. In some styles, I was the biggest size here. At the old school department stores in Korea, I went there when I was comfortably a not-vanity-sized 32, I was an XL. There was nothing bigger.

He also wants to note that "Asian brand pants for dudes are shorter" but I do want to mention that there are many tall Koreans (save for the war generation). South Korean males average 173.74 cm (5 feet 8.5 inches) compared to US males at 176.3 cm (5 feet 9.5 inches). For women, it's 160.1 cm (5 ft 3 in) compared to the US average of 162.2 cm (5 ft 4 in) [1].

Koreans Eat Less

Some of you may watch, or at least have seen, Korean dramas and Korean movies that might show some very indulgent foods. Overall, however, Koreans have a tendency to eat out less than westerners. Their standard meal looks something like this:

Picture Source - MNMWorldTrip

Pictured above is a meal for four people. It includes a portion of rice for each person, then shared food items. A common variation of this includes a broth-based soup (either per individual or for the table to share). If you are planning to work in Korea, this style is often something you'll find at work. Students also eat this type of meal for lunch:

Picture Source - MyKoreanSchoolLunch

These meals are filling and tasty, so it's easy to see how someone can be satisfied eating this three times a day.

In addition to having lower calorie meals on average, the body image culture is huge in Korea. An average of 1 in 77 Koreans will have plastic surgery done [2]. The pressure to be thin for men and women is ever-present, from slim models to limited clothing sizes. Additionally, Koreans have no problem telling you that you're fat. While many cultural exceptions are granted to foreigners (such as an inability to use chopsticks seen as "cultural difference" instead of "you're uncoordinated"), being fat is something Koreans are always willing to mention.

The above comes from a comic called ROKet Ship by Luke Martin, and is no exaggeration. Complete strangers, especially clothing workers, will comment on your size. I remember when I was coming to Korea and asked a Korean woman if I would be able to find clothing in my size. Her reply: "Sure, Korean women get pregnant, too."

It is no surprise to learn that, in 2010, about 20% of Korean women were considered underweight by the Korean government. In fact, while the obesity rate rises in the world, the Korean government considers addressing thin body standards, such as this 20% figure, to be more of a pressing issue [3]. In a world where "TRIGGER WARNING" is an increasingly common header on blogs and in forum posts, coming to Korea can be quite a shock.

2. The obesity rate is rising in Korea.

Outsize and Big Size

Clothing marketed as "outsize" and "big size" are currently relegated to shops in Itaewon (a foreigner-heavy district in Seoul) and online, but there is a growing trend. GMarket, one of the largest online stores in Korea, has multiple hits for a search of outsize and big size clothing. This is to address the ever-increasing Korean obesity issue [3].

Obese Asians are not the same as obese non-Asians

This is really the biggest factor, which is why I am listing it last in hopes people remember it best.

While there are some disputes about using the BMI to assess health, we do know that "obese" individuals on the BMI have an increased risk of cancer, diabetes, hypertension, and other diseases related to carrying a lot of excess body fat. The higher one goes on the obesity scale, the higher these risks are [5].

Due to slight genetic variation, the BMI scale cannot be applied across the board. It turns out there is a different BMI scale for Asians because of the tendency of Asian genetics to favor higher body fat, particularly around the midsection [4]. The numbers for overweight and obesity are even lower for South Asians, with a BMI of 25 considered "obese" compared to the same BMI score being considered "overweight" in the non-Asian population [6].

This means that Koreans are slimmer due to health risks being more pronounced at relatively lower weights. It also creates a bias in perception for Asians and non-Asians: non-Asians may view Asians as "too skinny" while Asians may view non-Asians as "too fat", but it is a relative issue due to genetic predisposition to fat gain.

In other words:

The Korean obesity rate is rising, which shows the "thin Korean" concept is out-of-date.

Shops still do cater to smaller sizes, making one feel "all of Korea" is small, but larger sizes are carried online and the market for this is growing.

Koreans, like all Asians, experience health problems at a lower BMI, which encourages them to stay slimmer. Due to BMI differences, Asians and non-Asians have a biased view of body fat.

Koreans have no problem telling fat people they are fat, which may increase a perception of "body shaming".

Sources

1. Wikipedia. Human Height.

2. Korean Herald. Korea: Cosmetic Surgery Capital of the World.

3. Korean Herald. Does Korea have an obesity problem? - With 1 in 4 Seoulites defined as seriously overweight ...

4. World Health Organization. Appropriate body-mass index for Asian populations and its implications for policy and intervention strategies (this is a PDF)

5. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Assessing Your Weight and Health Risk.

6. Palo Alto Medical Foundation. Body Size.

#fat #obese #overweight #korea #korean #south korea #south korean #health #bmi #skinny #slim #eating disorder #anorexic #anorexia #underweight

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lemonkimchi · 10 years

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What do You Want to Know About Korea?

Having lived here a few years, things are no longer "new" so I have trouble thinking about what to blog for this account. I would love to include different stuff but need suggestions!

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lemonkimchi · 10 years

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Q&A: What's Religion Like in Korea?

I received this question on my Ask.fm account:

Hey! I was wondering about your experience in Korea, what's the religious environment there? Is Christianity or Buddhism a thing or are people more secular there? Have you had discussions on religion while living there?

As an atheist, it's really annoying to me to see religious people (so far, it's just been Christians) trying to claim "proof Jesus is the way" by showing a picture like this...

Picture Source - City Data

...and then saying that South Korea's prosperity is due to it being a Christian nation while atheist North Korea suffers without god. The irony being that South Korea is 46.5% non-religious while North Korea is technically a theocracy.

The 46.5% figure makes non-religious the majority in South Korea. 15% of those non-religious people identify as atheists, which is up from 11% and higher than the global average of 13% (Irreligion in South Korea). Buddhism is the next largest designation, followed by Protestantism and then Catholicism.

Many of the Christians here are of the fundamentalist type, and there are plenty of Jehovah's Witnesses specifically. I've found two issues with them that are particularly annoying:

1. They knock like someone's fucking dying and in desperate need of medical attention.

I get it, Jehovah's Witnesses have to walk around to get converts because no one is going to this failed doomsday cult of their own accord. What I don't appreciate is someone banging repeatedly on my door and screaming for me to please open it, then banging again, then running to the neighbor's door and doing the same thing, repeat until you're finished with one floor twice. I shit you not, when I heard someone banging at my door and yelling, I thought, "Maybe someone needs help." Then I heard them do the same to the neighbors and I thought, "Oh shit, someone really needs help!" so I ran to the door and opened it. "Are you okay?" "Hello!" They approached me with smiles. One pulled out a Watchtower and another a bible. "ARE YOU OKAY? DO YOU NEED TO GO TO THE HOSPITAL?" "Do you go to church?" "...WHAT?" "We want to talk to you about Jesus." "I'm an atheist. Goodbye." 2. They don't respect that you're doing your own thing, such as studying or running errands.

Without fail, I'm approached by Jehovah's Witnesses at the store or in a coffee shop. Many times, I think it's someone trying to practice English (this is somewhat common, strangers greet you in English and ask you a couple questions), but the conversation suddenly turns to asking me if I go to church. I explain I'm an atheist, I'm not at all interested in going to church, and I'm busy right now so goodbye, thanks. They tend to follow me around (or stand there if I'm seated) and try to give me a Watchtower pamphlet. "I'm not interested." "Please, just read it. It's very interesting." "It's not interesting. It's a lot of lies. You can't give me evidence of anything in this." "You like science? Great! That's all in there. We try to learn, too. Like why are we here and where did we come from!" "Except you don't learn, you just say it was God." "Because it WAS God." "Show me the evidence." "It's in the bible." "That's not evidence. Your religion also said the world was going to end multiple times." "...okay, goodbye."

One woman told em she wanted to just be friends and meet with me at a coffee shop. Okay, I'm game, but I make it a point to tell her I'm not interested in talking about religion. I show up after changing around my morning schedule to meet with her, only to find a big folder filled with Watchtower pamphlets and she brought along a friend (fellow Jo-Ho) with her since her English is better. I couldn't believe it. I was so upset. How rude.

This scan from an old Watchtower print-out shows how scientifically accurate Jehovah's Witnesses are.

Buddhists and Christians will also stand on the corner sometimes; Buddhists performing some loud, annoying prayer and Christians shouting that everyone's going to hell without the blood of Jesus. Depending on where you live, it's either a regular occurrence or something you almost never see. It's more popular to do in larger cities.

I don't agree with Buddhism, either, but at least they're not reveling in the slaughter of a dude and wishing to be covered in his blood.

I can't say it's ever happened to me, but some people have told me their co-workers will badger them about coming to church with mild insults and not taking "no" for an answer. If this happens to you, it's because their mandatory tithing is reduced if they bring someone new to church that month. They don't care if you speak Korean, they don't care if there's not service offered in your language, they just want you to show up so they can have their monthly tithing reduced.

Anyway, that's all I really have on the subject. I'm thankful they're a minority.

#religion #korea #south #atheist #atheism #athiest #athiesm #theist #theism #christian #catholic #buddhist #buddhism #jehova witness

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lemonkimchi · 10 years

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Korean Amateur Bodybuilding

In Korea, men and women have a tendency to pursue the slim body type, so stumbling across a bodybuilding competition was a very special treat. This is something I wrote up a couple years ago, and there have been competitions since then (about one per year).

My buddy and I went to a regional bodybuilding show. There was plenty of build up to the posing speech after speech. Eventually, some entertainment happened in the form of belly dancing show and a bodybuilder with a very unique and fun-to-watch dance routine. It was complete with an alien mask, a smoke machine, light dancing, and ripping off clothes and posing. More talking and introducing judges and a bunch of stuff no one that came to watch the show actually cared about...and finally we were graced with the show.

Bodybuilding

It started off with a set of very old men, followed by women's bodybuilding (all three of them), then followed by more male bodybuilding separated by age. I found it rather interesting that they weren't further separated by weight class but it's an amateur contest so I guess there wasn't too much in the way of nitpicking to do.

I know a lot of people are curious about this as far as size and everything, so I will say that Korean amateur bodybuilders are pretty much the same as in the west. Everyone still does the spray tan, the dieting and all that jazz. Those who are biggest and most defined tend to be both the younger men (with all that testosterone) and the older crowd (due to length of time bodybuilding). Of course, you also get the totally inexperienced group that you know only competed because they had a friend or family member tell them they're huge and big. These are the people who showed up with no conditioning and not even a spray tan.

Then there was...The Dude.

If you can't tell from the picture, The Dude is all the way at the right in this picture. From the picture, you can't see that he is incredibly wide. Just standing on stage, he easily looked 25-50% wider than his competition. His age? Just 25 years old. Of course, with his age there was a bit of suspicion for my friend and I to assume that he was taking steroids. Anyone who knows me knows I'm not against steroids but in a competition where I doubt anyone else was taking them I believe it gives a bit of an unfair advantage. He won his age class and took first place overall, with second place in Beauty Body.

This is the gigantic Pose Down with the youngest adult age group. You can see that some of the men are a bit soft and some opted out of the spray tan. I think that added some charm.

Beauty Body

This is a competition based on aesthetics only, not ability or conditioning (though the latter can lead to aesthetics, definitely). The closest equivalent to this in the west is Figure, except men and even the bodybuilding competitors are are allowed to compete in Beauty Body. The other difference is that the contestants are paraded on stage twice, once to show off their personalities and again in the jeans competition (instead of a swimsuit competition). Like Figure, it is separated by height, not weight or age.

Due to the lighting I had a hard time photographing this so I'll just have to explain a few of the contestants. One man came out in beach clothing and posed with a beach ball before hitting it into the audience, which was a really cute routine despite sounding very simple. A woman came out with nunchaku tucked into the back of her shorts and played with them a bit. Some just came out looking good and casual.

As with Bodybuilding, some people were only there for...I'm not really sure how to say this without sounding like a dick, so I'll come out nd say it: either they were encouraged to get up there because they receive compliments throughout the day or, I shit you not, they probably lost a bet. None of the women who competed in Bodybuilding participated in Beauty Body, so it was a mixed bag as far as conditioning goes. One woman was very fit and with a little more size definitely could have done very well in the Bodybuilding competition with her balanced frame, cute face/hair and paper-thin skin showing off fantastic striations. Many of the other women were also somewhat fit...you could tell that they worked out but there wasn't much in the way of muscle mass. Then came the three that I was embarrassed for. The first two were flabby. I mean, maybe they're okay by everyday standards (my friend also agreed) but for a competition? No. The third was a walking skeleton that was probably told she was beautiful just by virtue of being thin. By comparison, the other women were slender but fit and toned...there's a huge difference, especially for these kinds of competitions. All three of these out-of-condition women were incredibly shy on stage. One of them acted like an embarrassed 13 year-old girl who accidentally wandered on stage. There's a time to be cute and adorable and there's a time to be confident and showing off your body. Guess which one is appropriate for a body-based competition?

The men's Beauty Body had far more contestants. Most of them came from the Bodybuilding competition but not all of them did. There was one foreigner in the entire competition and the Men's Beauty Body was where he was. He looked great but I think his jeans competition and lack of tanning cost him a placement. It was too bad because his condition really did look great and his "personality" portion was really neat. Anyway, the men that did participate in both competitions had a bit of difficulty differentiating the two. Remember The Dude I mentioned earlier? That guy was stiff as hell and just awkwardly resorting to bodybuilding poses. Again, there's a time and place. Others were adorable and being cute as hell posing, unbuttoning their shirts, playing around with props and really giving it all they had. The Dude placed second in this, but honestly I think he should have placed lower. He's bodybuilding, through and through.

This is a line-up of the women's portion of the Beauty Body competition immediately prior to announcing the placing. The two on the left are in a different category due to their height while the four on the right are in the same judging category. The woman all the way at the right won first place. I personally thought the one next to her, the one I mentioned earlier who would be able to do Bodybuilding with a bit more size, should have won but I think I'm biased towards muscles.

My Impression

It was very, very fun to watch. Overall, the judging went through and I didn't have any disputes other than with what I already mentioned. I hope that these types of events are larger in Korea in the future. Not a single supplement company was there and the only food/drink offered was a single booth with hot water for coffee or hot tea, cold green tea and cold bottled water. It was my first show and I was always eager to check out new supplements from what I've seen at The Arnold and other places. Not even one gym was advertised. It was rather interesting in that regard.

I also was left with a renewed vigor to push myself, which is worth more than anything else. Motivation is so important.

#korea #korean #south #bodybuilding #competition #fitness #figure #health #한국 #보디빌딩

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lemonkimchi · 10 years

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Korean Gyms

I received this question from an anonymous user on my Ask.fm account:

Sorry in advanced if this sounds really ignorant....... but what are the gyms like in Korea?

1. Gym Shoes You need to bring separate shoes to the gym. If you don't, you'll be required to change into some sandals that are provided. You'll either need to remove your shoes before entering the gym, immediately after entering the gym, or prior to entering the locker room. How will you know? You'll see a shoe shelf.

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2. Cardio Everything Most of the gyms are loaded with nice cardio equipment and some weights. Most people use the cardio equipment so even though the weight equipment isn't as good as I'd like it to be, it's almost always unused when I go to the gym.

3. Hang Out People have a tendency to just kinda hang out in the gym. I wouldn't say it's a common practice for everyone, but you will notice a couple people that just kinda...sit there, chat, whatever. They aren't being creepy weirdos watching you workout, they're just chillin' at the gym.

4. Food People will order food to the gym, or make it and bring it to share. I ate fried chicken at the gym, and I'm still confused by that one.

5. Shower/Nudity Korean people are very free with being all kinds of naked in the locker rooms, so don't expect to see many people hiding behind the very small towels provided as they change their clothes. They will also sit anywhere while nude, so if you don't want to come into contact with asshole, vagina, or nutsack residue please don't sit down on the benches or even the floor, as many will sit there. Not everyone does this, and it's usually the older people from what I've seen, but you should still be aware of it.

Many people bring and leave their shower equipment (body wash, shampoo, etc.) at the gym in baskets. These are their personal products. Do not use them. Bring your own. If you don't want to buy full-sized stuff, you can buy travel-sized items at large stores like Home Plus or E-Mart, or you can buy travel gear at almost every convenience store (about 5000 to 8000 Korean won, depending on amount and quality).

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You'll notice that combs and brushes are available to use; please pick your hair out of them if you choose to use them.

You'll also see people squatting over blow dryers to use them to dry their pubes. They're used for the hair on your head as well, but you'll see people blow drying their pubes. They do this because they don't want to put their underwear on with wet hair, so they blow dry it. I can't argue with that, but it's still a shock to see it.

A video version of this reply can be viewed ehre, which includes more information: http://youtu.be/Gb5XozbZVjI

In the video, I keep talking about something called "jjimjilbang" (찜질방). These are translated as "saunas" but to me a sauna is a steam room or a heated tub, so I don't really like calling them that since they are much more. I consider them to be bath houses. You pay a small fee (around 6 to 12 US dollars) and you can use their facilities, which include lockers, various baths, steam rooms, and sleeping facilities (floor sleeping, on a cot). Many also have computer rooms (you pay per hour) and snack shops (they tend to close around midnight), and some might have massage available, as well as manicure/pedicure, and gyms. Included in the cost of the 찜질방 is the gym, sleeping, lockers, towels, and baths/saunas. Everything else costs extra. If you didn't bring a toothbrush, shampoo, etc., you can purchase single-use ones cheaply from the 찜질방 front desk.

I also forgot to mention that the Korean word for "gym" is hel-seu-jang (헬스장). It literally means "health place" but if I were to translate this into everyday English I would use "gym" or "health club" or "fitness center".

#헬스장 #찜질방 #운동 #한국 #Korea #Korean #south #health #fitness #gym #gyms #workout #workouts #cardio #weight #diet #jjimjilbang #helseujang #helsujang

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