Yeah he was showing off a bit in front of the other guys. All the Korean guys there were single. Something that I’ve noticed is that Korean guys tend to be more vocal and expressive about being single and wanting a girlfriend or even wanting to get married. Sometimes in Western culture, single guys can say a lot of derogatory things to their friend who is married, like marriage means you are locked up forever or something. For Korean guys, once they hit 30 they can be quite anxious to get married. There is the outside pressure from family, friends and society to settle down, but also personally, in general, they seem to want to settle down once they reach a certain age and it’s not seen a bad thing to desperately want to get married.
For example, while not all Australian guys are like this, there is a culture here where men act like they are always forced into getting married. Even if they really wanted to, there is this act in front of single friends about being tied down and all those type of jokes.
When we hang out with my husband’s friends who are a similar age to him and single, they will say a lot, “I’m so jealous of you guys. I want to get married too.” I’m often surprised at this honesty and their openly displayed jealously at friends who are married. Part of this is because they want it to be very clear that they are looking for someone, as they are relying on their friends to introduce them to someone. I’ll talk about that type of matchmaking in a future post though.
Sorry that this comic is a bit messy. I was travelling for a lot of yesterday and I’m now at my parents’ house and had to do this post quickly last night. My husband is still in Sydney because of work, so we’ll be apart for at least a week ๐
He is really into this sort of thing. I tend to be the more cynical one, but he is sincere in everything he does. He loves being inspired by things and planning things for the future. Sometimes I have fun with that and deliberately do things to annoy him.
Okay dinosaurs can’t go on the ‘Vision/Inspiration board’ apparently. But I like dinosaurs!
I drew one while he was at work and stuck it on the board:
Hehehe.
Seriously though, it is one of the things I love about him. He has big dreams for the future and actually takes steps to achieve them. I get really frustrated at the type of person who is a “dreamer” and talks big but then never do anything about achieving their goals. I know my husband is not that type. He has already achieved a lot already, so I know that his inspiration/vision board is something that does really help him. It really motivates him.
But for me, maybe I do want dinosaurs in my future!
Today Mr Gwon recommends a song called ‘The Private’s Letter’. All South Korean men have to do about 2 years of military service. This song is older and doesn’t have an proper video so here are two versions of it:
An original version with a video someone has made:
This song is a really sad song and almost all Korean guys have done military service so will understand what Iโm going to talk about.
When people are going to do their military service they go to karaoke with friends and drink and they sing this song. Some people cry and they are really serious. Before I did my military service it was really sad. People donโt want to go to military service because they know itโs really hard and Korean guys sacrifice 2 years of their life for our country, every Korean guy. If they want to live in Korea they have to do military service.
The song is about the man who is going to do his military service and talking about when, thinking about his friends and family and how important they are but now he has new life in the military without family and friends. It made the person get stronger. Itโs quite sad because if we didnโt have the Korean War, we are still united and we wouldnโt have to do military service, we would be one country. But because of that, we have national duty. We have to do this but itโs really sad.
Iโm in Australia now, but I canโt see my friends in Korea, I canโt see my family. I finished my national duty already but when I listen to this song Iโm thinking about my family and friends and thinking about when I was in the Navy and before I went to military service. I listen to this song and feel sad, itโs not bad sad, itโs also good memories too.
And when I was in the Navy, I worked in a Navy hospital and Korean marines, they come to our hospital to do their health check, and they are sitting on the ground and waiting for their turn. So I put the song over the speakers because I was working at reception and everyone could listen to it. And when I saw their faces, they looked so sad and wanted to go home. I played it because I was sentimental.
I recommend this song, itโs an old song. The guy who originally sang this song committed suicide but we donโt know why.
Korean military service is quite different from being in Australian military. Itโs not our job, itโs our duty. We are not really paid. I was paid $10 or $20 a month and we have to always obey our seniors, if we donโt, they beat us. Itโs really hard, physically and mentally. So many Korean guys, one of their worst dreams is going back to military service. Iโve had that dream before, and when I wake up I realise Iโve already finished and feel relieved and safe. Korean guys who have a rich family, they donโt want to go to military service, thatโs why they try to go to another country and get citizenship. If you live in Korea and you are a man you have to do it. But there are many problems in Korea because when we finish our service and we come back to university, lots of our female friends have finished university and have got a job, we are still a university student but our age is quite old.
A lot of guys form really strong friendships with those the guys they did military service with and are still friends even when they are out of the military. When there is a Korean guy that didnโt do his military service they donโt understand what all the other guys are talking about, because they didnโt go through it.
Some people complain, and I also complain, but when I was in the military, I had many experiences, I got three certificates (licenses). When we get higher we have time to learn things and get certificates. I lost almost 20 kilos when I did my military service. I feel like I was a better person after I did my service.
Just something a bit different: I thought I’d show the top 30 countries where readers of this blog are from.
1. United States
2. Australia
3. South Korea
4. United Kingdom
5. Canada
6. Brazil
7. Malaysia
8. Philippines
9. Singapore
10. France
11. India
12. Indonesia
13. Germany
14. Japan
15. Netherlands
16. Poland
17. Hong Kong
18. Spain
19. Sweden
20. New Zealand
21. Austria
22. Italy
23. Brunei
24. Mexico
25. Turkey
26. Egypt
27. Thailand
28. Hungary
29. Belgium
30. Vietnam
It has been interesting to see how it changes. The U.S., Australia, South Korea, U.K., and Canada seem to stay at the top, but there have been some bigger changes lately like Brazil jumping into the top ten. I think India has moved up a lot too. Indonesian and Malaysian fans have been around since the beginning, as have fans from the small country of Brunei ๐
I’m guessing with the internet restrictions in China, any Chinese fans are probably represented by Hong Kong? Let me know.
Anyway, a big shout out to everyone in these countries. Thank you so much for reading the blog. I’m so excited about how many people are now reading my blog (and it’s not even 1 year old yet). We have some exciting things coming up this year. We will start making videos this year and will be putting them on our Youtube channel. I’ll be interviewed next week on the Korean radio program 1013 Main Street.ย I think for everyone not living in Korea they can tune in through the website or app. I’ll let you know more next week.
April 1st will be the one year anniversary of this blog. Maybe I should have a big giveaway? What do you think?
Okay some ‘My Australian Wife’ again. My husband designs the characters and tries to think of things that were funny or weird to him and then I draw them digitally, but in his style, for him.
Okay this is true. My hair gets really tangled and knotty easily, so brushing my hair can be painful sometimes. He just laughs at me though. You don’t understand you Koreans, with your thick, shiny and silky hair! You don’t understand *sobs*.
We didn’t grow up watching the same TV shows, so there are some I have an emotional connection to that mean nothing to him.
Haha I just turned the TV on and Happy Days is on. I was like “Yeah Happy Days!” My husband didn’t even turn around from his laptop and just said “Psh”.
He may have had a little bit too much soju when he said this. BUT, it’s not the first time he has said something is so cute and then followed up with “I want to kick it.” I haven’t quite worked this one out but I think sometimes the adorableness is too much so he ends up saying something violent in his outburst at the cuteness.
If you are in Sydney, make sure you go see the giant duck while it’s here. It’s so cool. I think technically it’s an art installation or something. I like this type of a art: a giant but adorable duckie floating around Darling Harbour. That’s my kind of art.
He has been listening to this music a lot lately. Yesterday he told me about how when he listens to it with earphones in he feels like he is the main character in a Korean drama. He then showed me different dramas poses like in a Korean drama scene haha (which is why I drew it like that).
I told him that he is the main character in his own life at least haha. Listening to this type of piano music does make him feel better while he is working hard as it makes him think of the hard times that characters have to go through in dramas but then everything gets better in the end. It’s his motivation.
I love the emotional responses he has to things and that he is not ashamed to share it. Good communication is vital for a good relationship and even though we don’t have the same native language, he can express himself better than most native English speaking guys I’ve known.
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