Intercultural Life
Part 2 of this mini side story in the Nicholalala webtoon on webtoons.com. This story explores the lives of the mulgwishin (water ghosts). The Nicholalala webtoon is a mostly fictional ongoing series with elements of Korean folklore.
Most people will know Sophie and Han’s daughter Alice from several of our videos. The other week Sophie, Alice and baby Gyo were visiting us and the walk from the bus stop goes past YG Entertainment. Alice likes Bigbang and has even been to a Bigbang concert before so she knows the YG building as “Bigbang’s house”. As we were walking back from the shops and passing YG, Alice was asking about Bigbang. We told her that as it’s a Sunday they won’t be there (which is usually true). Since she is so confident she decided to walk right into the YG driveway and ask the security guard if they were there. The security guard was very nice to her but told her they aren’t there. Usually fans are stopped before getting that far but they let her in and the security guard had a smile on his face. Alice speaks more Korean than English so the whole exchange was in Korean.
I posted this video on Instagram and it got a great response so decided to post it on YouTube too. So many people relate to Alice wanting to see Bigbang. Even some Kpop news sites picked up the story.
Thank you to everyone for all the positive comments across social media. Her mother’s Instagram is here.
Here is a photo of Alice earlier in the day:
How much do you wish that you had the confidence of a 4 year old? haha
Korea has a culture where people go to public baths and are very comfortable to be naked around other people (though usually the same sex). There also isn’t any shame in undressing and changing clothes in front of friends, whereas many Western cultures have issues with that and there is a lot more ingrained shame when it comes to bodies.
Hugh does tend to be quite the nudist (maybe more than others) and once the weather is warm enough he doesn’t see the point of wearing clothes at home. Currently he is always exercising naked too. I’m sorry neighbours. But after I started talking about this on the blog, and with friends who also married into Korean families, I’ve heard that many Koreans can be quite similar in stripping off in their own home, at least down to just underwear.
I think men possibly have more freedom than women in traditional homes. Traditionally the parents’ room is also the living room which means a lack of privacy. When we lived in the countryside I never walked in on my sister in law or mother in law changing but constantly saw Hugh and my father in law in just their underwear. As a westerner who is used to parents’ rooms to be very separate and very private it was quite confronting and a big cultural difference.
Another contrast is that in Australia showing cleavage is okay and men often exercise without a shirt in public which just isn’t seen in Korea. Every country has a different expectation of what is acceptable and how much of the body is shown and where it can be shown.
I definitely think ondol heating (underfloor heating) has something to do with it. As Hugh mentioned, when there is ondol heating anywhere can be your bed because Koreans don’t usually have problems with sleeping directly on the floor. When the floor is warm and comfortable it makes sense to strip down and be the most comfortable possible. Also many Korean homes don’t have sofas or that type of furniture so everything is done down on the floor. It can be very relaxing, but I find it hard to be motivated when laying on a heated floor!
Original comic can be found here.
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READ FULL EPISODE HERE!This episode and the next few episodes are a little side story that a lot of people have been requesting. People have wanted to know the back story of the 2 water ghosts, so I thought it was time to explore that!
The Nicholalala webtoon is a (somewhat) fictional webtoon series on WEBTOONS. You can like, comment, share and rate it over there!
We talk about what it’s like being in South Korea right now amid these tensions. In general people are continuing their lives as usual.
It’s been a little while since I’ve done anything on my Nicholalala channel so I thought I’d answer some questions! I asked you guys for questions on Instagram and answered as many as I could.
I talk about how my favourite Korean food changes a lot more now that I live in Korea, compared to living in Australia. What Korean fashion do I not like? What do I miss about Australian culture and how do I survive without an oven in Korea?
A lot of these questions were still very Korea related, but since it’s just me answering questions I’m very happy to answer questions that are more personal or related to other stuff since this is for the Nicholalala channel. They don’t have to always be about Korea 🙂
If you do have any questions you can ask them here or over on YouTube. Also subscribe to this channel!
READ FULL EPISODE HERE!Nicholalala is a fictional weekly webtoon on WEBTOONS. While it has some elements of real life is also has a healthy sprinkling of folklore and imagination. Please head over to webtoons.com to like, rate, share and comment on the webtoon!
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