Category: Culture (Page 12 of 24)

Traditional and modern Korean culture.

Henry

2014/04/14 / Nic / 58 Comments

His man crush of the moment is on Henry because he has been watching him in that TV show (male celebrities experience being in the army).

One of the things I like about Korea and Korean guys is that they can openly show affection for other men without feeling like they are compromising their masculinity. They compliment each others’ appearances and show physical affection easily. It’s normal to have what we may call a crush on another man, but in a platonic way. A good example of this is seeing how excited Kim Woo Bin was when G-Dragon called him.

I’ve definitely seen a clash of cultures before when I’ve seen Korean men turn to Australian men and say “You are very handsome”. Completely normal for a Korean men to say that, but it’s not something Aussie guys are used to hearing from straight men and they can feel a bit uncomfortable.

While I was making this comic my husband stopped me in the middle of it because he wanted to show me another video of Henry…

Stupid Army Jacket

2014/04/08 / Nic / 22 Comments

Not only because it is dirty but it’s an outside type jacket! It doesn’t feel nice to cuddle up against.

Cherry Blossoms

2014/04/07 / Nic / 8 Comments

We went and saw some cherry blossoms with some friends and when you go in a group it’s not as romantic… I’m sure it would have been super romantic when we were in the excitement of the start of a relationship. My husband acknowledged this when I said it but didn’t even look up from instagraming! Married life….haha. But really he gave me a rose the other day so he does definitely make an effort.

There are cherry blossoms all over Korea but the ones in concentrated areas are where everyone goes to see them. Where we went there was a mini festival set up. There were also views of the mountains and the sea, so it was extra nice. The wife of my husband’s best friend pointed out which way we had to walk because she’d been there before. This led to her husband asking, “Did you come here before with another man?!” Yup, she had… she’d been there with an exboyfriend. Her husband exaggerated his shock and said to their baby, “Your mother came here with another man!”

There are so many couples about when there are cherry blossoms. It’s so pretty and romantic, especially when the wind blows and the petals blow around like snow. We did film our trip so we’ll have a video up about it soon!

BB Cream

2014/03/12 / Nic / 31 Comments

One of the things I really like about Korea is there isn’t the same obsession with masculinity as the West, and masculinity is often defined in a different way to Western Culture. BB Cream is a great product in Korea and BB Creams here have many uses other than just a foundation and are usually an all in one product. Whitening, blemish treatment, serum, sunscreen, moisturiser, as well as coverage. Unfortunately most BB Creams from Western companies are just tinted moisturisers and don’t have the benefits of Korean BB Creams. Beware of those ones.

My husband wears BB Cream when we film videos and occasionally when we have to go to an event or something. He doesn’t wear it every day, and wears one designed for men. He is pretty lazy about putting it on, but luckily BB Creams tend to adjust to match skin tone. He should do it in front of a mirror though! He puts it on the same way Aussie guys slap on sunscreen at the beach. I think if it ever became really normal and socially acceptable for men to wear BB Cream in Australia they’d probably do it that way as well! Put some in their hands and then rub vigorously over the face for 5 seconds.

Many people comment on how great Korean people’s skin looks, especially Kpop stars. Korean people do take care of their skin and do a lot of treatments on their skin, but that’s only part of it. BB Cream and makeup play a huge role and Kpop stars wear a lot of makeup! Sorry to burst any bubbles there. Your oppas are wearing so much makeup… it’s not that they are completely flawless..

Is this milk okay?

2014/02/27 / Nic / 13 Comments

This was so funny to my parents-in-law because I had been speaking to my husband and I used informal language, but because of the timing it sounded like I had replied to my father-in-law with informal language which is really rude! They knew that I hadn’t done that on purpose but because it sounded like I had, they laughed so hard. Especially because my father-in-law had softly said, “It’s okay” and then I had yelled, “It’s not okay!!!”

It’s been the running joke in the house for a few days. Every time I walk into the room my parents-in-law say, “안괜찮아!”

At least I made them laugh!

Feeding

2014/02/14 / Nic / 46 Comments

This is an interesting cultural difference if you are from a western country where you probably haven’t had someone feed you since you were a child. I’ve had control of how much food I put in my mouth at once for most of my life, especially because a lot of the time I’ve eaten with a knife and fork and can cut things quite small. I often have trouble fitting things like gimbap or samgyupsal wrapped up in lettuce in my mouth. So when someone else does it to me, I often find it really difficult.

However, as my husband keeps pointing out to me, it’s seen as a loving gesture. People don’t do it to people they don’t like. When we were out at a galbi restaurant recently he got me to do it to his parents, insisting that is really nice for them. For me, I just felt like I was invading their personal space, so that is something I will have to get used to. Sometimes it is difficult because even though it’s a nice gesture, you don’t actually want to eat the thing they are putting in your mouth, and other times it’s just the shock when you aren’t expecting it… or maybe it’s just the way my husband does the surprise ram food into my mouth? If you are married to a Korean, do you find this difficult as well?

I have started getting used to it, but I do have those almost choking moments! And in that moment I feel like I’d rather die than spit out any food in front of people…

Reply 1994

2014/02/11 / Nic / 4 Comments

Today’s comic is over on DramaFever. CLICK HERE.

We’ve really been enjoying the drama Reply 1994 (Answer Me 1994) but I don’t think my husband was as cool as he thought he was back in his teen years…