3 YEARS!

Wow!

Exactly three years ago on the 29th of August 2011, I came to South Korea, a country I'd never been before. Like a stranger, I arrived with everything packed in barely two suitcases, ready to start a new adventure! 

Time really does fly! Now we are three years later and I'm thinking to write something on this blog again!

The past three years were unforgettable, but also very turbulent, with many ups and downs. My Korean still sucks and I have only a couple of real Korean friends. However, along the way, I got the chance to meet and get to know so many other amazing and inspiring people that I don't regret ever coming here! 

When I arrived here at first, I was a lonely stranger. (Eric Clapton - Lonely Stranger (MV)) It felt as if I'd left everything in Belgium and came to Korea empty handed. Everything was new and exciting. Slowly, I started making new friends and  together we discovered many new things and places. We learned together and we grew together. Friends have come and many have left again too. I've complained a lot and sometimes even hated the way things are or are handled in Korea... about how discriminating and demanding Korean people can be. Or about how difficult the Korean language is and how hard it is to make real Korean friends (worth another blog post ;)). Nevertheless, I've come to love Seoul as a city to live in. It's a never-sleeping metropolis and it's never boring. Going out for dinner is relatively cheap, public transport is fast and reliable. And on top of this, the weather is great too: four distinguishable (!) seasons!... with autumn as my ultimate favorite one.

This summer I went back to my hometown for a visit... after two years. Yes, two years! It felt so good to see my family again. I'm blessed with a big and loving family, that will always welcome me back home and keeps waiting for me even when I did not come back in the past years. I feel in a way I have matured, I am calmer on the inside. I enjoy small things and moments a lot more than I used to do before, such as a day going out with my older brother; a shopping spree with my younger sister, letting my hair being cut by my other sister; a trip with my mum; conversations with my dad; visiting my brother in Dublin; being amazed by my nieces and nephews and how fast they grow and so on.

Meanwhile, I've also tried to visit some friends around Europe, whom I have been promising repeatedly for many years that I will come to meet them again. Now this time, I finally made it! Seeing them and being welcomed as if time did not change anything, it was worth the long bus rides. Friends are friends for a reason, and we should always cherish them! They pull you through the good and hard times and they like you for who you are. I always enjoy seeing how friends live their lives and to step into their worlds for some time. From my experience, my friends (and people in general) don't easily change in essence, but that doesn't mean they don't move on with their lives. They get babies, buy houses, have been in relationships for many years (that is in case they did not just recently broke up of course! ;))... It's nice to see, but also poignant. I also need to get my shit together... soon... somehow!

A warm and heartfelt thank you to all those who have made the past three years absolutely worth it.

Love,

Lara

When you feel sad
Cry yourself a river
When you are happy
Smile brightly 
When you are angry
Be furious
But then forgive quickly
When you love
Love wholeheartedly
When you are alive
Live

HOME

The first city I lost my heart to was Hanoi. It was when I first realized: home is where I go. Now 7 years later, miscellaneous thoughts of beautiful Ghent and bustling Seoul are taking turns in guarding my heart. Will I always feel so torn between different places?

-- Home is where the heart is, they say.

설날 - SEOLLAL, LUNAR NEW YEAR

Today the biggest holiday in South Korea has started: 4 FULL(!) days to celebrate Lunar New Year (Seollal). For most Seoul people this equals an exodus to their hometowns. I am just lying on my bed surfing on the internet. What a quiet day. The streets are even more deserted than during Christmas in Belgium! I remember spending Tet in Hanoi when I was about 18. *gosh, seems ages ago* At that time I bought a cherry blossom tree with Zương and visited family and friends for two weeks eating banh chung (Vietnamese style New Year rice cake packed in banana leaves) till I dropped. In South Korea, similar to other Asian countries with a Confucian background, people living in the big cities go to their hometowns to spend time with family, bow to family elders, exchange well wishes, and eat Tteokguk (Korean rice cake soup). 

Foreigners, including myself, usually are left with the only option of trying to find any place that didn't close in order to eat a decent meal. And when unsuccesful, fortunately... there is always instant Ramyeon! 

새해복 많이 받으세요! Chúc Mừng Năm Mới! 

SOUTH KOREA AND EXTREME PLASTIC SURGERY: QUESTIONABLE?

PLASTIC SURGERY IN SOUTH KOREA: The pretty TV presenter who deformed herself . . . for the sake of a 'heart-shaped’ face.

This is a response to the above mentioned article (you can click on the link to read the article and to find the source of following pictures) about extreme plastic surgery in South Korea.

AFTER

BEFORE

Two words: OH MY! This woman who has undergone relatively extreme plastic surgery was pretty before her surgery! So typical. 

I don't mind plastic surgery as long as it's fully a personal choice. However in South Korea the plastic surgery tendency comes with a questionable degree of societal pressure. I wouldn't say that this woman in question can be "accused" of ruining her face, 'cause in the end it was HER choice and she didn't harm anybody by doing it. Therefore other people shouldn't accuse her of anything or tell her what to do. 

After reading this article, I cannot agree with the claim that Asian people want to look western. Insofar generalizations are allowed, there is a tendency of wanting to look different in a certain way. However, this does not necessarily mean 'western', i.e. Caucasian. Logically, the beauty ideal in Asia can differ from those in other places around the world and it's almost a universality that people in general want to look different than the way they actually do. The grass is always greener on the other side, isn't it?! We, humans, in fact like the things that are hard to acquire, such as characteristics opposite to ours. The moment we attain relatively difficult to acquire things the level of satisfaction is much higher in comparison with things not requiring any efforts. From this point of view, it almost seems logic that Asian people want to look different than the way they are and on top of that are willing to do efforts for it. Likely, this also counts for Caucasian people, who for example have white skin but like to be brown; who have bigger noses and prefer to have smaller ones. 

The reason why South Korean people do a lot of plastic surgery in my opinion is first of all caused by the societal pressure and need to look conform to the surrounding people. This shared feeling of unwillingness to go against the tide is strong here. Secondly, as a modern compressed society South Korea is highly competitive and looking prettier according to already established beauty ideals gives people a bigger chance to succeed in life. And lastly, the popular culture in South Korea represents and reflects perfectly those existing norms about beauty: if you are not pretty you can (or even should) do something about it. In short, if you are good-looking you have more chances to become successful and attain recognition from the entire society more easily. It's exactly at this moment, when plastic surgery comes flying in quite handy as some sort of magical tool, that we are urged to raise the question: when it comes to appearances, have South Korean people come to believe that the end always justifies the means?!

Another way to explain this tendency of drastic plastic surgery is to compare it with disorders such as anorexia and boulimia. Societal pressures force people to have an appearance conform to a certain norm and also make people willing to go extreme in order to attain that norm. Furthermore, in analogy with above mentioned appearance-associated disorders, I believe that extreme plastic surgery is often regarded as a means to stay in control of one's own life. People struggling with these disorders often realize very well that our body belongs to only us and no one else. More precisely, it's the first 'tool' we can use to take our life in our own hands and decide about it independently. However, some decisions caused by societal pressures are extreme according to other standards. 

If you would like to discuss this hot topic further, feel free to leave a comment below.

So long,

Lara

P.S. Oh, one message to all those Korean men out there: PLEASE DON'T DO THE JAW SURGERY TO MAKE YOUR CHIN MORE POINTY! It's more manly and attractive to most women if you have a more rectangular face instead of a pointy flower boy face with a pointy chin! (Yeah, you hyeonbin (현빈), did you do it? Seems like you did... Because you were more handsome before all the weight you lost and the plastic surgery. Although flower boys are pretty they often lack the handsomeness of a manly man! Please spare me the disappointment of having to shockingly see your face after you've undergone extreme plastic surgery. Gracias!

I have written an entry related to plastic surgery already about a year ago!:

"Fashion in Korea"

----------------------------------------------------------------- 

AUTUMINATOR!

AUTUMN IN SEOUL!~

Without realizing a third Korean autumn has knocked on my door already. This is by far my most favorite season! And every year I believe it is more beautiful than the previous year.

Right now I ended up sitting in possibly one of the worst coffee shops you can imagine. It is located on campus next to the College of Music and called Neu Tim Namu (느팀 나무). Although you would expect a College of Music to have a nice and cozy coffee shop with good music, the opposite is true. It’s cold and the music is terrible: some Korean cheap-sounding pop/rap, I don’t know how to name it. Every two seconds a waitress is calling saying that the rightful costumer should come and get the drinks. The hot chocolate I ordered is poorly poured into a paper/plastic cup and already finished by now, as they only give me half the regular portion. While sipping on my already leftover hot choco I’m putting on my scarf. It really is chilly in here. GRMBL. I look to the right and notice that the interior decoration is awful too. Despite the tastelessness and poor drinks, many students wearing seasonal autumn clothes are coming in and out the coffee shop. Outside it starts to drizzle. (Ja, ook dat nog!) It doesn’t rain a lot in Korea and just because of that people tend to feel moody or even sad when it does (such as Lili, cheer up girl, cold weather is to wear nice warm clothes and big scarfs!). ;) Already tending towards a grumpy mood I decided to write something on my blog to keep it and myself alive and going!

How many autumn leaves can you recognize? According to the colors their leaves turn into, here some typical autumn trees!:

American Beech

Yellow Birch

Ginkgo

Black Oak

Sweetgum

Tulip Poplar

Winged Sumac

Silver Maple

Red Maple

Sassafras

      

Bradford Pear

White Oak

Gingko trees turn yellow... their fruits are really smelly... like animal poo.. or just rotten things in general.

Autumn is truly mesmerizing here.  The leaves of the trees and their colors are vivid and warm. Walking around to see the trees is as if one is walking in a dream, a very colorful one. Autumn foliage lasts quite long in Korea... about 3 weeks or so. Which colors do you love the most? Cadmium yellow like the Ginko trees? Burning red like the Japanse Maple trees? Or Dutch orange like the leaves of an American Beech? A melancholic person like me cannot but feel gloomy and euforic.

on SNU Campus

In the center of our campus

Last Saturday some friends (Net, my American classmate; Lili and Nurlia, two girls I met while doing volunteer work in Indonesia) and I picked a date to go and do 등산 (‘dingsan’, mountain climbing, hiking) on Gwanak, the mountain on our campus. And… We could not have chosen a better day to enjoy the autumn foliage: it rained all the way to the top. Instead of making us grumpy the unusual rain has given us a memorable experience. The scenery was misty and wet, giving the mountain a mystical atmosphere. The highlight of our outdoor adventure was an ajusshi (middle aged man) giving us change so we could buy ourselves a cup of coffee out of the vending machine on the top of the mountain. My appreciation for cheap ass vending machine coffee has drastically grown stronger. Before I would never have thought that a simple hot cup of coffee can warm up a whole body like that. Actually, before the hike Lili and Nurlia had not met Net yet (it rhymes!), but hiking always proves to be a good way to get to know people better and have fun! With hands cold as ice and a numb body longing for a steamy hot shower, we slowly came down the mountain. Happy that we reached back almost but not totally wet we treated ourselves a good afternoon lunch. I spent the rest of the day under a hot shower and lying hidden under my 8kg winter blanket. This hike will be remembered as the wettest attempt to enjoy the beauty of Korean autumn foliage. :)

The view we were supposed to see!

Like ajusshis and ajumas me drank mageolli on the mountain! :)

The Gwanak observatory

The autumn festival on our campus. They put leaves they collected elsewhere on campus on the main walking road... to maximize the autumn experience! ;)

Om in de sfeer te blijven..

Autumn festival on campus

The little pond next to my department