Cultural Surprises

It is a truth universally known that if you travel abroad long enough, you will discover some unusual things which are normally hidden to the rest of the world. To put it bluntly, the rest of the world is simply ignorant. Travel and life in Korea is no exception, I think. And what I have discovered here has surprised me sometimes—and also made me practically double over laughing on occasion.

I must add this disclaimer, though: the things which surprise me likely only surprise me because I see them from a western American-centered perspective. If I were Asian, they would probably not be so surprising. And if I were Korean, then they would probably even seem normal. But because I'm American, some of the ideas I encounter just seem bizarre.

For example, Koreans tell me it is not safe to hike in a t-shirt. A t-shirt traps too much sweat and might cause you to get hypothermia. Never mind that t-shirts are made of lightweight cotton material. You may die anyway. (For real!—I learned this first-hand when I made the mistake of hiking in a t-shirt...the fact that I've lived to tell about my experience may be nothing short of amazing!)

Also, it is not good to sit on the ground outside. You might accidentally sit in “rat poop,” and then get a disease, and then eventually die. That's why everyone here takes a plastic mat with them every time they might have to sit on the ground. They don't want to die because of what might be lurking in the grass.

There are also various other random health-related thoughts. For example, some believe that eating dog meat in summer will keep you healthy. (However, I believe that this idea is starting to die out, as not so many people enjoy eating dog meat these days.)

But perhaps the most interesting idea that I've come across is that of fan death. This is a topic which has received considerable Korean media coverage within the past few years. And believe it or not, the majority of Korean people believe in it. Fan death is as simple as this: if you leave your fan on overnight while you are sleeping, you may die. I've heard various reasons for this assumption. Some say that it sucks all the oxygen out of the room. Others say that it causes your body temperature to drop too far. I'm not sure what the scientific explanation is. But I was sure surprised when my normally easygoing roommate strongly forbid me to leave my fan on at night. (However, she later told me that it's okay as long as the window is open, too.) Apparently, there have been several unexplained sudden deaths in Korea—and the thing that they all had in common? Yup, fans in the room.

So living overseas has some interesting surprises. Just as soon as I think I understand most of the culture, something strange jumps out of the corners and leaps into my path. But it keeps life interesting, I guess.