Differences

There have been a few things that I have noticed while living outside of the US that are quite different and that I really enjoy. Much of it would be ridiculed or vilified in America, but out here it's just normal.

First Czech. It is a much more open country than the US. On one tram there is an advertisement for a cartoon and right next to that an advert for some bathtub with a woman's nipple visible. I can just imagine the outcry of rage from some if that were to be seen in my native country. They sell nude calendars in normal markets where anybody can see them and children are not standing around gawking at them because it is so normal and nobody cares. Going to the beach is the same, naked people everywhere! No one is going on a rape rampage or fiddling little kids (who are naked as well). I do have to admit I felt uncomfortable when one of my students showed me pictures of his family’s' trip to the beach. There were quite a few pictures of his kids, age 6 and 8, running around nekkid.

In Korea on the other hand, when I went to the beach here everyone was completely covered except for the fat Canadians. If girls wear miniskirts then they are prostitutes. Girls have curfews of midnight even if they are 27 years old. They have the "love motels" to get around this, even the teachers were telling me the rates for motels for a couple hours use (about $20) and they thought nothing of it. What I am wondering is why they know this; they have all been married for quite some time. Hmmmmm...

During some lacrosse tournaments in Czech they would have a sort of halftime show in between some of the matches (yes, I know that is not halftime). There would be the ugly baton twirlers (the players still gave cat calls and what not just to make the girls feel good) but there were also teenage boys doing some dance stuff while wearing very flamboyant outfits. Everybody, even the testosterone filled American teams cheered them on. I can just imaging if this happened in the US, lots of booing and gay comments. Even during the sports day last week a group of students performed a traditional dance and played some pretty interesting music during intermission and the students cheered wildly.

I am not trying to say America is no good, I am just pointing out some of the good things about other cultures, and public nudity of Eastern European girls (women) is definitely a plus!!

I went to a pro soccer game yesterday. The stadium was maybe 5% full. I was told that Busan fans are crazy but after this and the nearly empty baseball game I am not impressed. I did somehow manage to sit in the players’ family section and was offered lots of free coffee. I love hate coffee.