Hello My Name Is: Single

THINGS THAT YOU CAN’T DO IN KOREA WITHOUT GETTING SOME FUNNY LOOKS:

-Break off 3 bananas from the economy size bunch of 20 at the grocery store.

-Go to a restaurant or café by yourself: actually I change this to anywhere where you have to sit down and linger for awhile. If you’re walking alone, you’re safe because people assume that you must be on your way to work or to meet someone. But the second you order a latte and sit down by yourself, you’re a big weirdo.

-Jaywalk: A man pretty much yelled and spat at my friend and I for jaywalking in Seoul the other day. That was a new level of hostility. Usually they just look at you like you have 6 eyes.

-Be Blonde: We’re an oddity here.

-Say that you are single: My first day here one of my Korean coworkers asked me if I had a boyfriend. When the answer was “no,” she looked as if she were about to burst into tears of pity.

-Wear a shirt that shows too much shoulder or cleavage.

THINGS THAT YOU CAN DO HERE THAT NO ONE BATS AN EYE OVER:

-Hold Hands and walk down the street with a member of the same sex in a totally platonic way.

-For Guys: Carry murses (man purses) and wear pants that are tighter than your girlfriend’s.

-Throw Garbage on the street. Whether it’s your bags of trash that you are dumping on the designated corners for pickup or the child who unwraps their icecream cone and throws the wrapper on the street. Complete disregard for our planet.

-Be publicly intoxicated and/or pass out in public places. Seems more common among older Korean men.

-Wear a dress or skirt length that would never fly in North America.