I don't normally bother commenting much on Korean news unrelated to teaching, but a pretty funny story has the country buzzing and I couldn't resist. There is this show called "
Misuda", where they gather a panel of good looking foreign women who speak Korean to talk with Koreans.
The other day a Korean girl on the show basically said that she doesn't date short dudes because they are losers. Apparently only tall men can be winners in this day and age. My co teacher told me the girl said only dates men who are over 180cm. That's funny, because I'm a cm or two over 180 and I'm still a bit of a loser. I guess I'm cutting it too close.
The poor thing has since been the target of
Internet and media backlash. People found out who she is, where she goes to school, and she is now being harassed and stalked. Apparently people are posting updates of her whereabouts online. Some are putting up posters and graffiti insulting her and/or making fun of her comments. I don't know what is more ridiculous - her stupid remarks or people actually getting so worked up about it that they attack her personally. Not the brightest comment on her part though. You should really think before you speak on national television. I know plenty of cool short people. They have big personalities.
UPDATE: I just found a full writeup of the story
here. It confirms most of the gossip I've heard at school, and is definitely good for a laugh. In the girl's defense, it does say the short guys are "losers" comment was part of a script written by the show.
It took all of 5 seconds for someone to remark that her tirade against short people provoked Kim Jon
Il into sending boats into South Korean territory this week, causing the exchange of fire that was in the news. Now that's comedy.
People from home always ask me if I feel like a giant over here. While I sometimes feel a little taller than I would at home, Koreans are not all that short. There are even many male students at my school who are as tall or taller than I am. Actually, according to a chart on
Wikipedia, Koreans are 0.5cm taller than Canadians on average. The only problem I have with that is Korean means Korean people and Canadian means people from all over the world. The chart does show that Chinese and Japanese people are notably shorter than Koreans on average, so I suppose maybe that's where the notion that all Asians are small comes from.
Enough horribly researched talk about height. To get back to this "
Misuda" show, this isn't the first time a girl has gotten some bad press for comments on the show. One Western girl criticized the absurd number of geeky white English teachers who date gorgeous Korean girls here with no remorse. A true gentleman would say "Sorry, you are too pretty for ugly, nerdy old me...you only want to date me because I'm different and because dating you will give you free English practice". What's funny is that her comments insulted not only the nerdy, exploitative white guys, but the attractive Korean girls who date them as well. Her comments implied that either these girls are conniving bitches out to get free English lessons, or they are naive airheads, too dumbfounded by mysterious white guys to realize which ones are actually "good enough" to date.
In conclusion, I think shallow people are losers, but maybe I shouldn't make such sweeping generalizations.