Warning: No Politically Correct Statements Here

It really shouldn’t surprise me.  Korea, after all, is a very uniform place.  Every mid-size town (and if your town is not referred to as Seoul, it’s a mid-size town) is the same.  Mirror images of each other. 

Mr. Pizza.  Paris Baguette.  3^rd floor Billiard rooms.  Homeplus.  Lotteria. 

And...

RACIAL INSENSITIVIY ALERT: Everyone looks the same.  Really. 

It’s not a slight to Koreans.  Rather it’s a matter of pride.  An ethnic identity.  Same black hair.  Same basic facial features.  Same semi-flattened nose bone and same “slanted” eyes.  Rarely will you find a Korean with facial hair. Or hair on the forearms. 

On a few occasions, Jessica and I have tried to describe to each other someone we met, or a teacher or student at school.  It always begins (and ends) the same way...

Ummm...he has black hair, and olive-ish colored skin, about 5 feet, 5 inches tall, and...ummmm...well he just looks Korean.

Visit any of the numerous walking paths in Korea and the scene will inevitably be identical to the last.  The trailhead will be liberally sprinkled with men and women of all ages wearing black nylon hiking pants.  Each will have a backpack, hiking poles, a ventilated hat with the brim extending a full circle around their head, a colorful moisture wicking shirt, a bandana around the neck, and (my favorite) a small tin cup attached to the shoulder strap, dangling in the non-existent breeze.  If I didn’t know better, I’d say that all of these people were headed off on a multi-day trek in the Alps.

Koreans do not wander far from the norm. 

So, as noted earlier, I should not have thought it odd that when my school went on a field trip yesterday to a local swimming pool all of the children emerged from the changing rooms dressed alike. 

Swim caps, goggles, spandex Olympic-ish swim trunks.  ALL of them.  Swim caps.  (What?  Why?)


Koreans, I've learned, know who they are.  What they look like.  What Korean food is.  Ask me what an American looks like, and I can't give you a definite answer.  White?  Black?  Hispanic?  Asian?  Ask me what American food is...another ambiguous answer.  Koreans, on the other hand, are a bit more certain.


Diversity is not on the list of Korea's strengths.  And I wouldn't have it any other way.