Boys and girls (well, just the boys this time) it’s time to have the talk. Yes that talk. You may have noticed that your face is getting hairier. Well, I’m here to tell you that it’s perfectly natural. Don’t worry about it.
Just shave it all off in silence you filthy animal.
This week’s blog post deals with sporting more than just a little peach fuzz. So trim up and check out:
Beards and why they make you look dirty (Korean men and facial hair)
Previously on KC101, we dealt with how no one likes a middle child and how the Rock Monster from Never-Ending Story was showboating.
Kind of.
In your family, are you the Youngest? Oldest? Middle? (Korean birth order)
Using two hands to do what you do (nonverbal Korean politeness)
Enjoy!
crossposted at KC101
13/10/2009 at 6:18 pm Permalink
Ok, if you want to start a discussion here about whether we sparklers think facial hair is ok in Korea or our experiences/preferences, that’s cool. If you want to talk about birth order or how to be polite and the compromises we should make in a foreign culture, fine (I, for example, have integrated lots of Korean ideas about politeness into my psychology now, but cannot ever bring myself to give money at a wedding – I hear my grandmother and mother gasping in horror at the very idea) . . . but please, no more link dumps! You’ll notice that most people who cross-post here either give an abridged version of their work and a link, or the full version and a link, or exclusive content that they don’t post on their own sites. Sometimes there’s a link somewhere else, but it’s usually to stir discussion here.
13/10/2009 at 6:33 pm Permalink
While I hear what you’re saying, I simply think you’re looking too deep into this. It’s a post about facial hair in Korea. Why not just comment on the post like it’s meant to be? If you like the post and would like to comment – please feel free to do so. If not, just ignore it. I respect what others have done but that doesn’t mean I must write exactly like they do. What I would like to see is if anyone finds the post interesting or worth commenting. If not, no hard feelings. Sometimes it’s just nice to read something entertaining.
14/10/2009 at 12:11 am Permalink
I’ve been here for over five years, and I’ve always kept my face shaved. It’s just smart. Although I’l probably get flamed for saying this, facial hair in Korea (unkept, overly long facial hair) is kind of like having a tattoo on one’s face back in the States. Sure, it’s your business to do what you want with your body, but people will look at you a little funny and possibly toss your resume as you walk out the door.
Almost all Koreans stay clean shaven, and when in Rome…
14/10/2009 at 8:43 am Permalink
@ Ian – actually I think what you said is really a fair comparison. It’s certainly a personal decision but it comes with consequences that the person expects. What might come as a surprise to some is that not only tattoos are taboo but facial hair, too.
Curious. If Korea was a place that had an abundance of beards, would we all grow beards, too? Even if one wouldn’t do so in his home country?
14/10/2009 at 8:53 am Permalink
I had a beard for the first ten months of my first year. Eventually I shaved it, simply because I was tired of having the “Rob, I think you should shave your beard, so you can find a girlfriend” conversation (and yep, that’s exactly the logic I heard) at least once a week, almost always from a different, but equally well-meaning Korean friend or colleague. I hate shaving: it irritates my skin, and I take every opportunity to miss a few days, but the grizzled look really doesn’t fly here.
Another friend here arrived with an awesome man-bear beard, and looked great with it, but got absolutely no interest from females — women would make the big, forearm X at him on the dance floor — as soon as he shaved the big grizz, the interest he received from women skyrocketed.
14/10/2009 at 9:08 am Permalink
@ Roboseyo – haha I know what you mean. It took me forever to find an aftershave that doesn’t make me look like I just contracted the T-Virus. For that matter, I still have to change out the insanely expensive shaving cartridges sooner than I should. It gets to be expensive. I ought to do a long-term expensive report to figure out exactly how much money I spend on each shaving session. Even if the result was less than a few dollars, I would still be pretty sad.
Kudos on the “find a nice girlfriend” weekly interventions. Those had to have been entirely too uncomfortable. Probably not as uncomfortable as a body-language rejection in full form made with two skinny forearms on a dance floor. Classic.
14/10/2009 at 9:13 am Permalink
@ Rob, Ian,
Talked it over with pretty much all of my Korean girlfriends, and not one of them liked scruff, beards, doucheburns, or any other variety of male hair on the face beyond a nice set of eyebrows. All of my Korean male friends shave bar one guy who’s an artist . . . one poor friend had such a prolific beard that he actually had a full shaving kit that he toted with him some days to make sure his five o’clock shadow didn’t show up at two.
@ Matt – this is a stylistic critique, not a content one. I think your content is good, but as I noted, most people bring content to their posts here, not just links back to their page, which directs everything elsewhere. Look at how Stafford, Feetman, and Fatman all set up their content, even though they have other websites . . . there’s actual content both places, or the content has been specialized for the Hub. Even when Rob does a link dump, it’s usually a bunch of related news sources we can discuss here.
I’m not saying that your posts have to been deep, topical, or anything else. I just think they should be *posts* and not just ads for another site.
14/10/2009 at 10:04 am Permalink
p.s. Oh Rob! How I miss your doucheburns!
16/10/2009 at 8:59 am Permalink
Yeah, GG, too bad in the “keep it or shave it’ poll, Girlfriendoseyo got an extra vote, because she’s the one who smooches me, rather than just admiring the doucheburns from afar.
16/10/2009 at 1:59 pm Permalink
Afar is from where they’re admired best, I am sure ^ ^ And I would certainly never seek to usurp her authority over your face