Korean Men and Old Women

[So I have been without a working computer at my apartment for almost a week.  That's one week of not skyping with my family (sorry Mom!), being able to watch my choice of movies or television shows in English, etc.  I am entrusting my computer to a friend I work with who is a computer whiz for the weekend to hopefully fix it up. I can't handle being cut off from everyone back home for too much longer]

#101.  This is going to be the most disturbing Korean-ism thus far.  It is not a widely known fact so I am not certain of its validity so take this with a grain of salt.  Fact or fiction?  Who knows.  Here goes. In the Korean culture men are considered to be of more importance than women due to their ability to carry on the family name.  The only way to carry on the family name (in any culture) is to produce viable offspring.  All of this you probably already knew.  What you did NOT know is that in order to make sure that their sons can do this is to help along the process at an early age.

Now what the hell does that mean you may ask?  Well, when Korean men are between the age of around 4-14 (give or take a few years) their parents masterbate them at night to make sure they can get an erection. They say it is for their own good and that they will thank them when they are older and can maintain an erection in order to impregnant their spouse and produce MORE viable offspring.  In America this sort of "help" is called molestation.  In Korea it is just part of the culture.

#102.  Continuing on the same sick topic...in Korea it is not uncommon for an old woman to reach her hand into the stroller of a baby boy and touch his penis and make sure it is satisfactory.  This is common in Korea.  While the parents may not like the idea of their little bundle of joy being touched in that way by a complete stranger, it is not their place to disagree with an elder.  In America that old lady would be bitchslapped back to Korea.  Twice.  .

Alright...enough of the disturbing topics.   Little recap of last weekend for you.

So last weekend I went to Busan with a few of my close friends Jen, Nick and Tim.  While the BUS ride to Busan was not eventful...the subway ride into Busan was a  completely different story .  Right off the bat we were promptly annoyed by a drunken korean man in a zip up jumpsuit.  (Jumpsuits are all the rage here in Korea by the way.) He assumed that the two boys and two girls were together (most Koreans make this mistaken assumption) and kept bowing to the boys and giving them thumbs ups.  It was fun and games until he took Tim's bottle of beer,  shotgunned it and ended up spewing it all over the floor.  Not funny.  He ended up lighting up a cigarette (smoking is prohibited in subways by the way) and was forcibly removed from the bus.  Think of when people are thrown out of bars.  Dramatic but effective.

While in Busan we went to the sandcastle festival (pictures to come later when my computer doesn't hate me.)  These were more than just mere sandcastles.  They were freaking works of art.  Some were 20 feet high and so intricate that I had to remind myself they were made of sand.  To name a few there were sandcastles depicting Jesus,  Abraham Lincoln, The Statue of Liberty,  Eiffel Tower and the Bat Mobile.   Epic.

I also managed to acquire the first coveted Coach purse to send home to the women of my family.  More will follow but hopefully the one will suffice for now.  Happy Momma? :)

All in all a pretty solid weekend.  Good friends.  Sunny beaches.  Amazing western food.  Hopefully this weekend will be just as solid.  Fingers crossed kids.  Toes too.