Whack

One of those moments where you just have to grin and bear it. I know these women haven’t had much contact with anyone who isn’t Korean and don’t know much about the world outside of South Korea, so they are genuinely interested. It can be pretty uncomfortable for me and this time in particular I was hurt a bit by the slaps across my back and on my arms. They weren’t gentle at all and yet still grinning at me and chatting to me… One woman in particular was so rough! I think she meant it to be just pats but it was really hard whacks.

My parents-in-law were nearby but couldn’t rescue me because it’s someone much older than them so they can’t tell her to back off and stop it. They know I’ll sit there politely anyway and it was a pretty funny situation. If you are going to Korea to work or teach and are in major cities you are probably never going to have a situation like this. However, if you marry into a Korean family, especially one in the countryside, you may have moments like this. Especially if you have fair hair and skin. I don’t really like being touched except by my husband so there are moments that can be uncomfortable for me in Korea or with Koreans. If it’s someone the same age as me or younger and it’s a constant thing that makes me feel uncomfortable I can say something about my personal space, but an old woman in Korea… there is no way I can say anything about that!

It did happen quite a bit while we were there. Not just being touched but being stared at as well. I was such a novelty to them. We weren’t always home but old women would come asking my mother-in-law where I was because they wanted to look at me. Some were coming every single day asking about me. My husband rolls his eyes at it but I could deal with it because the attention was positive not negative