So you may wonder, “Hey Mahir, do people in Korea spend their holidays stuffing their face and binge-watching Netflix, pretending they will commit to their resolutions like we do here in the States?” (PSA: Stop making New Year’s resolutions.) Well, it may surprise you that it is no surprise that it is pretty much the same here in Korea. “But Mahir how is that lack of surprise surprising?” You’re right. I just remembered the real surprise. Because there is no Netflix in Korea, people are actually forced to commit to their New Year’s resolutions.
Yeah.
Or… and this is way more likely… we stuff our faces everyday here.
Yes, it is obviously the latter. Let me break my week down for reference.
Sunday: Housewarming at Winnie’s with fried chicken, calamari salad, 뗙, and more.
Monday: Yale Club of Korea’s end of the year event with a catering that could be expected from a bunch of rich Yale alum (I had 6 different meats in one sitting).
Tuesday: Impromptu dinner at Emily’s to try out the wine she won at the club event the previous night. Yes, there was obviously more chicken.
Wednesday: 닭갈비 dinner with my lab mates.
Thursday: Frances and I made a massive Christmas lunch/dinner.
Friday: Joseph, Jake, and I went out for lamb skewers and hotpot.
Saturday: This chic buffet at 잠실 with my doumi. I had gorgonzola pizza for the first time in ages.
O.O
Yes, you may call me fat.
But it sure as hell beats being part of the couple culture that amplifies every single holiday. This is not a joke. Every single holiday is marketed to couples for them to spend time together and do couple-y things. Efforts have been seemingly much more increased, apparently, due to the incredibly low birthrate. Yes, I just tied Korea’s fertility rate and couple culture together and no, it is not farfetched. When we went to Jinju for the lantern festival there was a love pathway with pretty direct messages throughout it for couples to think about taking it to the next level, and I’m not taking about Scattergories.
At least, I had my buddy Paul come back to town!
Additionally, Frances and I even met Hyunwoo from TTMIK! We had a great conversation and I know I already have ranted often about language learning so I won’t get way into it. However, he did confirm a lot of my suspicions and perceptions to really cement the harsh reality. He motivated me to focus on my own habits and just ignore language school and I can assure you that attitude will be amplifying until I reach the end.
