Grasping at Straws

A few quick thoughts to get the mind thinking about culture this morning and all of its intricacies

On Mondays I always ask my classes to explain what they did over the weekend. It gets conversations started and the English that slept in their brains on Saturday and Sunday a chance to wake up and back into practice. This morning one of my students said that she had been on a business trip Thursday and Friday, then on Saturday she worked until 3am because of a very important presentation, and then on Sunday she had to stop working because she was having trouble breathing. I asked her what the doctor said and when she typed it into her cell phone translator and handed it over to me it said "hyperventilation".
"You were hyperventilating? Wow, I'm sure that was scary."
"Yes. But I am better now."
"What caused you to hyperventilate?"
"The doctor say, I need to take a rest."

The poor girl was exhausted. She looked haggard and worn down, much too tired for a 26 year old. Then the thing I hate most about Korea popped its head into the conversation.

"Oh but, now you look so thin," one of my male students said.
Dude, shut the hell up. This is exactly why so much of the population are making themselves sick: to get thin. This girl now knows that if she can become overworked, she won't eat, and if she doesn't eat, she loses weight. If she loses weight, boys take notice. Women here, who weigh probably 90-100lbs are always talking about dieting. "Oh, I need to lose weight. I'm starting diet tomorrow." I've heard that a bajillion times since I've gotten here. I understand wanting to lose weight. I understand wanting to be healthy, and having a healthy lifestyle, but what I cannot grasp is how this country revolves around losing weight. By any means possible.

My heart breaks for these men and women who lay everything on the importance of appearance, when they will only lose it to time and age anyway.

I cannot grasp why losing weight and being as stickish as possible is more important than being healthy, happy, and satisfied with who you are and then in turn finding people who love you as you appear. I cannot grasp the culture of this and honestly, I hope I never do.