The Looking Glass From the Other Side

According to a group of about thirteen Korean students (ages 13-15 years), here are some common stereotypes that Koreans have about Americans:

• They are rich.
• They eat steak.
• They have good bodies.
• They are fat.
• They are handsome.
• They have blond hair.
• They have blue eyes.
• They have big noses.
• They have guns.

As to being rich, I suppose this is not an uncommon perception of Americans all over the world. Nothing new here, except that it's a bit ironic that the relatively affluent Koreans are lending their voices to the chorus.

The steak thing didn't surprise me too much, but that's only as the result of having been here for six months now. If you ask Korean kids to name two American foods, they will probably say steak and hamburgers.

It was the girls that said "good bodies", and naturally I assumed they were referring to American men. Upon further reflection however, and in light of their following response, I wonder if they meant American women...

Okay, we all knew that people around the world say Americans are fat. I mean, what else is new? But hey, they're just jealous, right? Ironically, Koreans are starting to pork up a bit themselves. Alas! the hazards of a middle-class lifestyle.

There is very little ethnic diversity here in Korea, and beyond their interaction with their foreign teachers, these kids' conception of Americans is largely based on the movies they watch. Handsome American actors have no-doubt done us all a great favor in this respect.

The blond hair/blue eyes thing seemed a little strange to me at first. Of course, some Americans fit this description. But I've learned that Koreans tend to call any hair color other than black "yellow". Thus, I'm blond, even though my hair is light brown. Likewise, any eye-color other than brown becomes "blue". I asked this same group what color my eyes are, and they told me blue.

Trust me, you don't realize just how large your nose actually is until you live in Asia. At least this doesn't disqualify us from being "handsome".

That every American has at least one gun is a perception that I've found not only in Korea, but also in Europe. I guess they figure we're each issued one at birth or something. What a concept: "baby's first side arm". Koreans aren't allowed to own guns except in very rare cases.