How "Korean" I've Become

Fall in Suwon, South Korea

How "Korean" I've Become:

1. When greeting someone, I immediately bow. It's become such a habit that I don't even realize I'm doing it.
2. I never leave the apartment without tissue in my purse. A lot of public bathrooms DO NOT have toilet paper.
3. As soon as I enter an elevator, I press the "close door" button. I'm so impatient (like a Korean).
4. I also never leave the apartment without an umbrella. You never know when you will get caught in a rain shower. It happened the other night when we were out with my Korean girlfriends. It was raining quite hard as we left the restaurant and one of my Korean girlfriends told me she was afraid the acid rain would make her hair fall out. We bought some umbrellas on the street for 3000 WON (3 U.S. dollars).
5. When I see a Westerner (which is extremely rare where we live in Suwon), I stare now too!
6. We are beef-free. Except for the occasional trip to Outback Steakhouse, we don't eat beef. It is very expensive here in Korea.
7. I will never sign my name in red. It is very unlucky and very taboo. Koreans feel it will lead to an early death.
8. When walking by a mirror (they are everywhere including elevators), I check my hair to see if it looks ok.
9. Communal eating - food is always shared in Korea and there is no such thing as double dipping. It has taken me some time to not think about all the germs that are being shared and spread.
10. I don't cringe anymore when my husband proceeds through a red light.
11. When out with a girlfriend, it's very popular to hold hands or be arm-in-arm. This happened to me while shopping with one of my Korean girlfriends. She put her arm through mine as we were walking. I don't even think she realized that she did it.

Tomorrow I will list how unKorean I am.