Korean Job Discussion Forums

[crazylemongirl]

One of my mothers students (she's a school teacher in nz) came back to korea and she bought my christmas present with her. So yesterday I paid her a visit to get my present.

It was really fun hearing a korean kid speaking english with a perfect kiwi accent, fush and chups sux and all that jazz. But the comment that stuck in my mind from talking to her mom was.

'New zealand made my daughter fat.'

I was talking to her and she was telling me how she loved being in new zealand because she got to play sports and go swimming far more than she will in korea. The funny thing is that while she is big by korean standards in terms of both weight and height, I wouldn't call her fat.

But this got me thinking. Given that korean kids (ok gross generalisation here) don't tend to lead as active lifestyle how is that they can stay so thin?

clg

[just because]

Its all that Kimchi!!!! If you were eating that three times a day too you would be shooting it out just as quickly as you were putting it in.
Seriously, i have found the food in the west to be a little bit richer and the portions are smaller here which has something to do with it. To be honest it might be just her genes starting to catch up with her.

[rapier]

Totally believable.
Being from a cold climate, koreans have a natural propensity to putting on winter fat, a bit like seals living on blubber in the arctic.
In Korea the diet is low in carbs, so they don't reach their potential fat level until they get exposed to a richer western diet.l

[Bubbliee]

I find Korean food to be very high in carbs.

[J.B. Clamence]

Yeah, I find it very high in carbs as well: lots of rice and noodles. There doesn't seem to be a lot of protein, though. They don't seem to eat as much meat as Westerners. I always figured that that's the reason why they're often so thin: most people don't eat that much, really. And a lot of people seem to have an aversion to greasy food, whereas in the West, grease makes the world go round.

[weatherman]

How you ask? They really limit what they eat, like going without a real meal, like soup, rice and the sides.... say eating that only once a day and the rest of the time having a meal of what most of us would consider a snack. It is a cnstant diet for most of the women.

And what you said how the mother thought her athletic child was fat, wasn't and concern for her health, but concern for her child's image to others and potential for finding the right guy.

[crazylemongirl]

[Mr. Literal]

[rapier]

I should have said fat/oil/grease....

[matko]

Almost every Asian who visits a western country fo an extended period of time gains weight.

Just like I lose weight when I live in Asia.

Has to be the diet.

I am WAAAY more active in Canada than Japan or Korea.

[camel96]

[matko]

Have you gained weight in Korea?!?!

I think the majority of foreigners lose weight in Korea. At least that is what I have noticed!

Could it be the lack Mary Jane's home cookin'

[crazylemongirl]

[Kalhoun]

Probably eating fresh dairy, cheese, lamb chops, and exercising a lot makes her pretty strong. Her mother should be happy.

BTW, most Korean women who have a bit of meat on their bones, ends up going abroad and guys tend to really find them attractive. Whereas the skinny minny Twiggy types are over-looked by most Westerners and are left scratching their heads. Thus many women who have some meat on their bones return from trips abroad feeling much more confident. At least that's what I've found from my uni students. What most of the Korean guys go for here are quasi-annorexic waifs that I wouldn't take a second look at. The ones who have a figure, I might think are beautiful, but the Korean guys ignore them. Noon opda- go figure!

Kalhoun

[maxxx_power]

Those little dried sardines are absolutely loaded with calcium, yummy! If you're worried about not getting enough then maybe you should start drinking some calcium fortified soy milk (I haven't had dairy for years and drink that stuff...only I have a hunched back and unmended breaks ).

I've dropped quite a bit of weight since I've come to Korea. So much so that I have started eating more to gain back some bulk. I don't want to become like some toothpick European!

Must be all that mayonnaise and kiwi meat they eat over there. Either that or she's eating McDonald's all the time like EVERY westerner does (actually told to me by a coworker).