Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ernie]

...why don't Koreans dress appropriately for winter?

i'm from canada, so i think i'm qualified to say when it's cold. today it's COLD. around 0 degrees with some nasty wind. i'm wearing a winter coat, toque, scarf and gloves to work and i'm still a bit chilly.

i work at a public school (it's actually 4 public schools on one property) so i see a lot of kids on my way to work in the morning.

i can count on two hands the number of students wearing WINTER jackets. news flash: suit jackets are not designed to keep you warm. wearing a massive scarf is pointless unless your coat keeps the rest of your body warm.

i didn't see ANY students wearing a winter hat. this is the easiest way to keep warm, as much heat is lost through the head. i've seen tons of korean hip hop gangstas wearing toques in the summer, but for some reason not in the winter.

ok, i understand that kids are more concerned with fashion than comfort. i was the same way when i was 15, but i would never admit i was cold! you're not allowed to say '추어ㅓㅓ' unless you've actually taken 5 seconds to think about what to wear before leaving the house.

rant over. any ideas to improve winter attire in this country? am i being insensitive to some deep-seated 'cultural difference'? i'm just sick of all the whining, especially from grown men who haven't learned to dress themselves.

[Return Jones]

It's just the way it is. Not wearing socks is quite popular at my school these days. My students are supposed to wear indoor shoes in my classroom. They often forget them and simply take off their sandy outdoor shoes and walk into the room in bare feet. They don't seem to mind

[ciccone_youth]

I agree with the OP.

I noticed that as well- people don't dress accordingly. I think they're afraid to look "ridiculous". I'm also from Canada, and as soon as it started to get cold I had my scarf, mittens, and winter coat.

Girls still walk around in mini skirts and shorts, and most people don't wear a proper jacket. Korean always laugh when they see my mittens, ie. when I have to pay for something at a store- they all point at them.

And my (elementary school) students are not dressed too warm either, they don't wear anything on their head.

Oh dear, I sound like my mom.

[bogey666]

did you miss it in the late fall when it first got a little cooler?
all of my students started wearing winter jackets when I was still wearing nothing but a cotton shirt.

now the pendulum has swung the other way, I saw a guy with shorts and sandals in near freezing weather the other week.

and I've seen plenty of girls with shorty short shorts or miniskirts, maybe those legs are so pallid and white simply because they're literally freezing?

in any event, I pay absolutely zero attention to how they dress and with what. I think I made that decision the first time I saw a guy in a shiny silver suit with a pink tie.

I'll dress my way and they can dress their way.

[CentralCali]

Having four seasons is nothing to boast about when two of them are terrible! (Ripped off from some Californian Comedian.)

[ernie]

i was thinking maybe it has to do with the individual vs group mentality. koreans seem to love being cold together so they can crank up the old heater instead of taking personal responsibility for their own well-being.

i'm not korean, so spare me your 추어s!

p.s. i tell koreans we have 5 seasons in canada. spring, summer, fall, winter, and WINTER!.

[esetters21]

[EzeWong]

I also agree,

I saw a woman the other day whose skirt when up to high heaven and a short sleeve blouse with no jacket. I couldn't fathom that any man would be worth that torture.

Although, to be fair, as a culture more concerned with their looks I can certainly see why they don't wear big puffo jackets. Back at home, the high class upscale areas you see people wearing your regular longcoats and for women as well. Having a sorid love affair with those types of coats myself, I can attest to their inability to insulate any kind of heat...

Oh and the winter apparel I DO see is probably more ridiculous than anything at home (I might be saying this with biased but I think most would agree, including Koreans). I've seen students sporting these nun hats that look like animals... I don't know how to describe it. It basically looks like a nun hat with the long wings (called a habit) that's shapped intoa cute fluffy animal (usually a duck) with the longwings coming down soft and fluffy... It's actually quite cute but only on elementary kids. To me any older and you've reached ridiculous... Especially the college students who wear it.

[nosmallplans]

this isn't a korean thing. it's fashion. you see it everywhere. back in chicago we used to wear shorts when it hit 30. nothing to do with your health, has everything to do with how you look.

you have to simply accept that some people have a death wish.

[ernie]

the difference is that back home, people don't dress that way and then complain incessantly about the cold.

[jkelly80]

Who wears shorts in Chicago when its 30? Fat guys in Bridgeport?

[weatherman]

All true.

But then you see the opitsite. Men and women inside wearing hats scarves and coats. Even if the classroom is pumping out the heat, (and I'm starting to sweat and wishing I could get down to my t-shirt) thoses hats scarves and coats stay on. So they sweat under the influence of heat and winter wear, and then go back outside and feel truly cold.

It all weird the more so, becuase I see the students fanning themselves with a notebook or something to try to keep cool. If tell them to take off their coats to feel comfortable, it is almost impossible. They think they are doing a public stripe tease or something. Very odd.

[bogey666]

[Brooksmatic]

I don't know what you guys are talking about. Every kid at my elementary's got a big puffy jacket with a fur-lined hood. Nine out of ten middle schoolers and high schoolers I walk past on the way to my elementary are wearing the standard black puffy North Face jacket (sometimes the puffy shiny jacket).

And I just want to say puffy one more time. Puffy.

[EzeWong]