Korean Job Discussion Forums

[mysterious700]

Do Koreans view Westerners as being fat? Not being vain; just curious.....

[Qinella]

I've heard from my students a lot that Americans are fat. When I moved to Korea, everyone was surprised at how skinny I was at 6'2" 180lb. But that's just America. Don't know about all westerners. With the American thing, it's not really an opinion but a fact. There are a whole lot of big fat asses in the US.

[kat2]

Um, yes. I'm a size 28 here (6 in the US) and 5'9" . I'm definitely not considered thin here by any means. I've had a few stores tell me that they don't carry big size (and they don't mean tall. I told them I was looking for a skirt).

[Privateer]

Yes. Yes, they do.

[SuperHero]

why the hell wouldn't they consider westerners to be fat? I sure as hell do. Everytime I go back home it seems everyone and everything is supersized.

[laogaiguk]

Come on, home of the 2L slurpee and the bucket of McFries. How can you say we are fat???

[kat2]

THat is actually the biggest culture shock for me when I go home. There are fat people everywhere, gross, obese, nasty fat people. I didn't used to feel that they are disgusting, but now I have a strong aversion to them. Its kind of bad

[RACETRAITOR]

Do Koreans think we're fat? Yes. Do we think we're fat? Yes.

[Natalia]

Well, if you are fat, of course they will think you are fat.

I personally have never seen so many fat Westerners in my life until I came to Korea.

Australia is supposed to have a high percentage of overweight people, but honestly, I don't think the people where I come from have anything on wherever it is the fat Westerners here come from.

But not all Koreans are thin, and not all Westerners are fat. Funnily, a lot of the larger Westerners I have met here didn't realise they were overweight until they got to Korea. I have no idea how they didn't know.

[JZer]

maybe we should start a thread "Do westerners think Koreans are too skinny?"

[mokpochica]

A size 6 is not big in the States, but it is kind of big here I guess. Asian people tend to be smaller and thinner and can carry less weight while remaining healthy. Time in Asia did an article a few years ago that suggested that even 10 or so extra pounds on an Asian woman could lead to hypertension and other health problems. 10 extra pounds on a westerner is not likely to cause similar problems.

But of course, both the western countries and Korea...and the entire world for that matter...have an obesity problem. I'm pretty sure that we have more dangerously obese people in the states than Korea has though. I always lose weight when I live in Korea because their everyday food is healthier than what I eat at home.

When my husband first came to the states he thought that some of the women with large rear ends were handicapped people. He was definitely shocked by how big some Americans are--and I'm no skinny Minnie. Of course I live in an area of the U.S. that has a pretty big obesity problem...

[semphoon]

Yeah. They think we are fat.

One of my students had a speech about how kimchi prevents obesity.

[Moldy Rutabaga]

We can hardly blame them for thinking many westerners are overweight.

I don't get annoyed about it, but I do get irritated when Koreans deny that any of them are fat. I'm seeing some pretty porky Korean teenagers lately. Too many video games and Lotte burgers.

Ken:>

[Roch]

[Hapkido-In]

Personally, I am told that I am 'thin' and even 'skinny' by Koreans. Of course, I'm not thin, I'm actually just in good shape. I also have a fairly strong jawline. Anyways, Koreans don't think that I am fat.

As to people going back home and seeing that everyone is fat, I wonder where you are all from. Houston or something? (I've heard Houston is the fattest city in the world). I went back to the surrounding areas of Vancouver and didn't notice that there were fat people everywhere. Of course, I don't care if people are fat or not, so I may not have been actively looking for it.