Korean Job Discussion Forums

[MaestroCantus]

Hello everyone,

I've been living in Korea for 1.5 years, and have been working at a public middle school in Seoul for the past 6 months.

Recently, my strong desire to pierce my upper ear has returned (I've wanted to ever since 2002), but I know about the stigma attached to body modifications here.

I'm pretty established in my school, and the teachers and students love me -- and comment on how my teaching style has improved greatly since last term . . . I just don't know if that'd change if I got a hole put in my ear.

I'm pretty conservative in my dress style, and I don't want anything too weird by North-American standards. Pretty much, I just want a piercing like this in one ear:

http://s1.hubimg.com/u/90328_f248.jpg

One coworker said that I should just be happy with the traditional holes in my ears . . . and I don't need to get the extra . . . that's true, but I dunno . . . I have been bouncing this desire around my head for a LONG time.

(1) Maybe I should just get it, and keep my ear covered in gauze while at work while it is healing . . . or until people accept it.
(2) I could also just get it, and then take it out if it causes too much of a commotion at work.
(3) The easy option is to continue ignoring this desire, but I'd really like to do this.

I found a place in Seoul that seems to sell piercing stuff (I'd want titanium . . . I could go yellow to look more like traditional gold jewelry) . . . and they might do piercings -- but I can't understand Korean.

http://www.pierce.co.kr/

Any sincere advice or suggestions?

[ChilgokBlackHole]

I am well-known throughout my hakwon and the surrounding community for doing all kinds of wacky, crazy stuff. This is after almost two years. If I came in with a piercing, it would be like "Oh, that's just The Hole doing something crazy again, kekeke."

[Italy37612]

A lot of Korean women have more the one piercing in an ear. I have seen plenty of upper ear piercings here. If you were gonna get a big ring through the middle of your nose I would say, bad idea. But as far as the upper ear goes, I really don't see you having any problem with that at work.

[rooster_2006]

Go right ahead. If it's like the photo, this will be nothing out of the ordinary. I used to see women on the subway with pierced traguses and cartilage piercings that were far wilder than this... Of course they were probably mooching off a rich Mommy and Daddy and on their way to Hongdae, not having to think of what the sajangnim or wonjangnim would think. Or maybe the sajangnim thought it was sexy and it increased their chances of getting hired.