hi travelers, it's nathalie here again, andtoday, i'm going to talk about a very wanted, or a very popular topic here on youtube, whichis "being black in korea". so..i think that the most wanted or the most feared thing aboutbeing a (black) woman or (black) man of color in a different, a homogenous society likekorea is being singled out or being standing out among the crowd...basically being staredat. now i'm not going to say that you do not get looked at here in korea, because you do,and especially when you come from a country where you blend in and you don't really stickout among the crowd to a country where you are most likely the only person of color (black),in ten square miles, it can be un-nerving and really annoying. you'll find people lookingat you, staring at you on more than enough
occasions and, you know at first, when i firstcame here, it was really annoying. if you watch... been watching my videos from thestart, you know that ive talked about it briefly and i'm just like ugh...if they would stop.blah, blah, blah...but you know...being here in korea for what...seven months - going onseven months now...you know.. it honestly becomes part of life, and you get use to it.it's like... i actually walk around with my glasses all the time, my sunglasses, and iput them on like i'm a big celebrity or you know... i just make sure i look good fromevery angle. now, one thing i do have to say is that the majority of stares i get comefrom ahjummas, ahjussi's and maybe even like middle-age women. i don't get too many staresfrom younger kids..like middle school - high
school age, or young adults. ahem... of courseyou get looks from little kids because they are like wow! but the school-age students,i think that they get a lot of diversity within their classroom. where i feel like schoolsare trying to add some kind of diversity or they have an english teacher from anothercountry. they are becoming very open to the world of pop culture and seeing faces of differentcolors. i'm not saying that...you know.. they are aspiring to have darker glowing tan skin...becausethat is definitely not the thing. they are becoming a lot more kind of neutralized aboutseeing people of different skin tones around. the kind of stares that always get me arethe ones that you are literally looking at that person and they just sit there and literallylook you up and down...like up and down, and
you are just..ok....what is going on...whatis wrong with my body? but...then you have to think about it again, they've probablynever seen you, they've probably never seen a body type like ours...curvaceous kind ofthing..they haven't seen that so its just like..hum.. what is that? honestly... i don'ttake it to heart. i think at first when i first came here i was like ugh...it too muchbut now it's just like...whatever! now i do want to point out that there is definitelya difference between staring and and looking. i don't feel koreans stare as much as youmay think. like when i mean sitting there and looking. i know there has been many peoplewho have had that experience when people are just staring consistently at you, but in myopinion i have seen people that... you know
that do stare occasionally, but just happento look and if you kind of get like have eye contact with them they are just like...ok.however, on the other hand, i'm going to tell you this experience that i had when i wasdown in seoul. i was visiting palace, if you don't know that is the joseson dynasty palace,the main palace in seoul...and i was just happen to walking around and i saw all thesetour groups of asian people, just asian people tour groups, and i learned that they werechinese tourists. these groups now...these groups, the chinese tourists, they staredat me more than any other person i have ever come in contact with in korea. the chinesetourists was like i was the attraction at the palace. so there were some girls dressedup in hanboks at the palace, and of course
you guys stand out and everyone wants to takea picture with you guys. there was a long line of chinese tourists waiting in line totake a picture with these girls. now these girls were trying to get away because theyhad been standing there for a while. i was like...i kind of mimed to them like...afterme i'll let you guys go kind of thing, and they are like ok, ok. i go in...i take mypicture with my selfie stick, and then do you want to know what happened?... i becomethe attraction! so now the chinese tourists who where standing in line waiting for thesegirls in hanboks, now change their minds and decided to stand in line waiting for me totake a picture of me!...yes!...like seriously!, i was like...awkward! that was not supposeto be the plan, but it happened. anything
dealing with pictures, being stared at, it'sbeen the chinese tourist that has been the more ferocious when it comes to that. nowanother question i know people ask is have i experience any kind of racism or any kindof discrimination while i'm here because my skin color?...i have not experienced anything!now it could be a mixed because i'm #1. antisocial (i don't really go any place), i really don'tdo much...ahem.... i haven't really experienced anything that has really turned my experiencehere sour. i'm not saying that there is not going to be an experience that may happen,but in my opinion, i in my experience, i have not experienced anything like that. and i'mvery fortunate, because i'm almost a year here...so it's like..i'm pretty comfortablewhere i am, and where i go, and i feel comfortable...you
know... in my skin. i see that a lot of peopleget really offended when people ask where they are from or ask if they are from africa...i think it's because africa has this negative connotation (portrayed by media) that allblack people come from africa, africa is poor, (portrayed by media) this image of africaand i think people have to understand that in korea, the concept between nationalityand ethnicity is very different compared to our perspective of nationality and ethnicityin these english speaking countries like america, uk, australia...things like that, mainly becausein korea if you look a certain way you are considered korean. that is you ethnicity,that is your nationality. however, when i try to explain this concept to my students,they are surprised that people from any race
from any country can become american. americanis not an ethnicity, american is a nationality, and therefore...any body can become an american...where as no matter how long i stayed in korea, i'd learn korean perfectly, i'm here for 60plus years, i would never be considered korean, i would always be considered a foreigner.i think that kind of misconception come into play when people are assuming you come fromafrica because they associate african skin color with that nationality. so again, i understandit kind of confusion again like black people cannot be from america, it's just that thatideal of nationality vs. ethnicity is no really apparent in their country, is not a huge thing,and of course this country is still homogenous...so. i think give people a break when they assumeyou are from africa because they just assume
that everybody who is darker skin (blacks)is from africa. i get that a lot... i had somebody come up to me tell me that they werelearning swahili, and i'm like...that good for you..i mean, it does not apply to my.but overall, in korea, i have experienced just this overwhelming kind of love and warmthwith the people that i have met. i haven't really experienced any negativity. i've just...any where i go, people are just excited when i walk into their store, they are like..."ohit's a foreigner", you know, they show me their love, especially if i am a repeat customer...theyare like wow...she came here again...let me give her some more stuff, you know. ahem,but that is just what i have experience during my time here, and i really enjoy it to thepoint that i am considering...considering
staying another year...we'll see how thatgoes... but yes... i hope that this kind of open your eyes on my experience of being awoman of color (black woman) here in korea. well thank you guys for watching... bye!
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