I suppose one could call South Korean people... affectionate.
Take for example, 'Nate' and Jin - two guys I met one night in Gangnam while waiting for the bus to bring me home. I'd just enjoyed an awesomely meaty Korean BBQ dinner and didn't expect anyone at the stop to start speaking to me. In English.
Well Nate and Jin were a bit sauced up from a few drinks (probably 2), and they sparked up a convo right away. It was delightful to actually be able to communicate with these dudes. But as we chatted... "I'm from Chee-Caa-Go. Yes, U.S.A." ...Jin had his arm lovingly around Nate's shoulders, and Nate linked his free hand to Jin's, too. After about 10 minutes, I thought they were quite a cute couple, and they thought I was a cute little American girl.
And then Nate asked if I had a boyfriend, to which I responded, "Ohhhh no. No, no, no. ...Are you two boyfriends?"
Their reaction was the LAST thing I expected.
Nate just about had a panic attack. He flung Jin's arm off of him so quickly that I thought he might fall over, and was all,
"NO NO! AHHH NO, that is TERRIBLE! I like GIRL! GIRL!"
"Sorry, sorry...I just thought...my mistake..." I'm saying to them while thinking to myself, wtf do you expect me to infer when you're fondling each other's hands in front of me the entire conversation.
In the end, I got their digits in case I ever decide to man up and get a cell phone. (seriously, it's liberating not having one. who woulda thunk.)
But wow, I guess it's all completely normal when my students pet each other's hair, hold hands in the hallways, and sit on one another's laps.
Go hug someone today, see what happens.
Love,
Syd
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