Speaking of plastic surgery...

I went to a wedding last weekend, and the woman who accompanied me, Seon (the bride's sister) had had some freckles removed the week before. Seon is a professor in Pasadena, and she flew over for the wedding and for some touch-ups on her already barely blemished face. I must have changed my facial expression a little, because after telling me of the freckle removal, she explained how looks are so important to Koreans. She showed me her Gucci watch her ex-boyfriend had bought her. "At least you got something out of the relationship that lasts," I told her. She said she's going shopping for a Gucci bag soon, or a fake Gucci bag (fake labels made in Korea are still good quality, apparently).

Many women receive breast implants from their parents as a graduation gift. Others receive nosejobs, or the combo. Children get the bottom thing on their tongues cut so that they can speak English better (it's a crock, the thing under my tongue prevents me from sticking it out and curling it, but I speak it pretty okay).

Another surgery I forgot to mention is "double-eyelid" surgery. Koreans, like the Chinese and Japanese, have more skin on their eyelids, unlike non-East-Asians. "Double-eyelid" surgery removes some skin, giving the patient a Westernized look. The Korean Prime Minister had his eyes done "to enhance his vision," a myopic excuse which many of the older Koreans don't buy. The younger ones, those getting the surgery, find his statement plausible, like the annorhexic American girls (and their boyfriends) who nod their heads and laugh when they hear that being fat is unhealthy. They probably didn't laugh if they heard the latest news that having a little fat in the thighs may be healthier for the heart. Maybe they just give that news the same treatment they give to the news on the alarming trend of annorhexia.

Somebody also told me of "re-virginization," a surgery to make it look like a woman still has her hymen after she's lost it. The man wants a "virgin" wife, I guess. This seems like something that would only happen in the highest society; my Korean coworkers (aside from my boss) aren't pinched-up stress-bombs whose shit doesn't smell. I don't know how common "re-virginization" might be, the news obviously wouldn't report much on it here. Image importance may get a little ridiculous in Korea, as it does in the US.