Korea Thread: Liberal Moon Jae In Elected

[Savonarola]

North Korea: Men required to get Kim Jong-un haircuts



Men in North Korea are now required to get the same haircut as their leader Kim Jong-un, it is reported.

The state-sanctioned guidelines were introduced in the capital Pyongyang about two weeks ago, media reports say. They are now being rolled out across the country - although some people have reservations about getting the look.

"Our leader's haircut is very particular, if you will," one source tells Radio Free Asia. "It doesn't always go with everyone since everyone has different face and head shapes." Meanwhile, a North Korean now living in China says the look is actually unpopular at home because people think it resembles Chinese smugglers. "Until the mid-2000s, we called it the 'Chinese smuggler haircut'," the Korea Times reports.

It seems that haircuts have been state-approved in North Korea for some time - until now people were only allowed to choose from 18 styles for women and 10 for men. Earlier, North Korea's state TV launched a campaign against long hair, called "Let us trim our hair in accordance with the Socialist lifestyle".

Late leader Kim Jong-il, who ruled North Korea for 17 years, sported a bouffant hairstyle, reportedly in order to look taller.

The Kim Jong-un haircut; for today's socialist lifestyle.

[garbon]

Does that one source think the hair cut actually looks good on dear leader?

[Grey Fox]

Those women in that picture, all want to suck his dick. That old dude too. That other dude did it & was not impressed.

[garbon]

Those women in that picture, all want to suck his dick. That old dude too. That other dude did it & was not impressed.

I don't think they are all like DGuller is with Obama.

[jimmy olsen]

Thanks for the link. I'll let you know if I'm there, and whether it'll be during the weekend. Still in the planning stages.

Depending on the date a weekday might be possible.

[jimmy olsen]

It's amazing how uneven my Korean vocabulary is. I pick up vocabulary while teaching in class, but it's usually when I'm explaining something which means I learn more difficult words and no simple ones.

For instance I know the words for flood, drought, hail, sleet and waterspout but I don't know the word for rain. Most Korean 1st year highschool students don't even know the Korean for the last two. 

[alfred russel]

It's amazing how uneven my Korean vocabulary is.

It isn't amazing that after 5 years of language immersion you know a few sort of tricky words. It is amazing that after 5 years it don't know the basics.

Korea is wasted on Tim.

[jimmy olsen]

4 years.

Everyone talks to me in English. I know enough Korean to get around at stores and such. Where, what, when questions and the like.

Phonetically it's very difficult to make out the vowels. They're very different from English and often I can't distinguish what they're saying. I still find out I'm pronouncing/hearing words wrong that I've known since I got here. The state department lists this as one of the hardest languages for an English speaker to learn, up there with Mandarin.

Japanese would have been a lot easier, their vowels are simple and easy to hear. Of course their writing system is much harder while the Korean alphabet is easy to learn.

[alfred russel]

4 years.

Everyone talks to me in English. I know enough Korean to get around at stores and such. Where, what, when questions and the like.

I'm seeing the trends and projecting your language capabilities for next year.

And yes Tim, I know you have to make some minimal effort to learn the local language.

[Monoriu]

It's amazing how uneven my Korean vocabulary is.

It isn't amazing that after 5 years of language immersion you know a few sort of tricky words. It is amazing that after 5 years it don't know the basics.

Korea is wasted on Tim.

I always speak to a foreigner in English whenever I see one in HK.  The rule is, if there is one foreigner in a meeting, everybody speaks English.  Shame on anyone who cannot do so.  The whole point is, we learn English to accommodate them, not the other way round.  That's why they are here to teach our kids English. 

[Valmy]

What if there was a foreign looking person who was not a foreigner, grew up in Hong Kong, and spoke native level Cantonese.  Is that a thing or would that confuse and freak out people?

[jimmy olsen]

What if there was a foreign looking person who was not a foreigner, grew up in Hong Kong, and spoke native level Cantonese.  Is that a thing or would that confuse and freak out people?

Sometimes you speak in what you know is for sure correct Korean and they just look at you with blank eyes not understanding you because Korean coming from a foreign just isn't a thing that could possibly happen.

[alfred russel]

I always speak to a foreigner in English whenever I see one in HK.  The rule is, if there is one foreigner in a meeting, everybody speaks English.  Shame on anyone who cannot do so.  The whole point is, we learn English to accommodate them, not the other way round.  That's why they are here to teach our kids English.

I get the dynamic, but Tim is over there long term. Aside from making his day to day life easier with all the Koreans that don't speak English, he is going to seem either odd or lazy to live there so long and not learn the language. If he plans to stay longer, he really needs to learn the language to integrate with a wife and family.

[Monoriu]

What if there was a foreign looking person who was not a foreigner, grew up in Hong Kong, and spoke native level Cantonese.  Is that a thing or would that confuse and freak out people?

Yeah, there are lots of these people, and they never cease to freak me out.  Even if I hear perfect Cantonese from, say, a Brit, I always respond in English. 

[Syt]

My two English colleagues make an effort to learn German. I applaud their tenacity, but it's just so much easier to communicate to them in English rather than in halting pidgin German.