Recently I heard from a friend of mine back home who said he'd been looking at my picutres from Korea and didn't understand the peace sign phenomenon in Asia (while taking pictures). Perhaps I can shed some light:
Loyal readers may remember that when I first arrived here, everyone kept telling me I had a small face. I thought it was strange that they kept commenting on that; like I was some freak of nature. I would respond by showing them pictures of my dad and saying, "see, I get it from him, it's his fault."
I have since learned that Korean women all want a small face (or narrow face) because it is considered more beautiful. Usually when I take my camera out, the females will make a peace sign covering their cheeks or strike some other strategic pose to make their face appear smaller.
I didn't realize this until Wednesday, when we took a field trip to Olympic Park and a group of my students decided that they can't pose for pictures with me anymore because my face is "too small," making theirs look bigger. It's not just the students who make these comments either; the teachers all say the same thing when they pose for pictures with me.
I could be wrong. Maybe they're just all about peace and love here, but I think that the small face phenomenon and peace sign phenomeneon are closely related.
World Peace Gate, Olympic Park
Me with my "1st graders" (10th graders) who told me my face is too small
*You can see the rest of my pictures on my flickr page
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