Violet Beauregard Was Right All Along

If I live the rest of my life in Korea I will NEVER get used to one thing. No, it's not the food, it's not the constant staring, and it's not the hundreds of Asian people... it's the spitting.

Spitting must be the national past-time of Korea. You thought it was Taekwondo? Nope. Spitting. People think nothing of just hocking up a big chunk of phlegm and letting it go anywhere. Students spit on the floors of the school (the floors they have to mop at the end of the day, makes no sense to me). Old ladies spit on the streets and sidewalks. Teachers spit in to the sink located very close to my desk. All day long, it's a never-ending cacophany of spit and phlegm and mucus and other such nasties.

This begs two questions. One: Why is spitting so incredibly socially accepted in Korea? And two: Why do Koreans have such vast amounts of spitting to do? I have absolutely no idea why spitting isn't shunned as something dirty and private in Korea. Maybe in the U.S., being a country founded by Puritan prudes, we are just overly sensitive to such matters. Everything that comes out of our bodies is deemed dirty and semi-shameful. We cover our coughs, hide our nose blowing, and do everything else behind closed doors. Maybe the Koreans have a different level of freedom than we do.

And the other question, what is up with all of the spitting? Now, there are days, maybe weeks that I go without having to spit. I'm not counting the little spit after brushing your teeth, but serious "manly" spitting. Why are Koreans needing to spit so frequently? Is it the food? There is a persistent rumor that Asians in general are prone to being lactose intolerant. Maybe this spitting has to do with the vast amounts of dairy products here and a high frequency of lactose intolerance. I don't think that this is the real issue. I have no clue why the Korean spit producing glands and tissues are in overdrive here. Maybe it's all of the kim-chi.

So, my life is accompanied by a soundtrack of spitting. Violet Beauregard, in Willy Wonka, was right when she said while picking her nose "spitting is a disgusting habit." How prophetic. Maybe she was referring to Korea.