Jackie-CP10

So my last hour with conversation partners was our second half of dinner at El Jaliscos, where we spent quite a long time actually! We talked a lot about Korean culture and sports, and about Sunjin's position as an Olympic runner-up for the 2012 Olympics. It's actually kind of crazy if he actually were to go to the Olympics, and I could say I've ate dinner with an Olympian (ha!). We also talked about dating in Korea, and how it differs from the United States in particular in terms of age differences. Though, there isn't such a stark difference--I think there is somewhat of a social stigma in terms of huge age differences in couples. For example, a twenty year old dating a forty year old might cause some strife in the family. We talked about those boundaries, though, and when the so-called "limit" is to the age gap. Is 30 okay? 25? Definitely? Of course, it depends on the person. But, in Korea, it depends more on the family. It's interesting to see the differences in collectivist vs. individualist cultures, and trying to accept the differences when you are raised to see one way--but that is what is important. You must see how you see in order to understand someone else; I had someone of a problem with this, because sometimes I would hear things I completely, morally disagree with, but then again, they probably disagreed like so with me. We ended our dinner with full stomachs and excitement--for they had just finished classes! Yippee!