With the warmer weathar clothes have become smaller, revealing tattoos. In Korea tattoos are still considered A BAD THING. But in my beloved Hongdae area there is quite a few people, mostly guys, with tattoos.
It is considered bad becasue it is associated with the mafia, and that it desecrates the body thatyour parents gave you. Apperantly smoking, drinking like a fish and not exercising is ok, but a tattoo...It is, along with piercing, technicaly illegal. But not many are arrested. Though early this year there was a famous tattoo artist who were arrested on the grounds that since he is piercing the skin, it is a medical procedure, and therefore he is practicing medicine without a license. Mostly it has to do with young men getting big tattoos to escape military service or be put to light duty. Yes that is right, if you got mafia looking tattoos, you can escape the mandatory 2 year service.
This is just one way in which Korea is changing so fast that the goverment gets left in the dust. The attitude of the younger generation and the old one is widening, and there is no real way to bridge it.
Older people can sometimes be very helpfull, and sometimes very rude.
Anyway, I have been spying peoples arms and legs for tattoos, and ther is obiousvly and artist out there who knows what he or she is doing.
Today I had a Pol Sci class were I acctually understud what the teacher was talking about, an ecconomics class were I did not pay attention and a litterature class were I read. After the two first classes my energy level is pretty spent. Next week is an week of assignments and holidays, since monday is Buddhas birth day! Happy birthday!
Once again I appologies for the bad spelling and incorretct grammar, this time helped along by the fact that I am writing without my glasses and have to squint to see the text...