Chillin' in Jeju, Korea: Going under the knife for a better life?

As I walked down one of the main streets in Gu-Jeju, I started fearing for my own safety after 3 people passed by, one after the other, with a bandage on their left eye. It looked as if they had been victims of some physical assault and, worst of all, they were all coming from the direction I was heading to.

As I ran into my friend Amanda, I saw 4 more of them coming our way. “That’s 7 in not even 10 minutes,” I thought. Most of them looked relatively young (under 30) and seemed alright – no bruises, hair perfectly in place, no ripped off clothes… they appeared to be peaceful.

We turned around the corner and there it was, written in gigantic letters, in both Korean and English: PLASTIC SURGERY!

As it turns out, plastic surgery (especially nose and eyelid) is huge in Korea. If you haven’t noticed, Asian features differ from Occidental’s and that apparently isn’t something to be proud of.

Moreover, Koreans tend to be very superficial (i.e.: women go hiking in their high heels with make up on!) and a lot of them idealize American culture. So plastic surgery is just the way to go.

Most Koreans also undergo a very restrictive diet at least once a year in order to stay thin or skinny. There’s actually a skeletal Korean woman working out at my gym and she spends over an hour pedaling on the stationary. Most Korean women I know complain about their size.

And as if this wasn’t enough, they believe that men are judged more on their ability than women are. So even if a female student at a famous school has graduated at the top of her class, if she is considered unattractive, the chances of her finding a good job are slim. So instead of attending classes that might enhance her skills, she is busy improving her appearance with cosmetic surgery appointments and visits to the gym.

Believe me, I’ve seen it. Especially in Seoul.

A Korean friend of mine got her degree in English lit from a well-known University but she is a little overweight. She had problems finding a job and her entire family said it was because of her size. Indeed, what company would want an average woman to interact with its costumers when they can get miss skinny who just underwent surgery?

Well get this: her parents ordered her to come home in order to lose weight. They wanted her to stay with them, be on a diet and exercise every day. You probably all know that in Korea parents are always right.

Fortunately for my friend, she got hired in a company 2 days before she was supposed to go back home!

Koreans get perms, undergo nose and eyelid surgery, going as far as liposuction. They believe that if your face is beautiful, then your heart also becomes beautiful (!!)

The rate of the general public going under the knife is currently at about 13 percent in Korea, while that in the United States is less than 3 percent. Plastic surgery has become so popular that the government even introduced a "reasonable" bill last year to reissue national registration cards to those whose appearance has changed as a result of plastic surgery!

Koreans can now reshape their ears with an octoplasty; eliminate wrinkles, blemishes and unevenly pigmented or sun-damaged skin with a chemical peel, change the shape of their face with facial implants; or go for a rhytidectomy - the classic facelift - in which the sagging facial skin is tightened and redraped over retoned facial muscles.

Today the typical Korean face (small, slanted eyes, round face and high cheekbones) can be dramatically altered to achieve the preferred Western look: all you need is 1-1.5 million won for the eye job, and 4-5 million won for bone shaving.

What's scary is that younger teenagers are going under the knife - often a gift from their parents who want "the best" for their children.

Koreans can also smooth out forehead wrinkles for 4-5 million won, enhance lips for 1 million won, augment breasts for 5 million won or have liposuction done on the stomach, thighs and calves for 2-3 million won.

While more than half of the surgeries performed involve the eyes (57 percent) and removing wrinkles (30 percent), the most popular procedure in Korea is the double-eyelid operation - the creation of a fold on the eyelid!!

But plastic surgery can be addictive and a lot of Koreans now crave it like I used to crave Nutella back in college.

Plastic surgery also enhances one’s chances of becoming a celebrity. According to a recent survey of 200 entertainers by Seoul-based plastic surgeon Lee Kang-won, 38.5 percent acknowledged that their looks had been artificially changed at an average of 1.42 operations.

And to think that when we die, all that flesh just rots in the ground.

PS: you might want to check out the very lame Korean movie "200 pounds of beauty" - in which a fat girl undergoes surgery and subsequently becomes famous. In the end she tells everyone she used to be fat and they all love her and, you know, she cries. Classic. The actress is perfect for both roles haha