Julia

As a single Korean girl, the problem isn't that I'm in my 30s; it's that I'm happy about it.  Back in the day, Korean girls got married in their early 20s - perhaps after a rare (and maybe sarcastic) attempt at building a career - then went to live with their husbands to bear children (accompanied with a healthy disdain for their new mother-in-law).  The girl's parents patted themselves on their backs for a job well done and other parents saluted them for their success.  But now that I'm (over the hill) 30, my parents are very concerned that I will not validate them or bring forth progeny. 

When I tell people I'm 32, they're initially shocked.  This happens so regularly that I'm almost offended if they have no reaction to my real age.  Online, however, when people view my profile picture, which is one of me wearing a dress I wore in highschool, they think one of two things, either: 1) I'm lying; or 2) jail bait.

Saying that I'm 32 probably prompts looks from you that are similar to the way a dietician looks at a man whose belly hangs over his "42" inch waist while he adamantly insists that he has a 42-inch waist, or the same way a woman looks at another woman who clearly had a "This.  Will.  Zip.  Up!" conversation with herself earlier that morning.

Dating, like fashion or calendars, has its cyclical trends.   This season, yellow fever has manifest itself in the form of Korean fever.  This is, in part, thanks to the proliferation and rebranding of consumer products such as Samsung, LG, Hyundai (think: Genesis), and the like.  Koreans as a culture, like their exports, have rebranded themselves; long gone are the associations and/or stereotypes that once made Koreans synonymous with convenience stores or the Hyundai Pony.  In short, the tide has turned and nowadays it is "cool" to have something made in Korea.  Enter the "IT" date.

Near and dear to all women are their breasts.  Some men would also consider themselves breast lovers as well, but oh my God – just as brunettes give the evil eye to the expression, "Blondes have more fun", asian women give cut eye to the ignorant who utter the following statements:

"You have big breasts for an asian girl."  Courtesy of Boyfriend #1.

"Small dogs, small cell phones, small boobs." Courtesy of The Family Guy.

"Asian guys have small penises so I guess it makes sense that asian girls have small boobs."  Courtesy of a now incarcerated soul who needed to learn some other lessons pertaining to appropriate social conduct.

The last article I wrote was about the stereotypes and experiences Korean (and possibly asian) women face while dating interracially, and how non-Koreans perceive and/or approach the date with a Korean woman.  In short, the date inevitably became either an exotic excursion OR an attempt to realize a fantasy.  I didn't paint those looking to date interracially in a very good light, but to be fair, I was only looking at one end of the extreme -- the relatively ignorant one.