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A culture issue, korean?


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A culture issue, korean?
I am dating this korean man for a while now we spent our first night togheter and i noticed that in the morning he did not shower or brushed his teeth. now i'm concerned. he never stinks or has bad breath, he is a succesful bussinnes man he always looks well put togheter, when I see him, but i have seen him chewing gum. I am a neat freak specially when it comes to my body. We are from different cultures is anyone familiar with this culture? is this a culture thing or a plain nasty thing on his part. help! now everytime i see him i'm scared to kiss him thinking did he brush or bathe today? I like him though but i need to understand before i talk to him about it. by the way he was raised and born in the USA but with korean parents.
thank you.

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Obviously from the answers you got, there is a big difference of opinion, but in the end it is not unusual for a Korean to behave in this way. Koreans don't have the stinky underarm odor as much as we do in the West or BO really either. So they may not bathe as often. Also a lot of Asians think it is gross to get into bed dirty, so they bathe at night. If that is the case with your boyfriend, well he obviously had a good reason for not bathing the previous night. A lot of Koreans I met are not as strict about brushing teeth as Americans are.

So is it a cultural thing? Maybe. Does it matter if it is so important to you? go out a while longer, see if you can change it if he really does those things and if not, well, we choose the things that are important to us.
Others
maybe he didn't shower for respect (if he was in your house) or he just is nasty. from what i've heard, koreans shower after sex (but then again who doesn't) so i guess its not a cultural issue, but a personal (his) issue.
Your mention of his place of birth sums it all up - I have friends from the US and Europe whom I work with in Asia they shower once a week and reek by noon. These may be the minority, I don't really know.
I just run across your question and I don't answer Korean travel here in Yahoo but I can't resist to answer your question. This is not a culture thing but I believe is a persons own preference. Not only some Korean people do this. My friends bf was Vietnamese and he doesn't shower everyday and instead gives himself a sponge bath. When we found out about this, i dont want to be near his bf coz it's hard to get close to this kind of person coz in your mind will be his not taking a shower. so I can tell how you feel. that's an ewww to me and to think you have to sleep with him. i'm sorry but please think about this for you are the one who have the physical contact with him. good luck!
More often than not, Koreans wash up rather than take a full bath or shower. The ones I have lived with shower every 2-4 days, but they wash up many times a day, like 3 to 7 times.

When they wash up, they usually have a plastic bowl with some water in it, and they splash the water on themselves. In Korea, almost all of the school yards here have outdoor sinks covered by a roof, where kids will wash up after every visit outside. It is common for Koreans to wash their hands first thing upon coming to someone's house or arriving back at their own home.

The brushing the teeth thing is a different matter entirely. Everyone I know brushes their teeth every day.

Hope that helps.
Expat living 9 years in Korea.
Well, I reckon it is not a culture issue at all as far as I know cos all my Korean friends and family members take a shower once a day. I tend to take a shower twice a day though. I guess it is his personal hygiene issue.
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