American girl's got back

"Today, the average American woman is 5’4″, has a waist size of 34-35 inches and weighs between 140-150 lbs, with a dress size of 12-14. Fifty years ago, the average woman was 5’3-4″ with a waist size of approximately 24-25″, she weighed about 120 lbs and wore a size 8."

I would like to put this on a billboard in the middle of the most traveled road in Gangnam, because people here are still stuck in the mentality of 50 years ago.

All over the internet you will find blogs and photos talking about the way the Korean culture views weight and how judged foreigners often feel while abroad. If you do not wear anything between a size 0-4 then you sometimes are told to go to 'plus size' stores or you have to go to stores that are not Korean for that is where you will actually find normal sizes.....That's right ladies, WE ARE NORMAL to need something larger than a size 0, so having stores like 'Forever 21' or 'H & M' are Godsends while abroad or I would have NO PANTS while being here. Honestly, I can only buy skirts in Korean stores that are a stretchy waist, as the one time I dared buy a skirt with a zipper it was miles too small! Korean genetics make these women all extremely petite and that is just how they look, and I would be OK with it if it wasn't for one thing.....

I have never spoken about weight so much with my friends, coworkers, and even strangers as I have since my 8 months being in Korea. Are us foreigners so OBESE that you must point out that we do not fit in your size zero? Yes, we are built differently and yes our genes give us hips and thighs and big giggly butts and we are OK with it. So, this is not a rant about how unfair it is that I am a bigger girl than Korean women; this is a rant about how proud to be an American woman who is a size 8/10 in a size zero country.

It must be nice to go to the gym for a nice leisurely walk on the treadmill as so many Korean women do here and call it their 'work out', when they are already incredibly petite as it is. But behind you is an American girl who is sweating in places she did not know she could as she attempts to spin for more than ten minutes. What keeps this gluttonous American motivated? The thought of duckgalbi or another delicious meal in her near future!

It must be nice that when you, Korean women, are on your nice little walk your child size thighs don't touch at all, but when I go for a vigorous run to try to work off some serious American calories I hear with every step, "rub a dub dub, let's work off the chub.'

Even the Korean men in the gym have legs the size of teenage girls and one of my butt cheeks is bigger than their entire backside. So the next time you gym boys choose to have an opinion on me or my friends weight, why don't you instead go and work on your own physique so that from the back I won't mistake you for a fifteen year old.

Sure you may say I'm fat, or laugh and gawk at me shoving kimchi fries down my neck but guess what? THEY TASTE GOOD. And that is half your creation and half ours Korea.

I am proud of the way I look and I don't need anyone's approval, thoughts, or opinions on it. I love my body and that mean's I don't need you too. I am proud of the women I stand by that also are beautiful with their size 8's, 10's, 12's and who else even notices? I am proud to call them my friends because of who they are, and they happen to look amazing also.

All I'm saying is that I accept the things that Korean culture brings to the table that are different from my culture and I do not make nasty comments about them. I don't go around judging and living on an opinionated high horse thinking 'it's my way or the highway'. I'm more welcoming to the differences of the world. There are a select few here that need to choose to embrace that mentality especially when it comes to differences in appearances, such as weight. It's just rude.

I eat macaroni and cheese before I go the gym. I often put on my gym clothes and sit in my apartment and eat chocolate, never actually making it there. I've got junk in the trunk and my Mama gave it to me.....take it or leave it. But if you choose to leave it, don't bother telling me your opinion about it. Because us American girls, we know a size 0 is not 'normal' and that having a body that has a shape is beautiful.

More importantly, we look on the inside too.