On a Scale of 1 to Amanda Seyfried...

Within 2 days of arriving in Korea, the general populace seemed to have settled on my celebrity look-alike: Amanda Seyfried. (Although I never considered her to be terribly attractive, I decided to take it as a compliment.) Since that first week, I have repeatedly and from very different sources been told that I look just like her. By "varying sources", I mean varying Korean sources. It had never before crossed my mind that I looked *anything* like her, so when I arrived here and all-of-a-sudden looked *just* like her, I wondered what changed.

When I ask Koreans why they think I look like her, their answers generally include at least 2 of the following:
"You are really pretty."
"Blond hair."
"Big eyes."
"Light skin."
"Green eyes."
(I have since learned that the last 4 equal the first 1 here.)

When I asked my american friends if they saw the resemblance, most of them made comments such as:
"Well if she wasn't caked in makeup..."
"I guess you both have big eyes."
"Your facial structure is similar."
"Maybe I can see that."
"Well if your hair was lighter..."
And nobody said, but everybody thought:
"Well if you were skinnier..."

This is me at prom with my friend JJ in May 2010.

Amanda 2 days ago with Korean Kpop singer Taecyeon.

Amanda is a "stunning blond" actress/model.

I am a lowly college student and ambitious blogger.

While us Americans tend to categorize hair by colors such as blond, dirty blond, strawberry blond, brown, dark brown, light brown, black, red, or auburn, the Koreans view hair as light or Korean. We see eyes as big or normal, green, hazel, blue, bright blue, brown, and even "eyes like the sea after a storm". Koreans view eyes as either big or Korean, and either light or Korean. We view skin as light or tan, they see either light skin or Korean. Facial structure doesn't even cross their radar. And finally, being skinny in America is often equated with being attractive. Same in Korea. Unless you have non-Korean features - then you are pretty.

And I learned all this just because I suddenly looked like Amanda Seyfried when I landed in South Korea!