1. Fan Death— According to almost all Koreans, including doctors, it is believed that if you sleep with a fan on in an enclosed room you will die. There are three possible causes for the death and countless "real-life cases" (people have died over night and it just so happened there was a fan on in the room, must've been the fan!)
- Hypothermia—Apparently, people die from hypothermia when the fan lowers their body temperature enough degrees to result in the shutting down of major organs. I didn't know fans were that powerful!
- Poisoning—Fans suck up all the oxygen in an enclosed room leaving high amounts of carbon dioxide produced by the human respiratory system. So, the toxins a person exhales end up killing them.
- Suffocation—When in a sealed room, an electric fan can (and definitely will) create a vacuum, which sucks up the oxygen particles leaving none to inhale and sustain life.
2. Red Pens— Whatever you do, don't write your name in red ink because you will die. Red ink, obviously a symbol of blood, is used to write the names of the deceased. On the first day at school, I was instructed never to write a student's name with my red pen. I've slipped up only a few times, but each one was met with a gasp and the "deer in the headlights" look. Oops, sorry!
3. Number 4— Americans fear unlucky 13 while Koreans hate the number 4. Once again, it means death, but I'm not sure how or why. Either way, I'm glad I don't live on the 4th floor in my apartment building. Ironically, however, I do live on the 13th. I guess it doesn't count because I'm in Korea.
3 comments:
I totally slept with my fan on last night, thankfully the window was open!
This cracks me up. The graphic designer at work told me about the red pen thing when I first started. The other day I started to sign my name in red and quickly resigned in black. I guess I'm highly influenced. Mike says the German's believe if you drink ice-cold water you'll get sick.
based on these points...it's amazing that I'm still alive...considering that:
a. I sleep with a fan on in an enclosed room
b. occasionally I write my name in a red pen
c. my license plate has the number 4 in it
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