Uniform Code

So I figured out the oddball issue with uniforms here.

It's not secert that Korea (and many Asian countries) have uniforms for schools. It's just one of those trademark things here.



Well, when I got here, I found out that many of the uniform companies use pop idols to advertize the uniforms. I find this odd because many of the uniforms used in the adds are always over the top compared to the uniforms the school use.






Now you see the uniforms in the ad here. Now take a look at the uniforms my students have:


Nothing quite so colorful. I'll go out on a limb and say that this is more of the normal look of the typical uniform here in Korea. I've seen a few oddball ones here and there, but most of them look pretty standard. So to me, it seemed like a waste of advertising. Especially when I saw the uniform shops near my friend's house.







I can only imagine telling an American student they had to wear something like that everyday. The riots would be intense. Honestly, we already have issues in America with the very idea of wearing a uniform, much less one that looks like it something out of an anime. But still, the whole thing still confused me until recently. Pointless to have pop stars selling your product when it's an pretty much something you HAVE to have. I mean, the school makes you wear them, right?

Well, sort of.

I asked one of my co-teachers about this the other day when the issue of school dress code came up (more on that another time). When I told her that I figured the school picked out the uniforms, she told me I was mistaken. Apperently, the students vote on the uniforms before the school year starts. In fact, she informed that that this year the uniform changed. . . at least the brand did. The same style uniform was used, but the students decided to change the brand they bought from.

NOW the advertizing makes sense.

Which makes things even more interesting that the government recently banned the practice of using idols to sell uniforms. The reason: rising cost of uniforms. Unifroms can run you between 150,000 - 300,000 won per set (That's anywhere from $100-250 bucks USD). Now consider that kids wear these things every day from 5-6 days a week from Late Feb. to The end of the year. That's a LOT of wear and tear.

However, I feel sorry for the school that has to wear the wild hot pink unifroms. . . ugh.