Girly Korean Nails

I've mentioned this before, but it bears repeating- living in Korea has made me much more girly than I ever was in the U.S. It really does alarm me a little when I think about how much more I maintain myself than I used to. Not that it's bad, really-- taking care of myself is a good thing, after all-- I just wish that I didn't love random things. One of those random things, which I actually loved even in the U.S., is getting my nails done.

One of the girls at work is very high-maintenance. Not high-maintenance in that way that men hate, where girls require a regular flow of presents, compliments, and whining, but high-maintenace in that she really takes care of herself. She gets massages, facials, eyelash extensions, manicures, laser treatments, all kinds of things. Some Korean women really go all-out, and she's one of them.

Thanks to her, three of us went out and got manicures at lunch today:

Crazy girly, right? And much more elaborate than most manicures back in the U.S., what with patterns and stripes and glitter and sparkles all over the place.

We were in a coffee shop, waiting for our coffees and admiring our nails when the girls snapped the photos above on their phones (hence the crap quality). It's fun going to a salon with girls, chatting and being way too shrill. Being a girl and having good girlfriends is great.

My manicure. I'm attracted to sparkles, like a magpie. Each of those teeny little sparkles were added one at a time. Painstaking, much like getting eyelash extensions. No matter what color our nails are, the boys at work always make some sort of comment about it. Korean guys are much more observant than their American counterparts, and can tell immediately when a girl got her hair trimmed or changed her make-up. It's a little unnerving, but I've gotten used to it.

So tired today. I need some coffee and some Red Bull (thank goodness Korea has Red Bull now), and I'll probably survive the rest of the day...