Squatters

The other night I was bitching about Korea with my friend Christina. We were talking about the staring, rudeness and the general xenophobia that we are confronted with on an everyday basis. Our conversation took a turn when she said, "Yeah, the way they squat really drives me crazy. I just want to push them over." I laughed but was confused as I had never noticed anything in particular about the way Koreans squat. I questioned her more and thought inwardly that she was full of shit and just being quirky. She was astounded that I had never witnessed the unusual flat-footed squat. She bet me that within the next five minutes (we were walking around) we would behold the bizarre act. To my amazement, within minutes, we happened upon a man crouching low and smoking a cigarette. I was absolutely intrigued! Moments later, I was astonished to see even more flat-footed squatters. I had to investigate the matter further so my mission for the weekend was to find squatters, ask around about the phenomenon and document what I discovered.

Squatter on subway with high heels. Very impressive.Splashing and squatting. Incredible.
Two for one squatting magic.
This squatting lad caught me photographing and was not amused.
Squatting while hosing the sidewalk off. Mesmerizing.
The finale? A cat in a flat-footed squat.

Most of the people I interviewed were surprised by my "squat" ignorance. It turns out the "Asian squat" is actually well known, not just in Korea, but internationally. My interviewees and I all tried to squat flat-footed but few were successful including myself. I am still dumbfounded by the squat and if I am certain of one thing it is that I will never look at squatting the same again.