Fan Death??

So Fan Death Eh? I heard this mentioned a few times randomly in Korea and thought it was a stupid Korean myth, which it is, but obviously alot more important than I previously thought. I researched Fan Death, it's quite bizarre. From Wikipedia:

Fan death is a South Korean urban legend which states that an electric fan, if left running overnight in a closed room, can cause the death of those inside. Fans manufactured and sold in Korea are equipped with a timer switch that turns them off after a set number of minutes and the label above which urges users to set the timer when going to sleep with the fan on.

It's obviously an urban legend but the Korean media and esteemed professionals (Scientists & Doctors etc..) say Fan Death causes numerous fatalities yearly.

There are many theories as to why:

• The electric fan chops up all the oxygen in the room, leaving only toxic carbon dioxide to breathe in, causing death.


• If the fan is put directly facing a persons face, it sucks away all their air, causing death.
  
• Fans cause hypothermia in the user, the wind expelling fan results in the lowering of body temperature, causing death.


• The fan creates a vortex, which sucks the oxygen from the enclosed room, creating a vacuum, causing death.

As crazy as all of this sounds, the Korean Government plus the Korean Consumer Protection Board both issued a warning stating "asphyxiation from electric fans and air conditioners" was amongst Korea's five most common summer accidents or injuries in 2006.

It's hilarious, I can think of several other ways of being killed or injured here in crazy Korea: (not to scare you Mam!)

• Being knocked down by a crazy Korean moped/scooter rider
  
• Being knocked down by a crazy Korean car driver (The traffic lights are legally only a "suggestion" here! Seriously!)


• Eating fish, which turns out to be blow fish/fugu, which has to be made by a specialized Fugu chef, but isn't, therefore it's poisonous and can kill you.


• Getting in a taxi (terrifying), usually the cab drivers are driving, watching TV and talking on the phone at the same time, now that's multi-tasking!


• Catching some disease from coming into contact with raw meat, as Koreans are big into using the same utensils for touching raw meat and then touching everything else. They are also big into sharing dishes between several people, all using your grubby chopsticks. I'm not complaining, I'm just saying!

So yeah, It might seem like I have alot of time on my hands, maybe I do, but I like to think I'm educating myself further with all this non-sense. haha!

I just came back from dinner there, which was rice, kimchi (as always) with a spicy salad, miso soup and a vegetable omlette. The old lady who cooks our food in the staff kitchen knows NO English at all but just told my Korean mate Simon that she thinks I look like a cute little doll. haha! I call her 'Emo' which apparently means Aunt. She loves it. Also I've been screaming "OY" at the kids in my classes to get their attention when they get all hyper, they always giggle but I have thought it's because I'm raising my voice, but I just found out "OY" means "cucumber" in Korean. Great! Typical! I've been shouting "CUCUMBER" to my kids!!

Anyways.... Hopefully you'll see some more posts on my blog soon.
If not... assume fan Death!