well to be honest... i found that students will call anyone fat. From my skinny-as-a-pole Korean coteachers, if they happen to gain 1 pound to me, who's not really thin in america or korea. if that makes sense? I think a lot of it too is their curiosity that you're new. They'll make bold statements that kids in america probably wouldn't say. I've had kids on the street in korean say it and I definitely get onto them (in Korean.)

They try to say that they don't know any better but after a certain age, you have to teach them it's completely not right. In Korean society (from my point of view), they are very much concerned about appearance: weight, skin, height, etc. It gets a little difficult to hear it sometimes but after a while, you begin to realize that it's just your time to put an end to it.

I also think that it's possibly because of some of the English books that teach Fat and Thin and use people as examples. I mean really???