With the summer heat getting hotter and hotter (thank you global warming), everyone needs to cool down with a fan. However in Korea, it’s not quite as simple.

In South Korea, there’s an urban legend that says if an electric fan is left running overnight in a closed room, the people inside the room will die via suffocation, poisoning or hypothermia. So if you’re lucky enough to be in Korea during the summer with one of their crappy fans, you’ll notice that they shut off every few hours or have a timer on them. Some fans even require you to wind them up. Aren’t air conditioners wonderful?

While I stayed in Korea, I never used a Korean fan thank God! But I didn’t have AC either so I was stuck using an American made fan that didn’t do me justice. I also took so many showers which worked out well since living 13 stories up made hot water slower.

From what my mom tells me, Korea is very superstitious. To name a few:

Cold Surfaces: If a woman sits on a cold surface, she’ll become infertile. Thus Korea has made butt pillows.

Night-Time Whistling: If you whistle at night, snakes will come into your bed. Some say ghosts but I’ve done it have yet to seen either.

Shoes as Gifts: If you give your significant other shoes, they’ll run away from you. Haha

Red Ink: This one is actually really common among Asian culture. If you write someone’s name in red ink, they’ll die.

First Birthdays: When you have a kid, on their first birthday you make them pick an object and that’ll be their future. Example: If they pick money, they’ll be rich.

Nail Cutting: If you throw away your nails unwrapped at night, a ghost or bug will steal them and become a human that looks like you. I always wanted a twin.

Number 4: Also common, in Japanese the number 4 means death. So anything related to the number 4 is avoided at all cost. For example, the apartment complex I lived in had 4 buildings and they were numbers. However the last building skipped 4 and went to 5. It was also the same way with floors. Not any apartment building I live in had a 4 button.

Here’s a last one that come specifically from my mom and most Korean mothers. If you don’t eat what they tell you to eat, you’ll either die or get cancer. Neither has happened if you couldn’t tell.