Ear Wax: A Qtip or a spoon?

Last time I got together with ***, I had the gumption to bring up the topic of ear wax. It's fun to discuss cultural differences... why not physical ones?

We had already covered the topic of sweat: appropriate dinner banter, right! African Americans have more sweat glands than whites, and whites have more than Asians- alas, the impossibility of finding a good deodorant in Korea.

You see, I heard Koreans accumulate a different kind of ear wax, more like white rice powder than... well... waxy yellow stuff. I also heard that they scoop it out with a small, plastic spoon (even though doctors discourage the practice, warning against possible injury.)

But what I really wanted to know was this: Is it true that Koreans sitting around the living room will casually clean the ears of their family members? As *** began to respond, I pushed the "record" button on my camera and filmed him as he told me yes, it is a common practice, and his old girlfriend used to clean his ears.

He said, "she found a whole lot of stuff in there."

That's love. I'm dying to post footage, but I promised him I wouldn't.