Engrish

It's no secret that Asia has its own peculiar sense of style, and part of that style is t-shirts with English writing on them. Thing is, half the time the writing makes no sense or it's just downright dirty. I saw a guy standing with his girlfriend yesterday, and his shirt said, "I wish my boyfriend were as dirty as you." Ha!

If you're up for a laugh and have some time to kill, check out engrish.com for more t-shirts, etc.

Korean Conformity, or "Everybody's Doing It"

One of the most astounding things to witness as a westerner in Korea is the degree of conformity within Korean culture. It's a completely different way of looking at the world. In the west, we value individuality and creative thought, and people often devote themselves to finding their "true self" or work to discover what "I like" or what "I think". The fact that we capitalize the word "I" is reflective of what we value. In Korea, on the other hand, there isn't really room for "I", but only for "we". Everything is done by teams and groups, and so there is no need for individuality or uniqueness, because each person is a member of the group before they are an individual.

This manifests itself in a hundred ways, and one of those we witness on a daily basis. Each day on the way to work, we pass a large junior high school. The school is set back from the street, and the sand schoolyard and basketball courts are closest to the sidewalk. The students (segregated by gender, of course) stand in the schoolyard in their identical grey tracksuits. The boys have identical haircuts (short, nearly military-style), as do the girls (short, a couple of inches above the shoulder). The respective groups stand evenly spaced from each other, and follow in unison while the leader takes them through a series of calisthenic exercises. It's all a bit creepy, really, but also intriguing to see the extent to which sameness is valued. Sometimes, though, this can lead to some unexpected results.

This week the Korea Herald featured an article entitled "Schools urged to differentiate". Here's the opening paragraph: "An expert in higher education from the World Bank said most Korean universities are similar in terms of education programs and advised them to differentiate themselves by developing specializations." The article went on to say that most universities in Korea are the same, and offer the same programs. This is hurting higher education in the country, because the lack of diversity is leading to a lack of specialized programs and fields of research at different universities. Hmm... maybe same isn't always better.

Fifty years behind

When hanging out with other western friends, the conversation often turns to similarities and differences between Korea and our home countries. Strangely, one comment that keeps coming up is how Korea is about fifty years behind western countries. Don't get me wrong- technologically, Korea is extremely advanced, and the progress South Korea has made since the Korean War in the 50's is nothing short of miraculous. But in cultural and social ways, there's a real Leave it to Beaver thing going on here. Let me try to explain.

Our school is in a somewhat affluent area, and most of our students' parents are solidly upper-middle class. The men get up in the morning, put on their suit and tie (which is the uniform of choice for everyone from doctors and bankers to department store employees), and head off to work. The women get up in the morning, take the kids to school, go and get their hair and nails done, and go shopping. Moms come to our school to pick up their kids, and they look like they just stepped out of Vogue... 1955 Vogue, that is.

We pass a large bank headquarters on the way to work everyday, and at lunch time we often see the bank employees walking together to grab lunch at a local restaurant. The men stride together in large packs in their dark pinstripe suits, pastel dress shirts, and perfectly matched ties, smoking and discussing the day's business. The women scurry dutifully behind the men, looking more like airline hostesses from the 1960's than bank employees. They wear brown uniforms consisting of a modest (of course) skirt that comes just below the knee, and a matching brown jacket. Their hair is always pulled up into a very proper bun, the same bun that a school marm in a one-room schoolhouse would wear. I often feel as though the pinstriped suits and bank uniforms were leftover costumes from the movie set of It's a Wonderful Life.

Now I'm not saying that because they're at the point we were at many years ago we are somehow better. It just means we are different. In fact, there's something endearing about children maintaining a sense of innocence into teenagehood, and I definitely find the emphasis on family appealing. Sometimes I wish they would progress, and then other times I see them moving to become more like us, and I lament their loss. Once innocence has been lost, there's no turning back, and Korea is hurdling fast towards the point of no return.

An Unexpected Gift

On Friday morning at work our director (a.k.a. Little Hitler) casually informed us that she would be trading places with a director at another school, and would no longer be our boss. We were completely caught off guard, and I just kept saying, "Wow... Wow..." I looked around the room at the other foreign teachers, and saw a common expression- the expression people have when trying to conceal a big, giant SMILE! None of us could believe our good fortune!

Michelle, our former (I can't believe how good that sounds!) director has gradually made our lives hell over the nine months we've been here. As I've tried to figure out what it was about her, I concluded it was a combination of moodiness, inconsistency, favoritism, and rigidity that made her hard to deal with. That's a hard cocktail for anybody to swallow.

But now it's over, and our new director, John, brings a reasonably good reputation with him. He may not be perfect, but we feel that he will definitely be an improvement. A staff dinner was organized on Friday in honor of Michelle, and only one of the five foreign teachers attended. It could be called many things, like just deserts, or poetic justice, but since we're in Korea, I think I'll just call it karma.

Brian Day

Unbeknownst to me, last Saturday was "Brian Day". I got up and went hiking to Mt. Palgongsan, the highest mountain near Daegu. The day was pleasant and warm, and getting out of the city always makes me feel better. I wandered around Donghwasa, a huge Buddhist temple complex at the base of the mountain, for a while, then headed up the mountain. The hike was great, and I spent a few quiet minutes on the peak, relaxing and enjoying the view. I also met a very kind Korean couple who I hiked down with. They were friendly and went out of their way to be nice to me. At one point, the husband called, "Are you okay, honey?" to his wife (in English), to show his kindness (and English ability). They even gave me a ride home afterwards.

I got home in the evening and there was a present on the table for me with a little note from Caroline. I carefully unwrapped the green paper, and couldn't hold back a huge grin. It was a green iPod mini, something I've been wanting for months and months! I couldn't believe it! At first I wondered if it was my birthday, or if (gasp!) I had forgotten an important occasion, like an anniversary or something. Nope, it was just Caroline being her usual wonderful self. I finally managed to pry myself away from the iPod long enough to hit the shower, and when I got out there was a delicious seafood dinner waiting on the table for me. I obviously loved the royal treatment I was getting, but even more than that I was so grateful to be with such a thoughtful, amazing person. And just when I thought married life couldn't get any better...