In the Land of the Morning Calm: October 2008

So I dedicate this post to random things Korean. The culture is really fun, and I am finding out more and more each day. Just like us, the Koreans have many, many idioms or phrases that if taken literally don't make sense, but understood correctly are actually kinda funny. In the same way, they often will ask me questions about American culture that as a Westerner, who is normally saturated by our media, society, and thoughts, I would never think about. What's more, the things we find good/attractive/polite are often either different here, or completely flipped upside down. So here we go.

One Big Family

In Korea, when speaking to pretty much anyone in a less formal setting, whether they are a good friend or some random guy on the street, it is nice to call them by some familial title. So, in the classroom my co-teachers are Mrs. Lee, Mrs. Han, Mrs. Kim, Mrs. Han, Mr. Kim, etc., but when we are out eating, or just sitting in the teachers room, they are my Nunas and Hyong. Nuna, is the term for a boy's older sister, and Hyong means a boy's older brother. For girls, it is Oni and Opa, older sister and brother respectively. Not a day goes by that you won't here some young kid complaining to their older sibilings on the street...across the way you will here a very loud and incredibly whiny, "ooooooPAAaaaaAaAA" (think of how children in America say, "MAAAA-oooom"...daniel). So I have picked up on this, and when my co-workers are teasing me, or speaking in Korean about something that I want to understand, I throw out a NuuuuNAAA! Then they all roll their eyes and say what I think is JingKaRopDa, which the teacher next to me just explained means "gross", but in a loving way......however that works.

(Also, there is a whole culture of "cute" whining here that I want to discuss sometime, but we can save that for a later date.)

Funny Questions

So last week was our school festival. This is when we play sports all day, have a talent contest, dress up like our favorite cartoon/comic book characters, and in general have a blast. I have many pictures, which I will put up as the next post (soon-er-ish than I've been doing), but here I want to share a couple conversations I had with some kids.

So I am standing there watching one of the races, when these two boys sitting next to me turn my way and ask, "Which do you like, Heaven or Hell?" And it wasn't as if they were asking where I wanted to end up someday, they wanted to know who I'd cheer for if the Angels and Demons played hockey. So far it seemed there was a tie, as one boy "liked" heaven more and one hell. I told them I sided with the guys up top, and they walked away joking and poking fun as if I had just decided a debate about the Cubs and Cardinals. I still don't really know what happened there...
Almost immediately after that, one of the(normally)quiet girls turns to me and says, "What is the first thing you have to do to go to Heaven?" (it seemed to be the topic that day). I, seeing this as an opportunity retorted with pride, "I think you have to believe in Jesus", to which this 4'8" girl, made all the cuter by her speaking English as a 6 year old laughs and says, "No, you're silly, you have to die first." And the religion major was foiled by the dark haired munchkin.

Later that day I was sitting with a different class, watching some traditional Korean game, when a kid walks up to me and says, "Are you Anglo-Saxon?" That was something that I had never actively thought about before, and when a 2st grade middle schooler (8th grade to us), who can barely say, "I'm fine thank you, how are you?" drops such an inquiry on you it is startling. It really is strange, these kids struggle so much with the more basic phrases they learn in their text books, but if they have heard it in a cartoon, comic book, movie, or video game they enjoy, it's like instant memorization and command of the language. It would be difficult to discuss how to order food at a restaurant with them, but if you want to know about medieval warfare, Mario, high school love, or Pokemon, then they can give you names, type, ratios and best strategies, all in English. Maybe that is the same though, we all learn better when we have fun.

I Win the Genetic Lottery for Once

Another cultural difference that seems to work out in my favor, also has to due with my being from that good ole' Anglo-Saxon stock. Koreans, men and women, seem to be very interested in hair. I say just, "hair", because I mean all of it, on your head, facial hair, and even the stuff on your arms and legs (stop there if you brain was carried into the gutter). In general, Koreans don't have much of the stuff, other than on their head of course. In fact, many Korean women don't even have to shave their legs, and men only really have to shave around their mouth if anything. Side note, this is why they also hold to the thought that our Native Americans were once Korean (or at least Asian), because they too have very little body hair. As a result, they think it's awesome that I can grow a beard, and have hair on my arms. The second day I was here we went down to a shopping area, and in one of the stores a worker (my age) came up to me and just started touching my sideburns...no warning...just did it. It was awkward, but I figured no harm done so I let him do as he pleased. After he was done he looked at me, mouth agape, and gave me a thumbs up. So I shot one back and we both gloried in the awesomeness of facial hair.

The students at school acted similarly when I first arrived. During my first week, and slightly thereafter, my arms where one of the most interesting things these kids must have seen in ages. I would have like 12 students crowding around me just to feel my arm...it sounds weird, I know, that's because it was. I was reminded of the scene in Jesus Christ Superstar when Jesus is getting mobbed by all the lepers, I think I felt like that after a little while. As I said, with the weeks passing this happened less and less, but even still, every once in a while I will have a student reach up to touch my arm when I am teaching or talking to them in the hall. They try to be all sneaky about it too, like I won't be able to feel them if they just pet the hairy animal soft enough.

One of the most, ahem, interesting (coolest) parts of this cultural difference is that Korean women think it is really attractive. This is a good example of how media influences our perceptions of beauty I think. The younger generations in America will do anything and everything to get rid of body hair for some reason...shaving, waxing, lasers, creams, etc. We are shown a constant barrage from commercials, magazines, and the MTV machine, of pretty, skinny (twig-like), hairless, androgynous people, and thus we want to be like them. Our concept of beauty is at least partially formed by this no matter how much we try to fight it.

I'm not saying it's much different here, the Korean view of beauty is also formed by their media, and they like skinny, pretty people too (and they are naturally skinnier than us anyways), but they get a different influence from our media. When it comes to women, they see our look, and they want to be curvier, have curly hair, and be taller. Thus, the rampant plastic surgery, perming, and many many outlet shoe stores stocked with heels. As for the men, they see our look and notice our taller, broader build, and our facial and body hair. They grow their hair down further where a side burn would be to mimic the look, and their suits are cut tighter in the midriff to make the suit better form a V broadening the look of their shoulders. You rarely see a man with facial hair here, both because few Koreans actually have much and also some workplaces consider it dirty, but if a man does sport a gotee, sideburns, or mustache, he does so with pride ("Here's to you, Mr. Korean Mustache Man.")

The Wind Bag Stops

I will quit writing my novel now, as I'm sure your eyes are hurting. Each of these topics could have been it's own post I know, but I am lazy and this is my desperate attempt to make up for not posting last week. I will put up some more pictures soon (promise). In the mean time, if you want to check out what I've been doing you can always check my Facebook as the pictures usually go up there first, and there are many more. In the time it takes me to put up 5 pictures here I can put up 60 there, Google needs to work on that.

Spiritual stuff: Choose to see things differently. We all wear lenses, we all have a life that shapes our view. But if we try hard, we can actively seek to view the world and people through God's eyes. Instead of cynism and a critical eye, choose compassion and understanding. Instead of condecension or false humilty (two sides of the same coin), choose self-awareness and honesty. Instead of blame or excuse making, choose real justice, first toward yourself, then for the world. That's a lot, I know, just been in my thoughts lately.

Peace,
Hal