I was paid this lovely compliment by one of my most adorable students the other day. This little fourth grade boy reminds me of Dopey from Snow White. I’m not referring to him as a dope, but he has this cute little football shaped head and chubby cheeks that I just want to pinch.
Every time the students answer something correctly, get to play a game they like, win a game, or generally when something happens that would make American students say “YESSSSS!” accompanied by a fist pump of some sort, my Korean students say “OLE!” I’m pretty sure they picked this up from watching European soccer.
I know I have written about the respect that Koreans pay to their ancestors, but the same is also shown to the elderly people in Korean society. The security guard at our school is this really sweet old man who has to be in his seventies. He probably has one of the least ‘prestigious’ positions in the school as far as a job title is concerned, yet every time he walks into the main office where I work, everyone including the vice principals stop what they are doing to greet him. It is a small gesture, but it just goes to show once again the significance hierarchy of age plays in this culture.
Something that I have observed and thought a lot about is the way that foreigners are perceived and accepted here in Korea. Because I am ‘western’ and have ‘western’ features I am constantly being stared at. Constantly. It is very common that I will get onto the subway and realize I am the only foreigner and there will be people who will stare at me my entire journey. From the moment I step on board to the moment I step off the platform I can feel their eyes burning a hole into me. At first this really startled me because it is so different from the staring that I became accustomed to while living and traveling in Africa. In Africa people are always staring like they are in awe of you and most of the time they have a toothy grin to accompany their looking. It is very different here in Korea- people are staring without so much as a smile on their lips or an expression on their face. It can be unnerving at times.
My co-workers and Korean people that I meet are always telling me how beautiful I am. At first it was a little flattering and now I have just grown used to it and realized that it is not because I am particularly gorgeous or anything, (not fishing for compliments, am I?) but because I am ‘western’ and different looking. The other day my co-worker Grace and my vice principal told me that I should stay in Korea and learn Korean so that I can try and become part of a popular Korean talk show here called Global Talk Show or “The Chattering of the Beauties”. It is a talk show where foreign women who speak fluent Korean discuss their lives and cultural issues they face while living or studying here in Korea. My co-workers were telling me how I was much prettier than any of the girls on the show and Grace even told me that she would be my manager. All the other women in the office got into the conversation and they were teasing me about it for a good twenty minutes. It was really funny. Later in the day, Grace jokingly handed me a piece of paper and told me she needed my signature before I became too famous. Check out an episode of the show here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8mUDY_qb0A
Korean people seem to have a view that foreigners cause a lot of trouble while living here and every time something happens with a foreign person involved it is all over the news. I have heard of many instances of big news stories and issues involving only Koreans that have been quietly tucked under the rug. There was a huge article in the New York Times the other day about how some Korean women and foreign men are treated when they are seen together in public. Here is the link to the story of an instance just like this that has turned into a lawsuit: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/02/world/asia/02race.html The first thing that I thought of when I read this article is “how would these people have been treated in America?” The answer being that people would not think less of the situation and there would have most likely been no harassment at all. I do realize that America is the melting pot and we have grown accustomed to seeing many races and cultures of people mixing and living and interacting together, but Korea’s population of foreigners is increasing and don’t you think it’s time to learn a little tolerance? Tolerance. One of my favorite words. Ever.
The Korean government has decided that students are required to get a mandatory H1N1 vaccine at school on Friday so I will have no classes to teach. There are doctors and nurses coming into the school that will administer the vaccines. Each parent was required to sign a form and return it to school. I could never imagine something like that being mandated in US schools.
The temperature has dropped well into the low 40’s this week and it is getting rather cold. I realized today walking home from work that nearly all the leaves have fallen from the trees. Seoul saw it’s first snowflakes on Saturday night. For some unknown reason the windows in the hallways and in some of the rooms in the school are always open. It is absolutely freezing in the school. The students always have their jackets, hats, gloves, scarves, etc. on. Teachers are bundled up in giant sweaters and coats. I finally had to join the club and purchase an enormous grandma sweater-coat yesterday so I can stand the winter air indoors.
Saturday night/Sunday morning I had my first experience with norabang, or Korean karaoke. The karaoke places here are different from those in the US because in Korea they give you your own private room for you and your friends to make fools of yourselves without the encouragement of strangers. I went with a small group of people and we had a great time belting out everything from Disney songs to rock classics and when we finished and stepped outside we realized that it was close to 9A.M.
Namaste
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