I had the most interesting conversation with one of my co-workers today in my teacher's class. We began discussing some differences in culture between the east and the west. She told me that she thought Korean people think vertically and western people think very horizontally. At first I was a little confused, but after further discussion I understood perfectly. It was an amazing analogy. Korean people speak differently to other people according to their age, position, etc. Their language reflects that. The Korean language is also very harsh. People say things like "jow" which means "give me" all the time without any "pleases" or "thank you's". It's just the way people speak. Koreans constantly think of things like age and status, and therefore have a vertical way of viewing the world and themselves. It's almost like a modern caste system, but not really. Western people have a horizontal way of thinking and viewing the world in that we keep people on an even playing field. We would be just as polite to a mailman as we would be to the governor. Our language reflects that with words like could, would, shall, allow, may I, etc. We are also always apologizing for things and often ask instead of tell. Here is what I am talking about: a Korean student might tell his/her teacher "I want to go to the bathroom" whereas, an American student might ask his/her teacher "may I go to the bathroom?" It's just different.
My co-worker then brought up another very thought-provoking point. She told me something that actually helped explain to me the lack of manners in Korean society. She told me that Korean people speak harshly, but have a soft mind. She said that western people speak softly, but have a hard mind. She gave me an example that Koreans may bump into each other and not say excuse me, but they do not say anything because they trust each other not to get mad or upset or want to punch each other in the face or even pull out a gun. Western people, on the other hand, always say excuse me if they bump into someone because usually they just want to cover their back and not upset someone or allow someone to get angry or violent. Koreans are peaceful people. I mean, their police don't even carry guns! But why would they? Batons work just fine to settle down a drunken disturbance, probably about as bad as it gets here. In America, people are allowed to own guns and many people are "packing" wherever they go for self protection. If a policeman tried to break up a gang-related fight in America with a baton, how hard would those gangsters laugh?
Which brings up another thought. What the hell must people think of us Americans? We really are one of the most violent countries on earth. What a shame. I once was talking to some Canadian friends about always locking your doors and they thought I was nuts because people in Canada are not paranoid about that like we are in America. When I travel to "dangerous" places like countries in Africa people at home are always so scared and nervous for me, but it makes me wonder why we are not more scared and nervous right in our own backyards- because Obama has our back? Because our "great" justice system will prevail? Because we'll just pull out our 45 and take care of things ourselves? Just some food for your mind. Mine's been fed a lot today.
Happy July!
Namaste
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