100 Days...

Today was the 18th South Korean Presidential Election.  Here it happens every five years, compared to every four in the US.  The main battle was between Park Geun-hye and Moon Jae-in, but it seems Park Geun Hye is winning the election.  And this is with the ballots all cast by hand, with stamps on paper.  It must be a tiring job for all the ballot counters!  South Korea saw a 75.8% voter turnout among the eligible population.  I saw pictures of people taking boats from remote islands to their voting locations on the local news stations; that is pretty hardcore.  Taking into consideration the current numbers, Park Geun Hye will become the first female president, and is the daughter of Park Chung-hee, a former president of Korea responsible for the military coup in 1961.  While many people in Seoul, Busan, Daejeon, Daegu, and the northern provinces prefer Park, voters in the southern provinces and Jeju, along with younger voters, prefer Moon.  The article I linked to above gives some more detail into the election if you'd like to read more.

I can't imagine how people watching the election results here must feel.  It could possibly be similar to how I was feeling back in November and watching the results of the US election roll in online.  With such close elections, you can't help but sit on the edge of your seat, waiting to see what happens.  I just wish that US voter turnout could be as high as it was here today.  The final number for 2012 hasn't been declared but the estimates I read online put it at around 52 percent, lower than in 2008.  What will it take to get more people fired up and passionate about voting in the States?  And when can we hope for our own female president to be elected?

I asked some of my Korean friends and co-teachers who they thought would be a better president for South Korea and got mixed answers.  Then I asked them who they thought would be a better president to work with President Obama.  They weren't sure.  I suppose we'll just have to wait and see how things work out after the new year and the presidential inaugurations take place.

While I won't be around to experience first-hand the effects of the new Korean presidency, I know that I'll be following what happens to the friends that I will leave behind.  Today, December 19th, also happens to mark 100 days that I have left in Korea.  After almost five years, time is coming to a close for me in the Land of Morning Calm.  Yikes!  I will miss all the great people and good things about Korea, but there are also things about Korea I won't miss.  (Squatter toilets, anyone?)

Now my thoughts are turning to:

Packing

Selling my things

Packing

Mailing boxes home by boat

Buying gifts for people at home

Studying for the PRAXIS 

Job-hunting in NC

Packing

Doing everything in Korea I didn't get the chance to yet

Wrapping up loose ends

Packing

Cleaning

Winter camp and March lessons

Months ago I never thought I would make it through this past year.  There were a lot of struggles and problems with this job, days that I was just ready to throw in the towel and get the heck out of here.  Until my awesome co-teacher showed up, I was miserably bored, just waiting for the day to finish so I could go do something fun.  She changed a lot of that for me and made the difficult parts more fun.  Right now she is on bed rest because of an accident and won't be back at school until possibly February.  Luckily it's the end of the semester and the next 1.5 months are vacation.  I hope that she will be well enough to return before I leave, because I enjoy her company so much.  And I hope that in the end, my school and I will be able to be civil enough to complete the contract with both parties getting what they want.

One hundred days, Korea.  Let's see what they bring.

The Unexpected Plans are the Best Ones

I like to bake.  No lie.  I'll often bring in treats for our office at school:  banana bread, cookies, brownies, and pie.  Since baking at home is rare in Korea (my co-teacher confessed that most of her cookies are of the bakery or store-bought kind), the other teachers in the office always gobble up whatever is served with gusto.

My co-teacher had asked me to teach her about baking, so I mentioned that there is a big baking market in Seoul that she could get some supplies to get started.  She expressed interest in going and checking it out, so we made plans to go over the weekend.  What we didn't realize until much later (or likely forgot) was that the market wasn't open on Sundays.  So instead of letting that deter us from continuing with the day as planned, we decided to alter our plans slightly.

We headed into Seoul to the Insadong area to take a walk through to this place that my co-teacher swore had good coffee shops and restaurants.  Right across from the palace side of Insadong a new through street had been opened, featuring a picturesque walk under trees changing colors.  My co-teacher explained that this was a new project to make it easier for people to get around the palace area, and business owners in the area took advantage of the new foot traffic to boost their stores.  It was like going into a movie or TV set because all the shops had an old-world feel compared to most Korean shops.  Everywhere you looked was a cute little coffee shop or boutique, or a homey-looking restaurant with a patio beckoning you to come inside.

After perusing all the options (and it was hard to choose) we decided on a waffle, coffee, and pizza place.  Those foods totally go together, right?  For about $30 we got a waffle and Americano set, along with a mushroom pizza with Emmental cheese.  The pizza was delicious; it was amazing to eat cheese that didn't come shredded in a bag for a change, and it complimented the mushrooms perfectly.  Add some Tabasco and it made for a great lunch.  My co-teacher preferred the sweet waffle coupled with ice cream, however.

I think we stayed there for almost 4 hours, just eating, drinking coffee, and talking.  As I mentioned before, my co has lived in both the US and Canada, and has taught in a variety of Western school environments.  She understands how both groups of students work, and what makes them tick.  Additionally, she sees that while each group has its advantages and disadvantages, she prefers teaching Western students over Korean ones because the former are more involved in what they are learning, more disciplined, and more interesting. Sharing the same experience and perspective on students and teaching helps us both try to understand what we each should do to try and make each other's lives a little easier while in Korea.  I really appreciate that, and her.

Sometimes the unexpected plans are the best plans.  And sometimes they teach you more than you could have ever expected.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

It's weird.  For the first time in a long while I am not thinking about renewing with a school or combing the job boards for available positions in Korea.  I started getting emails from recruiting companies with lists of schools looking for the upcoming months, but I deleted them without even thinking of opening them.

Instead I find myself pouring over open jobs for NC, assessing the employment situation for my home state and going through my PRAXIS books, wondering what else I need to review in preparation for next year.  The good news is that elementary school teachers (the field I want to go into) are in demand, more than in previous years.  Before now, I cringed at the thought of going home because I didn't know yet what I wanted to do.  Now, I am ready for the day when I can close the book on my time in Korea and start the next chapter in my life.

I can't guarantee it will be easy or without struggle.  I can't say if things will go the way I want them.  I can't guarantee that I won't have a moment or two where I want to escape to a foreign country.  But I made the decision before I returned this year that it would be my last in Korea, and I'm sticking to that, no matter what awaits me at home.  Having given Korea a good chunk of my life, I'm ready to appreciate where I came from so much more.

Through everything, and even with this past year's situation being less than ideal, Korea has taught me a lot about myself.  It's taught me the value of human relationships.  I know that having lived as a foreigner in a country where many avenues of life are difficult to get into, I will never again look at those who come to the US for a new life the same way again.  Language, laws, religion, politics, health care, social status, education--all of these issues carry new meaning for me.  Talk about a real eye-opening experience.

Even with the uncertainty surrounding the 2012 Presidential Election and what may happen in the following months, I know that no matter the outcome, I will do my best to find a way to live back home.  I owe it to myself to give it a fighting chance.  I've been putting "real life" off as long as I have been living in Korea; now is the time for me to get back into the swing of things, whatever the future brings.

“Traveling is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends. You are constantly off balance. Nothing is yours except the essential things – air, sleep, dreams, the sea, the sky – all things tending towards the eternal or what we imagine of it.” – Cesare Pavese

To Misunderstand Someone

Sometimes a simple misunderstanding can cause a world of problems. A few weeks ago the netizens in Korea were abuzz following a YouTube video showing a black foreigner verbally and physically assaulting two Koreans on a bus in Seoul. The foreigner had been talking loudly on the bus, and an elderly Korean man asked him to quiet down, but the foreigner misheard what he said. The word 니가 (niga) is a pronoun that means "you," but misheard, could be understood as a derogatory term. This was how the foreigner misinterpreted it, and thus his temper overflowed. He started to verbally attack the older man, yelling obscenities and intimidating him. Another Korean, a younger woman, stood in the way, so he bumped her and yelled at her as well. The other Koreans on the bus watched the incident, some yelling to the bus driver to pull over and kick the foreigner off of the bus. Some called 119, and eventually the bus pulled over at a police station, where the foreigner was promptly arrested.

Since the incident, people all over the Internet have been commenting on the video and subsequent news stories and blog posts, offering their criticisms and opinions. There was another news story of a guy in Masan being refused entry onto a bus, most likely related to the earlier Seoul incident.  The effects of that one video are trickling down to other areas of Korea, and it remains to be seen how it will play out in the weeks and months to come.  With a large influx of foreigners expected to travel to Korea for in the next few years for the 2012 World Expo and the Winter Olympics in 2018, now is not the time for a bigger wedge to be driven between Koreans and foreigners.  There was even a commercial on television recently aimed at encouraging Koreans to speak to any foreigners they may encounter, rather than hiding from them.  How much could we guess that the video of the black man attacking Koreans on the bus had more social impact?

Here's both videos for you to compare.  I will tell you now, the first video is not to be taken lightly.  And the comments on it span the gamut of emotions, so read through them carefully.

This Should Just Be Common Sense, Right?

I can't say the same for other states in the US or even other countries in the world, but I know for a fact that we've passed a law prohibiting texting and driving in recent history.  I'm sure that law already took care of driving while on the phone as well, but it's been a few years since I drove so I'm a little out of the loop on that one.

But even with such a law in Korea, you would never know by the way people are always on their cell phones.  Currently, there is a fine of 60,000 won for any driver caught using his cell phone while operating a car.  The fine goes up to 70,000 for a truck or van driver, and is only 40,000 for a motorcyclist.  A lawmaker by the name of Kim So-nam wants to add bicyclists to the list of "vehicles" that would fall under this law.  However, this law would only apply to bicyclists riding in bike lines on the road, not your average sidewalk or park biker.

I've seen a number of people using their cell phones whilst riding bikes, and then watched them almost run into a pole, tree, parked car, other bicyclist, or pedestrian.  I know it's physically possible to ride a bike with one hand if you've got the skills, but it does put you a little off-balance.  And then add in staring at a tiny screen but not looking at what's in front of you?  It's a recipe for disaster.

Here, logic would dictate that ALL bicyclists, regardless of location, be prohibited from biking and using a phone.  It would save people a lot of damage, personal injury, and frazzled nerves.

How many injuries or accidents might we hear about before the law gets changed again?

Signs in the US Only in English?

In a country that calls itself a melting pot of cultures, is it necessary for an area that celebrates a culture to have all-English signage?  Should it be a requirement of any foreign business in the US that its signs must be in English?  That is a topic up for debate in New York, where large amounts of Asian businesses flourish.  For example, Queens is rich in Asian culture and business.  More than 120 different languages are spoken in this area alone, and business owners aren't sure they want to convert to English-only signage given their customers. Some of their customers speak little to no English, so they frequent Asian businesses for comfort and convenience.

What do you think?  Even though the official language of the US is English, should all signs in the States be in English?  Or are cultural areas encompassing different regions of the world justified in keeping their original signs?

What Are Our Responsibilities as Travelers or Residents of Foreign Countries?

When we travel to or live in another country, what are our responsibilities in that country? What should we do so as to not be seen as “just another tourist” or a “disgruntled resident”? This is a topic that comes up more often than you might think, amongst tourists, expats, and homebodies alike. I actually had a short discussion about this in a taxi in Sydney, of all places. Unlike most of my taxi rides in Korea which consist of broken English mixed with the Korean I know for conversations, this one was all in English. My taxi driver asked me where I was from, and I explained that in a roundabout kind of way, I was on vacation from teaching English in Korea but was an American. He himself wasn't a native-born Australian, so he could relate to being from another country.

I told him I was happy to have a conversation in English considering I had very little English conversation in taxis in Korea. He asked about my Korean skills, which I was a little embarrassed to admit that after all my study, wasn't as fluent as I'd like. I explained that as an English teacher I didn't get to use much Korean except for when I interacted with Koreans outside of school. Even then, they were more than eager to try and use what little English they knew, which then made speaking Korean a moot point. My English-speaking Korean friends love to chat with me in English, because it gives them more practice. But when I ask them to practice Korean with me, a few of them hesitate because they think it will cause them to lose what English they know. It's an honest hesitation, but in the end there doesn't seem to be any progress.

What came out of the discussion I had with the taxi driver was this: it's okay for someone to not be fluent in the language of the country they are visiting/living in as long as they know enough of the language not to be linguistically ignorant. What that boils down to is, that a person should take it upon himself/herself to learn basic words in the language of that country, enough to get by for the duration of the visit or stay. Greetings/farewells, numbers/money, questions, directions, locations/transportation, food/drinks should be a good start when traveling. If you're planning on a longer stay, then you can adjust your language learning to include more in-depth conversation topics such as your age, nationality, family life, schooling, weather, sports, news, interests, or whatever you find appropriate.

I can agree that knowing at least a few words in your chosen destination's language goes a long way to impressing and winning over the locals. If you go into a country demanding (whether verbally or physically) that that country's people should speak in your own language, then you won't win a lot of friends or fans. Additionally, you will probably contribute to the mindset held by some that outsiders are ignorant, rude, and shouldn't be helped in any circumstance due to attitude. It's sad but it happens. I've met a few people in my time in Korea who thought that every conflict could be resolved by shouting in English at Koreans, hoping that the louder they got, the easier it would be to be understood. The only response that invokes is Koreans either ignoring them altogether or yelling angrily back in Korean. Nobody wins here.

If you're not sure about how to say something in a language, don't hesitate to ask questions or consult a guidebook (first rule of traveling, have some kind of guidebook either in paper or electronic form to refer back to!). Sometimes even the most seasoned travelers might have to resort to charades to insinuate what they'd like. I've definitely had to pantomime a few times when my Korean vocabulary failed me, and despite the strange looks it garners, it usually works. I also keep a dictionary handy on my phone to consult if all else fails.

Being a good traveler or resident of a foreign country isn't just limited to knowing the language. It also extends to knowing about the culture of the place you're going to, especially when the culture is vastly different than your own. The last thing you want to do is commit a cultural faux pas, right?

Many people may know a big difference between Western and Asian culture is social hierarchy, and how each person plays a part in it. In Korea, for example, males were traditionally seen as more important than women, and that belief is still present today. Time and other cultures' influences have weakened some practices of Asian culture, but many still hold steadfast. Age plays a big part of Asian culture, with elders regarded in the highest for their wisdom and experience. This behavior is changing in today's society, as well, with many younger generations growing out of old traditions. Where it was once commonplace to give up one's seat to an older Korean, I've noticed many younger Koreans denying (or ignoring) this behavior.

For some foreigners, these behaviors might be difficult to understand, or seem outdated given social rules in their own countries. This mindset leads these foreigners to ignore Korean social rules, or think that they don't apply to them since they're not Korean. I will admit that sometimes I have not been a very gracious resident of Korea and let these ideas pass me by, just because I had a lazy attitude at that moment. As I spend more time in Korea, I try hard to be more conscious of what happens around me, and practice better social behavior.

Why do I do this? The main reason is I want to show Koreans that I am knowledgeable of their culture and that I respect traditions that were in place long before I was even in existence. In the same token, there are traditions I keep from my upbringing that I would hope others would respect and not trample on. In my opinion, mutual respect of culture can go a long way.

By and large foreigners are not expected to participate in Asian cultural behaviors, but it sure helps when they do. In Korea, foreigners are often painted in a bad light for their “rowdy” behavior, and depicted unpleasantly in the media by Koreans who have vindictive attitudes towards them. But not all foreigners in Korea are like the ones that you read/hear about in the news.

In the broader scheme of things, the majority of foreigners just want to live their lives in another country without being singled out. Similarly, foreigners who choose to embrace all or part of the lifestyle of their host country would like to be able to do so without spectacle. It all goes back to a mutual respect of culture.

Finally, if you are going to travel or live in another country, bring an open mind. Learn a little about where you're going so you're not diving into something sight unseen. I've met a few people in Korea who didn't research anything before they arrived. Let's just say they were quite surprised by what they found when they got here—and not all pleasantly so. These folks that I met expected Korea to be either similar to what they were used to back home, or a third-world country that had no modern conveniences to speak of. It is really quite the contrary, but without research (even a simple search on Google), how are you going to know? With the Internet at our fingertips, we can find a wealth of information online about almost anything we want to know. And with technology becoming more and more portable, we can take this information with us on the road for easier access. There are even applications for our smartphones that can condense this information into a convenient little package.

Don't be afraid to try new things, even if they seem a little weird or strange. Oftentimes, these are the best experiences; ones you can't replicate the same ever again but will never forget. Having an open mind goes a long way in learning more about the country you're in, as well as its people. I bet more people will be happy to help if shown this bit of courtesy.

A new country might not have all the creature comforts of home, but how important are they? Could you live without, or find a possible substitute? Part of the exciting feeling of traveling is trying new foods, seeing new sights, participating in new activities—what you can't do back home. After all, if you need all those familiar things to be happy, why leave home in the first place?

What do you think are the responsibilities of being a traveler or resident in a foreign country? What would you add? I welcome your feedback!