Recently, I was asked to write an article for my school's semester magazine. Well, I guess it's not so much a magazine as a really thick collection of essay's by students and teachers. But I got to write the English Teacher article, so I felt pretty honored. I thought maybe y'all would like to read it, so here it is.
Oh, and just to clarify, there are two Korean words in my essay. The first is "mi-guk-in" and it means American. The second is "ah-jum-ma" and it means married woman, but the connotation is old, cranky, pushy woman. And once again, I'll throw in a few random Korea photos.
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Oh, and just to clarify, there are two Korean words in my essay. The first is "mi-guk-in" and it means American. The second is "ah-jum-ma" and it means married woman, but the connotation is old, cranky, pushy woman. And once again, I'll throw in a few random Korea photos.
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It’s All About Who You Know
Korea is a country with a vast and rich history which, in comparison to that of my own country, makes the United States seem like a mere infant in the history of the world. It is a country steeped in tradition while on the cutting edge of technology, design, fashion, and medicine. It is a land littered with the remains of war and broken monuments that stand as a testament to Korea's ability to rise above. A land covered in high-rises, seeking to share in the glory of the mountainous landscape. Korea is a country sitting at the edge of a wall of communism while remaining one of the most peaceful places in the world. This list may stand to reason why a 미국인 like me, who did not previously have any interest in Asia, would so quickly have fallen in love with this country. One may think this is why, but it is not. What makes Korea so great is its people.
I can recall with perfect clarity the first day I spent on my own in Seoul. It was a Sunday afternoon and I was desperately seeking out a place to use the Internet and make a connection with home. Most everything was closed, and I reluctantly entered a fifth coffee shop, expecting the owner to yet again give me the symbol of the “X” to indicate there was none available. After a brief game of charades, the shop-worker figured out what I needed and moved quickly to make sure I was taken care of. He sat me down, connected me to the Internet, and then went to get my drink. He came over periodically to check on me and even brought me a free cookie. I now have a strong friendship with everyone who works there, with some of the frequent customers, and even the owner. But it was that initial encounter which made me first realize that Koreans are not run-of-the-mill people.
It never ceases to amaze me that Koreans seem to be the busiest people in the world, but they always seem to have the time to help someone. And the fact that they would go out of their way to help someone from another country, well, that just amazes me even more. That one connection in that little coffee shop has turned out to be the slow construction of my Korean family. That one act of kindness has provided me with close friends that I call brother and sister, a Korean “fill-in” dad, and many young high school students who look up to me as an older sister.
Korea is a country with a vast and rich history which, in comparison to that of my own country, makes the United States seem like a mere infant in the history of the world. It is a country steeped in tradition while on the cutting edge of technology, design, fashion, and medicine. It is a land littered with the remains of war and broken monuments that stand as a testament to Korea's ability to rise above. A land covered in high-rises, seeking to share in the glory of the mountainous landscape. Korea is a country sitting at the edge of a wall of communism while remaining one of the most peaceful places in the world. This list may stand to reason why a 미국인 like me, who did not previously have any interest in Asia, would so quickly have fallen in love with this country. One may think this is why, but it is not. What makes Korea so great is its people.
I can recall with perfect clarity the first day I spent on my own in Seoul. It was a Sunday afternoon and I was desperately seeking out a place to use the Internet and make a connection with home. Most everything was closed, and I reluctantly entered a fifth coffee shop, expecting the owner to yet again give me the symbol of the “X” to indicate there was none available. After a brief game of charades, the shop-worker figured out what I needed and moved quickly to make sure I was taken care of. He sat me down, connected me to the Internet, and then went to get my drink. He came over periodically to check on me and even brought me a free cookie. I now have a strong friendship with everyone who works there, with some of the frequent customers, and even the owner. But it was that initial encounter which made me first realize that Koreans are not run-of-the-mill people.
It never ceases to amaze me that Koreans seem to be the busiest people in the world, but they always seem to have the time to help someone. And the fact that they would go out of their way to help someone from another country, well, that just amazes me even more. That one connection in that little coffee shop has turned out to be the slow construction of my Korean family. That one act of kindness has provided me with close friends that I call brother and sister, a Korean “fill-in” dad, and many young high school students who look up to me as an older sister.
But the kindness doesn't stop there. Here at Gyeseong, I have met some of the warmest people that I have known in Korean. People who drop everything to help me when I lock myself out of my apartment, people who take the time to get to know me, and my dear friend (one of the smartest people I know), who not only educates me on the history of Korea, but on the history of my own country as well! And let’s not forget the students! Ah, the students! This is my fourth year teaching English, and I have been around students from all different countries, but I have never met any students that impress me more than my 2nd and 5th graders. They are geniuses with incredible senses of humor and imaginations that will take them anywhere they want to go.
Then there are the people that I meet just walking down the street. The ones who catch on to the fact that I look a little lost and they stop to ask if I need help. Not only do they do their best to tell me the directions, but more often than not, they take me by the arm and walk me there themselves, even if it’s in the opposite direction to where they are headed.
Korea is not without its creepy people, like the occasional person standing behind me in the subway line who tries to start a conversation with, “Where are you from? Do you like me?” Or the occasional 아줌마 who pushes me onto or off of the subway and then engages me in a staring contest. But the United States is also not void of its colorful personalities, so I do not, in any way, judge Korea by these strange people. They are few and far between, and the good far outweighs the bad. Rather, I choose to see Korea through the eyes of a kind coffee-shop worker, a hopeful student, a knowledgeable friend and co-worker, or the new friendship that is waiting just around the corner.
