Thoughts At Six Months

I tried to get it out earlier, really truly I did. But alas, twas of no avail.

We hit the 6 month mark at the end of October, and while I'm a little behind in writing, I want to share some thoughts I had at this point. Like you care...

On City Life
I am a man for the burbs. Say what you like about city vs. country living, but I gotta tell ya, I prefer the suburbs. Central Floridian suburbs, to be precise. Orlando isn't a city- it's a town with some big buildings. And I love that about it. Seoul, even with one amazing mass transit system, still is a nightmare to navigate. In the time it takes me to cross the city by subway I could actually drive to Daytona, including a stop for Combos. But the hustle and bustle just ain't my style. I don't like having to step around God-knows-what, I don't like rats, and I miss trees and sky.

That being said, Seoul is a remarkable city. Crime, especially considering the number of people living here, is almost non-existent. The majority of the people are friendly, and all in all it's kinda cool to live in a place with a real skyline.

On Travel
Small world my ass. I flew 22 hours to get to Seoul. And it's still another 9 hours from Seoul to Sydney. I always understood the rough dimensions of earth, but to travel it is mind boggling. I just keep looking at all the people, listening to their stories, and sharing a small part of my life with them, and the enormity of the whole thing is overwhelming. It really is.

Korea vs. America
America, hands down. But that's not really what I meant. Let's see...

Students:
Korean schools are pretty much only academic. Motorcycle mechanics, Home Ec, and Yearbook just aren't on the menu. They supplement that with academies, just like mine, which offer a wide range of activities. You can find academies for music, English, art... you name it. Most kids seem to end up reinforcing the academic- so English, Math, and Science get the lion's share of the students. The kids end up with pretty long days, and a little stunted socially, at least by American standards. I've always felt the thing I learned best in high school is how to deal with people from all over- another bonus of Central Florida. The fact of the matter is that the social lessons are what makes public schools back home so useful. These kids are exhausted, stressed, and don't even understand the concept of dating.

The reason behind all of this is that there just isn't enough room at colleges for all the students. Every Korean student takes a College Entrance Exam, and that determines what college they can get into. Think of it like the S.A.T.s, but 100x more intense. Their entire professional lives, their range on the social and economic ladder, rests on one standardized test. In contrast, American colleges are easier to get into, but are more difficult to graduate from. In Korea, if you make the test score then the hard part's over.

Work Ethic:
Here's a place where Korea and I part ways.
In Korea, it's about the number of hours worked. These people are expected to work 10 or 11 hour days. The thing is, there isn't always 10 or 11 hours of work. So they spend a lot of time doing... well, nothing. It's not uncommon to find people sleeping at their desks. But the idea of leaving before your boss, or not being at work before your boss, is just no good. I have to be at work at 2:30pm, and my first class is at 3:40pm. I can plan my day in about 10 minutes. On Wednesdays I actually don't have class until 6:20pm, but that doesn't change anything. I know a lot of jobs back home are similar, but Korea is much worse about it. Most employees are also expected to do other stuff for "the good of the company," namely coming for free on Saturdays. Now, that may not be everywhere, but our Korean teachers do. Can you say, "Not a chance?"

It does start to cause a riff between the Korean teachers and ourselves when we have disagreements over contract stuff, or the way we're treated. We make more than them, work less hours, and get free rent. I'd be a little bitter too.

Manners:
Here I'm not sure. The staring is starting to wear me down, especially the outright unabashed practically open-mouthed staring we get on the subway at times. They also don't actually have a word for "please" or "I'm sorry". It's about Confucianism. Instead of "please" there is a specific conjugation that is formal, and is suppose to be used when speaking to those who stand higher than you in a society. The only word that actually means please is a pleading, almost begging, word.
The strange thing is that these folks have no idea what Confucianism is. It shaped their entire society, but now it's almost completely unknown. It just sort of 'pops up' in areas like language. It's also still acceptable to completely jump to the head of a line. This is infuriating. I don't see it often, and there appears to be some sort of pecking order to it, but it's hard to say. It's critical to keep this in mind when trying to decide how polite or rude a society is. People bump into me all the time, but without a word for 'excuse me' they just keep on going without even thinking about it. You can't judge a society fairly with your society's values. So I have no definitive answer.

On the Korean People:
These folks are a trip. They are friendly, very expressive, and at times a walking contradiction. The bathhouses are gender separated and mostly nude (Lord knows how the staring will go for me there...), and they are completely fine with laughing, talking, cooking, watching TV, etc. Men hold hands with other men walking around without giving it a second thought. There's even softcore porn on regular TV almost every night. But try to talk to a Korean about anything remotely sexual and they will ignore you completely. Illegal prostitution thrives 100 yards from my apartment, but you won't find a single strip joint. It's not just about sex, either. They will tell you that they understand the need for an American military presence, many will even say they're happy about it. But then the same person will tell you they blame America for the death of Koreans- namely the North Koreans we killed in the Korean War. They desperately want to be a unified Korea, and are upset at anything that hinders it, but also believe that North Korea would nuke them if given the chance.

On Other Foreigners:
I haven't said anything about the election, or anything other than my experiences here in Korea, in this blog. And I will keep it that way. But I'm afraid this does directly involve the election.

You would be shocked at the number of foreigners, mostly from Europe, South Africa, or Australia and the surrounding areas, that believe they should have a vote in American elections. Namely, of course, the presidential election. Obama's face is plastered up and down the streets of Johannesburg, South Africa, advertising for a cable company. It's the top news story the world over. And their feeling is that, since the USA is leading everyone then they should all get a vote. I've asked if we, as Americans, should get a vote in their elections, and the answer is no.

It's a very difficult experience. On one hand, it is amazing to sit and talk with someone from Ireland, Australia, and South Africa all at once. It is crazy to hear their stories, their take on life, the whole thing. But none of them seem to feel any need to be respectful in the areas of the US or Christianity. Both are freely ridiculed and insulted, the US much more so than Christianity. Now, most of you should know that confrontation is not something I have an issue with. But oftentimes I'm so surprised to hear these things that I just am left more confused than anything else. Growing irate and arguing just reinforces their preconceived notions, and calmer attempts are treated the same way you treat a child who claims they can fly- a patronizing smile, and a change of topic. To be honest, I avoid the subjects. When it's forced I remind them I'm what they're making fun of and make it clear I'll be happy to reinforce those notions. That and a fresh round tend to be enough. But it does sadden me a little, for their sakes, not mine. The only thing to truly earn my ire are Americans who casually insult the same things...

One last note- the rest of the world finds this "Asian-American, African-American, I'm 25% Irish" thing completely hilarious. It only exists in America. My white South African friend has a handful of stories of black Americans coming to Africa- they are funny and very politically incorrect. We, ladies and gentlemen, are Americans. Neither Germany, Ireland, Africa, or the rest of the planet is going to claim you. Sorry.

Travel Plans After Korea:
These plans still change pretty regularly, but here's what we got.

The plan is to catch a boat ride from Seoul to Qingdao, in China. From there we'll catch a train into Beijing to see the Great Wall and after a week or two we'll fly from Beijing down to Sydney. We'll wander up the Eastern coast of Australia, while still making it to see Ayers Rock, and then from either Cairns or Darwin we'll make our way into Indonesia, and from their into the Philippines and/or Malaysia. The goal is to land in Vietnam, and begin making our way west until we run out of cash. The expensive parts are the plane ride to Sydney and the time in Australia it self- we're still considering looking for some odd jobs to help cover some of the costs. Any job will probably involve me sweating a lot, but that's ok. Once we're in Southeast Asia we can travel overland, or by boat, and that is all pretty cheap. Even the short island to island flying can be very cheap, but we'll see. We're estimating getting back to home by late August on the early end, first week of October on the very late end.


A couple things to close with:

We really are a blessed group of people. The people I am lucky enough to call my friends and family are some of the best folks in the world. Honest guys, I haven't seen our ilk anywhere else. Please know that Jen and I love you all dearly, and we miss you terribly. We both find ourselves a little homesick with the holidays fast approaching, but we're doing great. I can't say it enough- we love you all, and miss you so so much.

Ok, two more things. First, I found a classic, yet short, example of the writing I correct everyday. This is it, exactly.

My is very sick
I'm very sick and cool but I'm happy and sad. My friend and my is Sam sam (This was good enough to get a score of 91...)


And, since I know it's been a lot of my rambling without any pictures...

SIGN TIME!!



Nope. I got nothing to add.


Love Always,
Al & Jen