Greetings from South Korea!
So I started to write my second Education post, and by post I mean rant; however, it is proving to be more difficult to clearly express myself. Perhaps, because, I’m having trouble understanding how to overcome cultural values that weigh heavily on the educational institution. I am constantly grappling with the idea of whether or not it is possible or if there is enough reason to disrupt a successful pattern if it is true to the surrounding culture. My research into a culturally influenced education system has me really wondering about ‘American culture’, a topic that I often get lost in- my own thoughts drifting from the inspiring “freedom”-talk to the inevitable realities of the inequities of education. So, to spare you from entering the dangerous argument within my own thoughts, I will write back on the Education topic when I’ve gained some clarity.
Instead, I’ll update you on more Korean insights I have learned in the past six months. That’s right, I’m coming up on my six month mark here next weeks. Pretty amazing how fast the time has gone. In this post, I’ll share a few insights, some of which are easy for any individual to see from the surface of Korean living, and one that takes cultural immersion to understand.
1. Casinos in Korea: Some of you might already know this, but casinos in Korea are illegal to Koreans, and only available to foreigners. This was the topic in class for one of my upper level classes. The students had to listen to several lectures regarding the economic and social results of casinos. In groups, they had to debate whether or not they agreed with the Korean law that casinos are legal only to foreigners. Most of the small groups started their debates by pointing out the restriction of Koreans, saying something along the lines of, “We should have the right to choose if we want to go to casinos or not, considering they are in our country. Won’t the casinos make more money for Korea? “
I must agree, I think it is a genius economic tactic. Some research tells me there is only one casino presently available to Koreans, but it is an abandoned mining district in a very remote area of Korea. The casinos for foreigners are in the urban areas, such as Seoul and Jeju Island. While I am not one to succumb to the “temptations” of gambling, of which I simply cannot understand, I think this law shows unity and protection from the government. Maybe even suggesting that Korea is a country in which the government values the health and well being of its citizens over the economic benefits of allowing corporations to dominate society. Wouldn’t that be nice?
2. A Quick Trip from Korea to Siberia: Bathrooms in the Winter: On this topic, I’m going to go 80-20. The bathrooms here in the winter are horrible. At most institutions in Korea, the bathrooms are in the common hallway of a building, instead of in private businesses. For example, at work, the bathroom is in the hallway of the 2nd floor of Samhwan Building. However, a combination of the stairwell doorways being open and poor insulation in the building, the hallways are freezing. Then, Korea decides it’s a good idea to leave the windows open as their own ventilation system. This equation leads to painfully cold trips to the bathroom. At most coffee shops or restaurants, the bathroom is not in the coffee shop. Sometimes it’s very deceiving. You see the sign for the bathroom and get your hopes up for a warm, privately owned bathroom. Instead, you open the door to find a long, dark hallway, as the winds of Siberia hit your face. You walk down the hallway to find a small, stinky bathroom with the windows open. Mind you, it’s snowing and 20 F outside. You immediately regret your decision to slurp down your Americano, but alas, the damage is done.
3. Bathrooms: Part II: I may have already informed you of this unique cultural trend in
Korea, but if not: Korea does not flush their toilet paper. In each bathroom, you will find a garbage bin for your toilet paper. I don’t need to go into detail on the inevitable aromatic consequences of this, do I? Yes, it makes sense why the windows are cracked in the winter. The smells need to go somewhere. It’s pretty awful at times. Shh, don’t tell Korea, but I can’t bring myself to NOT flush my toilet paper.
4. Street= Garbage Can: While Korea seems to have its act together on most environmental issues, such as separating food waste from other garbage, they have not picked up on the concept of actual, public garbage cans. You know, those things on most street corners? Their typical function is to collect trash, and therefore encourage citizens to dispose of their garbage, as opposed to throw it on the ground. The major lack of garbage cans in Korea is something that every foreigner is either warned about pre-Korea, or notices right away upon living here. It is almost impossible to find a garbage can on a street corner. Honestly. It is extremely common to be walking behind a Korean and watch them casually throw their wrapper on the ground. The downtown area of Gwangju, shinae, is notorious for the amounts of garbage on the streets. And how can you blame the Koreans? No garbage can is insight!
When talking about the issue of pollution and its effects on the environment, they are aware of the horrible littering problems in Korea. “Teacher, street is trash can!” I explained the concept of trashcans in the US. Something so seemingly simple, and yet my students answered, “But we give more jobs to the people who can pick up the trash in the streets.”
5. Skin-ship: Similar to friendship, skinship is a friendship between two or more Koreans of the same gender, in which the individuals have higher than (what we would think) average amounts of skin contact, such as, holding hands, hand-on-thigh action, or linking arms.
When I first heard the term skinship, I thought it was a term that a foreigner had cleverly tagged on to the unusual amount of contact Korean friends display with one another. However, I quickly learned from my students, that skinship is a Korean term. One of my first nights in Seoul back in August, I remember being surprised by the amount of middle-aged men hugging. I even witnessed some Korean men crying and holding each other for comfort, mind you they were definitely intoxicated, I still found the amount of affection strangely delightful. In the last 6 months, I have seen all sorts of skin-ship, and it still warms my heart a little each time.
Skin-ship comes in many forms and truly is adorable, so I’d like to try to create some skinship images for you: two young boys, maybe 7 or 8 years old, walking home from school in their uniforms, no adults in sight, holding hands; no matter the age, when girls or women shop together, they always link arms; grown men walking home with their arms around each other; two college-aged girls chatting at a coffee shop, holding hands from across the table. Skinship honestly touches my heart in every form. The cases of grown men holding hands always makes me chuckle a bit, something so rare to the American eye. Skin-ship offers quite the conundrum, however, because Korea is a more conservative nation, and unfortunately, a bit homophobic. So I often wonder how in a country less accepting of homosexuality, how they are so comfortable with same-sex affection. Don’t get me wrong, I love skinship, and when I go shopping with my Korean friend, we are always arm in arm.
My favorite case of skinship though, is in one of my classes. In one of my lower level classes, I have two students: Bruce and Jang-Yoon. Over the past 13 weeks, I have watched these two strangers become friends and it has been the most endearing process. Bruce is younger, a 3rd grader, while Jang-Yoon is 2nd year middle school. Bruce has the greatest, quirkiest smile, which instantly makes you smile. Jang-Yoon is cold though. An exterior shell, very serious, and even though he doesn’t have bad intentions, he comes off as a cold individual. However, before my eyes, grew a skinship between Bruce and Jang-Yoon. While Jang-Yoon refuses to give into my humor and jokes, Bruce can make Jang-Yoon laugh ‘til it hurts. Beyond a friendship though, Jang-Yoon opens his heart to Bruce. During class, I’ll see Bruce and Jang-Yoon rest their hands on each other’s legs for a few minutes. My favorite is when Bruce has his hand in Jang-Yoons pocket beside Jang- Yoon’s hands. This all may sound strange to our American ears, almost unimaginable in an American classroom setting to see two male students holding hands, but it is the sweetest, most touching part of Korean culture: skinship.
I should also mention that a few weeks ago for the Lunar New Year, I took a great trip with a dear friend. Dusty and I escaped Gwangju for a few days, and visited two neighboring cities. First, we stopped in at a small town named Jeonju, about 1.5 hours away. Jeonju is unique because of it’s rather large traditional Korean village: hanok maeul. The traditional Korean village has approximately 800 Korean houses, which are now homes, restaurants, museums, coffee shops, and stores. Dusty and I fell in love with the Korean village at first sight. It’s absolutely adorable, and I wish these were more prevalent in Korea. After a very pleasant stay in Jeonju, we headed to Muju Ski Resort in Muju. Muju Ski Resort is one of the biggest ski resorts in Korea and is very popular. We only stopped in for a few hours and weren’t brave enough to face the slops, however, we did enjoy the beautiful scenery. Overall, it was a great trip with great company. Enjoy the photos!
Hope all is well. I envy the strange warm weather back home! Hope everyone is healthy and happy.
Until next time….
