I’m a quarter of the way through my first year in Korea. It seems surreal that the first three months have gone by so fast and smoothly. During this time, I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. Although I have lived in Korea as a small child, it is still surprising to me that I haven’t experience any culture shock. In the past, twenty-some years, I have fully acclimated to a very western lifestyle. This isn’t to say that things are vastly different from the way things are at home (the U.S) or from what I had experienced in Korea many years ago. However no matter how western Korea tries to be, it is in the heart of heart, an Asian country. While I can’t really call it culture shock, there are things that I find puzzling.
There are some things that are so ingrained into their culture and habit, it doesn’t actually matter whether that practice seems useless. For example: Koreans always take their shoes off when entering a home. In schools, each student has a place to put their street shoes and change into their school slippers. In theory, this is a good practice. That is until you realized that those “inside” slippers spend a lot of time outside, thus negating the practical side of indoor slippers. The hallways aren’t any less dirty. Another example is about the heating situation. As we fast approach the cold winter months, it is surprising that all the windows are opened “to let in fresh air”. I agree that fresh air is important, but so is keeping the people healthy. When people get sick, the illness tends to linger much longer. No wonder, it’s probably warmer outside in the sun than inside (in the shade).
On the flip side, Korea is a very safe place to live and many Koreans still maintain their child-like innocents. In some ways, I envy the way they see the world with innocent eyes. It seems the bad things only ever happen in dramas. Middle-aged women offer to hold strangers bags on a crowded subway or bus. They never once think that we might find this strange. We tend to look at everyone with our suspicious eyes, including the sweet old ladies. Because who hasn’t seen “Dirty Dancing”...it’s always the sweet looking old people stealing other people’s wallet! Their willingness to help a stranger always melts my heart. There are the older men, who walk you to the subway station and help you buy the subway ticket even though you’re more than capable to doing it yourself. Or the old ladies, who pass out sweet potatoes on the bus because they had extras.
In the land of giving, there is always an expectation to receive. There is no shame in asking for things, especially by the children. They often forget to say “thank you”. After saying thanks to some of the people who had helped, it seems that saying “thank you” is overrated. They know that you’re grateful and they even seem surprise when you say thank you each time they do something nice. In any case, I will continue to say “thank you” for any good deeds given.
There are some things that are so ingrained into their culture and habit, it doesn’t actually matter whether that practice seems useless. For example: Koreans always take their shoes off when entering a home. In schools, each student has a place to put their street shoes and change into their school slippers. In theory, this is a good practice. That is until you realized that those “inside” slippers spend a lot of time outside, thus negating the practical side of indoor slippers. The hallways aren’t any less dirty. Another example is about the heating situation. As we fast approach the cold winter months, it is surprising that all the windows are opened “to let in fresh air”. I agree that fresh air is important, but so is keeping the people healthy. When people get sick, the illness tends to linger much longer. No wonder, it’s probably warmer outside in the sun than inside (in the shade).
On the flip side, Korea is a very safe place to live and many Koreans still maintain their child-like innocents. In some ways, I envy the way they see the world with innocent eyes. It seems the bad things only ever happen in dramas. Middle-aged women offer to hold strangers bags on a crowded subway or bus. They never once think that we might find this strange. We tend to look at everyone with our suspicious eyes, including the sweet old ladies. Because who hasn’t seen “Dirty Dancing”...it’s always the sweet looking old people stealing other people’s wallet! Their willingness to help a stranger always melts my heart. There are the older men, who walk you to the subway station and help you buy the subway ticket even though you’re more than capable to doing it yourself. Or the old ladies, who pass out sweet potatoes on the bus because they had extras.
In the land of giving, there is always an expectation to receive. There is no shame in asking for things, especially by the children. They often forget to say “thank you”. After saying thanks to some of the people who had helped, it seems that saying “thank you” is overrated. They know that you’re grateful and they even seem surprise when you say thank you each time they do something nice. In any case, I will continue to say “thank you” for any good deeds given.
