I find the Korean people very clever in dealing with difficult situations. Many people live in high rise buildings--Jonathan & family live in an 18 story building. When a family is moving into the building, their stuff is taken up outside the building and taken in through large windows. The stuff is placed on a platform that rises like a fireman's ladder to reach the floor when it is unloaded. Very smart!
After the start of the school year last fall, Jonathan & Robin had to move to a new apartment. Their household was moved in the same manner--up the outside of the building and in through a large window. When they left for school one morning their stuff was in one apartment and when they came home that same day everything was moved to the new location and everything was placed exactly where it had been in the old apartment. How did they remember the location of all the stuff? Did they draw diagrams? Take pictures? Jonathan & Robin were impressed with Korean's hard work and efficiency in completing the move so quickly and in such an organized manner.
Amazing!
Sunday, January 18, 2015
Korea's Culture of Perfection
Korea. Competition for top grades here is fierce. Most students go to after school schools so they can get into the best universities, graduate at the top of their class--make their mothers proud! Work hard for the glory of your mother! As one of the memes on the wall declared. Strive for perfection!
When people go out shopping they dress up in their finest clothing, apply elaborate make-up, wear high heels and sheer stockings. Perfect skin, as white as they can make it. Eyes too small for perfection? We have just the surgery for that! Eyelids too flat? We can fix that with a clip here and there. My! Your calves are large! We told you about all that running! Not to worry! We can slim them down for you! Operation slim-down and you will be one step closer to perfection!
What a great graduation gift! Parents, show your daughters your confidence in their future! Get them that eye lid surgery! Don't let them fall behind their friends in their search for success.
It's not unusual for men to wear make-up. Jonathan and I went to the bank to get money exchanged. The man who bowed and greeted us at the door was wearing make-up. Suit, tie, well shined shoes...and make-up.
Rules. We must adhere strictly to the rules. We must be punctual. If the scheduled time for a bus to depart is 8:19, at precisely 8:19 the driver will put the bus in gear and his feet on the gas peddle. No mercy for latecomers exists in the world of bus drivers.
For all their dedication to rules and perfection, motorcycle drivers seem to live in another dimension. They feel free to ignore red stop lights and ease into on coming traffic. As long as Korea has motorcycles they will be free of absolute perfection.
When people go out shopping they dress up in their finest clothing, apply elaborate make-up, wear high heels and sheer stockings. Perfect skin, as white as they can make it. Eyes too small for perfection? We have just the surgery for that! Eyelids too flat? We can fix that with a clip here and there. My! Your calves are large! We told you about all that running! Not to worry! We can slim them down for you! Operation slim-down and you will be one step closer to perfection!
What a great graduation gift! Parents, show your daughters your confidence in their future! Get them that eye lid surgery! Don't let them fall behind their friends in their search for success.
It's not unusual for men to wear make-up. Jonathan and I went to the bank to get money exchanged. The man who bowed and greeted us at the door was wearing make-up. Suit, tie, well shined shoes...and make-up.
Rules. We must adhere strictly to the rules. We must be punctual. If the scheduled time for a bus to depart is 8:19, at precisely 8:19 the driver will put the bus in gear and his feet on the gas peddle. No mercy for latecomers exists in the world of bus drivers.
For all their dedication to rules and perfection, motorcycle drivers seem to live in another dimension. They feel free to ignore red stop lights and ease into on coming traffic. As long as Korea has motorcycles they will be free of absolute perfection.
Let's see--which way do I go from here?
In spite of my many travels, I find that I have difficulty finding my way around. My ability to navigate in a new place would score somewhere in the vicinity of 2 out of 10. Here in Suwon another navigation hindrance is the fact so many buildings look alike. Jonathan, Robin & Win live in a veritable forest of high rise apartment buildings. Government regulations require a certain percentage of the land be left "green", so there are playgrounds and landscaped areas, but 18 story buildings still take up lots of space. I think there are 40 or more high rises in the place where J R & W live. They are all exactly alike except for the numbers on the outside of the buildings. One afternoon I walked over to to the school to observe Jonathan in action in his classroom. On the way back I took a wrong turn and although I was very near home it took me a while to find the right building.
At last I found 303 and put in the code to open the door- after each number a female Korean voice softly murmurs the number you punched in-- in Korean. After a short pause the door opened. I took the elevator to the 13th floor, eager to get inside and use the bathroom. The code for the door did not open it. I tried again and then again. The need for a bathroom intensified. Finally a red light around the keypad came on and an alarm bell buzzed. At that point I decided to exit the building and try another way home.
When I came out the door I saw Win coming out another door in the building. I had not noticed that 303 had two towers and I had gone up the wrong tower. We think the guard saw me and opened the outer door for me. I had been trying to get into the wrong apartment.
How great my relief was when I put in the code for the outside door and it worked and then the code for the apartment worked as well so I made it to the bathroom without an embarrassing incident. I'm here to take care of Win, but he may be taking care of me instead--at least in the walking around town part!
At last I found 303 and put in the code to open the door- after each number a female Korean voice softly murmurs the number you punched in-- in Korean. After a short pause the door opened. I took the elevator to the 13th floor, eager to get inside and use the bathroom. The code for the door did not open it. I tried again and then again. The need for a bathroom intensified. Finally a red light around the keypad came on and an alarm bell buzzed. At that point I decided to exit the building and try another way home.
When I came out the door I saw Win coming out another door in the building. I had not noticed that 303 had two towers and I had gone up the wrong tower. We think the guard saw me and opened the outer door for me. I had been trying to get into the wrong apartment.
How great my relief was when I put in the code for the outside door and it worked and then the code for the apartment worked as well so I made it to the bathroom without an embarrassing incident. I'm here to take care of Win, but he may be taking care of me instead--at least in the walking around town part!
The Next Journey
I can't read the signs! I'm in Korea with Jonathan, Robin & Win. I'm going to stay with Win while Jonathan & Robin go to Bangkok for a teachers' job fair. They are looking for new positions for next year and will interview with schools who are looking for an English teacher and a Technology Expert in Education. One of the countries they are considering is Saudi Arabia. Scary, eh? But the school is within a compound. Safe.The students are mostly international kids whose parents work in the oil industry. It will be interesting to see how it all turns out.
I came early enough so we would have time to do tourist type things. I loved the Korean Folk Village. It shows life as it used to be before South Korea became modernized and industrialized. I love the way they used natural things around them for building. The mud & rock walls had patterns. The roofs were constructed out of thatch if you were poor, but the wealthy family used tile. Jonathan and Win had fun making bamboo flutes. It was interesting, but it was so cold the wind knifed through our coats till we were chilled to the bone! It's been years since I was that cold. Most of the exhibits required walking around outside so there was no chance of being where it was warm even for a few minutes--ah...that was the lure of the candy shop. Nice and warm and all those sweets!
The most frustrating part of being here is that I cannot read the street signs. Many more street signs in Seoul include English, but here in Suwon, very little is in English. It is frustrating to me! I want to read and understand those signs! Compared with Seoul, far fewer people here speak English and that creates problems for Win. He looks Asian (he was born in Thailand and was adopted by Jonathan & Robin when he was a baby), but he speaks only English. When Win and I went out to lunch yesterday the girl behind the counter could not communicate with me. She turned to Win to ask him and I told her he speaks only English. It's very confusing. Once when Win was playing outside he was bullied by some boys who insisted that he speak Korean. I guess he finally convinced them he did not know Korean. Korea spent so many years dominated by other countries that their motto now is "Korea for Koreans!"
This post was written in Korea, but I'm posting after returning to the US because of difficulty with the Blogger site in Korea. When I signed on all the tabs and buttons were in Korean and I could not remember where the "post" button was. I wrote two entries but could not post because I can't read Korean! So here they are now.
I came early enough so we would have time to do tourist type things. I loved the Korean Folk Village. It shows life as it used to be before South Korea became modernized and industrialized. I love the way they used natural things around them for building. The mud & rock walls had patterns. The roofs were constructed out of thatch if you were poor, but the wealthy family used tile. Jonathan and Win had fun making bamboo flutes. It was interesting, but it was so cold the wind knifed through our coats till we were chilled to the bone! It's been years since I was that cold. Most of the exhibits required walking around outside so there was no chance of being where it was warm even for a few minutes--ah...that was the lure of the candy shop. Nice and warm and all those sweets!
The most frustrating part of being here is that I cannot read the street signs. Many more street signs in Seoul include English, but here in Suwon, very little is in English. It is frustrating to me! I want to read and understand those signs! Compared with Seoul, far fewer people here speak English and that creates problems for Win. He looks Asian (he was born in Thailand and was adopted by Jonathan & Robin when he was a baby), but he speaks only English. When Win and I went out to lunch yesterday the girl behind the counter could not communicate with me. She turned to Win to ask him and I told her he speaks only English. It's very confusing. Once when Win was playing outside he was bullied by some boys who insisted that he speak Korean. I guess he finally convinced them he did not know Korean. Korea spent so many years dominated by other countries that their motto now is "Korea for Koreans!"
This post was written in Korea, but I'm posting after returning to the US because of difficulty with the Blogger site in Korea. When I signed on all the tabs and buttons were in Korean and I could not remember where the "post" button was. I wrote two entries but could not post because I can't read Korean! So here they are now.
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