Tentative differences

Ok, so I've been thinking a bit or rather just taking things in and coming to the realization of them later about some cultural differences between what I was used to and what I find in Korea.

Respect for elders vs. Individual presidence (sp?). It seems to me that in Korea there is a value of respect associated with certain individuals by which people live. By elders I do not mean merely people who are older (though that certainly applies) or people leading a religious organization, but rather a status assigned to others. I am rather used to a value of freedom and independence which informs my actions. For example, to show respect to someone on a train I would give up in seat for them. Where I'm from, I'm free to do what I want and its finders keepers. Also if I want to do a certain action, say log hours for overtime, there must be four signatures and a final approval, before it is validated. Where I'm from you record your time and you might climb one or two people before that is valid. You are given a sufficient amount of free while here it in Korea it is about respect for those above you (however many that may be).

Order vs. Independence-Where I live now there seems to be an established order for how to do things, even very small things. There is a system which can be learned and understood given time. As an example one should write the Korean language using strokes from top down, left to write. Writing the same letters in a different fashion doesn't follow the system. Perhaps I was taught the 'correct' way to write when I was little in America, but it wasn't rigidly encouraged like it is here. As long as the letters get there, it doesn't matter how. Another example, the school I work at here took the employees out for bowling. There was a small instruction on how to hold the ball, how to line up, and how to throw the ball. I think perhaps this would be given in America if someone asked for it, but rather individuals would be allowed to creatively get the ball there however they wanted. Then if they wanted or failed miserably would help be given.

Truth-telling vs. Sarcasm-It seems to me that people here really value being told the truth about a particular topic and generally don't lie. This comes into conflict with my sense of humor as it has some sarcastic elements which do not literally espouse the truth. I think this value is re-enforced by order and respect for elders. Because there is an order to things, to literally lie would to be outside that order and if you respect your elders. Its very hard to get sarcasm across to those who are not used to it. They might at first think you are being a lier and disrespectful before seeing that the value you are portraying is humor not disrespect or falsehood.

These are my musings still in progress, but I thought it might be interesting to note them for anyone thinking about what culture is like here in Gapyeong, Korea :)

On the Road Again

It seems that it has been a while since my last post. Time has been flying by here in Korea and I'm really enjoying it. I'm trying really hard to be wise in my spending of money and pay off student loans as quickly as I can. I have the opportunity to travel a bit while I'm here. I recently talked with some of my co-workers and it seemed that they had an interest in traveling to Japan. One of them even speaks Japanese. How cool is that? This last week was a pretty laid back week as far as they go. Kids weren't here for learning the entire week and there was a holiday on Tuesday (children's day). Tons of kids showed up at our facility on the holiday though. I didn't like all the noise, so I pretty much stayed in my room to have some peace and quiet.
On Monday of this week, most of my co-workers and I went to Lotte World (a theme park). It was pretty fun. I heard that it was the largest indoor theme park in the world. It also had an outdoor section to it too. The outdoor part struck me as kind of odd. You see it was this brobdingnagian theme park in the middle of a city. While on the roaster coaster you would see skyscrapers all around you. It just felt so out of place, but thus is Seoul.
On Wednesday I attempted to go into Seoul to update my contract. I completed a 100 hour TEFL (teaching English as a Foreign Language) certificate. I was told that when I completed it I would get a pay raise Yeah!. So my boss called and made an appointment for me at 11:30. I was supposed to leave at about 9:00 am and it was going to be roughly 2 hours to get there, so I thought I had enough buffer time. Well I didn't end up leaving until 9:30 because of random things (some of which were very helpful) and when I did leave I got dropped off at a bus station I had never been to before. This was one time that I had a feeling of helplessness. I haven't had many of those times yet. I went to the ticket counter and asked the lady there for a ticket to the place in Seoul I normally travel to. She said that there was no ticket. I was flabbergasted. I had no clue what to do. This was the only part of Seoul I knew of. I quickly looked around to see if there were any young people in the station (Most young Koreans have a decent understanding of English). Thankfully right next to me was a gentleman who helped me to find another location in Seoul to travel to by bus. I wasn't sure where that was, but hey, it was in Seoul and I could take the subway pretty much anywhere in Seoul. It turned out that once I had arrived at my unknown location in Seoul, that I had already been there. That was great because the subway was a little bit of a walk away and I would of had another time of helplessness if I had no clue where to find it. I called the gentleman that I had an appointment with at 11:30 and asked him if there could be a later time to meet with him. He said that he could meet at 2:30 pm. This gave me a bit of time to meander around so I went to techno mart. It was a large store, maybe 11 or more stories fully of technology (phones, computers, cables, etc). Luckily for me it wasn't busy. I was able to find a power converted from 220v (the voltage in korea) to 110v (the voltage in America). Now I could charge various appliances that I had brought with me. I was growing hungry so I ate at a dunkin dounuts. There are tons of them along with Basken Robins, which is great because I really like ice cream. Anywho I still had some time to kill, so I travel to another destination and go to a museum for free. It was pretty fun. I really enjoyed seeing some of the history of korea. Though early the early korean language was pretty much chinese, so I had no clue what some of the artifacts were saying (I'm still learning the modern language). It was a nice place to check out anyway. I traveled then to my appointment and got my contract updated. So starting in June I'll have a pay raise (yeah!). I traveled then to a train station so I could travel back to my hometown. I became quiet in the mood for ice cream while waiting for my train to arrive so I went a bought the larget cup of icecream I could find. The gentleman there told me that I would get four scoups of any kinds of ice cream. I told him that I only wanted one kind. After I consumed that cup I decided I wanted another so I went back over to the gentleman and asked him for another. He gave this one to me for free. We were instantly friends. I stayed and chatted with him until my train came. He was a very nice fellow. I took the train back and arrived in my hometown. Took a taxi back to my place and got back about 6:00 pm. It was quite the long day.
Thursday and friday I mainly did lesson planning for the next upcoming week. This next week I'll be teaching dance and western house. Dance will by no means be a brobdingnagian task for me considering I was a former dance instructor and western house should be pretty fun too. Saturday I pretty much chillled. I played games with a friend and talked with some family. And now I'm just getting ready for tomorrow. Time flies and now i'm on the road again :)