Cultural Baptism by Fire

It has been 1 year and 2 days since we first arrived in Korea. Let me say, if you ever have the opportunity to live in a foreign country for an extended period of time, you should definitely take advantage of it. And the more "foreign" the country, the better. Having grown up in the U.S., I thought that I not only understood what it meant to be multi-cultural, but also what it meant to be culturally sensitive. I grew up in "the great American melting pot" and probably even knew most of the words to the School House Rock song bearing that same title. However, I have come to realize that liking to eat at a variety of ethnic restaurants does not qualify a person as being "multi-cultural" and "culturally sensitive". In fact, because those restaurants have usually been adapted to suit American tastes, it is all the more misleading.

No, in order to truly understand what cultural sensitivity means, it requires something much more drastic. Living as a foreigner is definitely the best way. If you are also an ethnic minority, it is twice the experience. I, fortunately, get to experience both as an American living in Korea. It is because of these experiences that I feel myself to have earned the right to speak more openly (i.e. not politically correct) about our experiences. Actually, it is less of a right and more of an ability. To comment on the differences between my own culture and Korean culture is not an exercise in bigotry. Neither is it the biblical concept of "speaking the truth in love." Rather, it is the practice of careful observation. What I have learned is that it is possible to make a statement without making a value judgment, and to make an observation without forming an opinion. It is actually a very liberating experience.

It is kind of like buying a 2 LB (.9 KG) bag of M & Ms. Before you open it up, it is just a big bag of M & Ms. Pour them into a bowl, and you have a big bowl of M & Ms. But if you separate them by their individual colors, you have somehow changed them. They are no longer just M & Ms. Now, they are red M & Ms, and yellow M & Ms, and brown M & Ms, and green M & Ms. You might combine them in various different ways, but unless you dump them all back into the same bowl and mix them around, they will not be "just" M & Ms again. But maybe, just maybe, even if they are mixed back together, it is now easier to see the individual colors. I realize that this analogy lacks elegance almost as much as it lacks utility, but it is the best I could come up with at the moment. If you have something better, I am open to suggestions.

Packed like sardines!

IOWA (Midwestern U.S. State)
size- 145,743 km²
population- 2,926,324
population density- 20.22/km²

SEOUL (Capitol city of the Republic of Korea)
size- 605.41 km²
population- 9,551,800
population density- 16,391/km²

I am definitely no math genius (my GRE scores will attest to that), but I think even the most numerically challenged of us can quickly look at the numbers above and see not a small (litotes) disparity between where I came from and where I am. Admittedly, the numbers for Iowa do not take cattle or pigs into account, but neither do the numbers for Seoul account for live squid, rats, and dogs (Sorry! Not too many stray dogs in Korea as they are a delicacy!)

In fact, a quick search on the web showed that Seoul ranks somewhere in the top 5 of all cities in the world regarding population density, and South Korea in the top 5 of countries with the highest population density.

Now on paper, these facts maybe don't seem too impressive. But I can tell you that daily living in Seoul can prove to have a much more tangible effect. For example, when the country is celebrating a national holiday such as Seollal (Chinese New Year as known by most Westerners), travel time on the highways more than doubles. One of my co-workers told me that his trip to his hometown outside Busan, typically a 6 hour drive to the southern tip of the peninsula, sometimes takes 20 hours or longer. Imagine one giant, 20-30 MPH traffic jam extending for about 300 miles and you would just about get the picture.

Shopping on Saturday mornings at the local Emart or Home Plus is nearly prohibitive for a family of five (ironically, Korea has one of the lowest birth rates of all industrialized countries with most families having only 1 child). Pushing, pulling, and shoving are not only acceptable practices in this environment, they are necessary. It is no accident that it took me almost 9 months before I learned the Korean phrases for "Excuse me" and "I'm sorry". I had hardly heard them and had even less use for them.

But the one area that a person can really feel the effects of this type of population density, is riding the subway.


Fortunately, I live within 10 minutes walking distance from work and so the problem doesn't affect me. However, I do work in my companies Northern Branch office one morning a week and for this I take the subway. The above picture is for the Green Line (Line #2). Looking at this picture, you might think as I first did, "There is no way all of those people can get on that train!" You would be partly right. By themselves, it would be very difficult. However, what you can't see in this picture is a little man in an orange vest. He is an employee of the Seoul Metro. His job is simply this: when the doors open and the tide of people entering the train begins to ebb, push more on on! He is the metro's equivalent of the last man to jump into a bobsled- get them moving and get them moving fast. Feeling this crush of people behind you can be a somewhat unnerving experience. But as the train starts moving, swaying back and forth along the line, the wave-like ripples through a sea of jet-black can produce a most calming effect!