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.