Balancing the Two Sides of Korea: Elitist Internationalization and Her Populist Sense of Traditional Self
Being an English teacher to an isolated group of English-speaking, foreign-raised Korean kids can easily deceive a person into believing the optimistic international nature of Korean society. While it is tempting to consider a country as mono-ethnic and mono-cultural as South Korea into a single block (or worse, as part of the greater Oriental "cultural group"), the fact is, with greater exposure of the country to the outside world, those who are directly experienced in associating with foreigners in general have developed a unique sense of identity away from the general population.
Admittedly, in terms of overall demographics of the country, the foreign-experienced ones has to be a tiny minority, often defined by high-end white collar jobs and privileged lifestyles. Unfortunately, for most foreigners living in Korea, these so-called "elitists," who are the only ones the foreigners really interact with, have inadvertently, in the eyes of the foreigners, the "typical" representatives of the "average" South Korean citizens. While most Koreans now have the resources to travel and even reside abroad, most of them still cannot fit the optimistic mold imagined by the socially simplistic foreigner...
For instance, over the weekend, I met a friend working as an English conversation teacher at a regular high school just north of Seoul. Having students who have no experience living abroad at all, he speaks of constant headaches about how to move his students beyond simply regurgitating textbook English phrases that have little practical usage. Despite intensive knowledge of English grammar and sentence structures, taught by Korean teachers to prep them for the likes of 수능 ("suneung," Korean college entrance exam or TOEIC, the standard English skills credentials used in Korea and Japan), the students cannot use the grammar properly when speaking.
While feeling lucky that I have no problems conversing in English to my students at the hagwon, I cannot help but feel the danger in the huge gap between the majority of Korean students and my foreign-educated group. I wonder, as my students finish their higher education in the US and return to Korea, how will they deal with their counterparts who went to Korean public schools from kindergarten all the way to college? The large gap in background will no doubt lead to huge gaps in ways of thinking and attitudes toward the world and Korea herself.
And unfortunately, the negative part of the attitude held by the Koreans who are not "internationalized" often shows itself in the most blatant ways at the most seemingly conventional times. Although foreigners in general are used to being stared at angrily when speaking foreign languages in public (true for Japan or Korea), the fact that people of the supposedly respected older generation occasionally tell the foreigners to shut up BECAUSE they are not speaking Korean still leaves a bitter taste in the mouths of the foreigners coming to Korea hoping to find "full embrace" of diversity.
And while hoping that the Korean students in regular schools without English abilities do not grow up to become outright haters of hearing foreign languages, I do see an inevitable schism of Korean society as more and more Korean students go abroad and more returns without being able to find jobs outside Korea. Attempting to bring back their foreign attitudes and lifestyles back to a still traditional Korea dominated by locals with only vague secondhand knowledge of foreign cultures, a violent clash of cultures can ensue even in the supposed safety of mono-ethnic atmosphere.
Staying at a traditional Korean style communal sauna house (찜질방, "jjim-jil-bang") surrounded by Koreans, after I drunk away the night at a somewhat Western style bar with two English speaking friends with other English speaking people nearby, I am starting to feel the omen of the "clash of cultures" in its full physical manifestation. The contrast of the two environments is a contrast of two cultures. The mellow lights, dart board, English pop music, and the Western food of the bar is a hangout for those professing to be the vanguard of Korea's globalization. They embrace wholeheartedly what is cool in the Western world.
In response, those who stay in the sauna house struggles to keep the tradition alive. Faced with a Western culture that values personal privacy over practically anything else, the traditionalists assert the continuing strength of a not-so-subtle "Asian value." It is truly my hope (and for the sake of Korea), that there can still be, way in the future, an overlap between the consumers at the Western-style bar and the Korean-style sauna house without forcing the destruction of one over the other...
Admittedly, in terms of overall demographics of the country, the foreign-experienced ones has to be a tiny minority, often defined by high-end white collar jobs and privileged lifestyles. Unfortunately, for most foreigners living in Korea, these so-called "elitists," who are the only ones the foreigners really interact with, have inadvertently, in the eyes of the foreigners, the "typical" representatives of the "average" South Korean citizens. While most Koreans now have the resources to travel and even reside abroad, most of them still cannot fit the optimistic mold imagined by the socially simplistic foreigner...
For instance, over the weekend, I met a friend working as an English conversation teacher at a regular high school just north of Seoul. Having students who have no experience living abroad at all, he speaks of constant headaches about how to move his students beyond simply regurgitating textbook English phrases that have little practical usage. Despite intensive knowledge of English grammar and sentence structures, taught by Korean teachers to prep them for the likes of 수능 ("suneung," Korean college entrance exam or TOEIC, the standard English skills credentials used in Korea and Japan), the students cannot use the grammar properly when speaking.
While feeling lucky that I have no problems conversing in English to my students at the hagwon, I cannot help but feel the danger in the huge gap between the majority of Korean students and my foreign-educated group. I wonder, as my students finish their higher education in the US and return to Korea, how will they deal with their counterparts who went to Korean public schools from kindergarten all the way to college? The large gap in background will no doubt lead to huge gaps in ways of thinking and attitudes toward the world and Korea herself.
And unfortunately, the negative part of the attitude held by the Koreans who are not "internationalized" often shows itself in the most blatant ways at the most seemingly conventional times. Although foreigners in general are used to being stared at angrily when speaking foreign languages in public (true for Japan or Korea), the fact that people of the supposedly respected older generation occasionally tell the foreigners to shut up BECAUSE they are not speaking Korean still leaves a bitter taste in the mouths of the foreigners coming to Korea hoping to find "full embrace" of diversity.
And while hoping that the Korean students in regular schools without English abilities do not grow up to become outright haters of hearing foreign languages, I do see an inevitable schism of Korean society as more and more Korean students go abroad and more returns without being able to find jobs outside Korea. Attempting to bring back their foreign attitudes and lifestyles back to a still traditional Korea dominated by locals with only vague secondhand knowledge of foreign cultures, a violent clash of cultures can ensue even in the supposed safety of mono-ethnic atmosphere.
Staying at a traditional Korean style communal sauna house (찜질방, "jjim-jil-bang") surrounded by Koreans, after I drunk away the night at a somewhat Western style bar with two English speaking friends with other English speaking people nearby, I am starting to feel the omen of the "clash of cultures" in its full physical manifestation. The contrast of the two environments is a contrast of two cultures. The mellow lights, dart board, English pop music, and the Western food of the bar is a hangout for those professing to be the vanguard of Korea's globalization. They embrace wholeheartedly what is cool in the Western world.
In response, those who stay in the sauna house struggles to keep the tradition alive. Faced with a Western culture that values personal privacy over practically anything else, the traditionalists assert the continuing strength of a not-so-subtle "Asian value." It is truly my hope (and for the sake of Korea), that there can still be, way in the future, an overlap between the consumers at the Western-style bar and the Korean-style sauna house without forcing the destruction of one over the other...
Comments
Post a Comment