Friday, July 02, 2004
A thought
I got this in an email:
"- Realize that when you're back home, even the bad times will be remembered with fondness. 'That which doesn't kill you will make you stronger.' In fact, the bad stories are more interesting to tell than the good ones!!"
I thought about it today, and I know that no matter how bad things get here, I will miss it when I get back to New York. There is really no place else like Korea (the same can be said about New York, too) and it's an interesting time to be here as the younger generation begins to leave college and start in the real world. There will be big changes in Korean culture over the next few years. With the gaping generation gap, and the younger generation entering society as participants and not observers, things will change here. I think these days are the first days of the epilogue of "Old Korea" and after some changes "New Korea" will emerge.
This is not a bad thing, though. I think about the World War 2 generation upon whose backs the United States as we know is was built. They might not have been ready to enact such sweeping changes as civil rights for minorties and women and many social reforms of the 60s and 90s, but they cleared the way for the generations that could do them. The same will be true here in Korea. The ajumma of today are not ready to change Korean culture, but the kids that I'm teaching are. I have about 30 students, and probably 10 of them spent time in other countries. I have kids that have lived in Australia, New Zealand, Pheonix, and Toronto, all for upwards of a year.
President Roh ran on a platform of increased seperation from the US, and the US is pulling 1/3 of its troops out of here and removing the rest from Seoul. For the first time, the DMZ will be guarded only by Koreans. Korea has been rapidly entering the rest of the world and is now trying to stand on its own feet. Korea is going to go through cultural convulsions of the magnitude of what we went through in the United States since September 11, 2001. They'll just do it a little slower, but it's starting.
And I'm here for it.
"- Realize that when you're back home, even the bad times will be remembered with fondness. 'That which doesn't kill you will make you stronger.' In fact, the bad stories are more interesting to tell than the good ones!!"
I thought about it today, and I know that no matter how bad things get here, I will miss it when I get back to New York. There is really no place else like Korea (the same can be said about New York, too) and it's an interesting time to be here as the younger generation begins to leave college and start in the real world. There will be big changes in Korean culture over the next few years. With the gaping generation gap, and the younger generation entering society as participants and not observers, things will change here. I think these days are the first days of the epilogue of "Old Korea" and after some changes "New Korea" will emerge.
This is not a bad thing, though. I think about the World War 2 generation upon whose backs the United States as we know is was built. They might not have been ready to enact such sweeping changes as civil rights for minorties and women and many social reforms of the 60s and 90s, but they cleared the way for the generations that could do them. The same will be true here in Korea. The ajumma of today are not ready to change Korean culture, but the kids that I'm teaching are. I have about 30 students, and probably 10 of them spent time in other countries. I have kids that have lived in Australia, New Zealand, Pheonix, and Toronto, all for upwards of a year.
President Roh ran on a platform of increased seperation from the US, and the US is pulling 1/3 of its troops out of here and removing the rest from Seoul. For the first time, the DMZ will be guarded only by Koreans. Korea has been rapidly entering the rest of the world and is now trying to stand on its own feet. Korea is going to go through cultural convulsions of the magnitude of what we went through in the United States since September 11, 2001. They'll just do it a little slower, but it's starting.
And I'm here for it.
