Seoul puns are overwhelming here, so I refuse to title this blog anything like "I've got Seoul." Not gonna happen. Even though it was indeed good for my soul to escape there for the weeekend.
A cheeky Korean mime who kept us entertained for awhile
Seoul is a thriving metropolis that makes you feel alive every time you step outside. Just like any major world capital, you can see people from all over the world walking around, selling their goods, staring at your skin color, and urging you to partake in whatever is it they currently have going on.
My favorite part about the trip was stumbling upon the "World Friendship 2010" festival in City Hall Plaza, where about 50 booths were set up from various countries. You could walk around and shop for clothes, jewelry, food, and other knick knacks, or you could sit in front of the giant stage that was set up to watch different cultural performances. Not quite as large as Epcot, but bigger than the festivals in Daley Plaza.
The booths set up from various countries.
I think that the number one reason I love big cities is that I love globalization. I love the idea of all countries coming together to share their unique cultures, where everyone is happy and dancing, with their mouths covered in strange sweets. Whenever I see a phenomenon like this, I forget that wars exist and I believe in an optimistic future for mankind. I forget that small minds exists and I believe that everyone wants to learn about the beauty of diversity. I forget that the fear of change exists and I believe that everyone is welcoming globalization. This mindset may be naive, but it at least gives me the motivation that I need to manifest this hope in my future travels and career.
I would love to have a job someday that allows me to simply travel around the world and explain the differences in cultures to people. Whether its explaining the differences in offensive actions to foreign heads of State, or explaining homosexuality to people who don't understand it, I believe that such discussions can prevent ugly wars- both the spoken ones and the physical ones. A hundred years ago it was easier to ignore what was different from your own mannerisms, faith, clothing, etc... but today we are much more aware of the differences that exist in our global community. Thanks to the internet, speed of travel, increased immigration, and the 24-hour news cycle, we are confronted with diversity daily, and I don't believe that it's healthy to ignore it. Change and melting pots are inevitable, so why not anticipate it so that we can adapt more easily to rise of Spanish-speaking America and cope better when a Muslim family moves in next door?
I don't mean for this post to sound so didactic, and I in no way consider myself an expert on diversity. I'm perfectly aware of the fact that I will never be able to fully understand the plight of the Afghani people because I wasn't raised there, and I will never know what it's like to spend a life in poverty.
I also don't mean to dis the idea of small community. I love the small communities that exist here in Busan, where a family spends their entire existence together. The children live with their parents until they are married; this means that they find a university in/near their hometown so they don't have to move out of the home, and it's perfectly natural to live with the family until age 35 or even 40 if they have not married yet. If a Korean woman is pregnant, she moves in with her mother for a month after the baby is born so she can always have plenty of care for the child. Families never neglect each other, so homelessness is not a common phenomenon here and you never see a single mother raising her children alone. Although I myself can't fathom of the idea of no independence after high school, I think the tight-knit family structure here is beautiful and comforting.
That being said, the Korean people have managed to somehow maintain traditional family values while simultaneously opening their hearts to foreigners. Koreans enjoy a sense of home and belonging, but never in a way that makes an outsider feel like they can't be apart of that. I never feel unwelcome here, and oftentimes I feel like I am too welcome because everyone seems to go out of their way to make me feel comfortable here. My coteachers give me a separate portion of food at meal times because they heard that Westerners don't like to eat out of the same bowl as everyone else. Every weekend, a different person invites me to their home to have dinner with them. My vice-principal waves to me to say hello instead of expecting me to bow. (funny sidenote: After the first week here, I was still not in the habit of bowing every time I saw an elder, and I accidentally did the 'head nod' thing that we sometimes do when we see someone and intend to say 'what's up?' Before I could rectify this and bow to him instead, he walked in a room. I could see him laughing and mimicking the head nod. I was so embarrassed).
I am always encouraged to participate in events here, and as far as I know, I am not judged for the fact that I wear hats/headbands every day, talk to inanimate objects, and drink several cups of water at every meal. My Korean colleagues seem to enjoy learning about my peculiarties as much as I am amused by their perfectly groomed hair, the fact that they say "Have you eaten?" as a way to say hello, and their magnificent ability to eat an entire spicy meal without a drop of liquid to wash it down with.
I got a little bit off track. Back to Seoul...
Another reason I love big cities: you can always find hummus! and Mexican food! And boxes of brownie mix!
Yup, that pretty much sums it up.
Kerk, eating Mexican food in Seoul
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