"Sameness"

I'm not sure if this blog is insanely racist, or the complete opposite.

This week, our discussion and group project dealt with multi-racial children. My students and I talked about kids at their schools who were not 100% Korean. A handful of my students had one "non-Korean" at their school. Oddly, most had Korean dads and American moms, which confused me at first, but then some person (totally forgot who it was, but they are most likely much more sensible than I am) pointed out that if it were a Korean mom, then the family would probably live wherever the father was from.

Hopefully discussing discussion topics isn't like revealing any deep Chungdahm pedagogy secrets..

So all of the talk got me thinking about my own place here. Suji is in no way near as diverse as Seoul. There are foreigners here, but only a small handful, and we're all teachers. It is diverse enough that we don't really get the stares. Well, I do, but usually it's because I'm sitting and knitting, and I think Koreans are watching me because I'm doing something strange, not just because I'm white(ish). When I think about it, it's sometimes strange living in such a homogenous culture. A friend of mine and I talked about the "sameness" - he's not a fan of it, coming from one of the most diverse parts of America, but I've gotten to the point that I don't even notice.

I'm trying to figure out the point in which I stopped looking at my students and thinking "Asian" and just thought "hmm...he looks like he might be in fourth grade...got that impish look of a troublemaker". I don't really notice it in adults, either. I can remember a time in which Asian features really jumped out at me, but now, I don't really notice. I think this is a good thing - I've never been one to rely on stereotypes, but I'm a huge fan of any experience that allows me to see who people really are outside of the framework designed by their culture.

I remember when I first took this job I was afraid that I would fail because I wouldn't be able to understand the kids. I don't know what's wrong with me, but I have a really hard time getting used to new speech patterns, and accented English always throws me through a hell of a comprehension loop. I don't even notice it anymore - the "F"s as "P"s, the blending of "G" and "K" (did you know that the "G" and "K" sounds are actually insanely similar?). I was definitely worrying over nothing (hey, that sounds familiar). I don't even notice a difference in my kids' pronunciation, which is good, because now I'm paying more attention to what they're actually saying..

So, back to this whole idea of "sameness". I don't know if I entirely agree. Yes, there is a lot of similarity, but that doesn't mean this culture is lacking in individuality. I remember one of the big statements in the argument over school uniforms is that it will force students to express themselves in ways other than clothing, and I think that is happening here. In America, it's much easier to judge a person at face value (yes, I did say "judge"). American sub-cultures are largely defined by music - in many cases, it influences clothing styles and attitudes, so it's really easy to look at someone and figure out where they belong. Not saying that's the case all the time. In Korea, everyone looking alike forces you to talk to people to figure out who they really are. Yes, there are still things you can see immediately - I still maintain that a person who is an absolute jerk exudes that from their pores.