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| Quote from King in 1836 |
I have been trying to figure out differences as well as similarities among the various Koreans I have been meeting (students, workers at restaurants, shops and the hotel, as well as random interactions with folks on the street and folks from China (both Hong Kong and the Mainland) and Japan (based on two visits many hundreds of years ago.)
Finding words and descriptions has been challenging for several reasons: 1) I am an American- an outsider so my impressions are at best from the outside and superficial as well as biased and time limited; 2) All of these countries have long histories of invading, conquering and dominating each other (possibly more often with Korea being on the receiving end of these incursions), so some of impressions of similarities are probably due to forced enculturation practices, rather than reflecting common regional patterns; 3) I am a bit uncomfortable making sweeping generalizations about cultures that are profoundly complex, ancient and nuanced. Apologies as I go ahead anyway.
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| Palace lake surrounded by trees |
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| Court Fan Dances - performed at the Palace |
Wandering around Seoul and interacting with people I met, I am struck by an overarching sense of courtesy and grace. Greetings of ‘anya’hasa’yo (the formal version of hello) are frequent usually accompanied with a small bow that is not as deep or large as what might happen in Japan. (Leaving the airplane upon landing in Hong Kong, the ‘airline attendant’ first said goodbye in English, but when I replied thank you in Korean she also replied in Korean
with a small bow.) Street behaviors tend to be sedate and modest. One morning I saw an older man on the subway, who appeared somewhat inebriated (but not in a stumbling, fall day way that might occur in the States). He was being guided by two other friends (who also might have been slight inebriated as well) and even thought they were not loud, sloppy or even moving in a bigger out of control manner, another man on the subway exchanged glances with me that suggested that even the small amount of drunkenness was at least out of the ordinary, or perhaps even a bit shameful.
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| Singer in traditional women's Handbook |
The tempo and energy of people walking around Seoul feels less frenetic and rushed. People walk with a soft ease that is both grounded and purposeful. Moving around, there is a sense of space as well as an awareness of where others are moving.
I noticed in class as well as watching children play or move around that there seems to be an interpersonal radar that keeps Korean people of any age from bumping into each other. Even traffic is orderly and predictable, as compared to the chaotic jumble that I am just beginning to understand in China. There is also a pattern of quiet rule following and a lack of standing out that most likely is an expression of the interpersonal relational values of the culture. (I started this entry in Seoul but we are now in Hong Kong.
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| Modern buildings with wonderful shapes |
The differences are stark. The pace here is fast, almost frenetic. More people, more pushing, more noise, more trash. Don’t get me wrong, I also love Hong Kong, but the energy and interpersonal differences are stark. More on HK in another entry)
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| Bruce playing a tradtional court ball game |
There is also a pride and self-acceptance with the way people interact. During both of my times here, I have been struck by the number of protests and demonstrations that occur almost daily. The protest usually take the form of groups of people holding banners and chanting slogans in Korean, but include the permanent protest against the Japanese treatment (raping and sexually abusing) of Korean women around 1935-45. Students in my classes ask thoughtful direct questions. We have also had some delightful Feminist discussions that ranged from being frustrated with husbands being basically unable to help with any ‘female’ household chores, to the way they wrestle with their desire to be educated, work and be liberated from the cultural rules about how women should look…e.g. thin, light skinned, made up with a clear face and complexion. While traditional clothing (the Hanbok) covers any curves that a female body might have, several of our movement sessions in class involved students moving their hips and breasts with freedom and abandon. In fact, when they move it is expressive and energetic as they carve sinuous forms with their entire body in the space.
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| Inside view of new National Museum |
Even the buildings, clothing and foods combine western styles and forms in a uniquely Korean manner. Women’s fashion is often asymmetrically cut in shapes that resemble Hanbok style (with much more of the body revealed). Buildings dance into the sky, with shapes that curve, tilt, cantilever or are pierced with holes that create empty space many stories above ground. Western food is also popular- there seems to be a coffee shop every few feet, and fried chicken and beer seems to be the ‘after work, hanging with friends’ food of choice. But they are vastly outnumbered by Korean dishes.
Even the written word is proudly in Hangul (the more recently invented Korean system of writing) and, as explained during a recent tour of one of the many nearby palaces, Chinese writing was for the kings and nobles, who distrained Hangul – the writing of the common people (and explained in a distraining tone by the guide!)
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| Bruce with coffee as live goes by below |
wonder if some of the differences between Koreans and Chinese people has to do with differences between their historic traumas. Historically, Korea has been invaded, oppressed and forced to adopt a foreign culture many times by China and Japan. But, since the end of the Korean War (or actually following an economic slump as a result of that war), they have made an amazing recovery and are thriving as a nation. Unlike China, traumas and oppression seemed to mainly be from outsiders to Korean culture, unlike the traumas experienced by the people of China, which resulted from policies and practices of the ‘fearless leader’ who was one of their own. Plus, Korea seems to have recovered and be doing well economically (at least as far as I can tell by the limited parts of Seoul we visited). I saw few if any homeless people and while there were lots of police cars, they didn’t seem ominous or threatening.
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| Poetry and drinking pavilion in palace garden |
There are ways that Seoul reminds me more of Japanese culture than Chinese culture. That might be due to the horrific Japanese occupation that occurred in the early 1900's (until Korea's brief independence prior to the Korean War), but the level of interpersonal awareness, politeness, hierarchy (Korean language is different depending on the relationships between the people conversing. There is a form for addressing someone of higher status as well as lower or equal status). There is also a sense of the presence of ceremony, ritual and space in Korea and Japan that I dont find in China.,
While I have lots more thoughts, this is getting somewhat long, and I won’t have a lot of pictures. For anyone reading who has also been to any of these places, would love to hear your thoughts. (The pictures only slight go with what I was writing about, but I wanted to add them to give some flavor to what we have been doing and seeing)
Thanks for reading.
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