It was really fun to have my parents here for a week. I was so blessed that they could and wanted to come. It was really neat to experience things in Korea as if everything was new again. To be able to experience the aw and wonder of a new country through fresh eyes.
One thing I did a little reflecting on is the fact that Koreans are a pretty unhappy people. Their suicide rate is the highest in the world. Korea is a wealthy country that is over worked for their pay. And the more money a country has, the more it needs to be happy. At home you have the same kind of drive to be rich; its the "American Dream." Yet I know lots of people, including myself, who want to live their lives differently. People who search for more meaning in life, who avoid materialistic desires, who think outside the box, are eccentric.... In Korea as far as I can tell this way of thinking and living really doesn't exist. I hope the next big development in Korea is a Hippie Revolution. I'd sign another contract for that, for sure.
more reflections to come later...
I wonder, since returning from Korea, about the differences between our cultures and their effect on every day life, here and there. Koreans love and care about their families. Family is so important to them, and not causing them shame is key. And so how they act, what they do, how they treat their family is extremely important to them. Certain things are unacceptable. And consequences are all about the shame. Is it true that if you get a traffic violation you have to stand out on a busy street corner and hold a sign stating so. The sign might say something like, "I'm a stupid idiot". Other things are unacceptable, like pot smoking and drunk driving. They have a 0 tolerance for either. I heard on the news this morning that one US state is considering making drunk drivers have a specially marked license plate that tells other drivers that they are a drunk driver. Why not just throw them in jail like they do in Korea? Some things they do make much more sense to me than what we do. Another example is recycling. If the trash man notices anything that can be recycled in the trash they just don't take it. Why don't we do that? Also, they eat such healthy food. Kids don't rule the kitchen, nor the house. I did not see one overweight Korean. Why have we chosen to feed ourselves and our kids such unhealthy things. There are some things I really appreciated about Korea that I think we could learn from. While tolerance of some kinds is good, we in the US have become too tolerant of things that should not be tolerated. ... on another note, so why the high suicide rate among women? Why are they unhappy? Is it the shame thing? Is there not forgiveness? Are they worked too hard? Are they not appreciated? Are they not allowed to think for themselves? Maybe all of the above.....
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