I still remember...4th grade...Mrs. Headstream's class. She was teaching us about homogeneous societies. And while my little small town in Texas didn't offer too much diversity, I couldn't quite understand when she showed us pictures of everyone looking the same...same hair color, similar builds, similar eyes, similar skin color.
Fast forward about 15 years, when I first came to Korea...at that moment, I understood what Mrs. Headstream was teaching us about. Even though it was about 4 years ago, I remember that exact moment I realized...Wow, this IS a homogeneous place. I had gone to a graduation ceremony for several of my students at the hagwon, and as I was standing there, I looked out across the crowds of students and parents. At that moment, I clearly remember thinking, 'Whoa, this place really does lack diversity.'
And in the years that I've lived in Korea, things happen every now and again (some more often than others) that remind me just how homogeneous this place really is.
So, I've compiled a small list of reason why I'd say that Korea is still a homogeneous society. Please consider these are my own opinions and I can't speak for every foreigner that lives in Korea. So here we go...in no particular order:
1. People stare...and not just a little...A LOT! It's like I'm an alien...which to them I am! I think if I had spent the last 40 years of my life never seeing someone like me in person, I'd probably stare out of curiosity too.
2. People get really excited when I use Korea, even if it's only to say 'hello'. I mean, can you imagine if every time a foreigner said "Hello" in English back home, us saying, "Oh wow, your English is so good,"? Yea, I can't either. And, I've traveled to other countries before and used their language for greetings, but I've never had someone say to me that I spoke their language well, after merely a small greeting.
3. I get invited to events, such as weddings, in order to be the 'token foreigner'. I've been to a few weddings this past year, and there have definitely been a few times when I've thought I only got invited to show that the bride had foreign friends.
4. Koreans can identify foreigners in about 0.0001 seconds. I'm just thinking about people I see in America...if I assumed everyone non-white was a foreigner, I'd be in for a real treat. There is so much diversity in the States that it's impossible to assume that someone is a foreigner strictly based on their appearance.
5. Outsiders can never 'really' be apart of the culture. I think even if you've lived in Korea, speak Korea fluently, follow all of the traditions, and so on, as a non-Korean, you would never be accepted fully into the society. Koreans would still call them 'foreigners' and treat them as such.
All of this is not to say that Koreans are not friendly or welcoming to foreigners, actually it's quite the opposite. Most of the people that I encounter are very happy to see foreigners in their country and kind to lend a helping hand if they can. There have been a few situations that have been unpleasant, but mostly, those are with people from the older generations.
Overall, I can see a shift in the Korean culture, but I'd still consider it one of the homogeneous societies of the world!
