How I Know I Live in a Homogeneous Society

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!

Tokyo - Days 2 & 3

The second day of my vacation in Tokyo involved a lot of wandering around and a lot of relaxing! 

Since the Skytree was so close to my hotel, I headed there first. Little did I know that it would be packed with people!! I didn't realize that it had just opened a few months before, so it was swarming with people. That being said, I didn't go up to the top, but I did enjoy walking around the area and looking up at the giant beast! 

Then, I headed towards to the river, where I got a nice picture of lanterns hanging along the river. 

From the other side of the river, I was able to get a nice view of the Skytree and the Asahi buildings. Asahi is a Japanese beer that had headquarters in Tokyo. From my understanding, the gold building is supposed to look like a mug of beer. 

Next, I hopped on a boat and headed up the river to the other side of Tokyo. It was about a 40 minute ride and the views were really spectacular!

My final stop on the second day was an onsen, otherwise known as a bathhouse. The bathhouse I went to, Oodeo Onsen Monogatari, was amazing!! It is definitely set up for tourists and people to spend hours there. I actually ended up spending 4 hours there! For a big part of the bathhouse, you are wearing a kimino looking gown and it's coed. In the coed areas, there are foot baths, eating areas, and shopping stalls. The gender separated areas include the bath areas and relaxation rooms. It was incredible! I definitely recommend it!

Day two started with a trip to Shibuya, which was made popular in the movie "Lost in Translation". My first stop was the Sony Building. There, I played with all sorts of gadgets. I mostly stuck with the cameras, but it was fun seeing all the different things!

Outside the subway station, I said hello to Hachiko. If you haven't seen the movie, I recommend it. It's such an amazing story of loyalty.

And I walked through Shibuya Crossing, which is said to be the Times Square of Tokyo. There were loads of people!

Later, I headed to the market and caught a picture of some ladies in kimonos...so pretty!

On my way back to the hotel, I stopped at a cat cafe. The owner spoke English really well and was really friendly. In the cafe, she had 17 cats that were waiting to be adopted. I really admired her commitment to the cats. Apparently, Japan has a big problem with strays, but she was helping as best she could. It was a nice stop!

These guys were everywhere around the tourist ares. The pull the carts with 1-2 people around the city. I was mesmorized! I can't imagine doing that....especially in the awful heat!

This street art caught my eye!

And finally, a nice sunset from my hotel window...a lovely day to end the day!

Tokyo - Day 1

For my first week of summer vacation (out of two weeks), I headed to Tokyo for 5 days. Since coming to Korea, I've always wanted to go to Tokyo, and I thought it was finally the time. This was my last vacation period before I return home in October, so I figured I better go before it was too late!

Let me tell you about my first day through pictures!

 When booking my flight, I chose to go with Air Busan. This is a budget carrier in Korea that only flies to a few selected locations, and lucky, Tokyo is one of them. The total price for my flight was about $250 USD. Of course, at check-in, I asked for an exit aisle seat. I was given one and happily entered the aircraft. To my surprise, no one was sitting next to me (you know, in America, the exit rows are like gold!). On my two hour flight, we were given a nice lunch. I was really pleased with the service and flight, and I definitely recommend anyone to fly with them!

From there airport, there are tons of ways to go, but I decided to use the cheapest option (surprise!) which was the 'slow' train from Narita airport to Ueno station. Since my hotel was near Ueno station, it was quite convienent for me! The price for a one-way ticket was 1000 Yen, which is around $14 USD. The train stopped at a lot of stations on the way, but the ride was fine and I was kept cool by the fans on the ceiling!

My hotel (Palace Japan) was near the Minami-Senju train/subway stop, so it was really easy to get around. There was also a nice view of the Tokyo Sky Tree from the hotel, which you can see in the picture. I didn't get any pictures of the actual hotel, but it was really nice and new! I enjoyed my stay there!

After checking in, I went for a walk around the hotel's area. It was dusk and there was a really nice view of the Tokyo Sky Tree. The Sky Tree is huge...and it really sticks out in the city. It's definitely very noticable.

The following pictures are from Senso-ji Temple, which was about a 30-minute walk from my hotel. It is a really nice temple with a really beautiful pagoda, which I love!

On the way back to the hotel, I took a picture of the Sky Tree from the same spot as before. My camera isn't too good for night pictures, but you can get the jist!

The rest of the night I spent looking over the mountain of material that I got from the Tourist Information center at the airport. My tip for anyone that is traveling...ALWAYS stop by the tourist information center. The book I had was about 2 years old, but the information center always has up-to-date information. The lady there was able to tell me so many things that I could NOT have learned in my book, so it was well worth the 10 minutes it took when I landed! Remember that next time you travel! :)

More to come!

Cultural Difference - Child Abuse / Child Neglect

Last week, I was talking with a Korean friend of mine. She told me a story like this:

"Sara, did you hear about the news last week? In America, there was a man that was a preacher at a church. One morning, he had to go to a meeting very early and his young child was still sleeping. So he left his child at home sleeping while he went to the meeting. Later, while the man was at the meeting, the child woke up and was crying and couldn't find his parents. So the child went outside and was crying and looking around for his parents, then a neighbor saw him and called the police. Isn't that surprising?"

Let me pause my story to reference the story she was talking about.

After she told me the story, I was feeling a bit shocked as well...but as I thought about further discussion with her, I knew we would have different reasons for being surprised at this story.

So I asked her, "Which part of the story is surprising to you? That the man left his child home alone, or that the neighbor called the police when they found the child?"

And this is where the cultural difference comes into this story. For me, an American with Western beliefs, the shocking part of the story was that the man left his young child at home alone while he went to church. For her, a Korean with Eastern beliefs, the shocking part of the story was that the neighbor called the police and ultimately, the parents were arrested.

I tried to explain to her that in America, there are many different reason we might call the police in this situation, i.e. someone could have snatched the kid, the parents could have been neglecting the kid, etc. Still she was quite in shock that this story even happened and that it made it's way all that way to CNN in Korea. (I'm pretty sure it aired because the couple in the story is Korean.)

All of this being said, I thought it was a good time to discuss the cultural difference regarding child abuse/neglect in Korea and America. I first learned about this a few months ago when I was talking with a co-worker of mine. I asked her if there is such a thing as child abuse in Korea. She looked at me a little funny and told me that isn't a matter that is dealt with by officials in Korea. From my understanding after our conversation, Korea views child abuse and likes as a private home matter and they won't intervene on issues like that. To me, of course, I was completely shocked...especially after having a friend that works for CPS in Texas and knowing how often officials must intervene with this stuff at home.

Do I still think Korea is a much safer place that America? Definitely! Do I think abuse happens in Korea even though it isn't reported? Of course! Will I continue to find cultural differences in Korea and America no matter how long I'm here? For sure!

Home for the Holidays

This holiday season, I was so lucky to get to return home for two weeks to spend time with my family and friends (another plus for working at public school in Korea)! I had just been home two months prior for my nephew's birth, but even still, I was super excited to get a 'real' Christmas this year.

Of course, I was so happy to see Landon and all of his amazingness (is that a word?)! He had grown so much in two months, and it only makes me realize when I see him in 10 months from now, he's going to be a completely different baby! I took so many pictures of me with my wonderful nephew, so here are a few:

Isn't he just adorable??! I sure do think so!!

Besides visiting with Landon, I also did my usual trip to Abilene to see my aunt and cousin there! My cousin Alichia's daughters are growing up so much too! It feels like yesterday when Abby was born, and now she's already three!! I can't believe it! I expectedly got to help Alichia paint both of the girls' rooms...it was hard work, but the end result was worth it! So because we were so busy, I didn't get to see the girls much, but I did get a minute with them! Here are the pictures I was able to snap:

Along with seeing family, I got to catch up with two of my besties! I hadn't seen Jennifer since she was pregnant with Judson, and he celebrated his first birthday a couple weeks before I saw him. He is such a sweet baby and I was so glad to finally meet him!

I also met up with Kami in Oklahoma City for some quality girl time and a basketball game. It was my first NBA game in a while, and it was Kami's first ever NBA game! The Thunder lost the game, but it was still a nice time! 

And one of the most exciting things was getting my new Mac!! I had been waiting to long to get a new computer and it was such a happy day for me to go to the Apple Store and get the MacBook Pro!!! Hopefully that'll help with updating my blogs!

That pretty much wraps up my trip at home! It was a wonderful time! I'll leave you with a few more pictures of Landon! :)

Jinju Lantern Festival

This past Saturday was the first day of the Jinju Namgang Yuneung Festival...commonly refered to as the Jinju Lantern Festival. I remember this happening or having just ended when I got here last year, so I was super excited to make my way to the festival this year! Jinju has a beautiful river front that made a great backdrop for the event!

I headed up to Jinju a little earlier than most of the foreigners in Tongyeong, because I had food on my mind!! My first stop in Jinju was Starbucks!! I don't mind, and actually love the coffee shops in Tongyeong, but there's something about Starbucks that makes me happy!! After that, I walked a bit down the street to Valance Burgers...a legit burger place in Jinju! I was full and happy, and then I headed down to the festival!

Since I got there before the peak time (which is at night for this festival), I had the pleasure of walking around without hoards of people all around me! It was nice to do some shopping and picture taking before the place got packed! Here are a few pictures I took during the day:

Most people actually showed up to this festival at night...which makes sense because the lanterns are all lit and they're much prettier to see in the dark. I don't have a very good night camera, so I just took a few pictures of the displays. Here's a pretty one that I liked:

There was also a wonderful fireworks show at night, which is actually the main reason I went. I love fireworks!! They have two showing of fireworks during the festival...the night I saw and next Saturday. I might have to see about going again...but we'll see!

It was a wonderful day and I really enjoyed seeing all the sights!