Glenna Stearman Park, 2010
There is a seriousness in Koreans that I have not seen in Japanese or Chinese people. Of course, I have not spent as much time with them, but the Koreans still seem very different.
The level of damage that was done to Korea in the 1950’s war left a terrible mark on the people. So many starved to death. They ate roots and wild grasses. They ate all their birds, rodents, and small animals. They all knew starvation too well. While we were dancing to Buddy Holly at the Hanger, our Korean peers were digging roots along the rivers and in the woods and learning to love rice for everything.
During the post-war recovery farmers were not allowed to eat all their crops. My friend told me that she was allowed to consume one banana per month. The rest were for export to give Korea an international market. Her parents raised dogs like cattle for consumption.
Even when I was living there in the late 90’s, live cats and dogs were in the markets in cages. You could take them in the cages or you could buy them butchered. Song birds, also in cages, were sold for food. Joel and I lived one block from the woods and walked a lot. In two years I never saw a bird–any bird. I never saw a squirrel. I never saw a mouse or a rat. Deer were in the zoo, not in the wild. However, it was national news when they found a raccoon family living in one of the old palaces in Seoul. People flocked by the hundreds to see them.
As Seoul was being invaded during the war, people packed the trains and if necessary rode on top to escape from the city. Children and babies fell off the trains and were left to die. People walked for days to get away from the fighting. Everyone starved except when US GI’s gave them Spam. For this reason, Spam is a national dish that Koreans proudly serve. It is given as special gifts at ceremonial events. Joel was presented with every kind of Spam you can imagine, and then some. The logical conclusion is that the present Koreans represent the strongest, the survivors. They are incredibly tough. If there is anything that is fixed or known, a Korean will know it. They memorize everything.
Creativity is a much more serious issue. There is a giant leap in education to get a Korean to think on his/her own. It is not encouraged in school. They are smart and can learn anything, but the daring to step out of the pattern is rare. Many Koreans are now sending their children to the United States to learn develop that characteristic. Twelve years of rigid lock-step training has to open up in order for original thinkers to flourish. I think they will get there.
When I was teaching at Saint Mary’s Hall in Texas, we had many Korean students. They were mostly high school graduates getting post high school training in everything else before going to college. We always made a point of asking them what they thought about something. We did not want to know what someone else thought, but we wanted them to read opinions and decide for themselves what they believed. It was a very difficult lesson.
