Being Foreign in Korea

Being a white, straight, educated male in the U.S. means I've always been part of the majority or dominant culture. Being a white anything in Korea means I'm waygook (foreign), and very much a minority in a very homogenous society. For the most part, I am used to being different here, but a few recent events have made me think about being waygook in Korea.

Last weekend's beautiful, warm weather brought many of us to the beach for a day of games. We started with a full game of co-ed baseball. Within one inning, I realized we had attracted quite the audience of Koreans watching us with such enthusiasm and interest. They cheered after good plays, high-fived us after homeruns, and took many photos. I would understand this kind of interest in us if we were in a country where baseball is not played, but it and soccer are probably the two most popular sports here. So I came to the conclusion that Koreans just love to watch waygookens (foreigners) do anything. I won't try to determine why or what they must think, but after that baseball game, I did realize I have noticed we get a lot of attention from locals while doing any number of things.

Later that day, I was hitting a volleyball around with two female friends who were both wearing bikinis. A man walked up to us with a camera explaining he was with a news agency and asked to take photos of us hitting the volleyball. We told him it was fine, but thought it was funny since our volleyball skills were horrible that day! The next day, those two friends found one of the photos published in an article online. The photo only showed the two of them with a caption saying something along the lines of "Warm weather brought foreigners in bikinis to the beach." It confirmed our suspicions that it wasn't volleyball that attracted the photographer to us.

And speaking of photos, most waygookens, including myself, have the occasional experiences of random Koreans, usually in their teens or twenties, asking to have their picture taken with us. We don't know these people, and they never want to talk or get to know us. They just want us in a photo with them. We often joke that being waygook is like being a celebrity. We just get used to strangers excitedly saying hello to us or asking to take photos with us. By now, I never find it weird, nor do I hesitate to say hello back and pose handsomely with a peace sign in their photos. I'm sure when I return to the States I'll yearn for attention from the general public and wonder why I'm not getting it!

There are usually pros and cons to any situation. And being a waygooken also has its drawbacks. To me, the most prominent drawback is that any time I am in public, I am an ambassador for foreigners, and I feel tremendous pressure to represent "my people" in the most positive way possible. And that's a lot of pressure! And it's not like I wish I could be a buffoon in public without disgracing the waygook community. But sometimes being foreign means not knowing the norms, and I feel especially disgraceful when my friends and I are yelled at for unintentionally doing something wrong. I worry that they see us being disrespectful to their norms and assume all waygookens are just like us. And I think I have every right to believe that, since it happens in my own culture in the States. How often do Americans see someone of a certain ethnicity doing something "wrong" and pin that wrongdoing on the person's entire cultural group? It happens in America, the most culturally diverse country in the world. So in Korea, one of the least diverse countries, I can only imagine and fear the judgement made about all foreigners based on the actions of a few.

Sometimes I feel like I should provide Koreans with a culture shock, like taking my shirt off at the beach or a park on a warm day (while most Koreans enjoy warm days with long pants and full sleeves). I like to do some things that are against the grain while not being disrespectful, but rather entertaining and interesting. However, I often remind myself that I am an invited guest in this country. And like a guest in someone's home, I should be conscious of what's considered polite and impolite, even if it's weird to me. And I should always be conscious that when I am in public, many eyes are on me because I'm clearly different.

I don't want to temporarily dismiss my own culture while I'm here, and I do feel like most Koreans could use some exposure to other cultures. But I still want to respect their culture, and practice a healthy balance of mine and theirs.

Update since my last...

I know my last blog painted a pretty dreary picture of my life at work. I appreciate all the great words of encouragement that were sent my way by friends and family. I thought I would write an update on how things are since I last posted.

Unfortunately, many aspects at work continue to be hard and unhappy. Our directors continue to try to add more to our workload, and are considering making us stay an extra 35 minutes every night (making it a 10.5 hr day). We will have a meeting on Tuesday, and all 5 of us English teachers plan on putting our foot down and taking a very firm stance on not extending our hours.

Fortunately, things with my difficult students have improved. My two kinders who used to drive me up the wall daily have gotten much better. They still need to improve a fair amount, but I'm thrilled about the progress they have made thus far. I can now give equal attention to all of my students.  :-)

The best thing that has happened to me in the last few weeks has been springtime arriving! The last few weekends have had temperatures in the low 70s, the cherry blossoms have been blooming, we've been playing at the beach and finding any excuse to take joy rides on our scooters. My weekends have suddenly been packed with activities because the sunshine and warmth is waking people up out of their winter hibernation. It seems that during winter, the only thing most people can find to do is get drunk. I'm glad to see people partaking in other things nowadays!

Although it's depressing to think of another 3 and a half months at my job, I have spring and summer to look forward to, followed by a trip to probably Malaysia on my way home at the end of July. Good things are happening, and I have a lot to be grateful for.