You've been packing since Wednesday. Where you going, miss?!

Hi all,

I hope everyone’s doing well. I try my best to keep in contact with everyone, but it’s certainly a struggle because everyone (myself included) is so busy. If it takes me a while to respond to you, then I sincerely apologize. I don’t mean to be belated or even dismissive, but I don’t always have the energy to message everyone right away. Because I always try to be thoughtful and personal with my responses, I tend to push it off and do it another day.

As far as my health and emotional state are concerned, I’d have to say that I’m rather well. Actually, my eating habits and my sleeping schedule have not been adequate. I sleep late, wake up late, eat trash, and starve myself on a daily basis. I have not been taking care of my body, and, hopefully, I will figure it all out before I acquire too many bad habits. My emotional state has been equally downbeat lately, too. I have been very fed up with work, and I think it’s because I need a vacation. Teaching is a struggle everyday, and my lowest class continues to define how I feel the rest of the evening. Furthermore, I have had a difficult time putting up with the woman at my work. Frankly, there are too many of them, and they all talk, gossip, complain, etc. all the time. I’m somewhat thankful that they speak another language, but they still talk too loud and too often. Sometimes, when I am in the office and they come back from lunch, I have to turn the volume of my music up nearly all the way. In other words, bears can smell menstruation, and the women attract the bears. Consequently, my well-being is at risk EVERY DAY. Part of the reason for my lack of patience might be exacerbated by the simple fact that I need a little bit of a break from noise and from people (who talk too much).

Since I came to Korea, I have mentioned that I was looking to learn about this culture. In the past, I was quick to point out the negative aspects of Koreans. I was unable to see past the obvious flaws – the drinking, the bland architecture, the trash, etc. At the time, I knew that I just needed to spend more time with Koreans to see their charm. After almost SIX MONTHS, I have finally found a few treasures. One lure of Koreans is that they are generally selfless. Their thinking really is consistent with collectivistic societies. Prior to my experiences here, I had always known that Westerners were known for their selfish/individualist nature, while Eastern cultures were known for their collectivist tendencies. At the same time, memorizing a fact is different than experiencing and actually observing that same fact. With that said, Koreans are generally selfless. They help those who need and they give to those who do not have. In school, one of my students shared her food. She had a cupcake, and she shared 99% of it with her peers, even when it meant she only got just a bite of her own cupcake. She did try to give more to her best friends and less to the other kids, yet the fact of the matter remains that she kept little for herself. On a larger scale, South Korea continues to aid North Koreans, and they do so while asking for little in return. They do so because, to them, North Korea is their brother that is lost and can’t seem to find his way. They believe and hope that their brother will, one day, come home, and they will wait forever until they are assured he is safe. In addition to their selflessness, Koreans are extremely thoughtful (I suppose thoughtfulness and selfishness are entangled, but let’s just pretend they’re different). They will give gifts for no reason at all. Last week, I was at a bar with Joohee, and Joohee’s friend gave us movie tickets and a Guinness beer glass for me (I actually needed an extra cup for home). For Koreans (and every other culture, sans Americans), this gift giving is no big deal, even trivial. She gave humbly, and she didn’t even have to think twice about it. She probably never even thought that she could use the movie tickets for herself. That fact is irrelevant because, in Korea, what’s mine is yours. Question of the day: If I (Kyle) had two free movie tickets, who do you think I would give the tickets to? If you answered, “no one. You’re too cheap, and you would use them both on yourself,” you are absolutely correct! Finally, I wanted to note how Koreans are extremely honest. There are two schools of thinking to this idea. The first is that there is CCTV everywhere. CCTV is basically a surveillance system that almost every building in Korea is equipped. (Yes, there is CCTV in hallways. Yes, there is CCTV on the streets. Yes, there is CCTV in the bathroom. … ??? … !!! … ??? … Yeah, the bathroom). The reason that crime rate is so low, according to this idea, is because you would get caught. Duh … ? But, even if they didn’t have CCTV, I’m pretty sure that Koreans would steal minimally from each other. I have two examples. Once, I ate a meal with my friends at this pasta place. One month later, my friend went back and the owners confronted her about whether or not we paid the bill one month prior. I don’t know how it was settled, but Koreans will not get screwed and they will not screw each other because everyone is held accountable. That is something that America generally lacks – accountability. Another example happened a couple weeks ago. Basically, I ordered some food for delivery. They forgot my potstickers/dumplings/mandoo. Joohee called them, told them they forgot the dumplings, and they gave it to us the following week when we ordered from them again. So simple. That is all I have planned for this Chautauqua – pointing out the light in this otherwise dark world.

At this point, it is now 9:36pm on Friday evening. I have been writing this blog all week. I’m not finished with all my work, but I’M TOTALLY GETTING OUT OF HERE. Weekend, here I come!!!

Love you all,

Kyle

P.S. Current GMAIL statuses at my office/MD:
Brian: "Thank God"
Rebecca: "it's"
Kyle: "Fr"
Tucker: "iday"
Marshall: "!!!!"
HJ: "Yay!"

I love my job.