Danny ChaiI suppose I should write more about Korea. I do have a lot of thoughts about it, but they’re kind of captured by the pics I’ll post eventually.
I’ve loved Korea every time I’ve gone. I wish the most recent trip were under happier circumstances, but regardless, I love Korea. Which is odd; most people who love Korea either speak Korean or are inspired to speak Korean after visiting. I’m awful and, to be honest, have no real inspiration to get any better. Given the people I normally interact with, the work/benefit ratio of learning Korea compared is too low in my mind compared to other things I want/need to do. But I still love it every time I go.
Since I go so infrequently, each time I do I’m struck by the changes in the country. I first came for a summer in 1995 (and had a blast, but sadly learned very little Korean. Instead of sending me to the standard Korean language program at Yonsei, my mom sent me to this new program at KAIST. Because it was so new, the monkeys ended up running the zoo, and everyone in my class ended up staying up all night at the arcade or video bang and ignoring our classwork. Great time. One random note about that summer – another guy in my program was the same age as me, had the exact same Korean name as me, and the same English first name. The only differences was that he went by Choi and I went by Chai, and he was from Canada. Daniel Sunil Choi and Daniel Sunil Chai. Caused more than a little confusion. What are the chances of that?), and in a class for my program, the (sociologist) professor characterized South Korea as a third world country. I remember being shocked by that. I’m not sure what my definition of a third world country was, but Korea seemed too advanced to be that. But according to the strict definition, Korea apparently did fall in that category.
This is probably obvious, but there’s no way it’s a third world country anymore. They’re so obsessed with new things there, I think it’s safe to say that the average apartment in Korea is way more technologically advanced than the average home in the U.S.
I noticed other things also. Some minor. Like in ’95, the streets of Korea smelled of raw sewage. When I got back home and occasionally caught a whiff near a dumpster, I’d be reminded of Korea. I didn’t caught any of that smell this time around.
The bigger changes are in things like language and foreign influence. In ’95, every single taxi driver gave me grief (some wouldn’t even drive me) because of my poor Korean. When I went in 2004, I was shocked to find that the taxis in Seoul now had phones where you could call a central office for translations if you didn’t speak Korean. In light of how Korean language-centric the cab-drivers were 9 years prior, I was stunned.
There’s way more foreign influence and culture now also. In ’95, there was only Korean food and some bastardized American fast food (also random chains like TGI Fridays and Coco’s that were considered relatively upscale). By the end of the summer, I had intense cravings for Mexican food, and there was none to be found in the country. In ’04, there was some more variety. Many more American chains also. Also saw some non-East Asian tourists (Indians) in Korea for the first time. This time around, it’s crazy. Tons of Italian places. French bakeries. I saw some Indian restaurants. Even Nepalese food. Lotte World had a Mexican place. Sure, they served curry rice, but still. Korea’s changing.
I think I mentioned how cars stay in their lanes more and consistently stop at red lights now. Stop signs, not so much, but still progress.
In general, you get the sense that it’s an affluent society now. It’s not just things like technology. It’s also with things like healthy food (“well-being” is a phrase that’s used everywhere. Frequently in combination with natural, organic ingredients) and environmentalism – the green movement is huge in Korea, maybe even more pervasive than here. I didn’t get the sense of the environmentally skeptical conservative influence there. Maybe that’s just a uniquely American thing. In any case, yeah, the green thing is huge there, and it’s a luxury of an affluent society.
I don’t know, it blows my mind. In my parents’ lifetime, Korea went from extreme poverty to being one of the most wealthy countries in the world. The change in the quality of life in such a short time is stunning.