I have taken particular notice to the difference between western and eastern cultures for the past few years. It was overwhelming at first, and my knee jerk reaction was to consider the western way better all the time. I still have that reaction sometimes, and have recognized it for what it is--I am an American, and will never be anything else. I will always bristle upon sitting down to a table at a restaurant and having the eldest male pick my entree. I will always feel more comfortable seeing a mixture of race, dress, and behavior when I step into a large crowd. I have noticed how the difference between the two cultures has come up a lot in contemporary nonfiction, particularly the difference between Asian students and American ones. I have gotten into several discussions about the Asian way of having conversations, conducting business, and, particularly education. And I have decided that, while some methods are clearly superior, the world needs both of us.
Westerners and their coveted individualism are behind some of the most successful off the wall ideas of our time. Americans in particular have brought us Facebook, the iphone, the telephone, electricity, youtube, jazz, and other creations that were odd in their time. The individualism that allows us to believe we are right in the face of overwhelming dissension allows American visionaries to bring seemingly absurd ideas to fruition. There are consistently two or three self-published titles on the New York Times bestseller lists because of the persistence of someone who had every reason to believe she was not a good writer. You don't see that in Korea. Notably, you also don't see people performing terribly on stage (as they do in American Idol) and insisting that they are just undervalued as they are booed off of the stage.
Asians and the value they place on education are blowing Americans out of the water in an international job market. The statistics are clear. Asian Americans are far more successful in school and in life than their Anglo counterparts. For some reason, western culture still values popularity and self esteem over actual education, which is the only real road to success. When I see students here and think back on my own grade school days, I'm embarrassed for us. That's not to say that there aren't things to value in a western education. We place more emphasis on individual thought as opposed to giving the teacher what he or she expects, which, in reasonable doses, is a positive thing (see the previous point). On the other hand, Koreans value hard work and respect someone who works hard, while Americans value get-rich-quick, fad diet, four hour workweek schemes that promise a lot of reward for little effort, but rarely deliver. This idea unfortunately bleeds into our academics.
Plastic surgery is popular here and Koreans are notoriously image conscious, as anyone who is somewhat overweight can tell you. On the other hand, you can walk into any crowded space and pick out the Americans because they are often three times the size of anyone else. There is a healthy medium between obsessing about appearance too much and ignoring obviously unhealthy eating habits, and it lies somewhere between Korea and America.
I suppose we are yin and yang to each other. Our time in Korea has shaped me, and I hope to absorb the better aspects of it while not looking too far down my nose at the negative ones. After all, Korea and America both love Harry Potter. Doesn't that mean that we're fundamentally the same?
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