Its V-Time: Vacation Time

Jyea! I'm outta here tomorrow.

I'll be rolling in Japan for a while, so if I happen to find a PC, I'll put some entries about my escapades in the Land of the Rising Sun.

I finished three straight weeks of winter camps, two at my school, and one at the local girls high school. It was like a race to the finish, and the finish line smells real good after all that hard work.

Props to God for giving me patience, to enjoy the experience of 2007, and teaching me new things. Japan is going to rock!

I'm out.

Appreciating Differences

"...and Japan also believed that everyone from the outside looking at Japan thought this way as well (that everyone in Japan is essentially the same). They are teaching them 'everyone is the same.' Everyone is the same, so you don't discriminate. But in fact, indifference, disregard, basically the lack of appreciation for peoples' differences becomes discrimination."

- Dr. Yasunori Fukuoka

Saitama University


I was watching a report on Al-Jazeera English TV (on YouTube) about the plight and struggle of the Zainichi Koreans living in Japan, who face discrimination if they reveal their identities as Koreans. The above statement is very profound because it is so true in our world today, and my thoughts about the professor's insight kept rolling.


We live in a world that is globalizing. With communication and travelling become more accessible and cheaper, more people are on the move. People's curiosity about the outside world have never lived in a prime time of opportunity to pounce on their desire to seek and sightsee places of other cultures. That's why I'm going to Japan again! Jyea!


I think the biggest challenge for societies, especially in East Asian countries like Korea and Japan, is how will they cope with this trend? Living in South Korea for ten months now, one of the biggest fads for future is "we are the future hub of Asia," aka hub for technology, transport, and economic cooperation. Koreans are trying to make their society improve by making it English-friendly (which they've done especially well), implement English instruction in the classrooms, and recruiting all sorts of foreigners for works of all kinds. Trends for success? We'll see.


At first glance, Korea is a wonderful country built on a strong economic uprising (even though it got somewhat rocked in the late 90s due to the major financial fallout). It is home to some of the most powerful companies in the world (Samsung, Hyundai, KIA, GM-Daewoo, POSCO, LG), and a society that is very modernized and well off.


But for some friends and I, becoming comfortable is a difficult task. Being a foreigner, I have alot to offer this country. Globalizing means to share in each other's cultural assets and improving on them, to create inter-cultural understanding.


Yet, one of the interesting things about Koreans, especially in very remote places in South Korea, they have hardly seen or met foreigners. They stare at them (I too am a foreigner, but I attract less attention because I fit in better, until I speak English) and some like to point, which is rude to us. To them its not rude, and they are just being curious.

My quick and major point is that to really become globalized is to change your way of thinking. It does not mean you have to sell out your culture so that you can suck up to the English-speaking world. On the contrary it means to adapt and showcase your culture in a way that people can understand it.

One writer, Maarten Meijer, wrote in a book called What's So Great About Korea, Maarten? that Korea has this "us or them" mentality. Basically its us (Korea) versus the world. "Our culture is unique, only Koreans can understand it, you can't touch it."

Yet slowly and surely, the trends are changing. I'm seeing more mixed couples in the street, usually a male foreigner and a Korean woman, a more diverse foreign community here in Incheon/Seoul, and a more influx of foreign influences. What Korea can start doing is take the English education that they are so desperate for and start using it, share their culture with us! That's one of my purposes of coming here...to share with my students that there is a world out there for the taking, and I want to learn from them.

The older generation, though appreciative of the foreign influences that helped shape Korea for the better, seem not ready for change. They want to keep the culture and way of life intact. They sometimes distrust foreigners because of the stuff they see on TV or from the stereotypes they get from films or the general media. They are not sure these new trends of globalization will benefit them or start to change their people for the worse.

The solution is that you don't have to change your country...just appreciate the differences from your new friends, the foreigners, and add the things that you can use to help improve your society. Appreciation means saying, "wow, that's neat they are from that culture. Tell me more." Indifference means "wow, that's weird. Don't tell me more."

Appreciation or indifference? Take your pick. Look at my country or South Africa to see the reprucussions of the latter. It can be done.

Back to Japan...Return of the Dragon

Classes are out for the winter break...but since Korea is the bastion of educational junkies, classes are not really out for winter break. From 8-12PM everyday, there are "supplemental classes" to make sure the children stay on top of their game. I know, its crazy in this country when it comes to the amount of effort kids put into education and you wonder why these kids just take a "huge nap," but you have to realize what it comes down to: competition. The other kid may get some more "education" (tutoring) elsewhere, so "I must take this extra class to stay ahead of the game." Its a tough life for the young one in this nation, but I know the system will crack sometime...

Another topic. Weather has warmed up recently after a spell of vicious Siberian winds pounding the peninsula lately. Today was a gorgeous day in Seoul, South Korea, as I went to my Korean class and went through the shopping district of Myeong-dong with a friend of mine.

I have to conduct three winter camps this January: two for my 1st and 2nd level students at Yeonsu High School, and recently I volunteered to take on a camp at a local girls' high school in another district in Incheon. I will definitely enjoy this period because I can work with a less amount of kids, be more relaxed with my boys, and just flat out have fun. What will get interesting is how this girls' camp is going to run, because I have never taught English to a bunch of lady students...we'll see the results in a few weeks.

Now, to the title of the post..."Back to Japan." For my winter break, I decided to go back to Japan. I just can't get enough of the Land of the Rising Sun! My teachers were also curious why I wanted to go back a second time.

The reason I'm going back is simple: I just like it. That's it. Its modern enough, and in some ways, more neo-futuristic enough to keep you amazed (in the cities) while maintaining a historical and natural aura to keep your mind engaged. Japan is historical and advanced in many ways, from technology (robotics and electronics) to its olden samurai eras (the many Shogunates that lead the chaotic nation).

Also, in respects to Korea, the two nations are similar enough to have some realistic expectations about their societies: such as top-down social orders, Asian work ethics and laws, and a sense of restraint and discipline to their peoples. So I have some sense of what I'm getting into when I enter a Japanese city.

However, the differences between Japanese and Koreans are different as night and day. I want to go back to do more "social/cultural" comparing between the two nations. I also want to practice and try more Japanese, which is clearly minimal now at the moment, but its a language that I eventually want to learn.

Perhaps this time around I can make more Japanese friends and perhaps a pen pal. That would be kinda cool.

So, towards the end of January, my new travel partner, Dave, and I will step back into the land of the Rising Sun...and see where God takes us as we take another angle on what life is like in East Asia.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year, everybody.

I hope you make new plans, goals, and work hard to achieve them. Stay healthy, enjoy your life because you are created by God, and continue to grow in Him.

2008 is going to be...in the words of Tony the Tiger: "Grrrrrrrrreeeat!"