Random Musings from an Autumn Day

I forgot how enjoyable autumn truly is on a nice crisp fall afternoon, watching the wind rustle through the leaves as you walk down the sidewalk. After not having been in autumn in over a decade I had forgot what a pleasurable experience it truly is......
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It's an interesting point of view, one is forced to take when one lives as a visible minority in a country. As a wegouken (foreigner), here in Korea, one has to take a step back and be ever mindful of how people react to you. It was weird the first time, I made a baby cry just because she looked at me and started screaming Wegouk!! Wow. Some have a much better go of it than others, for instance the Canadians and Aussies/New Zealanders. Americans and Russians have such a skewed image that it is sometimes difficult to understand or react to the blatant racism, and not just racism like the nightclub just down the street that foreigners aren't allowed to enter, but outright hatred at times. It has definitely been a revelation in the fact that people all around the world have their own measure of racial intolerance. One would think that coming over here that being American, there would be some form of gratitude considering we are the reason their country exists in the first place, liberating them from Japan and then fighting for their further establishment on this peninsula against the Russians and Chinese, but don't get self-righteous, there is a severe distrust that permeates deep within the country. True, Americans have not done the best in international relations with their little toehold into Asia, but the open disdain can sometimes be a little much. I think this little rant has been brewing for awhile, well basically for a couple weeks and it culminates with my particular haegwon, ECS... this is a little manifesto I wrote a couple weeks ago...

...PLEASE DON'T BE CONCERNED... THIS IS JUST A MEDIUM TO RELEASE SOME TENSION...

Upon reflection of their complete and utter lack of respect, not to mention failure to comprehend compassion or the human condition, I find myself wondering how an entire culture can be devoid of any emotional tie to one another. After watching the intentional waylaying of a comrade, not only in need, but in a state of emergency requiring immediate medical attention, I wonder if the worker bee mentality isn't too firmly entrenched that it makes advancement as a culture completely superficial. I watched my friend, W-, suffer needlessly in massive amounts of pain, while two of the Korean teachers (KT's) were sent home early in order to save as much money as P- and I had spent on our day's coffee purchases. Without becoming too graphic, my friend was plagued by a golf ball sized hemorrhoid which appeared suddenly on Sunday morning. He worked through the pain on Monday and came to work Tuesday, asking for directions to a clinic because it has started to bleed. They not only wouldn't tell him, they said they were concerned because he had classes, only to turn around when his last class cancelled and switch him to a KT's class so she could go home because she had a presentation the next day. The true underlying motive is the fact that the KT's are paid by the class as opposed to the foreign teachers who are paid a monthly salary. Today, Thursday (this was written nearly 3 weeks ago), the day after W- had emergency surgery, he came in to work still connected to a morphine drip because they brought him in. This is a man used and abused to the extreme by the establishment, as last November, he was hospital stricken due to a heart attack and was called in to work the same day. The same story happened six months ago when he had surgery to have his gall bladder removed. They won't kill you here, but they will work you until you die. It is truly amazing that we rate lower than animals, we are a disposable commodity and for a country so enthralled and predisposed to the idea of face and respect that we receive it nominally or not at all.

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Really, don't be concerned, they aren't all like this, I have in my own way become one of those people who give talks to others about what could happen to you if... LOL
I really do love Korea and I am very happy with most everything, the atmosphere at work over the past few weeks has diminished to a toxic level with everyone yelling at everyone else, I don't mean for you to think that it's all a huge pile of cow manure waiting to be shoveled, but it isn't all a bed of roses either... Yeah, I love the fact that my daily expenses are under $15 including my $4 24 ounce cup of coffe. And that's on the expensive days. You can keep your costs down to about $5/day, but why suffer if you have the resources to indulge a little in the midst of such a wonderful opportunity. Anyway, this little story should be done now. I love you all and I can't wait to talk to you all soon. Good night and good luck!