A.I. (Asian Intelligence)

And so with this week, my third month in Korea came to a close and I begin my fourth, leaving only nine months to experience all that I hoped to from this extremely different culture. It occurred to me this week that it has definitely gotten to the point that I would say I am comfortable in Seoul. Perhaps frighteningly so. The smell of fish at 9am is no longer nauseating, just familiar. Street side vendors pandering fish- split open with all their insides hanging out, no longer shocking. The stench of snail larvae - okay, that's still really gross. The smell of soju (Korean potato vodka) surrounding me as I ride the subway to school has simply become apart of my day. I've stopped noticing people staring at me- or at least, for the most part. I've learned a sufficient amount of Korean words to get by- being able to make out the characters being a huge advantage here. After three months of mocking Korean dependence on cell phones- I realized I've become just as bad. I caught myself taking my cell phone from my gym locker and leaving it on a table in the middle of the gym so I'd hear it. This is very Korean, and I was shocked and disgusted with myself. I take my shoes off a hundred times a day, and think nothing of it anymore. I don't beckon cabs with an upward palm, as this is considered rude. I give money with two hands, and take my change back with my right hand, my left hand supporting my right wrist. This is a polite give and receive exchange. I wait for the oldest person at the table to pour my beer- and hesitate when they don't as it's impolite to pour your own. When I try to explain myself to store clerks, even though I know the Korean word for no, I've started doing like the kids and making an X with my arms and saying "No". I don't know why, but they all do it- and it seems I've picked it up. I think matters would be made much easier if I just said "Annio."

This week at school was short- and difficult. After some disagreement with my boss as to whether or not I needed health insurance (it's in my contract, but he was trying to cheap out and convince me that I didn't need) - the other teachers proved him wrong for me. Three of our teachers missed at least a day of school this week, after my boss insisted that no one ever gets sick here. Apparently he takes me for a complete idiot. In any case, I got my way and now have my insurance and all this fighting and procrastination was over 100$ Canadian. Is it just me, or does it seem completely ridiculous to anyone else to risk potentially huge health care bills to save yourself 100$? My boss has proved himself both cheap and illogical, just the way I like 'em. It is interesting to note that my boss has also informed me that I don't need air conditioning for the apartment... which is exactly what he told the teacher I replaced who had the unfortunate experience of spending the entire summer in his underwear cursing our cheap ass boss. Apparently he's not familiar with the climate of Montreal, as he informed me that humidity doesn't make that much of a difference in temperature and I should be okay because I'm only on the second floor. And so ends my battle for health insurance, and so begins my battle for air conditioning.

I should perhaps take this opportunity to clarify. My job is alright- I love the kids, the hours are a little long- but being in Korea, I can't really complain since many people work six days a week and stay at work until 10 or 11pm. In comparison, I've got it pretty good. I get paid what I'm owed and my boss has been good with providing me with advances if I so need. However, it appears that a big part of Korean business is testing to see what you can get away with. When I asked for a new apartment, it was provided. When I asked for health insurance- after a brief argument, it was provided. And here's hoping that I can push this a little further and find myself in a coolly conditioned apartment this summer. Yet my boss makes these lame attempts at saving himself money in the hopes that this silly, single white girl from Canada will be too shy to call him on it. And oh, was he wrong. I think for the remainder of my time in Korea, I will insist on being called "The Princess", since that's how I'm feeling after making all these demands...

On that note, I came to the startling realization this week that my boss, with his enormous football head and tiny 'Chula man' (stick man) body- is the spitting image of Stewie Griffin (Family Guy) when he pictures himself as an adult. Unfortunately every time I see him now, this is the image that comes to mind, and I just can't keep from laughing... Interesting side note- Chula man (Stick man) is a Korean superhero from a video games- a character based, maybe- just maybe, on my tiny boss?

And lastly- one thought/observation that I've had this week. We see stereotypes all around us - and in Canada we've been exposed to as many stereotypes as we have cultures. In recent years, stereotypes have come to be acknowledged as racist, and obviously, to some extent, I agree. But at the same time, these stereotypes came about for a reason- they came about because for better or for worse, these are the characteristics, the oddities- that most stuck out to those outside these communities. We create our own realities. In communities with negative stereotypes, they grow out of impossible situations. If you grow up in an environment where there are no expectations for even the possibility of success, is it so difficult to see how people take a wrong turn? The stereotype of the Jewish people with money dates back hundreds of years to actual events. The European economies suddenly required a system of borrowing and lending money, but in those days, the Church forbade Christians from profiting from the lending of money. But there was nothing in the Jewish faith preventing them from lending money, and so Jewish people were encouraged to loan money and profit from the interest. And so was born the stereotype of the Jewish people and their money. Coming from an Irish/English/Scottish/French/Albertan/Quebecois background, I guess I'm just a drunken Catholic (Irish), uptight (English), red haired haggis-eating (Scottish), snotty baguette chomping (French), red necked (Albertan) Canada-hating separatist (Quebec). Perhaps some of this is true- I'll give you baguette chomping, but take back the redneck and Canada hating- and my hair is far, far from red... And I try very hard to suppress the uptight Brit, I hope I've been successful. I don't call myself Catholic, but there was a certain event involving oil on my forehead when I was eleven years old, and the Church claims they've got dibs on me for life. In any event, there has long been talk of how smart those Asians are. Back when I dated a certain half-Japanese boy who will go unnamed for no particular reason but to protect his poor identity (and to keep those who remember this particular relationship from firing up with the rumors and such, from oh so long ago) I was amazed with how many people responded to the news of my new multi-cultural relationship saying "Wow, he's Japanese- he must be so smart." (Pause for the laughter from the IMAX crowd) And then, three and a half years ago, I had a similar experience when I started dating Fred. How many people have said "Wow, your boyfriend's Indian? Is he an engineer?" I look at the kids I teach- as they rush out the door of my class to catch the school bus that will whisk them off to their next school- and I wonder- in the end, as adults- are they all that different from Canadians? As I talk to my Korean co-workers, I'm not struck with a feeling of intellectual inferiority, I don't feel that they've been better educated. I lost two of my kids from my kindergarten classes this week- one to another school, and the second because he's become too tired to attend class. At five years old, I have kids dropping out because of burn-out. This is something that is not seen in Canada. I have vague memories of spending my kindergarten days playing in sand boxes and swimming in the school's pool. Not being forced to practice my ABC's and perform lame science experiments. My Korean co-workers admit that grade school in Korea is tough- the days and weeks are long, and high school finishes at the age of 20, so even the years drag on. But University, they claim unanimously, is a joke. For three months, I've sat back and observed the culture and the people and the truth of it is - there are just as many smart kids in Korean schools as there are in Canada, and just as many kids who have trouble in school as in Canada. The difference, perhaps- in the success and failures- is perhaps in our views. We create our reality. In Canada, we quickly label any student who doesn't want to listen as ADD. Not bored, not uninterested, but ADD. He has a condition, he needs to be medicated. A child who fails a class is called any number of names. Are labels getting in the way of success in school? Koreans have never heard of ADD. They push the kids who have trouble just as hard as the kids who don't. They acknowledge intelligence, but refuse to acknowledge stupidity. Crazy is a swear word in Korean. In any case, the Asian stereotype of intelligence has been on my mind lately- and the only thing that stands out to me as an incredible show of intelligence is how easily an entire race of people (or rather several races- we have this same stereotype for Chinese, Japanese, Koreans and Indians) managed to create their own stereotype by refusing to acknowledge that there exists a weak link within their communities. They've tricked us all simply by refusing to acknowledge that there are some kids who have trouble learning. Their education is dragged out, almost for show, it seems. I'd like to think that my experience here is proving that Canadians are just as smart as Koreans and that the intelligence stereotype is just that- a stereotype. But I have to admit that it is an incredible show of intelligence, to convince the world that you are the smartest people on earth, and have the world believe it. Why didn't we think of that first???