One China??

Cherry and Hattie, two Mainland students, BBQing it up

One of our main duties as ETAs is to go on weekend field trips with the students. Ever since we have started work, we have not had one weekend free:( Kinda sad but it has been fun getting to interact with my students outside of the classroom. It becomes clear the social and cultural dynamics between the students when they are socializing outside of class. Students from the mainland only interact with each other, as do the students from Macau are isolated to themselves. The class is a microcosm of the greater Macau society. At my BBQ, today the students were clearly divided to two distinct groups - one Macau group speaking Cantonese and one Mainland group speaking Mandarin. Nobody really talked about the division but it was definitely there and you could almost feel it.

As I spend more time here, I feel that the division between the two Chinese groups is a very clear and distinct divide that is hardly crossed. Those from HK and Macau often speak Mandarin and Cantonese but make a definite effort not to speak Mandarin to interact with the Mainland students. I find it disheartening to know that the students choose not to speak and socialize with the Mainlanders, even though they can. They speak Cantonese as a method to exclude those students from mainland. Making it clear to them, they are not from the mainland.

Macau Students, Billy and Max

From those I've spoken to from HK and Macau, there are strong feelings of superiority to those from the mainland. I'm not sure where this superiority feeling comes from. I'm assuming that their colonization period makes them different from those from mainland. In addition, HK and Macau's economy has been well established prior to the sudden surge in economic growth in Mainland. In addition, the communism in China is another point in which the HK people discourage; often saying that the mainland's government is 'corrupt' and 'evil', and the source of shady business. HK's resistance to celebrating People's Republic of China Day just shows how they do not want to glorify the communist government. The poor dress and rude mannerisms of the mainlanders is often noted. After the turnover back to China, HK and Macau had a flood of mainlanders looking for work, but they were definitely not welcomed with open arms. Though HK and Macau has returned back to China, there is lack of national unity among the people - we are all Chinese but we are not all the same.

Speaking to my mainland students, they too feel that they are a bit discriminated against here in Macau and Hong Kong. They are well aware of the social biases of the HK and Macau people. Their use of Mandarin as their distinguishing feature of being mainland. The divide between the Macau people and mainlanders is a bit better here because of the large influx of mainland gamblers, but still there are negative preconceptions of mainlanders. These disapproving feelings may be why the Mainland China people always stick together. I wonder with time, will there be greater integration among the two groups? What must be changed in order for that to take place? A change of attitude, preconceptions, beliefs, etc...

UMAC Class Picture at BBQ - Coloane Island, Macau

Korean girls are too hot...but froyo is sexier!

B-Boy Culture of Korea -
Tat and I watched an amazing show, The Ballerina who fell in love with a b-boy. Of course, our initial interest for this show was sparked by our Korean b-boy movie from the Asian American Film Festival. We became fascinated how the American b-boy culture because integrated into the Korean young society, so we wanted to see it first hand. It was an amazing to see all the amazing power moves from their team of b-boys. They were incredibly strong to hold some of the their crazy moves. Also they also had a team of hip hop dancers which were amazing. They could pop and lock like nobody's business.




The Korean hip hop culture is very interesting and contrasts to the rest of society. Much of the fashion in Korea is very fashion forward and trendy, whereas the hip hop fashion is very American. As well, the lifestyle of a b-boy does not reflect the academic and competitive culture ingrained by many Korean families...I wonder who brought hip hop and b-boying to korea and made it mainstream?

DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) -
When traveling around Seoul, you often forget just how close you are to North Korea. The North Korean border is a mere 1 hour drive from Seoul. The division between the two countries if very real. The contrast in the lives between North and South Koreans is drastically different. In North Korea, one of the poorest countries in the world, many of their people are starving to death, homes are heated with wood and coal, and men and women serve a minimum of 7 years in the army. Whereas in South Korea, people are scrambling to get the latest $500 cell phone, buy the trendiest clothes, and compete with their classmates for the top grades in the class. It's amazing that these two countries can be so close to each other but so different....It's crazy that Communism can still survive in today's global economy. How can North Korea continue being closed off from the world...the truth is - its people are barely subsisting through their daily lives while their army makes million dollar nuclear weapons...all for what?

North Korea !!!

We took an organized tour to the DMZ, which is the 2km wide border between North and South Korea. The chain link fence with barb wire and the heavily armed South Korean soldiers is an eery to experience up close and personal. We visited a tunnel the South Koreans found in the 1970s. The tunnel was secretly dug up by the North Koreans to invade South Korea. Just 20 years after the Korean War, this tunnel could have led to another attack of North Korea on Seoul. The tunnel was initially designed to allow 35000 soldiers to pass within an hour for a surprise attack on the capital city, instead now this tunnel is used to shuttle hundreds of tourists every day.



We saw several young men working at the DMZ, fulfilling their 2 year compulsory military duty. Though some feel that they are wasting their time in the army, the presence of north Korea is a ubiquitous part of life...the men must do this for their country and their people's freedom, but I still think it is a great sacrifice the men must make. I wonder if the compulsory military service reflects on the infamous Korean male persona...How would American men cope with compulsory military duty???



'Hot' Korean girls-
On another note, Korean women are a breed of their own. Many of my friends feel that Korean women's features are the most beautiful, so I was excited to see the real deal here in Seoul. (side note: Korean girls are nowhere near as skinny as HK girls, so I actually feel normal sized here instead of intensely obese in Macau/HK. ) Korean women REALLY care about how they look. Some serious time has been spent on make up and outfits on a daily basis. Almost all Korean women wear make up of some sort...it looks like they aren't wearing makeup but there is usually some kind of foundation on their face to make it seem so perfect. In addition, Koreans dress to the nines wherever they go...if they are going clubbing or just going to the market, they are wearing a cute, trendy outfit with heels. We are amazed to see those girls working it out in those heels all day long. I'm tired from shopping around in my flip flops for a day, so those girls have some serious skill walking all day in their 4 inch stiletto heels.

The reason for my quotation around the word 'hot' is because of the prevalence of plastic surgery in Korea. Though their faces are super cute, its really not natural beauty and often is altered by make up and surgery. Yuna, my former FLEX coworker, gave me the skinny on plastic surgery. When applying for jobs, all persons must attach a recent photo of themselves to the application. Employers are not just looking for well qualified employees, they also want somebody who is pleasing to the eye. Therefore, Korean women have a lot of pressure to better their looks not only for personal reasons, but also for employment reasons. She said some 70% of Korean girls get some form of plastic surgery - eye (the most common), nose, lips, breasts, etc. She said you can even alter your voice...reason being employers do not want to hire women with squeaky voices to answer their phones. I find it very disheartening how a culture can place so much pressure on a woman's looks. I feel for those who maybe do NOT fit into the mold of the ultra feminine, stylish woman....where do those women belong in Korea? I wonder what kinds of effects this has on the self esteem of women in Korea...where natural beauty is merely rejected...artificial enhancements are a normal way of life...

Korea - Day 1

When arriving to any new country, your initial impressions are of the airport. The Seoul Incheon airport is amazingly clean and modern. It's sad that the most standout aspect was the crazy high tech toilets that have a plastic lining on the seat and rotates when you are done using it...sooo crazy! I've only see that in Japan before. After going through customs, we saw a swarm of girls gathered around an exit door. Curious to see what the commotion was about, we quickly walked to the scene to find a huge crowd of young women taking pictures and screaming at a Korean boy band. I pushed my way to the front to find the reason for all the commotion....an incredibly well dressed Korean pop star (I have no idea who it is though). He was tall and slim with a fedora hat and aviator glasses. It's amazing how quickly I reverted back to bopper mode and I pushed my way through the throngs of girls and bodyguards to get within 3 feet of this k-star, while of course screaming the entire time like a 16 year old girl...lol. I really wish I actually knew who he was cause it would've made the experience that much better. After that initial excitement, we boarded onto our airport bus and headed into Seoul. I think that we have been staying in Macau for too long because the hour and half long bus ride made Korea seem incredibly large and daunting.

After checking in, we explored the Myeong dong district. This neighborhood is in Central Seoul near the financial district and city hall. The area is famous for trendy shopping and restaurants. The nightlife is amazing in this district. Even at midnight on Weds, the streets are still crawling with people. Many of the karaoke spots and bars are in this area. Most people out and about at this hour were businessmen and women coming from their work at many of the large Korean corporations. Still wearing their suits, they head to the nearest BBQ joint and drink it up. While eating our dinner, the table next to us sat three well dressed business women. I'm not sure just how long they have been eating there, but they had 6 bottles of soju on their table and we're continuing to order more. This made me think about the American and Korean perceptions of alcohol and drinking. In Korea, it seems that drinking (even excessively) is just part of everyday life. It is culturally accepted amongst all ages - not just the young club-going types. Drinking and eating out go hand and hand - almost to the point where it is expected you have the capacity to drink heavily and still hold your own. In contrast, the American drinking culture is looked down upon and often seen as an immoral activity. With an older drinking age, teenagers perceive alcohol as a forbidden drink and thus placing a different type of cultural perception on drinking. Making alcohol inaccessible to younger people, teenagers become obsessed with drinking it because of its association with being rebellious. In turn, drinking excessively is usually only associated with young people or alcoholics. Three women and six bottles of soju would be a rare site in America.

This is what happens when you can't read the menu...

On our first day in Seoul, Tat and I visited Gyeongbokgung, Seoul's grandest palace. We were impressed by the palace grounds. Though original palace was destroyed by the Japanese in the 1500s, the palace was restored to its original grandeur in the 1800s. Korean palaces are similar to the architecture of Japanese and Chinese monuments, but the main distinguishing feature is the vivid colors used to paint under the eaves of the roofs. The ceilings inside the palaces are also carved and colored.





The changing of the guard ceremony was also a great insight into traditional Korean culture. The elaborate ceremony comprised of about forty guards and a traditional Korean band.






Our tour of the palace grounds was enlivened by the hundreds of school children there on that day. Thursday must have been a field trip day for Seoul because there were hundreds upon hundreds of school children - ranging from preschool to high school. It was interesting to see how in another country and with a foreign language you can still see the same interactions with children. It's safe to say that no matter where you are in the world...kids will be kids. You can easily distinguish the cool crowds, the nerdy students, the teacher's pet even when you can't understand a word they are saying.



After the palace, we explored the Insadong district - famous for its art galleries and traditional Korean restaurants and tea shops. We ate lunch at an amazing restaurant that was restored in its original state. The neighborhood was incredibly cute, but a bit touristy and overpriced.

Needless to say, my journey to Korea was slightly food motivated. Today I was reunited with Froyo not just once, but twice:P