Korea Dispatch

Ichon Station

I assumed in coming to Korea that I would be automatically connected to the society around me, as if simply being here was enough to plug in and feel a part of my surroundings. Not so.

I realize now that connecting is more than just being there. You have to actively engage in the people and events around you and not expect them to somehow incorporate you into their flow. Or you can sit back and fall into a semi-comfortable routine of CSI reruns and Starbucks coffee, completely removed from what’s right in front of your face.

It’s obvious really, but the realization dawned on me as I was speaking with a co-worker about Korean cimena that I knew almost nothing about it. And beyond that, I know squat about the arts here and I don’t speak the language. Which leaves me sort of isolated from what most folks on the street are tuned into.

Granted, I follow the news, but again in English. So what I’m getting is a sort of diluted flow of information one or two steps removed from the main source. Which leaves me feeling kind of lonely really.

I mean, Seoul is already a bit of a cold city. Not that people are unfriendly, but there is a sort of disconnected feel among strangers on the steet. Very few people who live in Seoul are actually from here. Most hail from outlying provinces or cities. Hence the traffic jams on major holidays as folks head back home to see family.

People seem to operate in circles of familiarity, whether among co-workers, classmates or friends. I rarely see strangers socializing here the way I did back home. I feel it most acutely on those days when I have lunch by myself. Seems like no one here eats alone and even I’ve become sort of desperate for company over lunch.

I remember sitting in the airport in Delhi about 12 years ago with a friend romanticizing about the life of an ascetic, needing no one and utterly free from society’s bonds. The more sagely one – though I didn’t recognize it at the time – my friend replied simply that no man was an isalnd. I’m starting to come to terms with that now, which means taking a more pro-active approach to life here in Korea.

Today’s headlines:

Korean Americans embarrased by US beef

Korea turning tropical

“Something out of nothing, with two bare fists”