It must be the Yin and Yang that keeps me here. The mountains and the city together in one. The forests and the rivers are smack against high rise apartments that sit smack against old villages. Nothing seems to match but everything fits together.
There are thousands of years of tradition and conservative social customs kept from generation to generation. At the same time when it is time to party the Koreans know how to party.
There are entire streets dedicated to having a good time like the YOLO. It means you only live once so enjoy the life you have. Or maybe YOLO means you are not going to make it out of this bar alive so you better have a good time.
Korea has a mild four seasons. The winters are mild but we still get a little snow in Seoul and in the mountains nearby you can ski from December to March. The Spring is windy and cool until April and then sunny and warm until June. I'm not into Korean Spring much because of the dust that blows in from the west. The summer is not terribly hot but it is very humid and the heat passes by the end of August. The Autumn is my favorite season as the air is crisp and cool and the leaves change colors slowly and stay on the trees from the end of September to the beginning of December you can find beautiful colors on the trees.
Korea also has the best of the West and the East. During late Chosun Western missionaries influenced a lot of Korean education and religion so western holidays are celebrated as well as Eastern holidays. Also the universities and hospitals have been influenced by Western medicine since the 1800s. At the same time Eastern medicine is practiced and it is easy to find an oriental medicine doctor and oriental medicine. Also for over a thousand years Buddhism has been in Korea. This religion is kind of a relic in Korea but still is alive and reflects the character of the Korean people and connection with nature.
Health care is one of the reasons I enjoy Korea. The government takes care of insurance for the residents. The government insurance covers most health care costs including partial dental costs. For this I would be out a few hundred dollars a month in America but here I am covered for a small portion of that. Also doctors in Korea are still very kind to foreigners and I have always been given great treatment.
Education is valued very highly in Korea maybe too highly. I teach in the public schools and teachers work hard at making the best environment for students to learn and grow. I've notice a great change in the past ten years to make education student centered and I'm not afraid to send my own kids to public school.
Sometimes they come home with all kinds of propaganda but they are smart enough to know it is propaganda and they know that some of the people teaching them are hypocrites but the point is they come home. They are really safe here. Most of their bad influence is from watching stupid TV shows on Netflix but they talk about it. The kids they hang out with seem a lot nicer than the kids I hung out with when I was there age.
There are a lot of things that could be better here. It would be nice if mega companies would give their employees a break every once and a while. It would be great if the birth rate was higher and the suicide rate was lower. It would be great if not so much money was spent on private education trying to get into college. It would be great if kids who did graduate from college could get a job. But I could say the same about any country.
Above all what moves me most about Korea is "Han".
The word "Han" is used to describe a feeling or emotion brought out from oppressions remaining from colony times. This "Han" can be seen in stories, songs and poems. It's kind of like Korean blues.
One of the best ways of expressing "Han" is through traditional pansori. These are songs that tell a story. Some of the stories are comedy. Some are told just to ridicule the "Yangban" (noble class). Some are told in sorrow and tragedy, love and loss.
There is a lot more than face value in this nation. Look deeper and deeper and you will still find gold in the people's hearts. Although this gold is more scarce that when I first visited 22 years ago the gold is still there. In my time in Korea I talked with Korean war veterans. I talked the grandson of the founder of a large University. I talked with the man who brought the first ambulance to Korea. I talked to the former Prime minister. They all told me the same thing, "Stay in Korea."
It was a strange thing to tell a young kid who just finished college. One of them told me about how the war started and he stayed in Korea to translate even though he was an American citizen. He stayed during both groups of American soldiers and helped them find their way around. These were great people and I could just go down the street and talk to them. Life in Korea was so mysterious. Everything was there at my fingertips and at the same time everything was so far away. Now they are no more, but their voices remain in my head, "Stay in Korea."
Things changed so much I can order anything I want and it will be at my door in hours without a delivery charge. If I want a frozen pizza or a 6 pack or a vacuum cleaner, it doesn't matter. I just pick up my cell phone and the next morning it is in a box at my front step. These aren't drone deliveries. These are humans who deliver anything any time. If I want a hamburger or sushi or fried chicken or kimchi it will come right away.
Any corner I can find a bus or a taxi that will take me exactly where I want to go. I really don't need a car. The whole city is at my finger tips. But this is not the reason these people are telling me to stay. They stayed when it was not convenient to do so. They stayed because they loved Kore and they loved Korean people. The felt the "Han" and they knew the great pain that Korean people had in their hearts. These people would do anything for Korea and they did. They gave their lives. Now Korea has modern medicine, emergency care, education and free ideas.
I miss the days when I first came to Korea in the 1990s. I missed seeing people like 최춘선. There was something special about his generation that survived through the Korean war. They were not deceived by materialism and any other isms. They were the real thing. I see this sincerity in the older generation of Koreans. There are less around and they are a lot more difficult to communicate than they used to but they are the most beautiful people.
It's important for the next generation to learn the spirit of these patriots and pioneers. They move me to tears and the stories continue through the whole country. Any where you go there are stories of sacrifice and love. The most heart moving to me was when I met the daughter of Son Yang-Won . Her father was a pastor for lepers near Yeosu. She had two brothers. The oldest was just a high school student when a communist classmate shot him. The youngest told the boy that killed his brother, "If you repent now God will forgive you." That was the end of his life. Their father found the killer. He was an orphan boy whose parents both died. The village asked Pastor Yang-Won to press charges. Instead he forgave the boy and took him home as a son. Pastor Yan-Won's daughter said how difficult this was for her, but in doing so she learned true forgiveness. Living in Korea I met people like her and there are so many stories. One by one I am learning them. Even my own mother-in-law has a story. Sure I could learn these stories in any country but Korea has become like my own country.
