Unity in diversity?
By Choi Ye-eun
One looks for a fresh new start as they enter into a new country. And more people are coming to Korea to look for a job, a better life, peace and hopefully love. Some fortunate ones do in fact find these things. Regrettably, however, a few never find a place in Korea they can call home or even any level of happiness here.
This I know because I lived in a foreign country ― India ― by myself as a teenager, and never found it easy to adapt to my new surroundings.
Like everyone I experienced different cultures, different races, new people and new languages. I experienced what they call culture shock because I had thought Korea was everything. But, this sense of novelty from being in a new country did not last that long, because I experienced ignorance in the people from different countries.
When I first went to India, I didn’t know a single word of English. In the beginning, whenever I tried to speak I felt as if they would make fun of me or laugh at me, maybe thinking I would not be watching or understanding them. So I decided to try even harder to learn English so that I could speak up for myself and to understand those around me.
When I returned to Korea after a few years, I attended one of the many international schools in Korea, which had many foreign teachers a few years ago, according to my fellow students.
The situation was quite different when I enrolled at it, however. The foreign teachers would normally leave within one or two years, and the school would replace them with Korean teachers even though it was one of the so-called ``international” schools. The Korean teachers, who would start speaking English, quickly went back to Korean language, for a number of reasons.
One of the reasons was that it was just easier for them. In addition, the Korean teachers would not associate with or even speak to the small number of foreign teachers either because they were too different or because the language barriers were too high.
Once a teacher of mine at a previous school told us, ``People in Korea look at us like we are aliens and when we try to speak to them, they always run away." In short, the foreign teacher said, it was a type of racism. Though I believe he was going a little too far, I couldn’t help recalling my own experience of living as a foreigner in a foreign country ― and how bad I felt during that time of my life.
What he said touched my heart, since I could understand some of the pain he must have felt living in Korea as an outsider ― the feeling of isolation and being discriminated by those he worked with. Furthermore, this foreign teacher and many others like him have no place to go to feel safe from this isolation given the fact that they left their families and friends to come here to work. In a school that shows them little or no respect, it’s little surprise these teachers leave early. And to be honest, one can’t help but wonder why more don't.
Korea was once a country of respectful people, but you cannot really find much of that concept in this country any longer. People are busy in their own world and becoming more and more selfish every day.
I’m afraid my countrymen are turning their heads away from the people who come from different nations. I wish Korea could go back to those days when all could live in unity among diversity.
The writer is a journalism student at Lighthouse International School. She can be reached at cyeeun951206@hotmail.com.