I first came to Korea in 1996, and I’m pretty well adapted to life in Pohang. My problems and annoyances with Korean life are mostly the same ones that Koreans experience (like driving). Of course, I can remember those early days here in Korea, with the confusion and frustration that can accompany even a simple thing. (Try to buy just one tomato, not a whole basket of tomatoes.) However, I thought that those days of culture shock were long behind me.
This summer I learned how wrong I was. My wife and I spent a couple of weeks back in Alabama, visiting with my family. For the most part, it was a nice trip, and we loved spending time with family and friends. On the other hand, I observed some small details of life that I simply could not accept as being normal or natural. I realized something: Thomas Wolfe was right when he said, “You can’t go home again.”
My nephew, a high school student, had his birthday while we were in America, so we wanted to buy him a present. He wanted a pair of golf shoes, so the three of us planned to go to the sporting goods store together one afternoon. As we were leaving, my mom asked us to stop at WalMart to buy some milk and a few vegetables. Since the two stores share the same parking lot, we were happy to do the shopping for her. First, the three of us went to buy the shoes (since we knew that trying all the different styles would take an hour or so). Then, after paying for the shoes, we left the sporting goods store to go to WalMart.
Outside the door, two of us immediately turned left and started walking, but my nephew went about 10 steps out into the parking lot before he asked us where we were going. Teenagers are easily distracted, so I wasn’t surprised. I reminded him that we had to go to Walmart.
“Well, the car is right here!” he said.
My nephew, a perfectly healthy 16 year old, thought that driving from one end of the parking lot to the other was the natural, reasonable thing to do, and most Americans would probably agree. Regardless of what the media tells us, most Americans really don’t worry too much about conserving oil. America does have a few drops of oil. Of course, as good Koreans, my wife and I were stunned, and I had a difficult time trying not to criticize him for being so lazy. The situation only got worse when we were paying for our groceries, though.
My mother had asked us to shop just as we were leaving, so we didn’t bring any shopping bags. However, because we were only getting a few things, I thought that it wouldn’t be a big deal. We could just carry the groceries in our hands. The checkout clerk was a problem, though. How many plastic bags do you think are needed for one jug of milk, a bag of potatoes and a small bag of tomatoes? Well, WalMart thought that we needed five. Two bags for the milk (it’s wet because of condensation), two bags for the potatoes (they’re heavy) and, of course, a separate bag for the tomatoes since they are soft. As a Korean shopper, I was outraged. What a ridiculous waste of oil! Three completely packaged items required five plastic bags. The milk and the potatoes already had handles. I was ready to start an anti-WalMart website, then I looked around and realized that everyone (including my nephew) was staring at me like I was the crazy person. They were right. I didn’t belong in that WalMart, and I didn’t fit into that little Alabama town anymore, either.
Culture shock isn’t limited to visiting a new culture. The experiences we have change us, for good or bad, and we find that we see our own home culture with new eyes. This is neither a good nor bad thing; it’s just reality. Anyone who wishes to be globalized must accept this price: if you expose yourself to other cultures, you will inevitably compare them to yours. At first, the good aspects of your culture stand out; later, as you learn to admire the other culture, the weaknesses become apparent. That’s not a problem as long as you are willing to adapt and as long as you have confidence in the basic health of your culture. The truly global person studies new cultures and questions the old in order to forge a new identity. This is not a painless process, but it can be satisfying. These days, we are creating a living laboratory for culture here at POSTECH. Change is inevitable, but Postechians can help direct it. Embrace your role in this process.
Raymond Close / Lecturer in English (HSS)
