On the Move

(photo credit: Chisholm Hatfield  – at Seomun Market Daegu South Korea)

It’s hard to believe that this is already week two! I take pause every single day – every  single day to pinch myself that this in fact real, and I offer gratitude and prayers for this opportunity. It’s truly amazing, and I remain incredibly grateful.

I’m currently in Daugu South Korea, which is in the southeast quadrant of the country, in the North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea.

My time has not been as orchestrated as I had planned – as if anything with research ever is – but I’d hoped to carve out time on a regular basis and am hopeful that I will be able to in the upcoming months. For the past two weeks I have been in several different places and have been on the go. I wake in the morning and leave, camera and phone (translation and maps apps) in hand. Most of the time I have a planned itinerary, and most of the time it goes out the window through some turn of events.

The past two weeks have been a steep, sharp, hard learning curve, and I have gained an appreciation of the most simple tasks in life that we take for granted.

As I’ve said before, I speak virtually no Korean, and accepted the Fellowship from the Korea Foundation knowing this non fluency would better assist me in analysis of visual material, as well as picking out information that was taken for granted because of accepted practices and “norms”.  I planned for this, I considered this carefully in terms of my research project and field work and interviews and consistency in data. I discussed it with my Seonsaengnim, the incredibly talented and intelligent Dr. Sun-Kee Hong and moved forward.

What I failed to take into account, was living as a non-fluent foreigner. We take language for granted. The most simple of tasks become daunting.  Laundry was a huge accomplishment – the washing and drying machines are all in Hangeul! My brain works overtime to try to read, figure out, and process the simplest of information. My brain is language-oriented, but it is not an overnight process. This makes me more tired than I am accustomed to being, and I find that I get frustrated and want this acclimation process to be hurried, but remain sleep-deprived.

Eating is another fun guesswork task, though I have words for “this please” and am more highly dependent than ever on pictures. For the first week or so, I have relied solely on convenience store foods. I have ventured into new foods and tried cultural items, but my first night out at a Korean BBQ was exiting and the taste of warm food was exhilarating! I had guides who showed me the ropes and explained the entire process of selection, the differences of meats, and the cooking process. I was so happy to have warm food again I was open and tried blood sausage, makchang, and sesame leaves. During dinner I was also schooled in the ways of “Bali-Bali” (‘hurry hurry’ culture) and why that has come about.  I am ever-so-grateful for the patience of this country’s people and acceptance!

The biggest test was the failure of my laptop. I’d purchased a new laptop three months ago, and it began failing only two days after arrival. The United States is not as “internationally savvy” as we would like to think. between time zones, firewalls, and protocols for preventing discussions in English because I was in Korea, I finally had to break down and go buy a new computer to be able to work. The search was difficult; in one Samsung store, I waited for over ten minutes and two store clerks refused to even attend to me, while there was no one else in the store, but the next day at an LG store I used a translation app and seamlessly purchased and walked out with a laptop within thirty minutes. Needless to say I was highly irritated it was a cost I (and Dell!) should have been able to prevent. Dell has not provided much support, and via emails I am being advised to call the Korean support center though they do not know if anyone speaks English at said center.

I am more interested in being out and learning and doing my work than sitting fighting with the laptop or trying to find someone who speaks English. This process has taken two hours or longer when I have tried. So the other day I chose to go see Seomun Market (http://www.seomun.net/ ) (http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SHP/SH_EN_7_2.jsp?cid=1271098) one of the oldest and the largest markets in the country. I was told by a non-Korean that it was a sight to see, how generations could be witnessed working side by side, and how that is rarely seen. I found this interesting, and again the parallels to Native culture are very apparent, since Native vendors often have three and sometimes four generations working a booth at pow wows or in a family store. This seems very common to me, but to hear how striking it is to a non-Korean that they were explaining the uniqueness of witnessing tradition.

I chose to travel by monorail from the market, (a brave decision as I have been lost more times than I can count – please don’t tell my already-stressing Mom!) and managed to find the right line. One of the clear challenges in my life has been that I never learned to take public transportation, since I lived far outside of any place where it was available. I find this to be a clear disadvantage as I travel and conduct research work.

As I stood waiting to get on, a Halmeoni (Elder woman) told me to go in front of her, and kept waving me in front of her. (Koreans use a motion with palms and fingers facing downward and moving in toward their bodies, rather than how Americans use palms and fingers up and motion toward bodies or to the side.) I kept bowing, and repeated “thank you very much” but was unable to force myself to walk in front of her. Dilemmas like this make it difficult for me here, whereas westerners and non-Natives might find it much easier to take advantage of such kindnesses.

I walked on and automatically grabbed a handhold and stood, though my feet were tired and legs were achy from walking so much through the market (my step counts have been exceeded by almost double nearly every day! Hooray! And ouch), while I was standing I realized I subconsciously noticed the Elders sitting, and while there were empty seats, I automatically mentally relegated those for Elders and again subconsciously reverted to my Native ways. Two stops later, an Elder stood up and motioned for me to take his seat. While I thanked him and politely said no three times, he kept motioning. Elders were seated all around, and my blood pressure rose, I think I started sweating, and desperately wanted to melt into the floor. My mind started smoking, trying to decide how to avoid sitting amongst Elders, a place that I did not earn nor deserve, and yet how to not refuse an Elder’s request. I was taught that an Elder’s request should not be turned down with the exception of very few instances.

I chose to sit after he kept motioning, and then told me to have a good day and he hoped I smiled. He then got off at the next stop, and I was thankful other Elders got on so I could get up and motioned for them to have the seat. I felt redeemed, illustrating that I knew “ways” that are in accordance with Korean protocols as well as my Native traditions, but again wished I could speak fluently to insist he take the seat.

Tomorrow, I am moving again, a four hour bus ride and then to a new shared living space, which will mean more learning curves! I will be near the sea, and look forward to being near the ocean and seascapes.