Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Aknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 Korea in the 1960s
- 2 The Columbans
- 3 Learning the Ropes
- 4 Cultural Adaptation
- 5 In at the Deep End
- 6 The Cultural Experience: Where to Begin
- 7 The Confucian Monolith
- 8 The Chosŏn Bureaucracy
- 9 The Buddhist Ingredient
- 10 Exclusivity Myths
- 11 Chilmajae Songs – Sŏ Chŏngju
- 12 Korea’s Greatest Asset
- 13 Tales of the Immortals
- 14 At the Cultural Coalface: Immersion, Submersion? – Take Your Pick
- 15 Nine Priest Immortals
- 16 Seeking the Way
- 17 For Those of us with Less Than Immortal Status
- 18 Learning Korean
- Afterword
- Bibliography
- Index
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Aknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 Korea in the 1960s
- 2 The Columbans
- 3 Learning the Ropes
- 4 Cultural Adaptation
- 5 In at the Deep End
- 6 The Cultural Experience: Where to Begin
- 7 The Confucian Monolith
- 8 The Chosŏn Bureaucracy
- 9 The Buddhist Ingredient
- 10 Exclusivity Myths
- 11 Chilmajae Songs – Sŏ Chŏngju
- 12 Korea’s Greatest Asset
- 13 Tales of the Immortals
- 14 At the Cultural Coalface: Immersion, Submersion? – Take Your Pick
- 15 Nine Priest Immortals
- 16 Seeking the Way
- 17 For Those of us with Less Than Immortal Status
- 18 Learning Korean
- Afterword
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
JAMES SCARTH GALE writes:
Compared with the Western world, with its indescribable hubbub, Korea is a land of the most reposeful silence. There are no harsh pavements over which horses are tugging their lives out, no jostling of carts or dray-wagons, no hateful clamour that forbids quiet conversation, but a repose that is inherent and eternally restful. The rattling of the ironing sticks is not nerve racking, but rather serves as a soporific to put all the world asleep. Apart from this one hears nothing but the few calls and echoes of human voices. What a delightfully quiet land is Korea! In the very heart of its great city Seoul, you might experiment at midday in the latest methods of rest-cure and have all the world to help you. (Korea in Transition, p. 17)
Can you believe it? Korea the land of repose! The amp and loudspeaker put paid to that many years ago. Seoul is a clamourous, noisy place, and with countless millions milling in the streets, there's no way you can avoid them. In addition to being constantly deafened, you’ll be pushed up and down stairs, squeezed into corridors and elevators, elbowed, shoved, shouted at, made fun of, and, depending on your general levels of sensitivity, more or less aggravated, irritated, peeved and annoyed. Once out on the street, you are Crane's mythical Mr Everyman Non-person, (more about this later), noticed by everyone but seen by no one. You will feel constantly that you are coming out of a football match and being pushed into a bullfight. It's surprising how much physical contact there is in a culture where touching is – or at least used to be – rude!
So how to deal with people? Until someone knows you, you don't exist. Going up or down the stairs, students will push you out of the way, but if they are your students, they will stand back and bow. Introductions are extremely important. So get those name cards and put your titles down. It helps people break the ice in relating to you. People need to know how big a deal you are. Knowing whether the person you are meeting is older or younger is pivotal in starting the relationship.
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- My Korea40 Years without a Horsehair Hat, pp. 40 - 55Publisher: Amsterdam University PressPrint publication year: 2013