10 July
Now that I've listed the things I’ll miss about Korea, I think it’s fair to go into things I’m super excited about in the US.
- Obviously I’m excited about seeing my family and friends, and Fat Tommy.
- Heterogeneity: It goes past seeing only black hair and black eyes. I’m so excited about the variety in the US. In Korea, you hear one K-pop song non-stop for two months, or you see a shirt that a character wore on a popular TV drama EVERYWHERE. The US isn’t fadless, but the difference in styles and the individuality is more noticeable.
- Fitting in while remaining different: In a similar vein, it’ll be great to not be abnormal anymore. It’s not that only that I look different because of my mixed ethnicity. It’s that I dress differently and (thank God!) act differently. If I ever fall into cute sissy girl mode, please, just shoot me.
- Food: Mexican, pit barbecue, and real cheese.
- Beer: Tasty beer that doesn’t cost 10 bucks. I think a Guinness & Bass half’n’half is in good order.
- English: English, English, English, this mother tongue that I’ve missed so much. Korean’s not so bad, but it’ll be nice to read something and not have to translate it.
20 August
Now, to make one special note. In Korea, it's easy to make fun of Koreans. Especially the people who are my age, since they should really know better. The women, and men, are kinda sissies. Women pretend to be wusses to "cute-ify" themselves in front of their boyfriends. You can always tell when a woman is on the phone with a man because her voice will go 4 pitches higher and she'll giggle a lot more. Men...I'm not sure if they really are stronger than the women. They certainly lack any muscle tone to disprove my theories. I'm ok with metro guys. But they're not metro; they're just pretty boys. And usually mama's boys. *I'm talking about popular culture; there are still a few sensible people running around.*
I couldn't wait to get back to the US, where people are normal.
Back here, after one week in the law school dorm, I realize that American 20-somethings are pretty stupid, too. These are all people with at least bachelor's degrees, yet they act like morons. Apparently neither their parents nor their Greek siblings taught them how to hold their liquor, because I've heard drunken bellowing almost every night. Inside and outside of my apartment building. And let's not even get started on, like, those totally weird accents, and, ya know, like, those weird space fillers that predominantly, ya know, women tend to interject into, like, their speech? Or, ya know, to end everything with, like, a question mark? Like it's a question, even though it's a statement?
[Let me do some social commentary here, too. In Korea, the older people get drunk and act like morons. This is because they're higher up in the hierarchy and they've 'earned' the right to act stupid and people shouldn't call them out on it. The younger people, while drunk, don't act like idiots (at least in the presence of the older ones). Contrast that to the US, where younger people get drunk and act like morons. Here, instead, the mindset is that they're young and stupid and haven't learned how to properly conduct themselves in public settings. Older people are more cultured and have wisened up enough to realize that such behaviour is inappropriate.
Let me conclude. In each culture, there are sufficient numbers of people who live down to society's expectations of their stupidity to make my generalizations valid.]
Moving on. Korean 20-somethings, I apologize. I ridiculed you for your silliness. While that was perfectly legitimate, well-grounded and just, I was wrong in ethnocentrically thinking that 20-somethings in my culture aren't as silly as you. In fact, they are. What I've come to realize through this mental debacle is that I'm more mature than other people my age. I rock.
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