Today marks exactly one week since I came back to Korea. The fact that it's only been one week since I returned to Korea makes time feel like it's not passing well. Since I spent this week mostly meeting people, time passed neither all that fast nor all that slow. If anything, studying alone might have made it go faster.. From today, little by little, whenever studying doesn't go well, I plan to organize the things I experienced in England. The biggest reason I went to England was to add one more thing I could put my hands to before finishing my college life, and this seems to have succeeded. Not an exchange student, not simple travel — I worked an enormous amount. I'm relieved the end of it was satisfying.
A brief stay made me think a lot. Even though it was only six months, it seems people change a lot. In my case, that's so. There are countless things, but the biggest among them is the difference in attitude toward dealing with people.
1. Judgment and respect When I was in Korea, I sometimes did this too, as did the people around me — there was a strong tendency to judge the people around us. The standard for that judgment is 'one's own standard.' We judge others' behavior and situations based on what we've experienced, seen, and heard. Not everyone was like that, but many were. Even now, coming back and looking again, I see such people. When I was in England, the feeling of being respected was strong. In another sense, the atmosphere of acknowledging people as individuals was strong. Whether that person is divorced, has however many kids, or does whatever job, they try to respect them as that person. I don't really know whether it's that they're more faithful to the idea that everyone has their own circumstances. But while I was there, I didn't get the feeling of anyone intervening. It was fascinating that everyone held a different perspective toward lives other than their own. Respecting is their method. (Of course, not everyone is like that. That's the general tendency.) 2. The five things done poorly and the five things done well. I remember seeing, on some blog, a piece by a teacher leaving school after finishing a life as a 'principal.' It hasn't been that long since I saw this piece. The content went like this. The parents, when their child does 8 out of 10 well and 2 poorly, always come to point out and talk about the 2 done poorly before leaving. Meanwhile, the students told stories about the 'good things,' including even things he didn't remember. Probably, the reason 'culture' lies here. The phrase 'be humble' can be said to contain the message of realizing your shortcomings again and again, but in fact that phrase and the phrase 'have confidence' are hard to coexist. Is that why — in England everyone seemed to overflow with confidence. Not overflowing in a negative sense, but 'overflowing' in a positive sense. They all lived with the kind of confidence that's hard to see in our country. Their lives were mainly about praise for what was done well rather than emphasis on what was done poorly. Even if only 1 out of 10 was done well, they praised and cherished the story of that 1 done well. Most people held positive thoughts. Though there might be some shortcomings, the tendency to have confidence and trust oneself and trust colleagues was stronger than the thought that one must be humble. For me, it was enviable. Probably from now on I too will become a person who praises and encourages the 1 thing done well. After all, there are plenty of people besides me telling others to be humble. 3. Independence and equality. Is this what equality is? Living all along in Korea, I can't tell you how much the inequality coming from 'age' troubled me. But over there, with people older than me and younger than me, there was somehow an atmosphere of 'equality.' I want to say it's the power language gives, after all, but setting that aside, there was a stronger atmosphere that, regardless of age, everyone is one 'team,' and I always felt that, man or woman, each had their own work. A man and a woman each doing their own work wasn't simply 'each one's work'; doing one's best in one's position was each one's work. The atmosphere of 'my' work being done by 'me,' the strong will not to hand my work off to someone else to handle, was felt. At first I didn't quite understand being told that I didn't need to help with this much, but later I came to understand it well. The atmosphere where truly everyone does 'my work' is enviable. I felt this equality led to equality between the sexes; in effect, Sandra, who was my superior, was a reasonable and wonderful person. I was a mere volunteer, but she reviewed my proposals together with everyone and led them into discussion. In the end, most people agreed with the proposal, and as a result, although the work increased a little, a consensus formed that it was necessary. (It's a bit awkward to mention what it was.)
-That's all for today.
2016.02.23.
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