In case any of you guys missed it, PBS did a segment on education in Korea & how it is taken very seriously, almost to the point of overkill but you gotta admit, they might be on to something, eh? Students are focused on their futures and the ability to be fun loving kids, get into trouble & maybe learn something important about appreciating the little things along the way kind of get lost in the shuffle.
The video's 8 minutes and change but it's really a pretty interesting glimpse into the pressures & priorities over here. I suppose spending 18 hours of your day focused on school & you're destined to failure & shaming your family if you don't succeed, I can imagine there isn't a lot of time for anything else. I do find it interesting that stat about the percentage of college/university graduates who are unable to find a job in their field....over-saturation of the market?
It makes more sense as to why my kids talk about wanting to play sports or do other things they are interested in but there simply isn't enough time in the day. Amazingly, 60 years ago, the Korean Peninsula was mostly an agrarian society living simple lives while being ravaged by war & in no shape or capacity did it resemble the world power it has become today. Makes you really think about the way the US must have been at that same time & how they have emulated American culture while maintaining the uniquely Korean way of life. At times, it reminds me of what the US was probably like, in some respects 20 or 30 years ago. No hypersensitivity or political correctness to speak of but people certainly knew their role in society as well as in the family & you DO NOT bring shame upon the family unless you are looking to be ostracized & rejected by said family for the rest of your life....which has a large role in the low instances of crime here.
Here's a link to a video about the South Korean home of the future (i.e. 4 years away)....crazy high tech!
On Monday night, the director of my school took the staff to dinner & I was able to have a pretty insightful conversation with James regarding some topics on Korea....I'll get into that in the next blog; I'm hoping to do a couple of them this week but I'm wiped from the past few days hiking around the nearby mountains; I don't think I'm out of shape but man it's a great workout & I forgot how much fun the old 'jog & slide' down a mountain can be when the conditions are just right (plus it took about 1/3 of the time as hiking up)! I really wanted to get some video of it but the battery was nearly dead - there will be a next time, though, not to worry!
Be well, everyone & Happy Lunar New Year!
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