On September 23, 2007, I arrived in San Francisco Airport. This was the first time I had been abroad. Until that time, I lived in a small city, Busan, in Korea for my whole life and was one of those quiet Asian girls, spoiled by my parents so much that everything had to be done my way. The trip to America started with curiosity about being outside of my comfort zone and meant nothing more than a vacation for me. There is an old Korean saying, “Ignorance is bold.” I spoke a little bit of English that time – I knew how to introduce myself along with a few words in English - and there I was in the in the middle of the airport, not knowing where to go, on the first day of my life-long lesson about understanding different cultures.
My first impression of America was not odd or unpleasant. I had some sense about the American culture from what I watched on TV, mostly stereotypes of how everyone would be very big and tall, but soon I realized that San Francisco was especially different from what I imagined. There were a lot more Asians than those with blond hair and blue eyes, but the people were still very diverse. Americans were actually very relaxed and kind as well. Unlike Koreans who are normally busy going their own ways in the airport, Americans came up to me and asked if I needed help. It is not that Koreans are not willing to help others, but that most of them are afraid to talk to foreigners because of their poor English skills or lack of confidence. Some of them just do not want to intrude in others’ business.
That day I witnessed that the body language was universal. With an address on a piece of paper and people’s kindness, I found my dormitory of my English school, located about five minutes away from downtown. I met a lot of people from all over the world. All my classmates and roommates greeted me in many different ways, such as hand shaking, bowing, waiving, and hugging. Coming from Korean culture that we like to keep personal distances, I instinctively pushed away one of my French classmates, who was trying to kiss on my cheeks, and almost said, “Get off me” only if I didn’t know how to say that in English that time. He even apologized because he realized that I was not comfortable with his way of greeting, but I felt bad for not being respectful or at least, trying to understand his culture.
If I just had to list of all the differences that I experienced, I could have written a book about it. However, the purpose of this writing is not to tell my embarrassing moments, but I wanted to share my experiences and the lessons that I got. Coming from a different country and culture is very hard, but overcoming the process actually helped me to better understand other cultures. The first time I came to America, I was so stubborn to learning new cultures, but once I opened my mind, others also opened up their minds to better understand me and have helped me in accepting others as well. Now I have become a really good friend with the French guy since then because we both made an effort to learn about each other’s culture. The more you know about others’ backgrounds and cultures, the stronger relationship you will get with them. I close up this writing with a wish that all of you are also ready to open up your minds to understand Korean culture in my blog.
What were some of the other stereotypes of American culture that you learned of in Korea? And which ones of them turned out to be true and which ones false?
ReplyDeleteI have to agree that it is very true that a lot of Asians naturally are too afraid to speak up in fear of being misunderstood, especially immigrants here. I took a Korean American class recently, and I heard that Koreans are quite narrow-minded due to the fact that they are not exposed to other cultures as much and are unwilling. Was it an easy process to cross that barrier? Do you or will you ever consider yourself to be an American?
ReplyDelete