Battling Cynicism

I was sitting in a coffee shop with my two Thailand travel companions last night discussing some of the details of our impending journey, among other things. One of the "other things" that I brought up was about a recent verdict in a year-old criminal case. About a year ago, an Indian oil tanker, which was legitimately anchored off the south-west coast of Korea, was rammed by an out-of-control Korean shipping vessel owned by Samsung. There was a massive oil spill, and during the catastrophe, the Indian captain and first-mate were required to take an action which prevented an explosion, but also increased the amount of oil spilled into the ocean. In addition, it took about 3.5 hours for the sailors to notify any Korean authorities about the disaster; I guess the whole avoiding-an-explosion thing took a little while to pass over.

This past Wednesday, the Indian captain and first mate in charge of the ship were sentenced to 18 months and 8 months in jail, respectively. They were also heavy fines levied against them. The reasoning of the court was that the actions which increased the amount of oil spilled (and prevented an explosion) and the 3.5 hours required to notify authorities of the accident were unacceptable. In essence, the two Indian men are currently facing significant jail time because some Koreans couldn't keep their boat under control. I am pretty sure that the Koreans involved are also facing penalties, but I don't know what they are.

So last night, I went off on a rant about how the Korean "justice" system is corrupt and downright insane, and how Koreans everywhere can never take responsibility for their own mistakes. I said that this recent verdict was an example of how an incident involving a foreigner invariably leads to that foreigner being blamed for said incident (I've read about many other stories where this is the case.) Koreans can never be the only ones to blame, it's never their fault.

Anyway, today I felt myself becoming increasingly cynical about this country, so in the spirit of Christmas, I have decided to reflect on some of the things that Koreans have done for me over the last 3 months:

At the start of the school year, I was given a box of some very fancy Korean hair-care products that are apparently rather expensive. Not exactly the most useful thing I've ever been given, but the sentiment was nice.

About 6 weeks into my contract, I became very sick with what I guessed was food poisoning. I had to take 2 days off of work, and on the first day, one of my co-teachers met me after getting off work to take me to a clinic. After finishing there, her husband drove me home. And on my first day back to work, my favorite student brought me a package of cold medicine that she had bought from a nearby pharmacy with her own money.

One of the local PC centers (a place where there are dozens of computers with games and internet access on them) has generously allowed me to appropriate one of their computers for my own use. They let me install a couple of English games on it and if I ever come in to use the computer and it is occupied, they will ask the person using it to move to another computer. While it is very flattering, I usually try to prevent them from doing this, but I am not always successful. Can you imagine a store in America doing this for a customer? I can't.

I am sitting in my favorite coffee shop writing this, and just a few minutes ago, when I returned my used cup to the counter, the person working the counter handed me a brand new 2009 Calendar still in its plastic wrapping. It bears the same brand name as the coffee shop, so I am guessing it is some sort of merchandise that they normally sell but decided to give to me for some reason. I always bring my used cups and trash up to the counter before leaving so that they don't have to clean up after me, something I have never seen a Korean do. Maybe the calendar was a thank-you gift?

I have become good friends with one of the science teachers at my school who speaks very little English. Every now and then we will go to the PC center after work to play some starcraft (yes, it's still huge here and he is amazing even by Korean standards) and then grab some dinner. A couple of weeks ago he showed me how to play Korean billiards, which is much much harder than pocket (normal) pool. And every time we hang out, I never pay a cent. He won't let me. He has espoused me as his "younger brother" and views it as his responsibility to pay for everything.

Every now and then, some of the teachers and I play ping pong after school. Sometimes we then go out to dinner after playing, and once again, I am never allowed to pay.


Most Koreans have a propensity for extreme generosity towards foreigners, and I think I need to remember that more often.