Adapting...

So, I was reading some teacher forums for South Korea the other day and it got me thinking. Someone was complaining about being stared at and how it was starting to get on their nerves. It used to bother me too when I lived there. It happens more here but for some reason it doesn't bother me. Well, I think I can explain why...

Being stared at just doesn't happen often enough, in Korea, to force an adaptation to the situation. It happens, and it's really annoying, but every second of every day the moment you leave your house? No. For that you need to come to small town China. The staring is so bad here that you have no choice, learn to live with it, or leave.

This process of reaching a certain breaking point and then adapting has happened many times since I've come here. Another example is walking into a classroom full of sad, depressed, angry, apathetic Chinese college students. It really got to me last term, it was so bad I transferred all my money home and was within days of leaving. But, before I had a chance to leave things started getting better. I reached a breaking point, and then I adapted. How did I adapt out of this problem? I stopped caring about the students. Now, that might seem like a bad thing, but let's face reality. This is China. I cannot fix my students problems, and I cannot fix their school, period. Once I did this, almost magically I started having fun teaching, my lessons became much better, I spent more time planning and preparing, and a few of my students started paying attention. How does one learn that not caring can actually fix a problem? I really had no other option besides going home.

What else do people complain about in South Korea? The spitting, hah. The spitting here is far worse than anything you'd ever encounter in South Korea. Or how about this, ever see a parent holding their baby at the bus stop, while their baby goes poop onto the floor right in front of the bus stop bench? I see it happen at least once a week. I've almost stepped into a big pile of baby poop at the bus stop so many times... . Or people spitting onto the floor of a restaurant? You ever see that in South Korea? Or pour their soup onto the floor? Or spit out their food onto the table, or the floor? The funny thing is, if you ask me if I'm happy here I'd say, happier than I was in South Korea. The only difference being that I've lived here longer. This is a much harsher environment, I HAD to adapt to survive. I HAD NO CHOICE. South Korea is quiet enough, clean enough, and sane enough to not have to adapt.

Anyway, where am I going with this? Oh, yes. I've started seriously considering going back to South Korea. I've toyed with the idea for a few months but then I checked the course list for my local community college, and yes they do teach Korean there. That really got me thinking about it. It's kind of funny how much I complained about life there, but damn it's nothing compared to what I survived in China. This place has really toughened me up, and I'm more than ready to go back to Korea. I still haven't made my final decision, but I am leaning towards moving to Seoul after a semester or two of studying Korean.