Xenophobia at Its Finest!

Yesterday we went to the Korean War Memorial here in Seoul. We were only able to tour the outside portion of the monument as all national monuments are apparently closed on Mondays and the person in charge of planning didn’t feel obligated to call and check that it was open before we walked around in the heat for an hour (not that I’m bitter or anything).
I’m including a bunch of pictures of all of the old planes that were at the monument. One day, I want to actually learn all about the different kinds of planes and be able to identify them. My dad is a big Discovery Wings Channel fan, which is quite possibly the most boring thing on tv, so being at the memorial made me miss my family as I know that my dad and Louie would appreciate it a lot more than I do. In general, I have been missing them lately because I have been so happy that I wish they could be here with me.

So I had my first and second racial incidents in Korea in the past 3 days. Before I left a lot of people asked me if I was uncomfortable because obviously there are no black people. But in all honesty being here hasn’t really been that much different from when I lived in Wisconsin. People everywhere stare. Basically what happened was I was with a bunch of people going to a restaurant and some random man moves towards me like he is going to grab my arm. I of course pulled back away from him and he said something incomprehensible in Korean. My friend Anna, who speaks fluent Korean, was next to me and instantly comes along side of me and like rushes me away from him and was like ‘oh he’s just being annoying because you’re pretty.” But I badgered her into telling me what he said which apparently was ‘you’re darker than me!’ and he was trying to compare his arm to mine. I’m not really sure what he was trying to imply. But it made me so incredibly mad. I just want to be left alone.

My reaction to that man has really made me aware of the change in the way I react to racial conflict. I remember the first time I heard a white person say the word ‘Nigger,’ which was actually the first time I heard anyone say it, and the way I felt was completely different. Granted I was in elementary school but I remember that even though they weren’t speaking to me or any one person in general (it was used in the context of a ‘joke’) it actually hurt. The closest equivalent I can give is that it felt like getting the wind knocked out of you. But now, I find that the only time people being racist bothers me with that sort of intensity is when they are standing between me and something I want. Otherwise, it’ll make me mad for about fifteen minutes, I’ll say my piece if the situation permits and then I’m over it. On the one hand, I understand that it is necessary to toughen up to get through life. But on the other hand, I do feel as though I should mourn the loss of some softness and sensitivity in my personality. I don’t know if the price is too high. I don’t want to wake up one morning to the realization that on the inside, I’m made up of all sharp edges.

The second incident occurred a couple of days later. A bunch of Penn-in-Seoul people were on the subway when a drunk , older man asked two of the Korean-American girls whether they only like foreigners (in the romantic sense) and stated that he doesn’t like Americans. They immediately jumped up out of their seats and told everyone to move to the next car. Then after we moved the man began to follow us. So we ran out of the train (we were stopped at the station) and snuck back on into the last car. It was both intense and hilarious at the same time. Xenophobia at its finest!
So we’re going to the DMZ (de-militarized zone between North/South Korea) tomorrow. I can’t wait. We have a dress code because apparently the North Koreans will ocassionaly take pictures of inappropriately dressed tourists and use them as propaganda for the lack of morals in South Korea and the West. So there’s literally woman who have visited the DMZ and whose faces are on posters in North Korea with the word ‘SLUT’ on them.

Two good songs:
“Peruvian Cocaine” and “Golpe de Estado” by Immortal Technique