Korea

First, I wanted to write about my backpacking adventure in the Southeast Asia when for nearly two months I travelled along the Mekong River, admired the magnificent ruins of the ancient Khmer Empire of Angkor, ate dried crickets and spiders, and enjoyed the hustle and bustle of the metropolitan city of Bangkok. Then, I decided that the most amazing trip was my one-year long scholarship in Lisbon when for the first time I was confronted with the Portuguese culture, seemingly European and similar to the Polish one, but on the other hand totally different. However, finally the trip to the Korean Peninsula came to my mind and the matter was settled immediately.
I flew to Seoul in December 2007 to visit my Polish friend. It was my first intercontinental travel so I fancied all the luxuries of a long flight – free beverage service and a screen with all the latest blockbusters in front. I was spellbound. And then I get out of the plane and my head starts spinning. All the colourfulness, the noise and the hubbub of the big city strike me as if a gigantic speeding wave was just arriving towards me standing helplessly on the pier. I live in one of the European capitals and I could not have imagined that. People running across the streets, cars speeding from left and right honking relentlessly, salesmen hollering the prices and praising their goods, neon lights pulsating in every shop and on every street corner and all those strange squares, circles and lines of an unfamiliar language… The country appeared to me as something unbelievably different from my previous experience of otherness.
I stumbled in lethargy through the ever-vibrant city of the Joseon Dynasty palaces of unpronounceable names, charming narrow streets of Itaewon, never-ending stairs of the Namsan Mountain and the green alleys of Seoul Olympic Park. Yet, even though amazing, colourful and mesmerizing, Korea is culturally-different and after a period of natural attraction and fascination, I began to notice, compare and evaluate these differences. The most noticeable fact is the attitude towards foreigners who are always treated with due respect but with a pinch of salt as well. They are the weird ones who continuously do not know how to behave and for whom it is impossible to understand the ‘real’ meaning of being Korean as they ask strange questions and demand unspeakable answers. The feature strikes me as characteristic of Asian societies whose citizens prefer not to engage themselves in any political, social or cultural discussion with foreigners since ‘these people will never understand’. This un-American lack of ability to openly voice one’s opinions seems as something unbelievably out-of place in the country of Starbucks, Dunkin' Donuts and deep love for the American tradition, its pop-culture and way of life. Nevertheless, it appears that these contrasts, discrepancies and remarkable varieties constitute the key to understand the Korean, or even Asian, mentality and drive us, Europeans, towards the in-depth exploration of the territory.