Do I smell funny?

I guess racism is a current theme in my 2 recent posts. In the last post I talked about how Koreans can be a bit racist when it comes to wanting a certain type of people to teach their kids English- mainly just white people. Normally I try to stay away from making generalizations and grouping am entire people group into one category but in this case it's quite appropriate and fitting for me to make such a general statement. Korea is a land of conformity and collectivistic thinking. There is a strong emphasis on being the same. It's not normal to stand out and be different unlike the west where individuality is encouraged and promoted. Many Asians and most especially Koreans strive to be the same. I obviously cannot say that about all Koreans but it can certainly be said of the majority of the people in this country.

Anyway.. There is another form of racism that I never realized I would experience. Many Koreans, especially the elderly, are racist against white people. In their defense, a lot of young people just out of college come over here to teach English and spend their evenings and weekends in the bars and clubs making fools of themselves. Combine that with the American military who are known for getting drunk and starting fights, one can hardly blame Koreans-a generally peaceful people- for not wanting these idiot foreigners here. BUT NOT ALL OF US ARE THAT WAY! I've experienced racism in small ways mainly on the subways. The seats next to me sometimes will remain empty until all the other seats have bee filled and there is nowhere else to sit. This is not a comon occurence; it's only happened 4 or 5 times. But it still feels strange to know that because my skin color and perhaps my language or culture is different, I'm not accepted. I feel for my black brothers and sisters! Right now in fact there is an elderly man sitting across from me on the subway that has been staring at me for the last 10 minutes. I'm sure it's just out of curiousity. I'm pretty used to getting stared at by now. But it's a different thing when people are clearly avoiding you.

Just a few minutes ago as I was waiting for the subway to arrive I decided to sit on a bench. This particular bench can hold about 4 people. There was one older gentleman sitting on one end of the bench. I sat down on the opposite end of the bench. There was plenty of space between us. As I sat down, he looked at me, stood up, and walked about 25 feet away to sit on a bench that 2 people were already sitting on. Talk about a slap in the face. Well, it's all part of the experience of living in a foreign culture I guess. Take the good and leave the bad. Even though it seems I'm just picking on Koreans, that's only because it's where I find myself. I know racism exists everywhere; especially in America.