On a lighter note from the last post, I wanna take a minute to talk about the conformity that is so strongly interwoven in the Korean culture. I went over it a little in the last post. Koreans, and Asians in general, tend to be collectivistic in their thoughts and actions versus the individualism that is seen in the West. American teachers often have a hard time getting their Korean students to raise their hands and be singled out in class to give an answer. They'd much rather work within a group. The emphasis is on the group rather than the individual. From my limited understanding, much of this "group think" is rooted in Confucianism. But I don't know much about that.
One thing that always amazes me and makes me laugh is the crosswalks here. As I said, people don't like to stand out. Several times now, I have approached a crosswalk where many people are standing. There are no cars in sight, but the walking light is not green. Sometimes I decide to go for it. And almost every time I do, at least 1 person follows. Sometimes 3 or 4. No one will step out and be the first, but when somebody does it first, they will follow. This continues to amaze me.
Today I came to a crosswalk that was flashing green, meaning it was about to turn red. Two older ladies were standing there contemplating whether they should go. I started to make a run for it, and didn't even make it across before it turned red. The cars had to wait for me. But I heard this cackling laughter behind me. One of the ladies followed me out and was running behind me laughing the whole way. It was such a funny site. I wish someone had recorded the whole process. Conformity is a funny thing.
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