Timing is Everything

During my Tuesday/Thursday night level 3a class, we were discussing the topic 'Us and Them'-- stereotypes, diversity, etc. I had the perfect opportunity to get a snapshot of a Korean's view of different groups and the outside world. They picked up on my enthusiasm and curiosity and had many lively debates and discussions, including one about common Korean views of their home country. As I was bringing the class to a close, a student asked me if I had heard any stereotypes about Koreans. One is that Korea is a country of drunks. I have to admit that my first night here, I jumped over a passed out man in a stairwell wearing a tie, getting poked by the cops while I was trying to get out of the Rob Roy. My second night here at least eleven stumbling people ran into me on the street. Last Thursday, my first 7 am start time, I struck out early to get some breakfast. Venturing out a little ways into residential neighborhood, I walked by a man in a suit passed out on the sidewalk. Without the examples I said that I had heard Koreans drank alot, but my friend told me it is a drinking culture. Friends go out together after work to blow off steam. We do the same thing, it's called Happy Hour. They laughed.

But he pressed on asking if I had heard anything else. Well, what I had heard from Americans mostly consisted of my former neighbor's wild stories. There was no way that I would share any of those with a class of rich kids, buisness professionals, and a federal prosecutor. They caught me, I blushed and the lawyer called me out. "Your body language suggests otherwise." Two minutes left... Another student piped in and asked if you could be arrested in America for drinking--what an angel. I briefly explained underage drinking and public intoxication. The prosecutor told the class, "We have the same laws in Korea, but they are enforced differently." And class was dismissed.

On the way home, I shared my experience with a weathered cynical co-worker who said, "I leave that lesson for the second to the last day of class, and I don't hold back. That way, our evaluations are already turned in, and we can all go out for coffee the next day."