[Terry's Tale] A bit of Relaxation, American Style

Everywhere I have gone here in Cheonan I find coffee shops.  If there is anything more prevalent than coffee shops it would be very small restaurants (think of a setting that is about one half the size of a similar small establishment in the US).  Such are the public places where people can during daytime and early evening hours relax in an intimate atmosphere.  A few nights ago I was invited to an oldies bar called “The Rolling Stones”.  While I drank my cokes and my friends drank their beers we relaxed and listened to tunes that were primarily played from turntables.  Most of the music was from US artists and the period focus was, as you might expect, the late 1950’s through the mid 1970’s (non-disco).  There was some music from Europe, for the most part France and Italy, and some Brazilian music thrown in as well. 

With one exception, these photos show most, though not all of the coffee shops and restaurants in the three block area around where I live.

There are simply an incredible number of ways that western culture has impacted this society yet, for all this, Koreans have retained the essentials of their culture that defines them as being Korean.  The Korean way of doing business, for example, is so very different that Wal-Mart has not succeeded in making inroads, at least in this area.  They tried, but simply did not succeed.  Instead, there are Korean backed corporate entities that have worked to build their own ‘Wal-mart’ style niches.  The largest Wal-mart style store locally is called ‘E-Mart’.  Though, like Wal-Mart, it is known for its selection and savings it is also known for its quality of product and its ‘way of doing business’ is Korean. 

If you truly want to understand something of the Korean style of culture, then perhaps the movies and other arts that are produced here would be of value here.  Interestingly, it is usually the best place to turn when you want to learn something about a culture, be it occidental or oriental.  For example, Americans can now easily look to the Spanish speaking television channels or Spanish speaking movies if they wish to know more about Hispanic cultures (there are many).  While such is not yet true for oriental countries, it may be coming considering how many people from Asian countries now live in the US. 

Yet, as my friend Han Wan-hui noted to me, once people have lived outside of Korea for any length of time they begin to lose their essential ‘Koreanness’.  This occurs because they are adapting to the cultural environment of their new location, whatever country it might be in.  Therefore, when they return to this country either to visit or to live, things feel somewhat different to them.  He should know.  He lived in the US for over three years.